Phuket Gay Nightlife Scene
Paradise Complex sits at the foot of The Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong Beach and has been the centre of Phuket’s gay nightlife scene for more than twenty years. This compact pedestrianised area is packed with gay bars, clubs, restaurants, massage parlours, and entertainment venues that come alive each evening from around 10 pm until 2 am or later. Popular spots include Zag Club, known for its three-zone layout and nightly street performances, and Tangmo, a long-running venue featuring male go-go dancers and drag shows. The complex hosts free nightly cabaret shows at various bars, with performances spilling onto the street to attract guests.
It is a fun and easygoing area, and you don’t even have to be gay to enjoy it. All year round, when night comes, bars open their doors on each side of the main street, and some have a small but entertaining cabaret show. Other venues just feature a stage where boys would flex some muscles, well, the ones who have, to catch the attention of the guests sitting in sofas around the room. Then, the rest is up to them.
Bars’ names might change quite often, but some have been open forever. ‘My Way’, the brightest and most eye-catching, has the best ladyboys cabaret show in this area and occasionally hosts special events. Here, you can enjoy a decent little cabaret show for the price of a drink. If you want a full-blast Vegas-style cabaret show, you’ll have to go to ‘Simon Cabaret’, but you’ll have to pay an entrance fee, of course. Next is the internationally known ‘Boat Bar‘, a gay club with also small cabaret performances. A fun story about the Boat Bar says that girls would go there because all the handsome guys are there. Then another story says that straight guys would also go there because the hot girls going for handsome guys eventually find out they are gay; that is where you come up and say: ‘I’m not gay’. I never tried.
‘Connect Bar’ is very popular, as are ‘Spartacus’, ‘James Dean’, and ‘Orchid Bar’, where customers like to sit by the streetside and watch passersby. ‘The Flying Handbag’, with its funny name, has been there as far as I can remember with its colourful collection of handbags. Just walk around the main soi and the back lanes; there is plenty for everyone.
Once a year, the Phuket Gay Carnival will take place, and for three nights, Paradise Complex becomes a little Rio Carnival with lots of lights, plenty of balloons and flags, lots of extravagant shiny costumes, and the ever-popular Katoeys (ladyboys). During those three nights, bars will put on small street performances and contests, and the bars will be crowded.
This carnival was originally held in Bangkok but was brought to Phuket, probably because of traffic jams. The Parade going around Patong Beach on the last of the three days can create a serious mess, so remember that if you plan to drive your car along the beach road, it might take two hours to cross Patong. Each gay bar and Phuket Simon Cabaret will work on their best costumes and decorated floats to proudly parade on huge trucks driving down the beach road. A great occasion for photos as the entire town, gay or not, gets into a party mood. The Parade will end at Paradise Complex, where the last party will begin.
During the day, a popular gay area on Patong Beach is located right at the foot of the huge tsunami tower on the beach, somewhere near ‘La Flora Resort‘. It’s easy to spot: there is always a rainbow flag floating, and guys often play volleyball at the end of the day.
