Quote:
Originally Posted by sextile
I know that it's bad logic to argue from the particular to the general, but while SILOM SHOPPING COMPLEX PLAZA was OPEN during the C'mas. Season I wasn't the only farang to comment on the apparent lack of other & visiting farangs - our Thai acquaintances said so, too.
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You might well be right with your observation regarding Silom Shopping Complex, Khun Sextile, but keep in mind that many new shopping malls have been built all over Bangkok. Toilet cruising aside, I suppose, Silom Shopping Complex couldn't really compete with most of these. Many of my Western gay friends still frequent Silom's and Sathorn's gay venues like the ones I've mentioned, but for shopping, they are quite literally all over town nowadays.
I'm not convinced that the overall number of Western gay tourists coming to Bangkok is in decline, but I agree that it's hard to know and it can be misleading to try to generalize from friends' reports.
What I'm quite sure about and what has been discussed many times, however, is that their cruising and dating behavior has been changing significantly within just a couple of years.
When I moved to Bangkok some six years ago, and before when I had still been a visitor myself, most fellow
farang on GayRomeo were young-ish expats and visitors. Now you see guys of all ages looking for online hook-ups, including some
mature friends of mine from my lovely home country.
So I do understand the decline seen in go-go bars and similar places, as many visitors chat with Thai guys before they even come to Thailand and make private arrangements to meet them, without using a bar to facilitate it.