Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [138]
Cheap Charlie’s The name says it all.
Coyote on Convent Free margarita nights make this a cheap outing for fans of the cocktail.
Phranakorn Bar Any place where Thai uni students hang out will probably also fit your budget.
Raintree Order a large Singha and nurse it through as many live songs as you can.
Wong’s Place (opposite) Even if it’s self-service you still have to pay, but the prices aren’t high.
* * *
* * *
GAY & LESBIAN BANGKOK Grégoire Glachant
Bangkok has a notoriously pink vibe to it. From kinky male-underwear shops mushrooming at street corners to heaving nightclubs, as a gay man, you could eat, shop and play here for weeks without ever leaving the comfort of gay-friendly venues. Unlike elsewhere in Southeast Asia, homosexuality is not criminalised in Thailand and the general attitude remains extremely laissez-faire. But beneath the party vibe, serious issues remain for Bangkok’s vast and visible population of lesbian, gays, bis and transgenders (LGBTs). After the government’s initial success slowing the progression of HIV among the general population, there are new signs of an epidemic among young gay men. Transgenders are often treated as outcasts, same-sex couples enjoy no legal rights and lesbians have the added burden of negotiating a patriarchal society. In short, Bangkok’s LGBTs may party as they please, sleep with whomever they want or even change sex, but they do so without the protection, respect and rights enjoyed by heterosexuals – particularly heterosexual men.
Issues aside, Bangkok’s gay scene is as vast and sprawling as the city itself. Unfortunately, the city’s lesbian scene is microscopic. It’s currently limited to two establishments on Royal City Ave (RCA): the long-standing Zeta (Map; 0 2211 1060; 29 Royal City Ave (RCA), off Th Phra Ram IX, Greater Bangkok; admission free; 8pm-2am; Phra Ram 9 exit 3 & taxi) and relative newcomer E-Fun (Map; www.efunbangkok.com; 21/135-136 Royal City Ave (RCA), off Th Phra Ram IX, Greater Bangkok; admission free; 8pm-2am; Phra Ram 9 exit 3 & taxi).
Utopia, the well-known gay-information provider, publishes the Utopia Guide to Thailand, covering gay-friendly businesses in 18 Thai cities, including Bangkok. Its website, www.utopia-asia.com, is also a good, if slightly outdated source of information. More up-to-date listings and events can be found at www.fridae.com. For news on Bangkok’s lesbian scene, check out www.bangkoklesbian.com. Both gays and lesbians are well advised to visit Bangkok in mid-November when the city’s small but fun Pride Festival (www.bangkokpride.org) is in full swing. Dinners, cruises, clubbing and contests are the order of the week.
Silom
Silom is perhaps the biggest and most diverse ‘gaybourhood’. Its offerings range from massage parlours and boy bars with in-your-face sex shows in nearby Soi Pratuchai (also known as Soi Twilight) to the chill terraces of Soi 4 and the booming house beats of Soi 2.
Telephone Pub (Map; 0 2234 3279; www.telephonepub.com; 114/11-13 Soi 4, Th Silom; 6pm-1am; Si Lom exit 2; Sala Daeng exit 1) Telephone is famous for the phones that used to sit on every table, allowing you to ring up that hottie sitting across the room. Its popularity remains even if most of the phones are gone. The clientele is mostly 30-and-above white men with their Thai ‘friends’.
DJ Station (Map; 0 2266 4029; www.dj-station.com; 8/6-8 Soi 2, Th Silom; admission 200B; 10.30pm-late; Si Lom exit 2; Sala Daeng exit 3) Soi 2 is a covered alley packed with bars. At the end of the soi you’ll find DJ Station, where everyone from freelancing money boys to Australian flight attendants, Singaporean weekenders and expats with rice fever all dance and drink to your typical gay-club house music.
Ratchada
Thais have their own way of partying. Bring friends (three minimum), get a table, order whisky and mixers and get drunk fast – pubs close at 1am. That means you can’t stroll into Ratchada, prop yourself up at the counter and order a beer – well, you could, but you’d be the only