chiang mai gay listings

The "Rose of the North" and the second largest city in Thailand, and a pleasant change of pace from Bangkok. The gay nightlife is not as prolific as that found in Bangkok or Pattaya, but there is an interesting variety of venues, and for many people it is the quality of venues not the quantity that counts the friendliness and charm of the locals more than makes up for the smaller scene size!

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.

If you know of a gay venue that is not listed here, or have some comments on a venue, send me some email or feedback.