Many countries, cities and towns these days have a gay pride or awareness day, week or month. These events may include parades, parties, speeches, offering support and encouragement to other gay people, games, live performances, and, of course, having fun.
Phuket Island has had a festival since, around the beginning of the millennium when Poonsak ” Dang ” (red) Sanchan, owner of the famous Boat Bar in Patong Beach, convinced several other gay businessmen to support a gay pride time in Phuket. The first celebrations were modeled after gay celebrations that the Singaporeans had held in Phuket for a few years due to the intolerance of the Singaporean Authorities.
The very first celebration was small, but the celebrations grew steadily over the next five years until now when five to ten thousand visitors come to watch and participate in the festival along with thousands of Phuket Island residents
The festival is supported financially and otherwise by the local businesses, some of them Gay, some of them run by straight people who recognize the value of the gay tourist.
Past business owners from Paradise Soi who have been Chair’s of Phuket Pride are Khun Bon from My Way bar and Khun Tangmo from Tangmo Bar.
In as much as so many of the supporters of the festival are connected to entertainment and media, the various events are organized and carried out very professionally. The festival is accompanied by fund raising activities and all of the money raised during the festival is to be given to charities
As might be expected, the festival is centered in Patong Beach and usually extends over a four day period. It includes a variety of activities. the main event being the parade, which has grown to well over one kilometer in length
Various organizations sponsor floats and musical groups. All of the different groups have uniquely fashionable costumes and they provide a good afternoon of fun and entertainment for all. It is usually held on the last day of the festival, as is a beach party and a raffle drawing to see who has won prizes donated by businesses and individuals.
These days the event is now organized by the PLU Club and all fund raising is donated to local HIV charities or spent on local Community Support Programmes, focused manly around HIV. The event is now usually a week long and tried to incorporate something for everyone, from sporting events such as Beach Volleyball and a Pool competition to days out on secluded Islands and of course a Gala Dinner and Grand “Big Night Out”. Throughout the week the owners of the gay bars in Soi Paradise also lay on special parties and shows.
The spirit of fun also extends into much of the heterosexual community. Many straight people come to festival activities and at night there is a heightened feeling of fun and enjoyment in the straight bars and clubs of Bangla Road.
While places such as Phuket Town don’t have any formal celebrations, those in Phuket Town and other places tend to let their hair down and relax a little more than usual, if they haven’t already gone to Patong Beach.
