Gay saunas general observations and thoughts

Gay saunas general observations and thoughts

Based on about 200 visits over 3 years to all gay saunas that currently exist in Bangkok.

Few attractive boys in saunas

In saunas, there are few or no boys I find attractive, compared to life outside. Why is that? It might be the poor light, it might be that I like straight boys, it might be that I prefer 18-25 year olds, who probably don’t have the money and time to go to a sauna.

But most important: If you are handsome, you don’t have to go to sauna, you get offers for free or paid sex all around! Handsome boys don’t have to spend time and money to go to a sauna, they will have other boys coming to a place of their choice at a time of their choice. (Assuming my standards for handsome are shared by many, that would explain lack of handsome boys in sauna.)

Most saunas are full of 40 year olds, but few 20 year olds. Considering there are as many 20 year olds as 40 year olds, and the 20 year olds have a higher sex drive, where do they go for sex?

Critical mass and turnover

A sauna needs a critical mass (or better volume, area, customer number). If there are 10 customers, you walk through once, and then boredom sets in. Some places have internet, then I can at least surf the internet and after half an hour check again (my mode of operation in Seed).

Big saunas like Babylon or Farose don’t have this problem. In Farose, I once met a Farang friend by chance, both of us have been there for over an hour, but it took one hour until our paths crossed!

This leads to "one more round". You could meet the boy of your dreams on the last round in these big saunas. And then another "last round" and another.

Let’s say a sauna has 100 customers and a turnover of 50 customers per hour. That means you walk through in 10 minutes and have a look at the 100 customers. Then you would have to wait for 2 hours to see 100 other customers. That’s why I now often go to 2 and sometimes even 3 places in one night (if location permits and time is right), in and out in under 30 minutes if there is nothing for me instead of wasting my time waiting.

Moods in Seed

Seed is special in not having private rooms, all activity has to take place in dark room where everyone has access. Over my many visits to Seed, I noticed there are 3 moods:

1. Everyone is walking around and waiting for something to happen.

2. Couples are active in dark room, but don't want anyone to join. (Sometimes they even lock themselves in the bathroom.)

3. Group orgies in darkroom, everyone can join and touch, suck, wank, fuck within reason.

It's a matter of luck (or waiting long time) which mood it is.

Light in gay saunas

All gay saunas I visited ranged from barely acceptable to too dark. Frequent change from well lit (computer or porn) to poorly lit areas is not just an inconvenience, but a health risk as well (eye strain = asthenopia).  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenopia

The eye slowly adapts to low level of light. People who are in a darkroom can see who enters, whereas those who enter cannot see yet who is in the darkroom.

Science note:

The human eye has extreme sensitivity to light, after about 20 minutes of adaptation in absolute darkness, it can detect flashes caused by single alpha particles on a fluorescent screen. This is demonstrated in a Spinthariscope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinthariscope

Adaptation to darkness is a slow process, adaptation to light is fast. Certain types of lighting can be detrimental to adaptation and overall decrease visibility (i.e. one could see better without the light): flashing lights (Macho Sauna), bright spot light (like the lights on the stairs in Phahon Cinema, the brightness prevents adaptation, but it doesn’t illuminate the area much), stray light rays (Seed had some stray light rays from road in their dark rooms).

Related observation:
When I was in the army, I had night patrol with a boy from Berlin. He pointed out that there are so many stars in the sky. I thought he is gay, but a year later when I studied in Berlin and noticed he is right: due to electrical light everywhere, your eyes don't adapt to darkness and there is light pollution and you can see only few stars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution 

Entry prices
Some places have one price throughout, others separate prices for weekdays and weekend, time of the day (or rather night) and some have lower prices for young customers or higher prices for old customers (bordering on ageism in R3 sauna where over 50 year olds pay double price). Lowest entry price is 100 Baht (M-Place and Seed), highest 230 Baht (Babylon and Chakran).

Types of rejection

Occasionally I come across an arrogant asshole, look at him invitingly and he will look back as if I had insulted his mother. Touch him and he will look back “if looks could kill” (not that that would prevent me from doing it again, I enjoy annoying arrogant assholes and hypocrites). Might not be polite, but at least it’s quick and clear.

Then there are boys who ignore my advances. Not a clear rejection, might be just shy and I wasted a lot of time pursuing them. I had one case of a boy in Farose 2 this year, our paths crossed later in the locker room, and he told me he is interested, but not in presence of his friends.

Walking away is a clearer sign of rejection, however it might not be clear if he wants you to follow to a room. I had such a case in 2013 in Babylon sauna, a boy who didn’t give a clear signal, but after I followed him for a while we ended up in a room, and he became my favorite boy for a year from there on.

And then there are other customers who do not understand the signals. Sometimes I am the subject of a customer who does not understand I am not interested, but usually a polite but firm "no" or shaking my head is sufficient. But in Vietnam (Saigon and Hanoi), I had a few cases where I had to flee the sauna to escape some particularly persistent customers.

Thoughts on gay saunas by fuelmix / fuel injected male

worth a read:

http://fuel-injected-male.blogspot.hk/2015/12/hkg-gay-saunas-hidden-costs.html

http://fuel-injected-male.blogspot.com/2016/03/hkg-gay-saunas-hidden-costs-2.html

http://fuel-injected-male.blogspot.com/2015/12/asian-cities-gay-sauna-reviews.html

http://fuel-injected-male.blogspot.com/2016/01/gay-blackmail-in-hong-kong-4.html (scroll down to Why The Gay Saunas Win Most Of The Time, although the rest is interesting, too)

To Why The Gay Saunas Win Most Of The Time I would add: 

There is little talk in saunas. When I observe Thai boys elsewhere, often foul language puts me of. People in saunas don't wear cosmetics. When I observe Thai boys elsewhere, cosmetics put me off (a problem with gay boys, but not with straight boys).

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