They are everywhere…
Posted by admin | Blog, Reader Submissions | Posted on December 29th, 2007
Massage parlors, soapy massage joints, or entertainment centers. Pick your name for them – they are just about everywhere. I was on a mad furniture hunt the other day and was coming back from Fashion Island – which is near Min Buri – and happened to cross over into civilization using Ram Intra Soi 85. A small out in the middle of nowhere soi and sure enough there they were. 2 of them. Sitting right across the street from each other. For sure these places were not built for Farang. I honestly have not been able to dig up any good history or origin information for the Thai soapy and Turkish bath. Anyone have any clues?
If you wiki Turkish bath you will find a fairly comprehensive page about the origins of the Turkish bath but nothing on how it relates to Thailand. This is about the only site that is out there but it is pretty weak. My guess is there must be some Japanese influence given the Japanese taste for massage, saunas and girls. For sure some of the early Soapy joints in Thailand had been influenced by Japan and Japanese entrepreneurs. There was a slight mention of this in the Prostitution in Thailand book. Fortunately the Thai Turkish bath system in Thailand did not directly copy the early Ottoman empire version.
Traditionally, the masseurs in the baths, tellak in Turkish, who were young boys, helped wash clients by soaping and scrubbing their bodies. They also worked as sex workers. We know today, by texts left by Ottoman authors, who they were, their prices, how many times they could bring their customers to orgasm, and the details of their sexual practices.
So it seems the Turkish bath always had some sort of sexual element. How did Thailand get the whole air mattress with oily soap version of the naughty slip and slide? The ever present soapy massage. Well – if you keep digging you will find that once again it was brought over by the Japanese. In Japan it is called Soapland. Sure the Thais put their twist on it but it would seem the Japanese invented what is considered the Soapy in Thailand. However there is not real historic details that I can find showing this.
If you have never had a real soapy – all I can say is you should. It seems kind of silly at first but just go with it. It is quite fun. And kudos to the girls who can finish the action on the air mattress prior to heading to the bed. It is tough to suggest a massage parlor known for soapys. Almost all of them do it but many times they won’t have soapy rooms available or there are not any free soapy girls. They say Chao Phraya 2 almost always has a soapy girl available given they have 3 sections of girls – traditional massage, soapy and service girls. However anytime you are at the massage joints you can ask if they have soapy girls. Some places supposedly have a special soapy bed – not just the air mattress.
So what do the Thais call these places?
สถานà¸à¸²à¸šà¸à¸šà¸™à¸§à¸” – sa thaan aap ohp nuaat
สถาน – sa than – means place
à¸à¸²à¸š – aap – means shower or bath
à¸à¸š – ohp – means sauna or to dry out
นวด – nuaat – means massage
So the place where one goes to get bathed, get hot and get a massage. All the Thais will essentially call the places that offer a bath and sex by this name. Use your imagination but the order is bathe, slight massage, feel the heat and bathe again. 
Bonus points to anyone who knows what the Thais actually call the soapy itself. I have had 2 Thais tell me 2 different words for it but I can’t verify it.
We have put a bunch of the soapy/massage joints in the guide. Honestly there is very little data on many of these and of course very little on the net with recent user experiences and reviews. Hopefully over time we can change that.
Chavala Massage – my guess is it is similar to S. Botan.
The Angelina – looks small and old but supposedly is cheap.
Pasaya Party Massage – owned by the lord group, the Soapy kings but looks like a normal massage joint.
Subway – not a sandwich joint and also has ballroom dancing.
So many places. So little time.
One thing I have noticed though is that just like with short time hotels – there is no new construction of massage parlors. In fact they seem to be going away. Mona Lisa is either getting remodeled or torn down or made into something else. Just past the Carefour on Ratchada are 2 places that are closed. One is First Class which had been open for a while and the other place was built but never opened. It is still vacant. I asked a food vendor in the area and he said they were not allowed to stay open due to how close they were to the shopping mall. So it seems with the advancement of Bangkok we may see the available massage places shrink in number even more. Bummer. I hope they don’t call this progress.
30 Responses to “They are everywhere…”
Leave a Reply
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
That 'free blowjob with first drink'....mmmm wheres that? Just curious.
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
Did a couple of all nighters this week. As after hours is concerned, Insomnia Bangkok is king in my book. There were plenty of freelancer...
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
Good theme for the party DW, never tried a 'Four-Some', bucket list #38.
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
Good read. Appreciate the effort. Thanks
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
"A group of guys from the US Military descended upon us" - did everything suddenly become 'awesome' ?
:)
Yup - wheels up in a week - ...
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
I hope you keep the fortnightly updates going. It's a good read and something most (any?) other bars don't do. I used to frequent the 'Ol...
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
CTG - June 9th is the party. There will be a separate post about it soon - I am just waiting on some final details.
-
Mango Fortnightly - 16th May
Daywalker, have you confirmed the date for the anniversary party? Last I read was some time around June 8th or 9th.
-
Isan women drinking too much? Really?
9.6 grammes of alcohol would be the content in 24 ml of vodka (40% v/v). That's less than a "small" measure (30 ml.) Is that daily dose s...
-
A November to Remember Part Two - By Deptstar
200lb... na, not even in a bad dream.
Recent Comments
Translator
Having frequented several soapy joint in BKK and Pattaya (I’ve written about them here) I must say my favorite for girls and accommodations is still Sabai Dee in Pattaya on 2nd Road/St.? It was only my second soapy, but it was a fantastic experience. Clean, nice rooms, great service and a nice variety of girls during the late afternoon. Like I’ve said before a soapy should be on your list of things to do before you die. Treat the girl with respect and gratitude and you will be amazed at the possibilities. Man do I miss Thailand. Cold and rainy in Nor Cal…
View all comments by ~h
As you say they are everywhere.
7/11′s and Family Marts are closing in but I’d say that that Ap Op Nuat’s may still outnumber them by a healthy margin.
The usual giveaway is the sign à¸à¸²à¸š à¸à¸š นวด under the name of the joint. I believe (and I could be wrong about this as I usually am in these situations) another sign (small town and city version) is the scraggly tree branch with Christmas tree lights dangling from it or as in the more effluent venues an absolute cascade of twinkling colored lights.
From noon to two, a casual procession of “heh,-men-no- longer-mystify-me” looking hotties and former hotties reporting for work is also a sure sign
View all comments by thongsuk
I believe as with go-go bars there are a limited number of massage parlour licenses. They can be transferred and bought and sold but no new ones are added.
One of the oldest soapies, Cleopatra (past Amsterdam towards Dindaeng) is being torn down as well. But they’re not all being torn down. In the past 5 years I have seen new ones being built. Amsterdam for one is newer. As well as Loveboat nearby RCA.
What generally happens is the licenses for older and smaller soapies are bought and then used to build the larger newer places. This is how Chuwit’s Davis Group (now known as Lord Group) expanded. Before his downfall as the soapie king all the police traffic booths in Bangkok were sponsored by his Kamolvisit Foundation. They’ve since been pasted over.
The soapie on Ratchada next to Robinson’s that never opened was essentially killed by Chuwit when he was in a stronger political position. Most likely, it is owned by one of his competitors. He waited for them to finish building the entire place and let them come within a week of opening (staff and girls all hired) before leading reporters over to show them it was too close to a school and hence couldn’t open. So their license was revoked.
The soapie itself is usually referred to by Thais as the B-Course. With 2 girls it would be called a Sandwich.
Don’t know much about the history but the first ones were on the Phetburi strip catering to American GIs on R&R. I think the concept was most likely transported from Japan and Hong Kong, the other 2 ports where the GIs were enjoying soapies.
View all comments by nic
BLASPHEMY!! >:(
View all comments by Orion
I have only ever had one soapy but this is where I got it. With nothing to compare it to, I can say that it was a fantastic experience, and I continually wonder why I’ve never done it again.
@Thongsuk: “…in the more effluent venues…” Are you talking about the really shitty places??
View all comments by werewolf
Geez Louieeez, This site is getting reeeely friggin’ strict, man.
First BBK and all those rules I’m scared of breaking. . . . and now you, WW, you and your eagle editor’s eye.
I spent an agonizing nanosecond looking for the retract-and-fix button and then figuring, naaaaw, you know, we’re all friends here, everyone will understand, nobody will pick this up . . .
But o-o-o-o-o-o-oh N-o-no-no-no-no, werewolf, o-o-o-o-o-oh No you had to go and BUST me on this.
As it was . . . no one would have known. (Who would have known??) Kenny? I doubt he has time. (Last time I heard, Ken was hard at work on the definitive step by step etiquette manual for BJ bars. Can’t wait to see if he’s included my tip on that disposable paper table cloth for Kangaroo, Lolita’s and SOL.)
Well someone might have but probably no one would have bothered. But NO, there you were. Right on the money. . . .etc. etc. etc blah blah blah blah
View all comments by thongsuk
>>>eyes downcast
View all comments by werewolf
ooops! Forgot about html coding….
***eyes downcast***
Thongsuk, does this mean we’re not friends anymore?
Look, to get even you can comb through my blogsite looking for spelling and grammatical errors. There are several in every blog.
But, c’mon… effluent venues… shitty places… pretty funny, chai mai?
View all comments by werewolf
It’s that I was just so STUNG by your remark.
Give me a moment.
View all comments by thongsuk
I’m sorry thongsuk, but that’s just not acceptable. I won’t be able to take your comments seriously anymore.
View all comments by Orion
FYI. 5th floor MBK has furniture. It’s a little closer than Minburi.
Does a girl rinsing off in my shower with hot water and Protex soap qualify as a “soapy”?
View all comments by Jack Dawson
“If you have never had a real soapy – all I can say is you should.”
Classic!
http://www.groovemonkey.com/post/22618775
View all comments by groovemonkey
h – I will mail some soapy action. u send over the cool weather.
nic – thanks for the info. I was trying to find out once but I am not sure what the soapy license but I am sure like a go-go – they are not making new ones. b course. That is what I heard as well. they kept spelling it in Thai and I was looking for the word and realized what they were saying. Interesting. I have heard about but not been to the soapy in japan but I have never seen them in HK. Just massage parlors.
jd – they don’t have any real outdoor furniture. fashion island was fun though. rammed with hotties. similar to an outing at the mall bang kapi but they see even less farang at fashion island.
gm – just think slip and slide but with naked chicks.
View all comments by smitty
There are lots of soapy and ‘special’ Thai massage places all around Bkk. They pale in number to the small karaoke spots strung out along every large soi, and usually staffed by cuties in nice dresses. These are the local Thai ‘working man’s’ alternative to more expensive member clubs and upscale massage boom joints.
Posting from Phnom Penh. Caught an early flight from BKK to PNH after doing an all-nighter Christmas night at the Spice Club with some Charming Bar minks (we finished a bottle of JW in about 2 hours before I had to leave about 4:30 am to pack a suitcase before going to the airport).
This was supposed to be a non-mongering trip, but it’s too easy to slip into old habits, and the $10-20 USD ST rates make it too tempting to pass up.
I’m busy here in PNH during Daytime hours, and still trying to catch up on my sleep before returning to Bangkok for New Years Eve.
View all comments by DJ
btw boys…
Merry Christmas from us to you. Hoping to see you stateside at some point. And Happy New Year. Might as well toss that out there while I am still sober.
-c and b
View all comments by groovemonkey
WW whats your blogsite web address?
View all comments by Penfold
dj – true enough but I just don’t dig the karaoke joints. not one bit. however some people like that scene. I have my hands full trying to find all the soapies. have fun in PP. hope u can send in a bar update for the blog. much appreciated.
gm – and to u. stateside probably in the summer. we shall see. party safe. love and kisses.
p – http://www.bigmangobar.com/reader-submissions/
View all comments by smitty
smitty: i’m not certain about the soapies in hk. never been in one myself there but i remember the emmanuelle shot in hk had a long soapie scene so assumed they were common.
View all comments by nic
Penfold:
Site name: Werewolf’s Lair
URL: http://bargirlsrpeople2.wordpress.com
View all comments by werewolf
n – not sure. I have been to the massage joints in HK but never sw anything like a soapie. maybe someone will chime in from HK to correct me.
View all comments by smitty
Cheers WW ill check it out
Deffo gonna have a crack at Phomn Phen when i return end of February for a few days – any danger of a soapie on PP?
If any1 can forward some info on where to go/where to avoid you’ll be a friend for life
View all comments by Penfold
p: we’ve had a few posts over the past few months on PP. You can Search for Phnom and see them. Here are a few of them:
http://www.bigmangobar.com/reader-submissions/2007/08/13/room-service-in-phnom-penh-by-on-nutter/
http://www.bigmangobar.com/main/2007/11/13/phnom-penh-day-1/
http://www.bigmangobar.com/main/2007/11/12/back-from-pp/
View all comments by pmmp
Didn’t see any soapies, or even any gogos for that matter, when I was in PP in ’06.
Smitty was there more recently; perhaps he can spill the beans, if there are indeed beans to be spilt.
View all comments by TAFKABBB
I think there are some massage parlors for sure but I have never been. They are nothing like the bkk ones and I don’t think they are soapies. Nor do they appear to be as farang friendly as they are in bkk. DJ, if he is reading, will know more.
View all comments by smitty
I did try a regular massage parlour in PP – foot/traditional/oil/etc. Just like a regular massage shop in Bangkok, only (surprisingly) a little more expensive at $10/hr (from memory). Obviously tourist prices. Rub-n-tug may have been available, but I wasn’t looking for it.
View all comments by TAFKABBB
@Pmmp thanks for the links in too lazy to trawl through pages of blogs etc
Im sure i will spill my beans all over an unsuspecting wench or 10 in PP, take it they have a mix of thai, cambod and viet chicks?
More importantly they have any decent LBs there? its been 4months since i had a ladyboy tickle my pickle
View all comments by Penfold
not a lot of viet chicks. not like they used to have. tons of cambo chicks but that should be obvious.
the thais there are not as hot as the thais here.
yes they have LB bars so have at it!
View all comments by smitty
There are soapies in HK but they’re pricey. Macau also has some and those are more reasonably priced (you can buy a jetfoil-boat ticket, round-trip, WITH a soapy experience in Macau, all-in-one package at the ferry terminal in HK). Best bets for scrubbing clean fun is in China: the Red Rope Lounge in Shanghai is unforgettable.
My information says that the soapy originated in Japan (there are still plenty there, the term “soapland” is used) and the first soapy in Thailand opened near the Patpong area in 1956. But I haven’t researched this extensively.
Chaophya 2 has been operating since at least 1986, though by the look of the place it seems to have opened in the 70s. As I like retro that’s not re-manufactured, I dig the place, and have had some great times there since my first visit in the late 80s. There are plenty of places, though some are farang-unfriendly (any place that overtly practices double-pricing can forget about my business). As always, speaking as much Thai as possible, smiling and joking makes the whole experience more pleasurable.
JtB
View all comments by Jack the Bat