Pattaya Nightlife News and Reviews

Tonight seems set to be the last day of operation of K A-GoGo on Soho Square.

Surely the rather gloomy failure of the area to take off probably has put paid to the chances of running a GoGo there.

The mamasang and girls are set to move to Windmill on 1st August.

The closure will reduce Pattaya's gogo count to 76.

The Cabinet has approved new regulations that prohibit karaoke parlours from providing drinking or singing partners to customers, with their business licences being revoked if they do.

Deputy government spokes-man Phumin Leetheeraprasert said the Cabinet also assigned the Office of the Council of State to adjust some of the wording before the regulations are implemented.

The regulations should take effect in mid-August.

Rodeo Girls is located on Soi Pattayaland 2

The small bar is one of the least interactive bars in town. I really can't figure out how the bar works at all. Presumably it is based on Superbaby or similar where the customers call the mamasang over and ask for the girls by number.

Meanwhile all the customers are expected to be entertained by the shuffling beauties. Rodeo has actually got some good looking girls amongst the 7 that were on duty when I visited. But they are not really quite the top notch required to get customers drooling just from watching bikini clad dancers.

There were also more than half of the girls dancing. They would end their stint, go to the toilet, adjust their make up and it was time to dance again.

Not really my sort of place at all.

On the evening of 25th July 2009 police carried out raids on go go bars in the Pattaya and Jomtien areas. 4 staff tested positive for drugs and 2 dancing girls were identified as being under the legal age limit .

At 11:50 pm Pattaya police paid an unannounced visit to go-go bars in Soi Sunee Plaza in South Pattaya.

At one male go-go bar, officers carried out a search but no illegal substances were found. However 4 men, who were found to have taken drugs after checks on their urine tested positive, were taken to the police station.

Later police visited the Number One go-go bar, located at The Ha-nu-man curve, Jomtien, who they suspected of employing underage staff.

In the bar, there were 10 female employees, some of whom were dancing on the stage, while a number of tourists were enjoying their drinks. Officers checked the employee's ID cards and conducted random urine tests on both the employees and the customers.

Two of employees were found to be under 18 but no one tested positive for drugs. Police arrested the owner, Wanchart Kongmak, and charged him for hiring under age staff and staging an obscene dance show.

Guys I would like to start by thanking each of you for your support over the 7 odd years .Its been the best part of my life and many of you have played a great part in it . AGAIN THANK YOU ALL.

Yep we are out of here 31st July and its for keeps

The bar has been sold as and the new owners George and Simon will be at the helm from the 1st August.

Jason and I will be in the bar each night till the end being 31 . Which will that night be the biggest party off all!

Please if you are in town and walking past, do drop in and buy the girls a drink. I always worry for my family of girls and they are the best bunch by far.

Well tonight was one of the hardest night in my life when I had to tell them all that we were leaving . Please if you came into the bar tonight I am sorry things were not as bubbly as always .The girls have all been crying all night and were not there normal selves.

Again i hope we do see you as many times as we can before the 31st and please keep in mind Jason's STAG night on 29th free drinks all night

GOING SURFIN

Shane

The Drum and Monkey is a well established bar on the Naklua Road just north of Dolphin Island

Every time I visit Pattaya I always go to this bar and always have a top night.

Badger would always be there, the life and sole of the place. He seemed to have the balance just right between running the bar in the back ground, whilst being a gent with the customers. Sure old Badger would take a drink off a Falang, but he was not slow in returning it.

But last week he told me that he had been stiffed by his girlfriend and has just had to return to England.

So he's sold the bar to an English fella who's redeveloping the place. It will take 3 weeks before re-opening.

So all I can say is that Badger will be sorely missed in Naklua road, Pattaya.

Will Badger be back? I think so...

Silver Star 2 is located on Soi 7 at the Beach Road end

I think this bar has found some secret way of identifying newbies. They seem to instantly recognise me as a critic and give me the cold shoulder. But somehow they sense a newbie and send in all and sundry to pump the new customer for lady drinks etc.

The bar is generally quite lively with plenty of girls and more than a fair share of customers.

There are usually about 10 girls on the central stage generally topless or bikini clad. There are another dozen or so hostessing whilst waiting for their turn to dance. There is also a team keeping the Jacuzzi staffed with 2 girls at a time.

Every so often the main stage is cleared for 'a show' which is basically the best looking girls in the bar dancing naked.

Not really hitting many of the ideals that I look for in a gogo but it seems pretty popular all the same.

The bar has been open a few weeks so maybe time for a follow up review.

I was first impressed by the amount of dancers in attendance. They still have about 10 girls dancing on the central stage and a couple of more in a Jacuzzi. There were another dozen awaiting their turn to dance. There were a few pretty girls amongst the dancers.

The Jacuzzi doesn't seem to add much. There are no stools for those that like to assist the girls with their ablutions nor is it in a good place to provide many customers with a show.

I was first unimpressed by the volume of the music. More disco levels than gogo.

I was next unimpressed by the price increase in draft beer, from 65 Baht to 95 Baht. It is served in good sized measures though.

There were some friendly girls doing the rounds but a combination of the loud music and expensive draft meant that I turned down the girls' advances and decided that the bar had become a one beer venue.

There were very few customers but there were two farang couples enjoying a dance. It struck me strange that the bar was being enjoyed more for its loud music than for its gogo aspects.

Fun Room A-GoGo on Soi 15 was dark this evening.

There's no official word but the welcome staff from the bar next door ere not very reassuring.

So until it burst back into life there are now 77 bars on the gogo list.

Ocean 10 was a nightclub located near the Walking Street Tree.

It has now gone dark joining the other recent nightclub closures at Republika and Hammer.

It had started as a venue with a live band targeting Russian couples. It then tried a few formats such as opening out the bar, coyote dancing and even reasonably priced drinks towards the end. 

Sakura Club 69 is located on Soi 15 off Walking Street

The bar is an attractive medium sized bar with girls dancing on a central stage and also on table stages just ion front of bench seating around he edge of the bar. There's a Jacuzzi at the back but it wasn't being used.

It was the 3rd day of operation and the bar seemed to have accumulated a fair amount of dancers and a few were attractive enough. Most of the girls were full clad in bikinis but one or two were topless. Probably just the girls being shy.

The girls seemed to be dancing on a very log stint which is usually a cue to depart for customers sitting with a girl. It seems a bit of an academic point though as the girls didn't seem very interested in sitting with customers. I was told that many of the girls were new to the work and things should improve with time.

There was a reasonably priced draft beer at 60 but the rest of the drinks menu seem on the expensive side. Barfines are 600 Baht, 300 after 2am

The last incarnation of the bar often disappointed due to too much dancing and not enough hostessing, I rather fear this may go the same way. Early days yet and surely the bar will be trying a few things out, but the first visit was surely a one beer affair.

Sakura Club 69 is a GoGo on Soi 15 nesting between Baby Dolls and Fun Room.

It has just re-opened under new management. The bar had been dark since February 2009.

There are now 78 GoGos with girls dancing in bikinis or less. Similar numbers to last year, you'd hardly know there was a world downturn.

Hot & Cold is located at the 2nd Road end of Soi Post Office (Soi 13/2)

It sometimes seems strange that one of my favourite bars seems to get very mixed reviews on the Pattaya forums. And I can see both sides of the debate.

The bar has more than its far share of girls who would never get a job in Walking Street. But it also has a few girls that would easily make the grade.

They all hands on and friendly, it is just a matter of selecting ones that appeal. To enjoy the bar, one simply has to be able to 'sack away' the girls that don't appeal. If you get friendly with girls that don't appeal, then you can almost guarantee that they will try jumping on your lap for every visit in the next 5 years. The bar must look after the girls well as some of them stay a long long time.

Maybe because the girls stay a long time, I have got to know some of them better than most girls in Pattaya. So it is almost like a local.

Sisterz is located on Walking Street opposite Soi Diamond.

Sisterz seems to have found itself a bit of niche on Walking Street. It has morphed into a show bar.

The bar seems to pack a fair few girls onto the main stage and then has another 3 spots for show girls. There is a rotating carousel section of the main stage, a smaller show stage and a shower cubicle/cage affair.

The shows aren't really of the choreographed kind, just erotic ways to get the girls naked. The bar makes for a lively atmosphere mainly due to plenty of things gong on.

The drinks prices are reasonable, particularly as the glasses are large.

So really a good place to watch erotic shows with reasonably priced drinks.

Never seems to be a very good place to pick up girls though as they spend most of their time dancing and not many of them use their break to go working the audience.

But the bar usually has a fair few customers so surely it has found a niche as a lively show bar with reasonably priced drinks.

On 12th July, as the atmosphere began to warm, a small fire broke out in the Hip Hop area of Lucifer's Disko in Walking Street. The small fire which happened due to a short circuit, did not involve any casualties and the fire was soon brought under control by the quick actions of the pub staff.

The Manager told Media: Fire at the dancing zone behind the stage of the band, was kept under control and eventually put out. Although there was a lot of smoke, the fire was only a small one and nobody was injured. We are now rectifying the whole thing and will be back in business by this evening.

Fire officials stated that a short circuit detected behind the stage was the cause of the fire. The Deputy Chief Officer of the Fire Department, stated, 'The fire was behind the stage mainly in the cable shaft. The cable caught fire causing a lot of smoke.

Paris is located on Soi Diamond just off Walking Street.

Another bar that seems to be doing its bets to get by in the down turn by putting its head in the sand and ignoring anyone dropping by on the off chance of entertainment.

The were about 10 girls of which 6 were dancing, the rest were hiding in corners or else more blatantly ignoring customers. The girls were dancing bikini clad but after a while one girl took off her top. For no obvious reason whatsoever apart from the lack of customers, the mamasang told her to cover up.

A bit under whelming at the moment, perhaps it will pick up at the next high season, whenever that is.

TQ2 is on Soi BJ, just a few steps off Walking Street.

I paid a rather too early visit to the bar and it was very quiet.

There were just 7 or 8 girls in attendance with 3 on stage at a time. an average crew but there were a couple that would turn heads. One was giving the dancing a bit of enthusiasm too. Particularly impressive as the rock music is not usually to the girls tastes.

A bit of a shame that the girls attempted to double team me. I see two girl introductions as a sign of an exploitative approach to customer care so generally discourage it (unless I know the girls of course)

The small glass of 65 Baht beer is a bit uncompetitive in these austere times, particularly at the time when other bars are running a happy hour.

Champion is centrally located on Walking Street

The summer low season seemed to have taken its toll a bit and the very cheap beer was no longer packing in the customers.

There were some attractive girls dancing but there weren't really enough girls in the bar to cover the large number they now have dancing at any one time. At the end of their spell they only have a couple of songs before have to mount the stage for another dance stint. The poor ratio of hostessing girls to dancing girls is always a cue for me to leave pronto. But if you like to watch, and don't want to be pestered by the girls then perhaps it is OK.

The toilets could do with a refurb.

I always have a soft spot for the bar, as I fondly recall the old days when it was the best hands-on bar in town. Now I just stay long enough to reminisce old times before it is time to move on to the latest best hands-on bars in Pattaya

Elephants idling outside discos or lumbering through traffic have been part of Bangkok's colourful nightlife for nearly two decades. Now authorities want to send them back to the jungle.

Thai officials say they have come up with an innovative solution: offering them up for adoption. Elephant owners can use the money to get into a new business, and those who refuse reasonable offers will be fined, city officials said.

Several groups have already paid the estimated 500,000 baht (£9,000) to buy an elephant and relocate it to a reserve in the countryside.

Half of the city's 200 elephants have been relocated since the programme began in March, and Bangkok Governor Sukhumphan Boriphat vowed that the rest would be out within a year: Roaming elephants can cause accidents, especially at night, and even more importantly are harmful to themselves. It's important that we get elephants out of Bangkok as quickly as possible."

Elephants first arrived in Bangkok in the late 1980s after a logging ban made them redundant in forestry work. The elephants' handlers persuade tourists to buy the animals sugar cane and other snacks or use the elephants to promote the sale of ivory trinkets. Many of the animals get hurt when they collide with cars or step into drains or potholes.

Nui's Club 2 is centrally located on Walking Street

The bar had a low season feel to it with a rather underwhelming urge to entertain.

There were about a dozen girls on duty of which 7 or 8 were dancing. They were doing a 7 or 8 song rotation around all the various dancing stages in the bar. The dress code is ether topless or bikini clad depending on the girl's wishes. The girls were average, which is not to say there weren't a couple of pretty girls.

There is also a single naked girl who was preening herself in a quasi show in the middle of the main stage. She was on for quite a long stint.

As soon as the girls were finishing, they were reaching for dressing gowns and departing out the front door. Either eating or supplementing the welcome staff. Either way there weren't may girls looking after customers in the bar, so it all seemed something of a dead loss to me.

Classroom 2

A mere shadow of its former self

After a long layoff, a visit to Classroom 2 (Soi 2) was in order. It was a mega-disappointment. Formerly operating like Windmill and Baby Dolls, C2 is now tame to say the least. The single lady in the shower was the only nekkid one. Precious few nipples were on display and gone were the naughty girls stage and the table dancing. The most endearing members of the staff were the service ladies.

At one point. my traveling partner and I comprised 2/3 of the entire customer level!

Windmill

Popped into Windmill about midnight, seating was so tight that many of the ladies were occupying the laps of customers; I'm sure to save space. About half of the Windmill staff spend more time nekkid than covered; even the covered are only using two pieces (no knickers). Rather than being the focus of attention, the dancers (mostly topless) are a side-show to the nekkid ladies in every corner. All in all well worth the time; plenty of up close and personal attention by the staff.

Baby Dolls

Baby Dolls continues to enjoy its place among the top tier of Pattaya haunts. The bar has it all and gets it all right! From most naughty to most demure -- even the service staff -- are friendly and attractive. If she sees you without a lady, Mamasan comes over to ensure that all is well. Plenty of action everywhere one looks. If there can be any complaint whatsoever it is that the electrical system seems bit dodgy. On two consecutive visits, the power has failed but within 10 minutes the fault was located and music and a/c restored.

Just after 3am on Saturday police raided a number of late night pubs and Karaoke Bars in Soi Chayapoon, Central Pattaya.

Apart from the fact that the venues were open after their permitted licensed opening hours, a number of patrons and staff members were given urine tests and 2 women and 5 men failed the drug test.

They were subsequently arrested along with the bar managers who will now be referred to the Banglamung District Licensing Unit.

I spotted a fair few price increases on a quick walk around Walking Street.

Happy/Peppermint/Beach Club have increased their previous 50 Baht happy hour prices to 55 Baht.

Dolls House and Living Dolls Showcase have seemingly dropped their happy hour, it didn't last long.

New Living Dolls One have announced an increase in some drinks prices and dancers barfines increased from 450 to 500 Baht and showgirls from 600 to 700 Baht.

Club Mirage have dropped draft beer fro the menu leaving just the bottled option at about 100 Baht a drink.

On the more positive side (depending how you look at it), The Fun Room has dropped its draft beer to 39 Baht and bottle are available from 70-90 Baht

Champion A-GoGo are advertising 39 Baht draft all night.

I also spotted a news item on Thai TV news suggesting some backing off from the drinks ban on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully better Thai speakers will report later.

Billy's Boozer has re-opened with a couple of girls outside. Billy's is one of the 'y' bars located in the middle of the Soi (Billy Butterfly, Foxy Roxy Ruby, Quicky and Sky).

Ruby Club is temporarily closed for renovation. There was a rumour a few months ago that they were going to get dancing girls in.

The latest addition to the Soi, is the strangely spelled Chilli Bar. It is located by Red Point.

In addition there are another two bars taking shape.

Buffalo bar is located on 3rd Road midway between Central Road and South Road

The popular mamasang Sandy, aka Nong (aka little lady with loud voice), has started back at Buffalo Bar, so the standard of girls will be going up again. She has been away for 7 months and it shows in the bar.

They even have a proper plastic Thai recruitment banner outside. Even the famous Chicken (Gai) is back, but sadly only as an early shift cashier.

They have recently renovated the ST rooms, with new beds, aircon and hot water.

The New Simon Beer Bar Complex has now opened for business on a prime site on Walking Street. It overlooks the sea opposite Soi 14. It was previously a block of shops with Pinky Girl A-GoGo at the back.

The bars look good, but are reported to have been sold at premium rates.

Beware of 150 Baht lady drinks...there have been reports.

The government was dealing another severe blow to the already-battered tourism and entertainment industry by suddenly banning booze during Buddhist holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, business leaders complained yesterday.

This is the same old issue - the government rising up to destroy tourism. This does not parallel its tourism policy of increasing the number of visitors coming into the country, said Thai Hotels Association (THA) president Prakit Chinamourphong.

How can tourists can enjoy their holiday in Thailand without drinking? Like Phuket or Pattaya, they're coming for beaches and fun. They like to have beers and some drinks on the beach. If we ask them not to do so, they won't be happy, Prakit said.

The government should have communicated the order well in advance to foreign tourists, so they could plan their activities and celebrations better while staying in the country.

I think it's good for locals to stop drinking during that time, but tourists will be upset, Prakit said.

A source from the Federation on Alcohol Control of Thailand said the order for alcohol-free religious holidays would be a great setback for local tourism and related businesses, such as hotels, pubs and restaurants: With the ban, all tourist destinations, including Koh Samui, Phuket and Pattaya, will be hurt. All pubs and beer bars will have to close, because they cannot sell any alcohol on those days, the source said.