Hi wowpow,
I can share some comments, but I don't know the answers to all your points.
I don't know the ancient history of how gay bars developed in Thailand, however, like any country/culture, the gay culture is as long as history itself.
But I do know that many Thais see gay bars as 'boy bars' rather than specifically 'gay bars', which is the label that we farang would of course mostly use. In fact I' have occasionally heard Thai owners use this explanation when they have angry farang who perhaps offed a boy then discovered the boy is not Gay (Gay as in the western context.)
Today, in most of the bigger / medium size Thai country cities, there are very discreet places where boys are available. No signs, never will be, so you have to know a local who is familiar with whats happening in each of these places.
Twenty years back Chiang Mai had many tiny go go venues, maybe as many as 15 venues. Korat had several, also Udon Thani and Suko Thai.
I'm not so sure that "....the difficulties of getting a liquor license and a dancing license...." is all that relevant.
My understanding is that places with singers has a very long history, with both boy and girl singers, both the boys and the girls available to either male or female customers. From my understanding this goes back decades before go go bars.
In fact this makes me recall a go go bar about 150 metres past what is now 'Nature Boy'. It closed many years ago, but for many years they had a mix of boys and girls dancing. (M & F dancing together, rather than a boy session, then a girl session), typical go go bar format. Mostly Thai customers, male and female, male customers not embarrased about asking for a boy to sit down, etc. Mostly very masculine boys, maybe 20 to late twenties age group. I have good memories from taking boys from this place.
You prabaly know that there are many women only (female customers only)venues in Bangkok (probably also in places like Phuket, Korat, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hat Yai, etc., also.), with many handsome waiters who are available. Customers are 99.9% Thai women, mostly very successful outgoing business women.
There was such a venue under the Ambassador hotel for many years, maybe still operates, I don't know.
Also same type of venue under an older hotel in Sukhumvit road just past Emporium, This place owned by a very wealthy Thai business woman, made a huge fortune decades back. Gatoey customers not allowed to enter. Owner is a tough woman, her husband also very successful business man. I went to their home in Bkk several times for business meetings (different type of business), maybe 15 / 18 years ago. Several teenage children at the house, also always several minor wives of the husband, and the wife always had three or four waiters from her club at her home, waiters always dressed in black formal pants but no shirt. My understanding is that these venues are not go go venues, but some have short time periods when the waiters take off their shirts.
I can recall the name 'sea-hag' from years ago, but I can't recall ever visiting the place.
'Twilight' was always sleaze palace, even more so years back, when the bar was small and across the corner where the drinks are poured now, with a small stage behind the drinks preparation area, with the rest of the room basically an open space, with lost of sleaze activity.
For a while the dancing activity was only on the small stage, behind the bar, then they added a small round low stage area around one of the central columns supporting the building, from memory this was located in the middle of the room. Boys danced naked in a small circle, with lots of groping from customers.
'Chardonnay' is much more recent history, but now closed for several years. Many people believed that the word Chardonnay was a clever 'cover up' of the words 'hard on' (c HARDON nay).
This reminds me of the original 'Super A', for many years on ground level under the current location. Quite big room, lots of extemely girlie layboys but some hot masculine boys, also a sleaze palace. Common to see the masculine working boys sitting in the customer area fucking ladyboys. In those days condons were not used.
The bar was the whole length of one side of the room. Often there would be many boys sitting on the bar, naked, with customers sucking them. This place had short time rooms at the back, probably the dirtiest short time rooms in the whole world.
Yes, I went to Rome Club in it's earlier history. You could occasionally pick up genuine young Thai gay men who were looking for adventure, not money, and of course there were money boy freelancers. In that era Rome club did some advertising as a gay venue, but the majority of the crowd was mixed, mostly farang tourists. As you might know, the farang owner of Rome club, at one point, supposedly said some very negative things about gays and did a lot of damage to his business. After that incident Rome lost a large number of customers, then the owner seemed to institute a strong arrogance working style in his staff. Extreme arrrogance and rudeness from Thai staff at the entrance door was common. Like many farang locals I stopped going there. Eventually the place changed hands.
From memory, 25 years back the exchange rate was about 35Baht to the dollar, however if I recall correctly there was a time period when the rate was fixed at 25Baht to the dollar. My memory not too strong on this point.
25 years back the number of overall gay farang customers at go go venues was much less than in recent years.
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