I just used a photo similar to the one above in a post. Nice neon shot that scrunches all of the Soi Twilight bars’ signs together and immediately brings back tons of pleasant memories. More so though, it brings back memories of sitting at Dick’s Cafe and watching the straight touri pass-by.

I love to people watch. Dick’s is a great place to do so. Even when the soi isn’t real active, there are plenty of gay boys from the bars scurrying about. And those guys are never hard on the eyes. The gay touri are fun to watch too. They tend to fall into categories, easy to place by their behavior. You can always spot the newbies with their hesitant pace and wide-eyed look of wonder. The old-hands who are old men move with a sense of purpose. Theirs is always a straight beeline for their favorite bar. If it is early in the evening, you can almost set your watch by them: down the soi, up a flight of stairs, and within 10 minutes back outside trailed by their boy d jour.

It’s the straight tourists that always make me laugh though. The group of girlfriends out for a risque night are always full of life. More than once I’ve watched them hesitate outside a bar, wanting to go in and look but scared of doing so. More than once I’ve gone over, introduced myself, and then chaperoned them inside. They always make for a fun evening.

The group of men who ‘accidently’ wander down the street together are always a hoot. Buddies, supposedly straight, many times Arabian, they move along in a nonchalant manner. Not shocked, not surprised, and not interested. But as least two of the pack are all eyes, taking in the scene, not missing a thing. Their buddies may not know it, but it wasn’t an accident that they happened to choose that soi to walk down. Shame though that that is as close to the action as they’ll ever get.

Then there’s the couple out for a thrill. You can always tell whether it was the guy’s or the girl’s idea to go watch the naked boys dance. If it was her idea, he’s always dragging his feet. Probably hoping that the little Thai guys they are about to see aren’t packing larger than he is. They usually hit only one club. And not for long. When it was the guy’s idea, she’s the one dragging her feet. Or at least trying to keep up with his head-on rush down the soi. They tend to spend more time in one of the clubs, and I always think to myself, “Now there’s a relationship that isn’t gonna last long.” I wonder how many straight couples uncouple after a night on Soi Twilight.

The straight couples I can never figure out are the ones who’ve made it halfway down the soi, suddenly realize just what that street is all about, and get that deer in the headlights look on their faces. They usually make a quick U-turn and scramble away to safety. And I laugh. But come on, how could you not notice all of those neon lights screaming ‘Boys!’ It’s not like the commercial sex scene in Bangkok is some big hidden secret. Dick’s, Hot Male, Dream Boys, Boys Bangkok, X-Boys . . . you didn’t notice where all of that was going? How could anyone be that clueless?

The straight folk who wander down Soi 4, soon notice they are surrounded by just guys, and it clicks that they accidently found a gay street in Bangkok, I get. That small soi has a dark entrance and there‘s really nothing in the lit signs that would tip the unsuspecting off that a smattering of gay pubs lays ahead. When they realize what they stumbled onto is not what they were looking for, they take a look around and leave. No biggie. Over on Soi Twilight, though, they flee. As though being gay might be contagious. Or that the guy might get raped if they linger too long.

I always suspect that the ‘oh, we didn’t know there’d be naked Thai boys down here’ couples are really couples where the guy wanted to go check the gay gogo places out but didn’t have the balls to suggest it to his girlfriend. I always suspect that later, if he can get away alone, he’ll be back. And won’t run away on his next trip down the soi.