Pattaya Nightlife News and Reviews

The local press is reporting that John, the English owner of the Lord Nelson Pub on Soi 6 has died from head injuries.

Meanwhile TG Bar has now become 19th Hole Bar. Sita reports that beer is 70 Baht. The bar has a nice interior, good music and a good welcome.

The short lived Red Door Bar at the centre of the street is currently undergoing extensive redevelopment.

Tramps re-turned as a traditional GoGo on 28th January 2010. It is located above Windmill Club on Soi Diamond.

At about 9pm on the first night the bar was lacking ladies leading to just a quick look see.

There was a play mat but it was not being used at the time. There were just two dancers in the bar and they were both wearing bikinis.

It is usually difficult to get girls before the bar opens so a return visit will be in order after they have had a chance to get going.

The bar offers draft beer at 75 Baht and soft drinks at 50 Baht.

There are now 83 bars in the Pattaya area that offer dancing girls in bikinis or less.

Citing the human toll of Thailand's sex industry and its negative impact on the country's image, the internet commentator known for years as Stickman Bangkok announced he will shut down his whoremonger-centric website in favor of a new blog devoted to traditional Thai culture and family values. He's left, he confesses, with no other option after his latest groundbreaking write-up.

Stickman stunned the blogosphere by leading off his weekly Stickman column Sunday with a 2,900-word screed against the industry, bars and revelers who not only made his site the leading source of information on Thailand's foreign-oriented sex industry but was considered by many as a connoisseur of the Thai bargirls scene enjoying god-like status.

Illustrating his invective with flattering and less flattering photos of Western visitors to Bangkok and Pattaya, Stickman said he found the sight of rotund and/or appallingly dressed visitors propositioning women in public … crass. He added that even essays he willingly published within the last week by his heavyweight contributors to the hugely popular Reader Submissions section he found highly distasteful and utterly ignorant.

Many have not even tried to understand the girls' situation or what they go through, he decried.

Stickman, however, made clear his problem wasn't with the morality of prostitution, but with the effects it has on the people involved and to a lesser extent, the country.

The sector of Thailand's commercial sex industry for foreigners is a major blight on the country's image. The women lured into it often leave in a much worse situation than when they entered. If the industry was shut down, Thailand would be better off, he wrote This is not a debate about morals, but simply about opening your eyes and seeing the industry for what it really is. It's about empathy and consideration and being honest about how it would be if the shoe was on the other foot.

After promoting the industry through words and advertising for nearly a decade, Stickman is said to be closing the column by saying his eyes were finally open and, rather than simply complain about how badly women get treated in the industry by foreign pimps and johns, he was going to stand up and do something about it.

I can no longer, in good conscience, continue to publicize and attract visitors to an industry I so obviously abhor, no matter how much the bar owners have paid me over the years, Stickman was said to have said in a post-column statement supposedly released to the media.

It would be outrageously hypocritical for me to so vociferously condemn the evils of Thailand's sex industry while at the same time promoting it through advertising, he's said to have said.

In an interview, Stickman said he had considered closing down the website for years and conceded that his increasing numbers of detractors were justified in criticizing him for being negative and critical of the industry even as it was a lucrative industry not only for the pimps and girls and the website's sex tourist-dominated audience.

Yes, there was hypocrisy and about that I make no contention, Stickman said. Sure, I enjoy watching scantily clad women dance and I enjoy flirting with them. I enjoy meeting friends in the bars with lovely ladies as a backdrop. So, yes, my perspective on the industry is complicated and contrarian. I would be happy to see it die while at the same time I wrote about it every week.

Those who know him say Stickman's change of heart comes a change in his own self-image. Whereas he was happy in 2001 to trawl Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza anonymously for inexpensive, young, hard-bodied pussy , as he called it in his Sunday column, he now sees himself as an up-and-coming, respectable internet entrepreneur.

He now categorizes his twice-weekly (or more) outings to go-go bars as research and denied his decision to recommend to readers, by number, girls working in a Soi Cowboy go-go was pimping the bargirls, but simply helping them earn enough money to live.

For his part, Stickman isn't worried about his post-Stickman life.

I could actually keep the site open and just remove all the sex-related stuff and I'd only lose five advertisers, he said. All the other English schools, Thai dating sites and hotels would still want to be there.

Stickman's hopes lie in a new project tentatively called GoodCleanThaiLiving.com, a site where foreigners can learn to learn more about traditional Thai music and dance and promotes traditional Thai values including modesty and monogamy.

What I did with Stickman proved that one man can become a great influence, Stickman said: I now want to use my influence for good and stand behind what I truly believe.

In a remarkable about face, Bangkok's most well known and long running nightlife commentator has come out firmly against Thailand's adult industry.

He opens an article Stick Leaps Into The Morality Debate Ring :

The sector of Thailand's commercial sex industry for foreigners is a major blight on the country's image. The women lured into it often leave in a much worse situation than when they entered. If the industry was shut down, Thailand would be better off. I firmly believe these three statements to be absolutely true!

The column continues in the same vein and even finishes off with the usual promotion of Bangkok and Pattaya bars.

It is hard to see to see how the column can continue in its present format. Any continued nightlife news will surely come across with the implied: I don't believe in prostitution...BUT...let me tell you the places to go anyway.

In the modern internet world people choose their communities with the expectation that their tastes in life will be affirmed by like minded people. Few will want to read nightlife articles that are critical of one's life styles.

Perhaps the column will shift to more general Thai life subjects, but these may need to establish a totally new audience.

Perhaps there is a more conspiratorial explanation for the slightly unbelievable extreme change of heart.

Interesting to see that Pattaya Ghost did a take on the story on AbsolutelyBangkok.com but the links seems to have been taken down already.

'Informed sources' from several police divisions have told the Pattaya Times that a very serious crackdown will begin next month to catch foreign business people who are financial backers of gay bars, beer bars and  go-gos where there is sex for sale in Pattaya.

Police investigations will determine who pays the bills and gets the profits. If the person is a foreigner then their visa will be revoked and they will be expelled from the Kingdom. If it is a Thai they will be arrested if sex is for sale. There is supposedly much concern about organized crime in the nightlife venues, said one official.

Where did the money come from? Who is behind it? Where does the money go? asked one police chief rhetorically.

I advise anyone who has invested in a bar that might be suspected of illegal acts to clear up the problem and make sure they are not associated with any business that is engaged in illegal activities. The Thai police are taking this very seriously. Sure, in the past we have heard rumors of crackdowns, but I don't think we have ever seen a crackdown like the one that is about to happen, said Drew Noyes , Managing Director of the Pattaya Times Drew Noyes added.

New Star A-GoGo is located on Soi Diamond.

The smallest foam Jacuzzi in Pattaya is no longer used. It's now a part of the dance stage now.

The problem is that the bar runs out of water. It happens often, there's no water in the toilet or in the kitchen. I'll never order Draught Beer again!

Thanks to Malcolm

Armageddon Bar is located on Soi LK Metro.

It was previously notable for having a live crocodile. But now the big tank at the back is only full of fish.

'Lots of scrap metal sculptures for sale, all very good, including Jonny Depp as Captain Sparrow. Beautiful, but at over 6 feet tall and £3,500 wouldn't quite fit in my hand luggage.

Tramps A-GoGo on Soi Diamond, above Windmill, has been taken over and is hoping to reopen next week.

The format will be Standard GoGo with some new ideas. Watch out!.

The bar taking shape opposite X-Zone is set to be a disco rather than a GoGo as previously reported.

Staff at X-Zone said that the disco will be opened in about a months time. At the moment it has no name.

Meanwhile there are reports that Paradise A-GoGo has re-opened on Soi Buakhao.

So there are now 82 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Super Baby and Super Girl are located on Soi Diamond.

They now have show time again but just for Jacuzzi girls.

The difference between normal time and show time is just brightness (darker for show) and music (slower for show). The dancers on the stages no longer change their costumes.

Of course the Jacuzzi girls are naked all time, so it's impossible to change costumes for them. And the Jacuzzi girls dance as usual.

I happened to hear that the DJ said, Show Time. so I could tell which is which. But I was not sure so I confirmed with a service girl: Is this show time? She said: Yes. For the Shower Girls.

Banners are proclaiming the re-development of the Pier Complex at the junction of Beach Road and Walking Street

The development will be known as Siren Square and is on the floor above the Siren beer bars.

They began recruiting tenants including A-GoGo from 15
Jan ready for opening in April 2010.

There has been mention of new GoGo taking shape at Covent Garden opposite X-Zone.

The Walking Street bars surrounding Lady's Shadow (the old Polo) have got together under the banned of Absolute Entertainment.

I'm not exactly sure that there is much to be gained from being associated with the extortionately expensive Galaxy and Lady's Shadow though. Definitely 2 bars to avoid in my books.

Blue Lagoon A-GoGo was located at the back of the Best Friend Beer Bar Complex on Beach Road.

It closed in November 2009 and made a few noises about re-opening but never did. It is a bit more absolute now as the front wall has been taken away. The rear toilets are now available for use by customers of the beer bars complex.

A similar fate has fallen on Snowice at the back of the Nok Beer Bar Complex on Walking Street.

It opened as a coyote show bar in October 2009 but soon released that less clothes is best. The venue redeveloped as a GoGo in November 2009 but this didn't last long. The bar has now been removed and the space used for pool tables.

Whilst on the depressing subject of ex-bars, Pattaya at Night is reporting that the very sort lived disco, Hospita, has closed on Walking Street. Also the longer lasting lady boy bar, Limmatquai 80, on Soi Diamond has also closed.

Graeme, the managing director and majority shareholder of Happy, Peppermint and Beach Club has made a statement about the re-location of Peppermint Palace:

Lets clear the confusion. Peppermint will not close, in the not too distant future it will be re-located to the ground floor of the marine complex, and something I have always wanted as it will off street access to many new customers. An area has already been allocated and the size will be the same as it is now and the same concept will be used. This will happen sooner than later but will result in no closure of Peppermint.

As rumored, my group is looking to expand, we have looked at several opportunities but so far, our only recent acquisition, is Sisters which we will close ending of January for a complete re-model.

There is a report on Pattaya Secrets that Paradise A-GoGo has been dark for 5 days and is presumably closed.

Paradise is located on the south end of Soi Buakhao.

(I have also heard of a new GoGo by the name of Red Parrot coming to Soi 16. Update: rumour not correct!)

There are now 80 GoGos with dancing girls in bikinis or less.

The recently opened Red Door bar on Soi 6 has closed citing landlord problems. The bar had been well received by those that commented.

Willy's Hangout hasn't made much of an impression since it took over from Lion King so it is trying a different approach. The builders have been in to remove the windows to make it into an open bar.

The Betty Boup and Passion Club gogos on Soi 6 are under the same ownership and have been flip flopping as to which are open. Currently Passion Club is open and Betty Boup is closed.