Chiang Mai – High Season is coming
By David Edwards

Thai Students carrying their kratong in the parade. [Source: Courtesy asiacoop.com]
November sees the return of many winter birders significantly swelling the gay ex-pat population and, along with flocks of tourists and swarming digital nomads, the city becomes noticeably busier. Those gay businesses that survived the low season become lively party venues with the influx of customers.

Floating Khratongs on the Ping River in Chiang mai [Source: John Shedrick CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons]
One of the highlights of November is three day Loy Khratong festival at the full moon of the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar. Kratongs, small banana leaf floats holding candles and incense, are set adrift on rivers and waterways all over Thailand. With the Kratong bad luck floats away. The ritual also appeases the goddess of water. It’s a beautiful sight to see hundreds of little lights drifting along the river. Fireworks are also used in abundance during the celebrations and, In Chiang Mai, Kom Loy fire lanterns are launched everywhere. Although in recent years the authorities have tried to restrict the practice. Loy Khratong in Chiang Mai is also known by its Lanna name of Yi Peng and in 2018 takes place from 21-23 November.
Gay visitors to Chiang Mai during Loy Khratong should also check out the parades and beauty contests. Various colleges and organisation carry their kratongs around Thapae gate and Thapare road, providing a veritable feast of handsome shirtless young men clad in traditional Lanna costumes. A good place to experience Loy Khratong is Club One Seven (www.clubonesevenchiangmai.com), Chiang Mai’s premier gay sauna which has an ideal vantage point right on the banks of the Ping River a little south of the city centre. Club One Seven is also a gay guest house and a great place to stay when visiting Chiang Mai.
For gay visitors, the nightife scene has two main components: beer bars around the Night Bazaar area and “Gay Soi 6”, or a few male go-go bars situated in the cities northern suburb of Chang Puek. There are also several gay massage shops around the city and two gay saunas.
In the Chang Klan area to the south of the Night Bazaar you can now find three gay massage shops. His Club, once a well know massage shop in Chiang Mai close to Club One Seven, has re-opened after being closed for some time. Maya massage (By the former owner of 69 Club and Bar 69) is off Chang Klan road near the Empress Hotel and a brand new massage called Apollo has opened on Rakang Rd.

Attractive Massage Boys at Apollo Chiang Mai [Source apollomassage.net]
If you want a massage near the Night Bazaar Classic House, another long running and well run business is a good option, or you can try the New Diamond House. Both are situated in back lanes between Kampang Din Road and Thapae Gate.
In Chang Puek district, visitors shouldn’t miss Chiang Mai’s legendary Go-Go bar Adam’s Apple Club which has been entertaining visitors with its sexy and erotic show for several decades. The other go-go bars Circle Pub and New May Way have a more Thai oriented clientele. For a massage in Chang Puek district, Common massage (close to New My Way) is highly suggested and has a great selection of masseurs, or there is Marn Mai Massage too.
Foreigners visiting Chiang Mai often don’t realise few if any guys working in Go-Go bars, massage shops or beer bars are actually Thai. Many are refugees from nearby Burma (Myanmar) as well as increasing numbers of Laos and Cambodian boys. The majority come from the Shan state, the South Eastern part of Burma bordering Thailand, Laos and China. Ethnically the Shan people are part of the Tai group which has origins spreading from Yunnan province in China. They are also known as Tai Yai (Meaning Big Tai). They Speak their own language, Shan, and have a rich culture which is quite different to Thai. They seem more muscular, with harder more masculine facial features when compared with the softer, sometimes almost effeminate appearance of the classic Northern Thai male.

Shan People in traditional dress at a local festival in Chiang Mai province [Source: Mr Tee]
Their persecution doesn’t end here as they are tolerated but not welcomed or appreciated by the Thai authorities. A source of cheap labour for Chiang Mai’s virulent construction industry, many are paid only 150 Bt (less than $5) for a day’s hard labour. No wonder scores of young Shan males try to make a living in Chiang Mai’s gay bars. Sometimes just to pay dues to various Shan Mafiosi to remain in Thailand. Few speak any English so it’s hard to ask those you meet in the bars about their backgrounds and personal stories, many of which are quite horrific. Nevertheless, the Shan are some of the nicest people you will meet in Thailand.

Shan Boys from Chiang Mai’s Legendary Go-Go Bar Adam’s Apple Club [source: www.adamsappleclub.com]
Fo further news and information about gay Chiang Mai can always be found at www.gayinchiangmai.com/News/