Chiang Mai brings in its fair share of tourists but the numbers are nothing like what is seen in Bangkok and Pattaya. Chiang Mai is the forth biggest city in the country but it is a little off the beaten path with access usually requiring a flight from another city in Thailand. Tourism is apparently growing in Chiang Mai but as anyone who has visited the Sunday night “walking street” festivals can tell you most of it comes in the form of group tours from China that travel in a quite different manner than the old Western model of singles and small groups of family and friends “doing their own thing.”
Chiang Mai is thus considered “off the beaten path” by more than a few falang that live or play in Thailand but the truth is that it is a pretty major population center with its fair share of adult entertainment.
I first started reporting on the sex industry in Chiang Mai a few months ago. There is still a lot to go over including a good number of soapy massage parlors that operate in the same manner as similar businesses in other Thai cities.
Celebrities is one of the soapy massage parlors in Chiang Mai and probably the most obvious. That doesn’t mean it is the most popular or even well known but the place is situated right downtown near a whole host of other mainstream businesses that people use with some frequency.
Celebrities is houses in a large pink building with a sign outside that could be a little more obvious. A breezeway passes through the building for cars that wish to enter. People coming on foot simply walk through the breezeway and enter through the door on the right. Another door across the way is locked.
Inside customers are confronted with a lobby area and a fishbowl type of display. The women working at Celebrities sit on bleacher style seats behind a large glass window while customers sit in comfortable yet worn seats on the other side. A number of friendly but at times pushy male managers also work the floor. Some can speak a little English. Their job is to help customers make a choice. They are friendly but can also be pushy. They don’t seem to like guys who look without making a selection much but that only makes sense. Ultimately it is the name of the game and something they know happens from time to time.
Customers select from the available women by indicating the badge number of the women they are interested in to a manager. Once this is done the manager notifies the woman or women in question and walks the customer over to the front desk where the bill is settled. The women who sit on the right side of the bleachers charge 1400 Baht ($40 USD) per session while the women on the left charge 1700 Baht ($49 USD). This is all inclusive and tips are not expected or asked for though I imagine that the women on staff would certainly be open to accepting them.
Once customers pay they are guided to one of several private rooms. The rooms are very large though not glamorous by any means. The quarters are better than what a lot of the regular oily massage parlors around the country use but they are nothing like what one sees at The Lord and similar high end soapies.
The rooms have large square tubs near the door and beds along the walls. They also have flat screen televisions though these show only regular Thai programming. There is no porn. Some of the walls are a little worn and things like missing fixtures aren’t uncommon. Still everything functions including the women.
The ladies that work at Celebrities are hardly the most friendly bunch in the world. They do their jobs and are okay with customer service but it is not out of the norm to see several with grumpy dispositions. This doesn’t seem to take away from the level of service much but it is easy to imagine that guys dreaming of “the land of smiles” could be disappointed by a woman performing a soapy massage with a scowl.
There seem to be between one and two dozen women on staff during business hours. They are mainly Thai women in their 20’s. A few are large by Thai standards but most are fairly fit and attractive. Few if any can speak English but all know how to use physical communication to get through sessions with people who are not Thai. The shop is open to foreigners and it seems as though men from other Asian countries are among the most common customers.
Celebrities sessions go as they usually do at soapies. The women wash up the customers in the bath then get nude and join them for a little more intimate cleaning and fun. After that they dry off and head to the bed where covered full service is delivered. Oral is often available but it is not guaranteed. This is the norm in many places that are more used to serving Thai and Asian customers than westerners.
After the action on the bed ends a shorter wash up session is had and customers are dried, dressed and guided out the door. The women aren’t clock watchers and even the angry looking lasses seem eager to please but when the time is up things do draw to a close.
Celebrities is a good example of a Chiang Mai soapy massage parlor. There are several others in town and I plan to review them all in the future. Most are similar in terms of the buildings and conditions of rooms but they do have other variances. Considering Celebrities as one place among many that doesn’t necessarily stand out I think it deserves an average score of two-and-a-half stars.
Celebrities also known as Celeb@CNX. Charoen Prathet Road, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Open seven days a week from 2:00 PM to midnight. Click here for a map.