CHIANG MAI THAILAND TRAVEL REPORT
"I did my homework before coming here, and it paid. It's true what many boards are saying about Chiang Mai: don't come here for the girls. But CM is a nice city, with friendly atmosphere, a relatively balanced climate and has lots of things to do - especially if it comes to Spa'ing/Health, eco-trekking, Yoga, massage & Thai cooking classes etc. - that it is well worth a visit, and for 1-2 weeks, there is enough of a p4p scene to avoid drying out. Even though - it might be advisable to pick a nice beer bar girl and let her join you permanently during your stay (or at least get her number) if you want to be sure to have fun every day.
I've lost my interest in writing long reports, and just focus on the main spots, along with a few anecdotes of my visit.
BARS
I'd estimate that there are at least 50 bars targeting farangs spread around the city, which sounds like a lot - but many of them are very, very small, and some of them are even closed during low season or just having 1 girl working during that time. Apart from that, the bar spots are spread around the city, though most are located near Thapae Gate.
If I speak of 'bars', this is nothing like you see in Nana Plaza, its beer bars.
Go-go Bars
There are only 3 Go-go bars in Chiang Mai - if this term is accurate, which is questionable... there is no nudity at all, not even tits. What you see is in fact table dancing, and some of the girls might be fully dressed (Spotlight) or wearing bikinis (the standard in 'Foxy Lady'). I've not been in StarXix, because they demand a cover charge, and call me a Cheap Charlie, but I'm not into paying in advance for a 'product' I don't know.
Spotlight
Visiting Spotlight can IMO only be justified during Happy Hours (7-9pm, 70B drinks). During my first visit, I couldn't avoid yawning several times; some of the girls weren't dancing at all, most of them chubby or even ugly, music from the 70's. The 2nd time was much different; I just used the spot to start into the evening. At my 3rd visit (it was later, maybe that was the reason, or some of them already had some lady drinks - as we know, crap offerings don't keep many men from paying) the girls seemed to be a bit more awake, so it was more bearable yet there were even some nice moments. One of them was when a girl I had built some rapport with during my previous visits virtually jumped at me from the table when she spotted me, asking me right away 'You want boom-boom me?', followed by heavy flirting from up there. Nice! But when she came down to me after dancing, my prick soon returned into 'standby' mode when she asked me for 1500 ST and 2500 LT. Thank you very much! She immediately mirrored the expression in my face and went back to some backdoor room where most of the girls hide if they are not dancing (the bar has about 20 girls). The only way to get them out of their state of sleepy trance or this room seems to be by buying lady drinks.
On a side note - this place formerly had 3 (three) Mamasans, and since my last visit in CM, one has left and is now the Mamasan in
Foxy Lady
Probably that's the reason why Starlight has gone downhill since then, while Foxy Lady was definitely nice to hang out at (Happy Hours 8-10pm, 60B drinks). The bar has a more modern look, the music is good and they play sexy dancing videos on a huge monitor (so if you don't like the girls, you can still stare at the wall there). There are fewer girls than in Starlight, but some of them I'd even call stunners - some really gorgeous ones in there! However, they seem to be tough and pampered material - the relatively limited scene in Chiang Mai seems to have created an atmosphere, where men seem to have to accept that even if a man buys a lady drink, she is flirting, leaving for dancing or even sitting with other men for a while (who will also buy her lady drinks), so it's really "paying for attention" here. I didn't even bother to ask for their prices, but would guess that what I'd call shameless for the looks of the 'Spotlight' girls might be the standard or even base price here. However, at sitting with a 60B beer, there's not much of a loss, and for me as someone who loves to dance - some of these girls can really move their bodies, and it's a pleasure to watch. For adventurous guys, there are also a few older girls, and some mutants with giant tits, strangely looking noses (surgery) and some staff girls of unknown status.
Beer Bars
'Beer Bar' in Chiang Mai means the same as it does in the rest of Thailand: many girls are coming from the more rural areas (some of them even as far as the Issaan), about half of them have already had a baby, and finally, beer bar girls can be most fun. I have to admit that I realized a dirty phantisy - asking a Beer bar girl to give me a BJ on the toilet - and she did it with dedication (300B damage plus 80B Lady drink before). Beware though, there is a surprisingly high number of girls NOT going out with customers - not very funny should you have bought 1-3 drinks, then want to bar fine her and she declines, telling that she has a daytime job! Happened to me - without me going into the Lady drink trap, luckily! Turned out the (gorgeous, white-skinned, affectionate, 20yo) girl works for an insurance company during daytime and just hangs out at the bar for 2-3 hours after work every day to get some additional income from the drinks! Great game and a quality sign of Chiang Mai University, one has to admit.
Beer bars primarily center around 3 spots in town: (1) at the corner of the moat and Loi Kroh Road, (2) further down Loi Kroh Road at the right, before getting to Duwantawan Hotel, (3) left of Spicey's (when looking at it). There is also (4) at the back of the Night Bazaar opposite the Foxy Lady-A Go go, but (most of) these bars cater to gays. (5) would be the rest spread around the city, I'd estimate that 20% of the beer bars are just "somewhere out there", and you'll bump into them more by accident than by walking through a dedicated "entertainment area".
Barfines are usually 400B, prices are 500-1000 ST, 1000-1500 LT - negotiate! If the girl likes you and it's not just a business deal settled during 3 minutes, she will go with you for the smaller tip.
DISCOS / NIGHTCLUBS
These are waters a tourist can not expect to dive to the fullest, since it's a totally different game than the straightforward p4p spots, and a number of other variables like 'good' girls just out to have a good time, a different labeling of the spots themselves, one must be able to bear with loud music, and in case the spots known to the tourist crowds it might also mean that you have to work everything out surrounded by plenty of FWC's and backpackers with dreadlocks.
BUBBLES Disco
Close to the Pornping hotel, this is the best-known FL pickup joint and discos in town. Amongst foreigners. That said, I was shocked to see how downhill it went since I've been there 2 years ago - they gave it a new design, and now it's a 'clean' glitzer-place without most of the dark corners where so many dirty things were going on in the old 'Bubbles'. What a shame. To make it worse, when I've been there, 90% of the visitors were the aforementioned tourists - fat, boozed and/or hysterical western women between 25 and 50, and male backpackers, some of them dancing bare feet. While the westerners must have counted 50, I counted 5-maybe 10 Thai girls, of which half of them were probably not even available as they just danced together during all the time and then left.
What proved my theory that this is a dead place now was that they now demand a cover charge of 100B (good for 1 drink though), according to the Thai rule 'if you can't make enough money with a product, make it overprized to piss of the last remaining customers'.
STARXIX
Located in Soi 3A of Loi Kroh road, this disco closes at 12pm. Cute girls (saw them leaving), but double pricing for farangs and I heard of a cover charge. I didn't enter.
HOTSHOTS Club
Next to Bubbles, this is and always was my preferred place - though the frustration rate it holds for a man (especially with limited time in town) is very high. Like Mandalay mentioned below it's a show club, but a bit 'cheaper' so to say, and their shows far from being that professional. Anyway, the fun factor is pretty much okay, and for me, the flirting factor was always high. My experiences range from a girl that in fact picked me up, later she told me that she felt extremely horny since she didn't have sex for months, and always wanted to be fucked by a falang. On the other side of the spectrum were a few extremely hot girls whom I spent hours with (and a couple of drinks for), then finally it turned out that even though we were dancing wildly and even kissing, they 'had to leave' because they have a daytime job and also would not consider it as appropriate to spend the night with a man. Thai logic, but what can you do. My advice would be - just come here if you have nothing to lose - like an evening when you're not hunting anyway, and just want to have a good time with no further goals in mind.
MANDALAY Nightclub
Just round the southeastern corner after Chiang Mai gate, this is one of the most popular spots in the old city area. As it's usually the case with Asian-only venues, it is one of the spots where the finest stuff can be found, but the ratio of 'good' girls and of girls accompanied by their male friends or boyfriends is relatively high, so be in high alert state as to not offending any Thai (probably carrying a knife in his pocket) by flirting with a girl that is 'occupied' or 'protected'. It's a place where it is easy to make friends though, or just to enjoy the shows (dancing, singing,..) for a few hours. During a longer stay, I once had a girlfriend who was a show dancer and singer here, believe me, I had hard times being unable to pick any of the sweeties here.
There is a cover charge of 300B (1 drink free), if you enter with a Thai friend, it might be 'magically' be halved to 150B.
SPICY
Not sure how this venue could be called like.. the billboard says 'restaurant', but in fact that is what it was about 5 years ago, when bargirls were having a night snack after the bars closed. It was an insider's spot, and not many farangs to be seen there. The food was excellent.
These days, the 'restaurant' is closed from 5am-1am (!), and during its opening times, they don't cook anymore. It is THE major Freelancer hotspot in town, now in-house, and the place is STUFFED with people (50:50 foreigners/Thai girl ratio) from the beginning (that is more or less exactly at 2am - indeed, after the bars close) till the end. "End" means, that only a few ugly and a few gorgeous girls (who were gambling too high) are left, just as maybe 50 drunk or frustrated (no hit landed) farang men, and the floor is completely wet and sticky in a daily different mixture of sweat, puke, piss, the content of broken beer bottles and saliva.
So the time one should really focus on is 2am to about 4am. My advice is to quickly find out whether the girl you have an eye on is ready to spend the night with you - the influx of western women and backpackers has resulted in an attraction of the club to curious Thai party girls, who would not let a western man pick them up, but are there for the vibes or to just see what all the rumors are about. But I've also seen very young girls who declined my own advances, but later on, I've seen them walking away with 60yo fat guys, so nothing seems to be impossible.
A few advices: a) wear good shoes - the elephant feet of boozed FWC's can really hurt if you just wear slippers, b) beware of the gay masseurs in the male toilet who watch your dicks while pissing c) always watch your beer bottle: either sly waiters will try to take them away, boozed Russians might throw them from the table or dumb FWC's will grab them d) take refreshment towels with you to wipe off the sweat of boozed men every 20 minutes or so. This is not a place for people suffering from compulsive disorders or social phobias!
Freelancer prices are negotiable, 1500B LT is the going rate. At one time, I took a girl whom I bought 3 drinks or so, due to our wild dancing I lost my camera (by the way: be prepared for pickpockets, and also don't expect that the staff will keep anything you lost there for you), then she fell asleep in the room and just had 1 hour left when she woke up because of a daytime job - she didn't even raise an eyebrow when I just gave her 500B for our short intermezzo. There's really much fantasy in p4p there, so don't expect anything, just go with the flow, but keep your eyes open and your mind functional.
In my opinion, Spicy's has seen its best days. The boss doesn't manage it actively anymore, and when they always disallowed drunks 2 years ago and even nicely replaced bottles which were broken by the western nerds in the club, they even allow them hassle other guests now. Also, the high amount of (partially really disgusting) FWC's in the club is highly annoying. But then, what can they do.. even in Beer bars, FWC's are teaching the girls of how to smoke and doing interviews about the implications of living a life as a (pitiful) prostitute.
Supermarkets etc.
There are reports on the web where people report about picking up university girls or other kinds of freelancers or 'hobby fuckers' in supermarkets, on streets etc. during daytime. In all respect, but this is certainly bullshit. While strolling through supermarkets and on the beach can end up with a girl in a hotel room pretty quickly in Pattaya, Chiang Mai is not at all a whorehouse where every 2nd girl is in the business. Rather it is a city with a high ratio of simply friendly people, and a smile or even a 'daring' smile out of the corners of the eyes doesn't mean that this girl wants to be advanced by you or even asked whether she would like to come to your hotel. This would rather be seen as an offense and very rude/primitive behavior and help to harden the image of falangs as sex-obsessed animals.
As long as you don't live here and know the local customs and borderlines, don't do it and focus on what's readily available to be picked up.
MASSAGE joints / SOAPIES
Chiang Mai is probably the city with most massage venues after Bangkok - but 99% of them just offer straightforward Thai, Oil and foot massage.
But 'dirty' spots offering 'happy endings' and more exist, though the quality is mixed (as anywhere else in Asia). Even for each venue, the experience might differ - when doing my homework and reading some reports on the web, I noticed that every massage/soapy joint had from enthusiastic to very critical reports. So you might just have to check out yourself while not expecting too much - and if things turn bad (overcharging, no reasonably looking girls etc.) you might just want to leave and move on to another place.
Loi Kroh street / Duwantawan Hotel area
It is legitimate to say that most massage joints in this area (starting with Loi Kroh road and reaching down to both crossing streets before and after Duwantawan hotel, to the left and the right from there) offer "happy endings" at least (going rate is 200B for a HJ, 400-500 for a BJ), some of them even short times right in the massage shop (from 500-1000 THB). Hint: walk by and look at the reaction of the masseuses. If you're specifically looking for a ST, note the massage shops that have MORE girls sitting in front of the shop during evening and nighttime. Either you'll be able to fuck the girl right within the shop or can take her out or call her to visit you at your hotel room later.
Phucome Hotel
Forget about the complicated descriptions on various boards. You drive towards 'Doi Suthep' (the great temple on the mountain) and stop right in front of the DUNKIN DONUT (yes they have something like that in Thailand, that's one of the reasons why many Thai girls are so chubby nowadays) shop on the way (easily to be spotted at the left side of the street at a major crossing with traffic lights). Don't enter the Donut shop , but walk LEFT of it, where you will see a sign pointing to Thai massage. You WALK ON, inside the garage there are 2 big signs of "Chiang Mai Body Massage Joint", enter there. Beware of arriving in a Tuk-Tuk or with a motor taxi in the garage, they will see you and you will be set back at least another 500 THB.
The fishbowl as well as the visitor's area look quite seedy, as does the 'guide' (?) who will immediately approach you as you enter the premises. Standard girl (I'd rate them between 4/10 and 6/10) are 1000 THB, "superstars" are 1400 THB or 1800 THB. I was in a donor's mood, and took one of the cuties labeled as "superstars" and sitting outside of the fishbowl. I guess I was doing a mistake by NOT taking the cutie I had already seen in the parking lot (she just arrived at the same time as I did, around 6pm) and who was suggested by the "guide" (guess he gave a too fishy impression to me), but a white-skinned girl named "Orange". But then, who knows.. probably she would have turned out just as lame.
Orange spoke just a bit of English, but understood almost everything. She gave a quite shy impression - not sure why since she was already working there since more than 1 year, she said. Anyway, the washing part (after the lengthy filling up of the bathtub) was very short and superficial, certainly not taking longer than 10 minutes. My parts were touched for just a few seconds. Then, over to the bed - it looked nice (see pic) as did the room: the 'guide' gave me the 'VIP room' (guess what granted me this status .. but don't say supposeable verpayment!). Orange asked me whether I want massage - why not, I thought, after such a long offline state? Well.. the massage consisted of a bit of rubbing my legs and stroking my 'member', she obviously had no skills in massage at all. I asked her for a BJ - just with condom, and she didn't hide her aversion of this part of the game. I had to repeatedly ask her to keep on; otherwise she would have stopped after 20 seconds several times.
Anything else that came after that wasn't much more impressive - she did her job, and I even got her moaning, but it was certainly one of the fucks I would store in the 'boring' category.
Bottom line - she wasn't worth the 1800, rather 1000 or below would have been appropriate for this kind of service. Her body wasn't that impressing either, just her face does the trick of inviting men to pay this kind of money, I think.
Because the whole thing felt rather like a rip-off and she thought she'd get away with her constant signs of resistance, aversion and 'okay?' to move on with to the next station of the game as quickly as possible (so that even though I stretched every part as long as possible, the whole session didn't take longer than 65 minutes instead of the 90 I booked), I will break my rule of not posting any clear girlie-pics for 'Orange' - what a waste of money.
Sayuri
As it always is, Soapies are a matter of luck, like with finding the right words with the pimps at the right time, and picking the right girl of course.
In Sayuri, I had great luck for 3 times, and always left happy: 1 stunner 10/10 - almost over-professional, but gorgeous looks compensated; 2 nice-looking 8/10's - very passionate and great service. Imho, a soapy can't be a replacement for a relaxed boom-boom session with a Freelancer in your own room, but it can be a nice afternoon activity or a discrete option if traveling with the GF/wife.
Sayuri can easily be found by crossing the Nawarat Bridge and then just driving straight, at a crossing with traffic lights you will see a blue billboard pointing to the "Sayuri Complex" at a house to your left. As the arrow suggests, turn left and follow the signs.
Prices are 1000 for a straightforward boom-boom session after a shower, 1300 for a more intense cleaning/rubbing with foam, and 1800 for body massage (you are laying on an air mattress and she'll slide around your body naked).
The girls in the fishbowl (usually about 40 after 6pm, but don't think all of them look doable) are wearing badges with their numbers and a letter: as I think, "M" means "Massage" (only doing massage), "S" supermodel (available for massage and soapy) and "B" means "Body massage" (available for massage, soapy and Body Massage).
None of the girls I was asking was agreeing to meet me overnight. All of them told me that they're happy to get home after work, and are not interested to boom-boom during their days off either - which I understood, when I heard that most of them seem to work from 12am-12pm.
Chiang Mai Hill
Plenty of massage/soapy parlors in the hotels on Chiang Mai Hill (north of the old city), but I've not been there (not enough time). Reports can be found on the web. It might even be the best spot to look for soapies, as there seem to be more venues in a relatively small area."
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai has a striking mountain backdrop, over 300 temples and a quaint historical aura. It's also a modern, friendly, internationally-flavoured city with much to offer the visitor - food, accommodation and shopping are all top quality and cheap, and the nights are relatively cool.
Thailand's second-largest city and the gateway to the country's north was founded in 1296. You can still see the moat that encircled the original city. Doi Suthep, topped by one of Thailand's holiest wats, rises behind the city, providing a dramatic backdrop and fine views of the city. Many flights leave daily from the Bangkok airport and flight time is about 1 hour.
Chiang Mai has a striking mountain backdrop, over 300 temples and a quaint historical aura. It's also a modern, friendly, internationally-flavoured city with much to offer the visitor - food, accommodation and shopping are all top quality and cheap, and the nights are relatively cool.
Thailand's second-largest city and the gateway to the country's north was founded in 1296. You can still see the moat that encircled the original city. Doi Suthep, topped by one of Thailand's holiest wats, rises behind the city, providing a dramatic backdrop and fine views of the city. Many flights leave daily from the Bangkok airport and flight time is about 1 hour.
"There are two so called "must see" sights the visitor to Chiang Mai should tour. The first involves a trip up the winding road to the temple on top of Doi Suthep. The temple is a sight in itself, and it stands on top of a mountain and provides a panoramic view of Chiang Mai. For the adventurous, the trip further up the mountains to the hill tribe village at Doi Pui is worth the rather bumpy ride.
The second main sight is the city's famous night bazaar. From about 7:00 pm on to midnight, Chang Klan road between Tapee and Loh Kroh roads is lined with stalls selling a mix of handicrafts and general goods such as clothing, luggage and jewelery. The night bazaar "proper" is housed in a building about midway along the road. Its mostly more of the same, but you'll find some interesting photography shops here where you can have your picture taken in traditional costume. Its definitely an experience!
Other attractions in Chiang Mai include the Mae Rim valley, which has elephant camps, orchid farms and butterfly ranches. A visit to Chiang Mai also typically includes a trip up Borsang road to visit factories where you can see, and of course purchase, silver, nielo, bronze, leather goods, silk, umbrellas and many other goods.
Chiang Mai is rightly famous for its many ancient temples some of which date from the late 13th century. Its arguably the best place to spend some time examining these places of worship. While the temple on Doi Suthep can be extremely crowded, most of the other temples in and around the city can be relatively deserted."
TRAVEL REPORT
Saturday Walking Street
Held on Saturday evenings, Wualai Road, the main street of the traditional silver village, is closed from where the road starts just outside Chiang Mai Gate up to Tippanet Road. The market is a lower key affair than the Sunday Walking Street market, although the overall flavor is very much the same.
Sunday Walking Street
On Sunday evenings, the street running from just inside the Tapae Gate up to the center of the old city along with some side streets, is closed to traffic. The streets are filled with stalls selling local handicrafts as well as foods of every kind. This market has become something of an institution, although many foreign visitors don't ever know it exists
MARKETS
Interactive Map of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand