Gay facilities in Chiang Mai include hotels and guesthouses, restaurants, some mixed discos, a few bars and many semi-commercial bars (with freelancers or "off-able" waiters) and commercial bars (go-go and host bars). There are also two saunas and many venues offer massage.

The main concentration of gay places is in the north and north-west of the city, off Chang Puak Rd and Huay Kaew Rd, but there are also gay venues in the centre and east of the city within the wall or just outside the east wall (near the Night Bazaar) and a few in more remote areas.

The new social order crackdown that started in Bangkok mid 2001 spread to Chiang Mai in October/November 2001, with many of the go-go bars abandoning go-go and no shows were allowed. A few of the go-go bars were starting to feature shows again but this has again been curtailed mid 2003, and many go-go bars have reverted to host bars or have go-go only occasionally or have other types of shows.

There used to be a row of small open-air gay bars in the right side of the Night Bazaar building, and at various times some of these bars were known to have underage freelancers hanging around. This row of bars has now closed, but new open-air bars have open in two nearby locations - one just accross from the rear of the Night Bazaar building, and one around the Peak climbing wall just to the right of the rear of the Night Bazaar. These new bars have attracted many of the bar owners, patrons and (legal age) freelancers from the old Night Bazaar bars, but not the underage freelancers, and many people claim these bars are now the hightlight of the Chiang Mai scene.

House of Male, Chiang Mai
In the heart of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, there is a gay sauna, fitness and relaxation centre for men, unique in the world for it's friendliness, comfort, ambience, fraternisation and service. Visitors may share the delights of a beautiful tropical garden setting, enjoy swimming laps of the secluded pool, tan in the sun, or just simply enjoy a drink by the pool side whilst meeting and making new friends.

If Phuket Island (Koh Phuket) is the "Pearl of the Andaman Sea", then the Patong Beach area is where it really shines if you are looking for nightlife.

Gay facilities in Phuket include gay and mixed accommodation and restaurants, the (semi-commercial) bars, bar-beers and saunas, and the go-go bars . Most of the bars and bar beers are very friendly places but are not really bars in the usual western sense - expect to be taking one the waiters "off" rather than pairing up with another customer, and expect to "tip" someone you take home, even sometimes from the saunas. Many places also offer "massage", including the saunas and some of the karaoke/bar-beers.

The main concentration of gay venues is in the area in front of the Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong, commonly referred to as the Paradise Complex, but there are some venues in other areas in Patong and elsewhere in Phuket.

James Dean Bar and Guesthouse, Phuket
James Dean Bar is the original actual "gay bar" in Patong Beach, with their opening more than ten years ago. The Guest House is now five years and growing. The bar opened in a simple fashion, the type of bar where you could sit and talk with your friends in a purely social situation, without cabaret shows or other entertainers pursuing the customers.

Blue Dolphin Sauna, Phuket
Dry sauna - Our original Tyl๖-Sauna is directly imported. Who on earth knows more about designing a sauna than the Finnish do? Steambath - You'll hardly get a chance to see it like this! Normally, there is more steam, more people, less light, ... Relax - For sure you will need to relax a bit. Nobody will disturb you in our private rooms.

Aquarius Gay Sauna, Patong, Phuket
Aquarius gay sauna pool and gym, swimming pool, sauna and steam room, jacuzzi, and a 150 m2 big roof top sun deck.

Club One Seven Bed and Breakfast, Patong, Phuket
Club One Seven Bed and Breakfast Phuket has just newly reopened at a new location here in Patong, is strategically and conveniently located just 5 minutes stroll to the beach, boutique galleries, and OTOP Shopping Center. Also, we are easily accessible to Karon and Kata Beach, popular Discos and Bars, Simon Cabaret, and many others where the exciting Patong nightlife has to offer.

Gay Patong
The Gay Scene in Patong is as diverse as it is vibrant, with something somewhere for even the most discerning visitor. Patong Beach is the most famous beach on Phuket Island and has a wide variety of day time activities and a amazing night life. Stay in Patong if you want to be near to exiting gay night life.

Tangmo Club, Phuket
You will be entertained with music, lip-synch, dances and various shows played by many perfectly beautiful transvestite actresses and smart actors. The Tangmo Club has been delighting audiences from around the world of almost 15 years of experience.

Samui is a rapidly growing gay holiday and residential destination. Gay life on Samui is a relaxing, quieter, fun contrast to the exuberant gay life of Bangkok , Pattaya and Phuket. This is why so many Western and Asian gay men and women holiday and live here. Gay bars and clubs are more laid back, open, friendly and accessible.

The gay Thai community here is easy to meet at the gay and mixed venues or simply as you move around your hotel, shop, eat in restaurants, lie on the beach or travel around the island. It is hard to think of a restaurant or hotel on Samui that does not have gay staff. Samui men are handsome, down to earth and tend not to be as flashy as those in the larger gay tourists destinations.

Koh Samui, or Samui island is a popular tourist destination, once described as the straightest place on earth, but there is an increasing number of gay and gay-friendly venues there and of course the "scenery" is spectacular!

Gay facilities in Samui include hotels/guest houses, bars and pubs, discos, and restaurants.

The main concentration of gay places in Samui is around the fashionable and trendy Chaweng Beach area, but there is also some life in some of the other areas on the island.

Gay Beach Not far north out of Chaweng but you need to take a motor bike. From the gate of the 'Coral Bay Resort & Spa' - about 1 km north of Chaweng - go half a km to the fork in the road go to the right (to Cheongmon) for half km. A short walking track goes down to the beach. Not a swimming beach, sand, coral and rocks, no amenities so take water/food - also a bag to take your rubbish back. An easier route is through the Nora Hotel - turn left at the beach and walk for 5 to 10 minutes. Not a busy beach but gay tourists and local gay Thai guys settle into the rocks below the trees to the left for a quiet relaxing time. People are friendly and happy to chat. Western tourists go down in the heat of day but local gay Thai guys go down about 5 pm. Sadly the place is fast changing as land is developed for housing around the area. 

New Gay Beach Located on the south west of the island in the Taling Ngam area. The general area is beautiful and the beach is private ,calm and secure. Off highway 4170 at Ban Taling Nam turn into road through Elephant Gate (route to Le Meridien Hotel) continue to beach just past Wat Kiri Wongkaram and park your vehicles at the small Sala on the beach edge. On the beach turn left and keep walking to the South about 100 meters. You will see the rocks protecting the private beach walk through the rocky outcrop - this small beach is the place - very peaceful. Usually two old fishing boats under the trees. Don't expect to meet anyone there - but who knows.... if not enjoy the view and solitude. Perhaps take in a delicious meal the the Five Island Restaurant close by.

Rainbow-Scuba, Koh Samui
Rainbow-Scuba works with two or three carefully selected dive shops on Koh Samui and Koh Tao. We strive to work with shops which are owned and operated by lesbian, gay or bisexual people. However, where this is not possible for logistical reasons we can always promise our dive shops are 100% gay friendly.

Ruby Red Lounge Bar Part of the Three Gems Project. Chaweng Beach Road opposite the main entrance to the Central Samui Beach Resort. Open daily 5pm to 1am. Gay & Lesbian but also straight friendly. Surely the place to be seen for cool laid back, music and food.

The Amsterdam Bar South Chaweng at the end of the Soi opposite 'Trade Wind Cottages on the Beach'. Open daily 3pm - 2am. Ladyboy cabaret, food, and oil and Thai massage. 

Male Box Samui's latest gay venue - Male Box Bar Disco. Samui's only gay dance club. 

The G Bar Cabaret Bar. Located South Chaweng - Soi Colibri.

Fah Samui Bar The place to relax in & chill out. In Soi Al's Hut opposite Starbucks. Open 10 pm-2 am. Phone +66 (0) 7741 4419 

K Club in Soi Starbucks - just before Solo Bar - has recently been redeveloped comfy and laid back

Home of the famous "Boyz Town" and the equally famous Jomtien Beach is just around the headland and you never know what you may find there, so it is definitely worth a visit if you can drag yourself out of bed before the bars open again!

Gay facilities in Pattaya include hotels/guest houses, a few general bars and mixed discos, restaurants, and commercial venues (go-go bars, bar beers and sauna/massages).

Boyz Town in Pattayaland Soi 3 continues to be the international gay heart of Pattaya, with venues offering known quality and service and this reputation spills over (sometimes undeservedly) into Pattayaland area generaly - Soi 13/3 (Pattayaland Soi 1), Soi 13/4 (Pattayaland Soi 2) and the connecting part of Pattaya 2 Road, making these few blocks the main focus of the scene in Pattaya. There is a reasonable turnover of bars in Pattayaland Soi 1, and it is sometimes easy not to notice that a bar has changed hands, or even that you have changed bars!

Sunee Plaza is  a major gay area .  While some of the open bar beers there actually make an effort and are seen by many as an alternative to the go-go scene, many of the rest of the venues in the area (and some of the customers) seem determined to keep the area downmarket, 

The Day Night area also was trying to reposition itself, but there are still only a handful of venues worth visiting (or listing), and these are scattered along deserted, derelict looking streets. Given the changes required to lift the area to a reasonable level, it will be interesting to see if the area comes to much. Walking Street, while popular with tourists and full of successful girlie bars, seems to be an unsuccessful area for gay venues - they seem to appear and disappear before too many people even notice. The exception seems the be the little oasis at the junction of Soi 14 and 15 with one or two venues that tend to attract a small dedicated following.

Jomtien however does seem to be coming along - it is not just the beach and a handful of after beach bars any more, there is an increasing selection of accommodation and venues in the area, most in or close to Jomtien Complex. The up and coming place to have fun!

There are regular reports of underage guys in bars and working the streets in Pattaya, South Pattaya and Sunee Plaza, and there are also regular reports of foreigners being arrested for sex with people under the legal age. The only sensible advice is do not do anything with anyone under 18 at a bar or elsewhere - always check ID or just walk away

The best time to go to Thailand's beaches is Dec - March, 

apart from peak holiday times.
The worst time to go is probably May - Oct, especially on the Andaman  Coast [heavy rains].

The Gulf  Coast has a much less heavy rains than the west coast but longer, from June - Dec.

Thailand's best overall sightseeing [i.e. non-beaches] time is the cool season, Nov- Feb. Worst is April - Sept, hot and sticky. March -May is the hot season. The rainy season is June - Oct.

The 'curse of the longtails' makes many previously desirable places a pain in the head now. These typical Thailand taxi boats are fitted with unsilenced truck engines, so put 2 or 3 together on water and it sounds like a 747 coming...and going....and coming....
Beaches that are only accessible by boat, or used as a longtail terminal have drone and diesel smell problems. Notably noxious are Krabi and the Phi Phi islands. Hey Mr Thai Environment Minister, put a noise suppressor on them!

This, the west  coast has buckets of rain May-October.

Khao Lak 

An hour's drive north of Phuket airport , this strip of medium-fine yellow sand and clear sea is little developed, with no buildings over two stories and mostly good quality bungalows scattered under the palms and casuarinas [a kind of fir tree] beside the beach.
The beach is winding, narrow in parts and has character, with rocky outcrops and a lovely cluster of stlit bars and restaurants at one end. Waves can be a problem for small children, especially at the start of the season, i.e. December/January.
The bungalows aren't cheap but the location - Andaman Sea on one side, wildlife-rampant rainforest the other, and Thailand's scuba superb Similan islands 64 km offshore makes them worthwhile.
Tour groups haven't got here yet, tho' plenty of North Europeans have.
The one horse town of Khao Lak provides basic shops and restaurants. Best time Nov-March, but showers may happen anytime.

Phuket Island beaches

best time Nov-March. Worst May-Oct

Phuket is one of the world's most famous international resort islands. It is the largest, the most expensive and the most touristy of all Thailand's islands, with busy sand and an international airport.
Patong beach is particularly crowded and unpleasantly pushy, but comfortable, quiet beaches do exist here, mainly far NW or far SW:
- Nai Harn beach, SW Phuket - for those with money, this beach is quiet, clean, safe, pretty and has 2 hotels. The superb Le Meridien [Phuket Yacht Club], and less expensive Nai Harn Resort. Big waves in December.
- *[Bugbog's choice] Nai Thon beach, NW - very, very quiet, just a couple of simple bars/ restaurants/ hotels, but wonderful squeaky white sand, clear water, no boats, few cars, no package people, no clubs and an adjacent nature reserve. Romantic! Big waves in December.
- Mai Khao beach, NW - if you're looking for real solitude try the least visited, hugely long Mai Khao Beach, turtle hatching area [Nov-Jan, waves permitting]. Medium grain yellow sand, clear water, big waves in December. Only one little bungalow operation in 13km, under the trees and run by a friendly family, no air con.

Ko [island] Phi Phi Donand Ko Phi Phi Leh 

A hidden tropical paradise until the movie 'The Beach' was filmed there, now another Thailand tourist mecca, the Phi Phi islands have turquoise water, white sand and palm trees, and 1 million visitors a year in a tiny area.
The infrastructure cannot support the numbers, though judging by the building debris lying around the cramped new bungalows on Phi Phi Don the owners of the islands are trying to host the world.
Facilities like power and sewage are unreliable, rubbish litters the ground, coral is dying and perfect isolation? Hah!
However, if you stay well away from noisy, frantic Ton Sai bay - the transport hub - even just across the neck at Loh Dulum bay, you will get some serenity, lovely sand, turquoise water and those sensational views.
Phi Phi Leh is half an hour by boat, has no accomodation at all, but still suffers the 'Curse of the Longtails' - noisy boats packed in the bays, awaiting their tourists.
Day trips by boat from Phuket are also popular. Best Dec-March.

West Railay, the Krabi Coast 

Accessible from Ao [bay] Nang in a few minutes by longtail boat, West Railay is stunningly pretty, has restrained developement, reasonable prices, soft white sand and clear water, tho' longtail taxis park there, cluttering the view, impeding swimming and not helping the water purity. Still, it's better than paying the extortionate prices at Thailand's Rayavadee Premier on the next beach - Laem Phra Nang - and still getting the longtails and their day trippers cluttering up the beach. Best Dec-March.

Khlong Dao and Phra-Ae beaches, Ko Lanta island .

Ko Lanta is a relatively new resort island in Thailand, with a winning combination of big, soft, sandy beaches on the upper west side, calm clear waters, relaxed locals and cheap accommodation, though the road running down the centre is an unnattractive mess. Beaches are only accessible via hotels.
The longest and the most popular beach is Khlong Dao - where the best hotels are [Bugbog's favourite was Lanta Villas] , but Ao Phra-Ae [Long Beach], 2km south, has a more placid atmosphere.The further south you go the cheaper the 'hotels' get and the worse the beaches. Best Dec-March.

Ko Tarutao National Marine Park, Ko Tarutao.

Ko Tarutao National Marine Park is a natural beauty, with about 50 mostly inhabited islands. The beaches in the park are considered the least spoilt and the most magnificent of all Thailand's beaches. Some simple accommodation can be found at Pak Bara on the mainland, or three bigger islands [Ko Tarutao, Ko Adang, and Ko Lipe] have bungalows and restaurants.
The park is closed mid-May to mid-November, due to the rains. Best Dec-March.

Hat Farang, Ko Mook

Ko Mook, known for its Emerald Cave, is popular with budget travelers and not commercial yet. The island's best beach is Hat Farang, extremely peaceful, with excellent swimming, snorkelling, and perfect for sunset slumping. Best Dec-March

A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO AMAZING GAY THAILAND - THE LAND OF SMILES

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