'The sex which goes on there is group sex in dark rooms, or people are busily swapping partners, like in the movies.'
So says Joe, 23, a patron of gay saunas, who spoke to Kom Chad Leuk newspaper in a second piece on the peril of gay saunas in Bangkok.
He says gays who use such places do not worry too much about protection, as they just want sex. One man who likes another will give him the look. If the other man is interested, he will signal with his eyes that they should meet in the sauna. An eye signal is also enough for each man to know which is the gay king and which is the gay queen.
Gay saunas in Saphan Kwai, Pin Khlao, Ratachada, Silom and Sukhumvit come to life at 2am, after other nightspots have closed. Regulars get to hear about discount offers, parties and other crowd-pullers at Bangkok gay saunas by word of mouth, or on webboards.
'At first I thought I would go out to a normal place, but someone invited me to visit a gay sauna. The sight of all those people having gay sex, of men wearing nothing but a towel. Add to that the fact that often you have been drinking. The temptation is too hard to resist. You have to have sex.
'Some places have condoms and gel, other do not. Some forbid patrons taking anything in with them, because they sell condoms on the premises ...but the price is through the roof.
'You don't have time to think. These people are having wild group sex...you just follow what everyone else is doing.'
The entry fee can be as low as 99 baht, but some places offer discounts...down to 69 baht for 23 to 25 year-olds, while customers under 23 get in free. All have similar rules...staff count the number of patrons entering the doors, and hand out a locker key, where patrons go to get a large towel, and small towel.
They prohibit patrons taking cellphones in with them, as they do not want people taking pictures once inside.
Some gay saunas have zones where wearing clothes is prohibited, and hold Friday night parties where men dance and strip off.
Police say they reserve the right to inspect any nightspot selling alcohol, and saunas are no exemption. Gay saunas cannot let under-age patrons enter, nor open outside the hours set down in their liquor licence.
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