Ijustwannateach

Ok, this is a bit of an experiment, which was successful when we did it in the Teacher's Subforum.

As most of you are probably aware, Thailand has strict and powerful libel laws which do not even require that statements in print necessarily be untrue.  This is why it is such a difficult issue to post negative personal experiences of venues online, even if true.

However, there is something to be said for making people aware of bad customer treatment, particularly in the case that it may be the result of homophobia.

So, this thread is to be used to mention the names of venues/businesses that you wouldn't recommend to a gay friend based on your own experiences- but the ground rules have to be strict.

NO DETAILS.  No story, no description.  No employees' names.  Just the name of the venue, and its placement in this thread to indicate that you wouldn't recommend it to a gay friend.  If someone wants details, they can PM you.  Repeat listings are fine, because they will give an indication of just how common problems are at a venue.

Posts and their contents in this thread, it should be noted, are particularly at the discretion of the moderators, and if moderation of this thread becomes disproportionately hard work it may be closed.

It has been noted from time to time that the pinned thread on gay venues is getting out of date.  We gay subforum mods would like to update the list in a 'moderate' fashion without making the actual pinned topic a long discussion or free-for-all- we just want that topic to have the useful information in summary form.  Ideally, we are looking for venues which are relatively welcoming or prepared for foreign customers who may not speak much, if any, Thai- as this site is primarily for English language access.  If your Thai is very good, there are already plenty of Thai language listings available online and elsewhere.

So we are opening THIS thread to ask for our members to submit and discuss at length any additions, changes, and corrections to the original list.  Closed venues are fairly straightforward to mention, but it would nice to get a confirmation from 2 or 3 posters in the case that a poster is mistaken.

Ideally, if you are recommending a venue to add, it would be nice for a start to have as much of the following information as possible:

Name (of course)
Location (City, Street address or area, other contact info such as ph or website)
Type of Venue (Bar, Disco, Restaurant, Store, Organisation, Sauna, Gogo, 'Massage', Karaoke, well-known hangouts/cruisy spots, etc.)
Hours if known
Typical services/prices/charges if known
Transport & Accessibility Issues- how to get there, how to find the place, English spoken or not, etc.
General description, review, recommendation, experience, etc.

It would be helpful to get your feelings about the atmosphere, clientele, and quality of food/drink/management/other in the last bit.  The venues do not necessarily have to be exclusively gay if they are of significant interest.

Additionally, to conform with forum rules, please do not be any more specific about the details of access to prostitution or other potentially grey area points (for example, we are especially not looking for reviews of 'what Number 39 at Bar X will do', details of off-fees or 'going rates', or detailed descriptions of 'shows').  We also don't really want this to turn into something like 'Penthouse Letters'.

While negative comments may be included, this isn't going to be a 'name and shame' thread- it's enough to indicate if you, personally, have had any 'issues' (staff problems, overcharging or incorrect charging, etc.)

If you feel like writing a long story, go ahead, but the pinned thread will mostly contain factual details with a few descriptive paragraphs that may be copied or derived from member submissions in this thread.

Many thanks in advance for your assistance, and I'll try to give credit in the pinned thread to the members who provided the information.

If there are other aspects you feel should go in the pinned thread, please do mention those as well.

I'd just like to say they keep on getting better.  Now they've got a separate clinic area for gay men's sexual issues, and better registration/repeat test cards.  The service fees are slightly more than they used to be- but if you don't want immediate results, 80B is hardly something to complain about compared to the big hospitals.  The people were kind, efficient, knowledgeable, and professional.  And one advantage which they can still claim over each and every other similar test in Thailand is that they are, as far as they know, still the ONLY guaranteed routinely anonymous HIV test service which is not required by law to report HIV-positive individuals' identities directly to the government- which has always been a d*mn silly & counterproductive thing to do in any country.  They also do the more complicated immune system tests needed by HIV and AIDS patients, and have tests for hepatitis and syphilis.  They also treat these and a variety of other STD-related conditions, and provide non-judgemental counselling on the diseases, in English and in Thai.

If you are sexually active and single, or have multiple partners, or have a partner who is either of those, you should be checking on these things once in a while.

Here's the website link in English.

Does anyone know the actual nature of the current vendetta against pseudoephedrine and how it is legally enacted?  Aside from finding it highly annoying personally, and finding the official explanation (that it is a near precursor of amphetamine production and therefore contributes to the drug trade, which of course has nothing to do with imports from Myanmar) vapid and unconvincing, how exactly is it phrased?

One reason I wonder is that I have come across one medication still apparently on official sale in many pharmacies which contains it- not that I'm complaining about at least having one choice- and it contains 30mg only (about half the amount that was in Actifed tablets here).  It couldn't possibly be that the real reason for the new regulation would be to eliminate the competition of this locally made, less effective product, now could it?

Ok, we've had various 'how-to' questions recently.  So, without further ado, here's how to meet a normal gay guy in a non-gay bar.  I admit it is a bit ironic, but one would think people hadn't done this anywhere else in the world.....

1.  Locate a non-gay pub in your chosen socioeconomic class (the more expensive the pub, the better employed and more probably English-speaking will be the clientele).
2.  Verify that it has mixed clientele by inspection- groups of girls with guys are what you are looking for here.  All guy groups and all girl groups are generally straighter.
3.  Find a place.  Order a drink.  Enjoy yourself.  Look like you are enjoying yourself.  If this is your first visit to this pub (and it would be better if it were not), check out how people dress and act.  Try to blend in.  Do not be aggressive, do not stare fixedly, do not expect people to act like anything that anyone has ever seen in a Silom bar.
4.  Do not be the first person to start flirting with other people.  Wait until you see people flirting.  (notice people flirting).  This happens at different times in different places.
5.  Flirt in a light, friendly way with likely gay guys you might want to meet using eye contact.  If they seem encouraging, continue.  If not, pick someone else and repeat.
6.  When you have located someone who responds to your flirting, after a while step over and say hello.  Ask a few friendly questions in Thai (preferably) or easy English (until you know if/how much he speaks).  Don't push things.
7.  See if there's any positive response (i.e., he comes over and chats, too).  If not, back to step 5 again.
8.  Once you are talking, make sure you are not barking up the wrong tree by TELLING HIM HE'S REALLY CUTE (it would be good to pick someone you think is really cute).  Since this is Thailand, you aren't risking much by doing this even in a 'straight' place.  Besides, you're both intoxicated by now, right?
9.  If all of this goes well, eventually you should exchange phone numbers (have a mobile phone).  That's enough.  Call and chat the next day and be a little bit more direct (like, tell him you are gay).  If you haven't misread things terribly, this is the leadup to your first date.

P.S.  He's with his friends.  He's not going to come on to you in a big way, or go home with you (he doesn't even really know you yet).  Have some respect.
P.P.S.  And since he's with his friends, try not to alienate them.  Unless they're really, really annoying (in which case maybe you should go back to step 5 anyway).
P.P.P.S  If you're unlucky and his language and behaviour start saying 'tourist scene' to you, ditch as soon as possible and go back to step 5.

That's about as simple as I can make it.  I should highlight that this is a DIFFERENT SCENE both from Touristland and from Bangkok all-gay bars.

With a bit of subtlety and finesse, you can make this work also in restaurants, coffee shops- pretty much anywhere in public.  Enjoy the strangeness of 'meeting people' and 'socialising'.  With some practice, your dating life can include 'normal gay Thais who have lives and jobs'.