Gay Sauna Bangkok, Your Best Review

Review Babylon Gay Sauna Bangkok - Often considered the world’s most beautiful gay sauna.

The Babylon Gay Sauna Bangkok is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the city.

The Babylon sauna opened in 1987, and moved to its current location in 2000. I personally liked the original sauna’s layout and decor a bit more, but the new facility is nothing to sneeze at. It’s a little more modern-looking, but still has an exotic Thai look to it.

Located off Sathorn soi 1, it’s just down the soi from the original location. To the right of the main entrance is the Babylon Bangkok Bed and Breakfast Gay Hotel, and an outdoor cafe.

Now open from 10:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m., as you enter the sauna you pay the 230 baht entrance fee (260 on the weekends). This fee includes everything except any food, drinks, or souvenirs you purchase inside. Any time you purchase any of these extras, just show the staff your locker number and they’ll add it to your tab, which you settle upon exiting the sauna. Free safety deposit boxes are available for your valuables.

You are given a key to your locker which is located on the second floor. Inside you’ll find a couple of towels, a condom and some lube.

The second floor of this first building has some computers to use for a small fee, some newspapers and magazines, showers, and a darkened cruise area with small rooms that lock. You can also book a massage here, the parlour being on the third floor. The second floor also has a cafe that serves meals and some desserts, and plays either gay-themed or award-winning movies.

Downstairs you’ll find a nice gym and pool area surrounded by exotic plants and trees. There are also four sphinxes and some Egyptian decor at the far end of the pool. A bar is available at poolside where you can order various drinks including fruit smoothies, cappuccino, and alcoholic beverages. They also have a few desserts.

You’ll find most of the Babylon staff friendly, fun, and cute. Don’t hesitate to be friendly, or even joke with them. However, they are not there to be picked up, and many of them are straight.

Near the pool area is a steam room and dry sauna, and some more showers. The steam room is large, quite dark (especially as you move away from the door), and gets a lot of action. The pathway makes a circle, so you can cruise around and around if you like.

About 5 p.m. the second section opens, including the downstairs restaurant. Special entrees are available and on display every day, plus the regular items on the menu. The excellent desserts change every day and are also displayed.

The second section includes a nice courtyard with exotic plants and a bar, another dry sauna and steam room, and some more showers. This second steam room is in a horseshoe shape with two doors, and gets a whole lot of action, especially towards the back which is almost pitch black. Between these doors is a jacuzzi, where playing around also takes place.

Upstairs in the second section is a cruising area with private rooms, and later they open another section with darkened mazes for cruising. This upstairs area plays the best music in the house, with mostly exotic, mystical or New Age sounds coming from the speakers. I’ve even heard Buddhist monks chanting here.

The Babylon sauna has occasional foam parties scheduled which are a lot of fun. On these nights it gets a lot more cute, young Asians - both Thais and tourists from places like Singapore. The foam is in the courtyard area, and starts in the early evening with dance club music being played in the area.

While the Babylon facility is excellent and a lot of fun, the crowd is not as cute or young as it was 10 or 15 years ago. When I first moved to Bangkok in 1999 there were lots of young Thais at Babylon on the weekends. These days it tends to attract more older Western tourists and fewer youngish Thais.

In Bangkok gay saunas are generally places where regular Thais go to have fun and play around. Most of the Thais here are not money boys, though there are a few. Any place that is frequented by Western tourists will attract some money boys.

Babylon is busiest in the evening, starting around 7 p.m. until closing time. However, there are a few people there even in the early afternoon, and you might find someone you like to hook up with.

The Babylon Gay Sauna Bangkok is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the city, if only to see the facility itself.