Noom, my bar boy friend and current love of my life, is proud of the body he’s built. And he should be. He has no problem in showing it off, which is probably a good thing since that’s the way he makes his living. Stripping naked on stage in front of a room full of horny gay men nightly can’t be a comfortable experience, regardless of how often you do so. It must help greatly to know what you are stripping down to is an enviably hot physique. Noom is comfortable in his skin. Even when that’s all he is wearing.

I enjoy watching Noom on stage. I enjoy watching him walking around his bar naked and hard. Pride of ownership isn’t limited to only the actual owner. Even more, I enjoy watching him wander about in the nude when it’s just the two of us in a hotel room. Which happens often. I’m not sure if he parades about naked because of the familiarity between us, or because he’s just indulging my passion for his body. Sometimes questions are best left unanswered. Sometimes you really shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Even when that’s not where you are staring.

As comfortable as Noom is in that state of undress, and as comfortable as he is in being naked around me, there are times when he considers the view of his body off-limits. Privacy does poke its little head out on occasion, even when his not so little head is usually on display. And I’m cool with that. It’s not that he is unduly modest, but rather that he’s appropriately discrete. The eye candy is to fuel future fantasies and dreams, stroke material for when we are thousands of miles apart anyway. And watching him use the facilities does not play into those fantasies.

Being Thai and automatically expecting others to know and do what is right, in most cases Noom relies on me to act appropriately on my own without his input. When it’s time to go, he doesn’t take any chances. Closing the bathroom door would work, but instead he announces what he will soon be up to. “Toilet,” he advises me, just in case I can’t figure it out on my own. “I go pee pee,” works too when he feels the need to specify. When no announcement is made, I’m free to assume he’s headed to the shower. And free to watch. Or join him. Getting my voyeur jones satisfied during most of the time we spend in a hotel room together, I usually opt for the latter. Noom extends the same courtesy to me, though rather than take the chance of using English I rely on a closed bathroom door to do my communicating for me.

Privacy at certain times and when certain bodily functions are involved is not something unique to our relationship. It’s not like we haven’t stood at adjoining urinals before when using pubic restrooms, though admittedly that happens infrequently because someone has to stand outside and hold his Ganesha ring for him (Ganesha is Noom’s personal god and evidently he’s a bit pee shy). But in the privacy of a hotel room, privacy takes precedence. Among a lot of couples. So you have to wonder who in the hell decided hotel room bathrooms with clear glass walls were the way to go.

I’m always looking for a new hotel in Bangkok. Usually, for several years now, I stay at Centre Point Silom. But there is a part of me that says there just might be an even better place at an even better price. Sometimes it’s more about a better location, a hotel closer to the area I plan on hitting when I’m just in town for a day or two. The first time I ran into what is basically a wall less bathroom was at Sacha’s Hotel Uno, a small boutique hotel on Sukhumvit soi 19. I liked the idea of being able to lay in bed and watch Noom take his morning shower. Fortunately, there were a set of wooden blinds on the inside of the glass wall that could be closed for more private times. I don’t know if Noom had experienced the wall less bathroom phenomenon before, but as soon as he came into the room he went into the bathroom and closed the blinds. They stayed closed throughout our stay.

When Glitz opened up on the corner by Tawan I was intrigued. It’s a great location, right in the middle of Patpong. The hotel’s rates were reasonable, and all of the red neon on its exterior seemed a perfect match for Bangkok’s red light district. Thinking that I might book a room for my next visit I went on-line to read reviews (which are not always accurate) and to check out pictures of the rooms (which are almost always not accurate). The rooms were a bit on the small side. I could live with that. The bathrooms, however, were small cubicles enclosed with partitions banded in frosted glass. And I knew Noom could not live with that.

Ditto for the Park Plaza on Sukhumvit Soi 18, a stylish hotel that gets goods reviews until someone mentions the clear glass walls of the bathrooms, though there is evidently a ‘privacy screen’ you can us to block off the view. I get that it’s a benefit for smaller hotels with small bathrooms to have walls constructed to let more light into what could otherwise by a dark and dank cubby hole. The ladies – and ladyboys – like lots of light to get their faces put on just right. Even the most masculine of Thai guys primp their asses off, so a well lit bathroom is a plus for them too. But not at the sacrifice of privacy.

I get that ‘boutique’ hotels all want to be hip and trendy too. I just don’t get who decided hip and trendy must mean guests displaying what they are up to in their rooms 24/7. There’s nothing hip about watching your boy du jour taking a dump. That’s kinky, not trendy.

On a visit to Chiang Mai we stayed once at Raming Lodge. It too is in a great location, right on Loi Kroh Road about equidistant from both the Night Bazaar and the Tha Pae Gate. It is not a hip and trendy hotel. It’s old, dark, and well-used. In our room, the wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom had a large set of wooden plantation shutters. Once again thinking how enjoyable laying in bed and watching Noom take his morning shower would be I immediately threw the shutters open wide. Noom waited until he’d unpacked his bag before closing them. Tightly. We did reach a compromise on that one, when it was appropriate. I got my show and he got his privacy when needed.

The old Montri hotel is an even better location in Chiang Mai. It’s right across from the Tha Pae Gate. I stayed there on my first visit to The Rose of the North, and have again numerous times since. They’ve upgraded over the years, moving from dowdier to dowdy. I suppose the upgrades are a positive thing, but I miss the old ceiling fans in each room made out of spare vintage army jeep parts. Noom and I have stayed there a few times, including during out first visit to Chiang Mai together. As down market as it is when we stay elsewhere he’s always a bit disappointed. Noom is big on traditions.

The hotel’s latest renovations are the biggest step they’ve taken, including rebranding the old dowager as the Hotel M in an effort to be hip and trendy. During all of the previous upgrades the bathrooms remained the same: a large closet with an open shower head that soaked the entire room. Now they’ve enclosed the showers with a glass partition. And added a glass wall to separate the bathroom from the bedroom. Like at Sacha’s Hotel Uno, there are a set of wooden blinds to close for privacy. I’ve stayed there without Noom. I don’t think he will feel quite as nostalgic about the place the next time we check-in. At least the blinds allow for some privacy. But when the wall is glass and any covering over it is opaque at best, that’s not possible.

The Starwood hotels in general and the W Hotel chain specifically have a good rep among travelers. They are clean, modern, and upscale. Unfortunately, the one that just opened in Bangkok in December is also hip and trendy. Located just steps away from the Chong Nonsi BTS station, the hotel is convenient for getting around town. Noom and I won’t be staying there. The pictures of the rooms they’ve published on-line clearly show they’ve gone with the hip and trendy wall less bathroom design. It’s all the rage these days. Unless you’re Noom.

It’s probably a good thing that the closest gay gogo bars in Bangkok get to kink is pseudo SM. If Noom’s bar started catering to the fringe element it would be problematic for him. As one of the guys with the hottest body at his bar, he performs in many of the shows. He does so willingly because he gets paid extra for doing so. And being spotlighted on stage raises his chances of landing a customer. But if his bar moved into the golden showers or scat arena, as a performer Noom would be, well, shit out of luck. Then again, that could open up a lot of new hotels for us to select from.

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