CHIANG MAI -- area code (66-53)

• Art Gallery Coffee & Drinks
  119 Kampangdin Rd (opposite Mae Ping Hotel), 084-803-4265. A small, gay, intimate coffee/cocktail bar. A delightful venue for a quiet before or after dinner drink. Open till 1am.
• Darling Wine Bar
  49/21 Huay Kaew Rd, 053-227-427, 081-724-6601. A wonderful, upscale, open-air gay bar for friendly get-togethers. Good mix of expats, visitors, and local gays. Friendly and oh-so-charming staff. Catch a tuk-tuk or songtaew baht bus to get here and pay them a little extra to wait and take you home afterwards. Closed Mon.
• The Glass Onion
  Nimmanhemin Rd (opposite Warm Up). A great little gay-friendly, sophisticated place to relax. Sun gay nights, but there are always a good number of gays on other nights.
• Le Lang Matong (mixed)
  053-302-260, 081-111-893. East side of the Ping River, just south of town. Gay-owned and managed riverside night spot with live music. Young, local crowd.
• Lotus Garden Bar
  Next to Lotus Hotel, near the Mahanagorn Theater. Open-air bamboo hut bar filled with friendly Thai, expats and visitors.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "The Sat night I visited there may have been six people at the bar." -- tomstouch, Jan 1, 2007

• MTVee Bar
  Night Bazaar (between D2 Hotel and The Peak), 081-724-8142, email. Gay cruise bar for friends, fun and drinks. Popular with both locals and tourists.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "MTVee Bar and the bar right next to it near the Night Bazaar are very friendly nice open-air bars. Relaxed, welcoming vibe that I couldn't find in Bangkok." -- chakra88, Mar 22, 2008

• Pornping Coffee Shop (mixed)
  Pornping Hotel. Live band entertains at this popular hangout for young Thai, including groups of gays and lesbians.
• Radchada Café
  Thong Kwao road, Santitham, Chang Phueak, 089-218-3004, email. Located in the Santitham area of Chiang Mai, near to the entertainment complex at Santitham Plaza. A gay bar with live music. Popular with students. Also has food available.
• Secrets Bar
  Thapae Soi 1, 081-531-5566, 081-603-4336, email. Located just behind D2 Hotel, in the center of Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar. Free pool table for customers, comfortable chairs and tables, friendly staff, full array of mixed drinks, free snacks and Fri specials. Open daily from 3pm-2am.
• Soho Bar
  20/3 Huay Kaew Rd, 086-743-8202, 087-073-0958, email. Soho is a classy, hassle-free bar on Huay Kaew -- one of the rare gay venues where farang and gay Thai can meet without commercial undertones. The music is good and played at a volume that prioritizes conversation. Management concentrate on making customers feel at home and comfortable. Garden bar and comfortable interior with wingback chairs and footstools. Utopia Member Discount

  Comments from Utopians:

  "It seems that since the new owners and recent remodeling, Soho has been attracting a larger, (and younger) crowd. There is also a growing sense that Soho attracts lesbian patrons. The new atmosphere is much funkier now, often with very trendy dance music. On weekends, especially after midnight, things have been heating up and the crowd has been been getting a little wild. If you are sitting near the bar, drinking alone, you can expect to get pulled onto the dance floor - this crowd is not shy. I really think it's a great place." -- SeoulDoubt, Jul 17, 2007

• Warm Up
  Nimmanhemin Rd (opposite The Glass Onion). A popular dance bar where young gays tend to hang out in the air-conditioned lounge area to the left of the entrance.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "The area behind the D2 hotel is going OK with a new bar opening there, Chameleop, and is run by Nick. The bars in that area are: SECRETS - DRAGON KING, CU BAR, CRUISE AND CREAM." -- wart, Aug 15, 2008

  "I also went to Secrets, Cruise and Cream bars: very disappointing. The kind of real sleaze I come to Chiang Mai to get away from. The bars at the Peak were much better, especially Friendship bar which really lives up to its name." -- geordiejoe, Sep 1, 2007

  "A bit over the top the recommendation of Secrets bar. The staff is often too busy with themselves and their special friends that they neglect their other customers. It can be nice there, that's all what can be said. The busiest bar is Cream, but also Cruise can be very busy. It can be quite different per evening! Be aware that very few of the guys in this bar beer center are really gay!" -- sangsom, Aug 24, 2007

  "Ask a tuk-tuk driver to drop you off at the D2 Hotel which is on Chardeprathet Rd. Go down the access road next to the D2 hotel and you will run straight into Secrets and Dragon King bars. Cream and Cruise bars are also in the same complex. Secrets is the pick of the four bars here. Khun Oh is the owner. He and the staff are really great guys. Highly recommended and it opens at 1pm every day (but small trade then) and gets busy starting about 8:30pm and can go all night if there are customers. Dragon King bar is a ladyboy bar. The other two bars are less busy, but OK. There are five Thai restaurants next to this group of bars. The Peak area is not far from Secrets (follow the road next to Secrets in the direction that the traffic goes for about 120m). Peak opens at around 1-2 pm daily with a steady run of foreign customers, but not many Thai. There's a large restaurant next to the bar which caters for most bars there. Bars start opening at 6pm and can go all night if busy. There are nine bars in this complex, with a good trade during high season (May/June are slowest months). The bars next to the rock climbing wall are cosy, with Alex's Bar being run by a family (the owner is gay)." -- wart, Aug 23, 2007

• Bubbles (mixed)
  B/F Porn Ping Hotel, 46/48 Charoen Prathet Rd. Longest running popular disco in town. Up-to-date music, relaxed atmosphere, and reasonable drink prices. Usually full with a mixed crowd of Thais and foreigners.
• Cha Lerm Krung Saung Sa Lung
  2 Khanklong Chonprathan (off the canal road near the Phucome Hotel). A popular Thai music venue attracts the local in-crowd to its roomy and modern pavilion.
• Mandalay
  Near Tha Phae Gate. A very popular spot for local gays, despite the hefty cover charge for foreigners.
• Spicy (mixed)
  82 Chaiyaphun Rd (alongside the old city moat, opposite Somport Market), 053-234-860, 053-251-813. Formerly known as Nice Illusions. Live music. Small disco popular in the wee hours.