Sign(s) of the times
The gym I frequent is, in my eyes, one of the better ones in Bangkok. Nice surroundings, great facilities, friendly staff and an excellent range of equipment. But the male changing rooms are… well, let us say “indicitive of the nature of certain elements of the members“. How do I know? Well…
Each of the wonderful shower cubicles has this notice in it:
But clearly that isn’t enough to stop some of the more interesting exercise-options that are the domain of the male locker room. Recently this sign has been added:
Makes you wonder doesn’t it? I tend to visit the gym at quiet times – early morning, especially. I dread to think what the busy times are like. Maybe a lot of the showers are free, because hey, it appears that many of the men there want to share the same one! Although I have never seen anything going on, signs are usually placed after the event. And if new signs appear, events are obviously still taking place.
Now, before anyone accuses me of being homophobic (which I most definetly am not), I have very good information that tells me the ladies locker room features has nosuch signs.
BTW, there is a 3rd sign, which is unrelated to the post but I do find quite amusing, it reads “Dear Guest, the hair dryers ARE NOT for drying your body“. Excellent.
Oh, man!
I’ve also heard similar incident (if not signs) about the new(?) california fitness club on Sukumvit 23.
BTW, when do you think they’ll put on the ‘no camera in changing room area’ sign? ;)
On I tell you I felt like such an idiot taking those photos. I waited till everyone was out but then I realised – taking a photo of the security camera notice – I’ll be seen on the security camera!
The stories I’ve heard indicate that this is a Thailand-wide problem between gay men and gyms.
Ummmm…why are people drying their bodies with hair dryers? Aren’t there towels? And come to think of it, what’s the problem with drying bodies with hair dryers? I mean, you hold the dryer away from the area being dried, no? Sometimes, I use the hair dryer to clear up the fog in the mirror – is that allowed?
Yes there are towels – and they are very good, for that matter. I don’t suppose there is a real problem with using the dryer… except it would generate a lot of heat and use a lot of power over the entire day.
You mean you wouldn’t have a problem using a hari dryer after someone was just using it to dry their genitals? I would be “No WAY is that coming near me, let alone my head!”.
Not that you would need to use a hair dryer…
In all honesty, I don’t see why I’d be bothered about someone drying their genitals more than anything else. It’s not like there would be physical contact. I hope. Maybe that’s a fetish. Whoops. Off the subject there!
It’s certainly no worse than two people using the same dryer to dry their hair, surely?
I’m curious to know what’s wrong with having more than one person in a shower cubicle. I’ve always been a bit of an environmentalist — I think that people should conserve water by showering with a friend! (Assuming your friend is a consenting environmentally-sensitive adult, of course.)
that assumes those 2 in the 1 cube aren’t engaged in an “activity” that takes more time (and hence uses more water) than each would use alone
I doubt the gym owners are targetting environmentally friendly adult males who are interested only in conserving water :)
Not to mention the fact that I reckon the joining fee more than covers any utility bills!
I notice that the one person per cubicle sign is only posted in English. There seems to be an assumption that the violators are either farang or educated Thais ;-)
My gym in California is also somewhat of a bathhouse. I’ve heard of incidents, although I haven’t seen any. What I can’t help but seeing, though, are guys with hard-ons peering around the showers and, although I also claim to be non-homophobic, I don’t find it flattering when they’re looking at me. Anyway, you know something’s wrong when the gym floor is empty, at four in the afternoon, but you’ve got to queue up to take a shower.
No signs, other than ‘no spitting’ written in English, Korean, Vietnamese and Khmer.
I hadnt even thought about the fact it was only in english! ha! but, in fairness – the gym is in a hotel and, given the $$$ factor of membership – I doubt they have many members who are ‘uneducated”.
Though I have no trouble believing that farangs are at the bottom of this.