Pattaya Gay Scene Thailand - Pattaya is a touristy beach resort less than two hours from Bangkok with a large gay scene. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re interested in go-go bars or freelancers. These days, the scene also includes some non-commercial venues.
Pattaya is like taking the commercial gay scene of Bangkok and putting in a beach resort without the big city’s traffic, noise or pollution. For years, the Pattaya gay scene was almost exclusively commercial, but now there are some non-commercial venues where you might actually meet non-money boys.
Pattaya has several other qualities that make it a pleasant visit. It’s very easy to get around, it has many good restaurants serving foreign and Western food, and it’s as gay-friendly as any place you can imagine. No one so much as bats an eye when you walk around with a Thai boy, regardless of the age difference between you and the boy.
[Note: In Thailand the English word “boy” is commonly used to refer to males at least into their thirties. The term as used in “go-go boy” does NOT generally refer to the underaged.]
The main gay scene is located in Boyztown on Pattayaland Soi 3 near the Walking Street in South Pattaya. You can’t miss it - just look for the large black signs announcing “Boyztown” literally hanging over the soi.
The best places for gay visitors to stay are located in or very near Boyztown. They are the Le Café Royale Hotel and Ambiance Hotel - both gay owned and operated. Both are upscale and super clean, with rooms ranging from 1,000 to around 3,000 baht per night.
The other place I’ve enjoyed staying is the Penthouse Hotel located on nearly Pattayaland Soi 2. Though not a gay hotel (there’s a girl bar downstairs), I’ve never had any kind of problem there with bringing males back to the room. The rooms are like nothing you’ve ever seen - decorated like a sexual fantasy party place. Check out their website for a look.
There are a plethora of go-go boy bars on Pattayaland Soi 3, Soi 1, and Soi 2. One of the most popular and long-running is Boyz Boyz Boyz, which also has a small dance floor.
Other large bars in the Boyztown area include Funny Boys, Toy Boys, and the two called X Boys. There are many others you can check out, just stick your head in the door for a look.
The other area worth checking out in Pattaya is Sunee Plaza, which is within walking distance from Boyztown. Here you’ll find several go-go bars with cute, young dancers, including Eros Boy Bar, Krazy Dragon, Happy Boys, and Euroboys.
The boys in the Sunee Plaza area tend to be smaller and younger than those in Boyztown. (Warning: Sunee Plaza has a longstanding reputation for having some underaged boys working in bars and on the streets. Checking I.D. to make sure the boy is at least 18 is highly recommended!)
A popular daytime activity for gays in Pattaya is going to the gay beach, which is not located in Pattaya itself but in nearby Jomtien Beach. It’s a short 5-10 minute ride in one of the songthaews (the pickup trucks with benches in the rear used for taxis in Thailand) parked on the main road near Boyztown.
When you can see the beach or sea straight ahead you’re there. Just get off and walk to the right along the beach for about 100 meters when you’ll notice all the customers in the area are males. You can cheaply rent a chair with beach umbrella for the day, and order food and drinks off menus from nearby restaurants. There will also be vendors coming by selling everything imaginable. You can even get a massage on the beach.
It’s quite nice to just lounge around in the beach chair for as long as you like, checking out the scenery. Most of the boys here are either go-go boys or freelancing money boys. I highly recommend settling on a price for his services before taking anyone back to your room.
The Jomtien Beach area also has some gay venues - places to stay, bars, and massage places. There are a bunch of gay massage venues in Pattaya, and you’ll see them in any of the gay areas.
The more recent additions to the Pattaya gay scene is a gay sauna and several gay discos. The sauna is called Sansuk Sauna and is located between Pattaya and Jomtien Beach. It is reportedly busy in the late afternoon when people leave the beach.
The gay discos include NAB Men Club, Dave Man Club, X-Ray Man Club, and Idol Club. All of these have cute coyote dancers (which may be available for taking “off”). These are the places where you are most likely to meet regular Thais who are not money boys, though there are also some money boys and off-duty go-go boys in the crowd.
Pattaya is very cruisy for gays, and you can easily meet gay Thais just about anywhere - in the shopping centers, on the streets, and along Pattaya Beach.
It’s all very well asking a boy for his ID (easily faked) but unless you know the Thai year, you may not be certain of his age. It’s 2558 here and that lasts until Thai new year in April 2016. So someone 18 or older will have to have been born in 2540 or before.
It’s best not to visit during the low season, which is just ending now in September, as many of the bars close because of a lack of customers or have very few boys on stage for the same reason. Come in the northern winter.
Chairs and beach umbrellas are NOT available for rent on Wednesdays.
The Dave Club closed a long time ago.