The Chao Phraya is a marvelous thing, and anyone who isn’t captivated by it—the views, the lights, the boats, the riverside dining opportunities—should have their head examined. If, like us, you never tire of a meal by the river, check out these suggestions.

Samsensoisam

Vibe: Feel like you’re having your own private party in your own lovely garden. And that you’ve acquired a pool table along the way. Find a lot of university students, young office workers and couples here having a good time. The place can be quiet, so it’s a good spot for romance amidst the sounds of mellow pop, jazz, and bossanova. Service here is terrific.

View: The riverside tables win the best view prize. If you’re annoyed by the noise from the passing boats, grab a table inside the adorable house, decorated in a modern white color scheme.

Victuals: They serve nicely styled Thai food, which will cost you a very reasonable B200-300. Try the kai ta-khrai samsen (deep-fried chicken with lemongrass served with spicy sauce, B150), and sii krong muu ob sauce Tokyo (roasted pork rib with Tokyo sauce, B180).

Venue: 10 Soi Samsen Soi 3, Samsen Rd., 02-628-8362. Open daily 5pm-1am.

Baan Klang Nam 2

Vibe: The restaurant has a retro vibe and dark wooden tables and chairs with music comprised of old Thai songs. The now famous Baan Klang Nam 1 has paved the way for Baan Klang Nam 2’s popularity: A lot of loyal customers come here. On weekdays the place is packed with office workers, while weekends see the family crowd. Riverside tables are always occupied, so book ahead if you want one. Attentive waiters are energetic and work fast.

View: Sunset brings a gorgeous view. Across from the restaurant is a lush forest, making you feel like you are sitting in suburbia.

Victuals: Seafood cooked Chinese style is the way to go. Try plaa ka phong tod nam plaa (deep fried white sea bass in fish sauce B500), puu phat phong karii (stir fried crab in curry powder B300).

Venue: 762/7 Chatuchak Market Rama 3 Rd., 02-819-3880/-2. Open daily 11am-10:30pm.

Buri Tara

Vibe: Decorated in a classy black and red theme, with a mix of Balinese and Thai styles. Tables and seats are big and comfortable. Bands take turns playing soft jazz and acoustic music. Wear your most fetching new outfit: everyone here is well-dressed. Service is supreme: the staff is both well trained and well mannered.

View: Surrounded by trees, with the river nearby, the view is quite magical. At night, candles and red lamps are lit, adding to the romantic atmosphere.

Victuals: They serve three different cuisines—Thai, European and Chinese. Try puu lon song khreuang (chopped crab and pork with coconut milk served with vegetables B450), plaa ka phong rad sauce wine kao (white snapper with white wine B450) and paw pia thawd sot sai phak khom kab cheese (deep fried spring roll with baked spinach and cheese B150).

Venue: 762/2 Rama 3 Rd., 02-682-9457-9. Open daily 6pm-1am.

Khin Lom Chom Saphan

Vibe: This casual restaurant is the place to go for university students. But their exuberance doesn’t scare off the large contingent of office workers. Hear live music in the form of pop, acoustic, country and folk. Reservations during weekend evenings are highly recommended.

View: The place is popular for its fabulous view of the Rama 8 bridge stretching over the Chao Praya. The sunset view is perfect and the traffic lights at night create a memorable picture.

Victuals: The kitchen isn’t known for consistency, but we always have good luck with these dishes: miang kung foy (baby shrimp with herbs B90), paa thong ko yad sai (fried wheat pastry B100) and ruam mit talay (mix charcoal grilled seafood B380).

Venue: 11/6 Soi Samsen 3 Samsen Rd., 02-628-8382-3. Open daily 11am-2am.

River Bar

Vibe: This chic restaurant next to the river is a great choice for senior university students and young office workers, as well as couples out on a date. At the bar the DJ plays hip hop and other hits at 9pm, while at the restaurant side live bands play jazz and blues.

View: River Bar is one of the most attractive riverside dining places in town. The restaurant offers a great view of the Sang Hee bridge, the dimming lights of Bangkok and, of course, the Chao Praya. In the moon light, reflections are gorgeous.

Victuals: Choose from a variety of delicious food, including kung sa dung fire (sizzling prawn, B300) and yam sam lao thap (squid, shrimp and oyster spicy salad, B120).

Venue: Soi Chaopraya Siam Rachawitee Rd, 02-879-1747-8. Open daily 5pm-1am. (Take the express boat and get off at Saphan Sang Hee pier.)

To Sit Pier 92

Vibe: This well-known Mediterranean beach style hangout (with lighthouse) looks simple with white plastic tables and chairs. On Friday, the place is filled with office workers, while weekdays see university students and families. The music is Thai pop songs. Staff is nice and service minded.

View: Your best bet for a view is the second floor terrace of the lighthouse.
Victuals: Authentic Thai food includes laap muu tod (deep fried, mince pork salad, B90), and paw pia To Sit (spring roll stuffed with lichee and shrimp, B90). You’ll spend about B250-300.

Venue: 115 Charunsanitwong Soi 92, 02-879-1717. Open daily 5pm-midnight.

It took two months and responses from over 1,700 readers but the results are finally in from the Asia City Publishing Group’s first-ever regional Sex Survey. The survey was conducted online with the launch of our new regional portal www.asia-city.com by I-S Magazine and our sister magazines, HK and BK. The majority of the survey’s responses were from Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok, while 7% were from other countries further afield. Whether you answered for bragging rights, to help us in our research efforts or to simply win a prize, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have completed what may be the region’s most extensive survey ever undertaken on our generation’s sexual habits.

To give you some numbers, 61% of the respondents were male, 39% were female. Of the respondents, 78% were straight, 11% were gay, 6% consider themselves bisexual, while an adventurous 4% are “trisexual” (will try anything). Interestingly, only 4% of men say they are bisexual, compared to 10% of women. Meanwhile 61% felt virgins were a blessing; of this figure 62% were male and only 37% were female – obviously men like their women unsullied, while the girls like a man in the know. Anyway, enough numbers, check out our graphics for the clearer picture of what is happening in the three cities, and then read on for our round-up of what’s happening specifially in Singapore’s sex scene.

Some of our more interesting findings for Singapore include:

61% have done it in a public place.

85% have or will indulge in dirty talk.

36% find pornography gross, yet strangely compelling, while 29% think pornography is the folk art of the future. Only 8% would never indulge in pornography.

11% look for love in coffee shops, 4% in churches, and 13% on the Internet.

5% of Singaporeans surveyed have tried Viagra.

35% have had sex with a colleague.

40% have had cybersex and, interestingly, 22% have met up with someone from the Internet for real-time sex.

61% say that a “happy ending” at a massage parlor is the same thing as cheating.

12% have had sex in an airplane.

And get this: 54% fake their orgasms! (Blame When Harry Met Sally.)

Other interesting results

Contradictory Results? We asked Dr. Love

Where Singaporeans Really Have Sex

Singaporeans are not particularly adventurous when it comes to finding the best places to get laid. Most surveyed concede the bedroom as the best place to do it, while others indicate that their parents’ or siblings’ rooms are good, too, if they’re feeling a little “naughty” (yikes).

“In general, I think Singaporeans are very limited in their utilization of places to have sex. There are lots of restrictions here … and there are really not that many places to have sex in,” says Dr. Wei. “Add to the fact that this is a very small island, and more often than not, up to three generations of Singaporeans are staying under one roof, there is hardly sexual energy between most individuals.”

Some of the more interesting spots recommended include the phone booths outside Takashimaya (are you for real?), Botanic Gardens, inside a crowded train (you can’t be serious), playgrounds, basketball courts, swimming pools, cinemas, hospitals, lifts, stairways, double-decker buses, and (we can hear celebrity blogger Wendy Cheng squealing with delight) toilets for the physically handicapped.

Celebrities / Personalities Singaporeans would love to have sex with

We’re not surprised to find pretty local celebrity Fiona Xie in the list, as the girl is one of the better looking and well-endowed actresses around. More interesting is Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan. Straying not too far behind are actors Tay Ping Hui, Vincent Ng and Julian Hee.

On a more international level, Brangelina, or rather, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, rank as the most desirable, never mind that the two are already having a baby together. The dark and enigmatic Johnny Depp also gets more than a few votes, and so do sexy thespians Scarlett Johansson, Kirsten Dunst and Sharon Stone—proving that age is just a number.

But for those who picked R&B diva Mariah Carey, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and grandmother of soul Tina Turner as their most desirable—we can only wonder what they were thinking.

Singaporeans can’t quite make up their minds when it comes to their sex lives, it seems, judging from the mixed results we got from Singapore respondents in our online Sex Survey. Some of the most contradictory results we found include 79% who indicated that they prefer a more experienced partner, but 71% also mentioned that virgins are a blessing. 48% also admitted that they have cheated on their partners, but only 33% will stay in a relationship knowing that they have been cheated on.

Professional sex therapist Dr. Wei Siang Yu, a.k.a. Dr. Love, who hosts the Mandarin sex education program Loveairwaves on Channel U, says that “Singaporeans can tell you about their weirdest sexual fantasies and ideals, and yet when you really talk to and get to know them, there’s a huge discrepancy between what they say and how they behave. They can be quite confused.”

The good doctor blames Singapore’s fast-paced living and concern for material wealth as a damper to the city’s sexual energy. “Singaporeans are living in such a way where they spend more time displaying their wealth and career achievements, and externalize them, rather than focusing on their sexual needs. ‘Sex’ is a dirty word to most of them.”

More consistent, according to Dr. Wei, are the results pertaining to the fact that 58% believe in love at first sight, and that 30.4% have had sex with one to five people, followed by 28.8% who have had sex with between 11 to 50 people. Only 4.8% said that they have had sex with between 51 to 100 people, while 20% have “lost count”. But these numbers might change in the near future, says Dr. Wei, “As more and more people are willing to explore their sexual desires, and will get more sexually empowered in time to come.”

You’ll be pleased to know that when it comes to sex, we Thais get bragging rights for getting it on earlier and more often than our counterparts in other Asia City cities. The majority of us lose our virginity at age 16, and 13% percent of us have sex on a daily (or nightly) basis. We’re also the most likely to answer our cell phones while doing the deed and the most likely (18%) to seek out relationship counseling (16% of those seeking counseling believe it helps). We seem to be firm believers in karma, with 66% of us having cheated on someone and 66% of us believing that we’ve been cheated on. Curious to find out more? Read on…

Respondents

Male 63%
Female 37%

I consider myself:

Straight 70%
Gay 22%
Bi-sexual 6%
Trisexual (as in “will try anything...”) 0.7%

How old were you when you first had sex?

Most respondents in Bangkok lose their virginity earlier with most getting deflowered at age 16. The oldest to have lost it was age 33 and the youngest was age eight. In Hong Kong the most common age was 18, and in Singapore it was a tie between 18 and 21 years of age.

Ever interrupted sex to answer your mobile?

Apparently we in Bangkok find our mobiles so indespensible that we’re willing to answer calls even while we’re getting busy.

Do you prefer a more or less experienced partner?

Apparently more of us like being the student rather than the teacher when it comes to love-making. 67% of us wanted a more experienced partner and 31% wanted a less experienced one.

Ever used Viagra?

No 86%

Ever had a threesome/group sex?

Yes 36%

What’s the longest period you have gone without sex?

A week 12%
A month 31%
Six months 25%
One year 16%
Two years or more 16%

Ever done it in a public place?

What a bunch of exhibitionists! Not only do we like doing it but we like doing it in public. 68.8% have done it in public. But only 7.8% are members of the Mile High Club, having had sex on a plane.

How often do you usually have sex?

Masturbated at work?

Yes 43%

Ever had sex with a work colleague?

When it comes to sex with our colleagues, we and Singapore responded with a resounding “No!”

Ever owned a sex toy?

Yes 34%

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes 61%

Would you have sex to advance your career?

No 72%

How many people have you had sex with?

How many dates before sex?

Two 26%
One 21%
Ten 11%
Varies, depends 11%

Ever had relationship counseling?

Yes 17%
No 83%

If yes, did it work?

Yes 16%
No 11%

Have you ever met up for real-time sex with someone via the internet?

The internet is another popular place to pull potential partners at 16%. Which isn’t any wonder considering that 48% of us have had cyber sex and 37% have met up for real time sex.

Would you stay in a relationship knowing you had been cheated on?

Yes 42%
No 58%

Have you ever cheated on someone(left)? Or Have you ever been cheated on(right)?

Is a “happy ending” at a massage parlor the same as cheating?

Yes 41%
No 59%

Ever paid for sex?

Yes 44.5%
No 55.5%

Ever been paid for sex?

Yes 10%
No 90%

Ever faked an orgasm?

Yes 64%

Ever had an STD?

Yes 20%
No 80%

Virgins?

Blessing 60.9%
Curse 39.9%

Porn?

Yuk, never 12.5%
Gross, yet strangely compelling 26.6%
Consult my stash once a week or so 28.9%
It’s the folk art of the future 32%

Would it bother you if your partner had cosmetic surgery?

Ever toyed with S&M?

Yes 23%

Dirty talk?

Hell, yes 83.6%