Gay Guide To Bangkok At Night By Andy Burrows At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The tolerant nature of modern society in Thailand has made many a traveller feel comfortable and at home despite being in Asia. It has also made Bangkok the site of many an unforgettable party.

There is fun to be had in a variety of locations around the city from the comforting company of foreigners to the truly Thai style of a local disco. Although the options for men almost shout at you they are so visible, there are a number of locations where women meet women for drinks, dancing and perhaps more.

Although many of the bars are primarily targeted towards men, there are all kinds of people cruising down Silom soi 4. Phuket and Pattaya may have great beach parties but for a night out in the city, nothing beats this pocket of Bangkok for action. Every year the whole city explodes during Pride Week, but every night, the spirit of pride is alive and well and sauntering between the many bars and patios of Bangkok’s Gay street.

One of the most popular places to enjoy a cocktail and watch the parade of people passing is the Balcony. Not only do they have a large number of street-side tables, but their happy hour prices are the best in the area. Plus the bar is perfectly positioned to watch the staff on the other side of the street who are inevitably well dressed and drool-inducing.

On rainy nights, Telephone Pub and Restaurant is another popular venue. Each table comes equipped with its own telephone so that those too timid for a direct hit can start conversations with strangers at a distance.

In addition to the cocktails, pubs and sports bars on the soi, several establishments host nightly cabarets and shows. Just off soi 4 is the G.O.D. club, formerly known as the Freeman Dance Arena. Under its old name the shows were legendary, and since reopening the club has only gotten better. An enticing mixture of alluring drag queens and purely masculine muscle, G.O.D. really stands up to its name: Guys on Display.

One visitor from the UK, Jack Nambert has visited Bangkok a number of times over the last few years. He says that although he loves the saunas and discos, it’s the drag shows at G.O.D. that keep him coming back. “G.O.D. club looks great, the music is fantastic and it’s open until at least 04:00. It blows other clubs completely away”, he said.

Drag queens in Thailand are legendary for their beauty, poise and all around sex appeal. The phenomenon on men dressing and living as women is widespread and accepted in Thai culture. The Thais call them kathoey; English tourists call them lady boys. Although many kathoes are so convincing they are difficult to tell apart from those born as women, kathoey, just like everyone else, come in a wide variety, from men who dress as women, to those undergoing various stages of hormone treatment and surgery.

DJ Station, on Silom soi 2, combines a nightly cabaret-style show with a fantastic DJ for the rest of the night. Cover charge is minimal and includes two drinks, generally mixed on the strong side. After the show, the crowd is pumped for dancing and by the end of the night, it’s hard to get to the bar amid the crowd of shirtless sweating men who have come to dance here from all over the world.

The most notable club in the area is on Kamphaengphet road. ICY was recognised by Metro Magazine as one of the hottest gay bars in Bangkok and if you want to meet a Thai guy, this is the place to go.

The intersection of Ramkhamhaeng and Lamsalee roads is another area worth exploring for a taste of Thai culture. Several bars, including ICK, SeaTure, Finalle and Crazy, attract a primarily local clientele. Most of the bars have good DJ’s, especially on weekends, and unlike the clubs on Silom soi 4 that cater to foreigners, the Lamsalee bars serve drinks that are reasonably priced.

Men in Bangkok need only to head to a bar, a club or a sauna to meet other men. Women don’t have things nearly quite so easy. After strolling up and down Silom soi 4 several times and still not spotting any likely lesbians, one tourist asked a bouncer at Balls, a sports bar on the soi where she could find lesbians. “I think they go to sleep at 18:00”, he promptly replied.

Although not all lesbians in Bangkok stay at home every night, it is true that they can be difficult to find. For an outsider passing through and looking for a night on the town, it can sometimes seem impossible to locate the private gatherings and hidden lairs of the lesbians in Bangkok.

Because many Thai lesbians feel entirely comfortable going out with the girls in Thai society, the fact of the matter is that they can be found almost anywhere. The trick is spotting them.

When searching for lesbians out on the town in Bangkok, the best thing to do is go out on a Friday or Saturday night. Sukhumvit road has the most number of promising establishments including Mambo, a restaurant with cabarets, and Thumb Up, both on soi 32.

Vega, on soi 39, is actually run by a lesbian couple so even if there is no one in attendance, they are usually happy to dish out the low down on what’s happening in town. Things do tend to get hot here on the weekends though with great live music complementing a selection of excellent food.

Bars that cater to a mixed crowd litter Silom road and there are several on Phra Athit road. On a weekend, there’s usually a good crowd including some toms and dees at many clubs.

It’s definitely not as easy for women to find other women as it is for men to find other men and for travelers with a limited amount of time to enjoy the sights, sounds and flavors of Thailand, it can be very frustrating.

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