Pattaya Nightlife News and Reviews

Eazy A-GoGo was once again dark last night. I stopped by a couple of nights before and the bar was foundering with a total dancing staff of 4. Hopefully they can get things going soon.

Meanwhile Pattaya at Night reports that Baby Boom on Soi Buakhao has also gone dark. Again maybe they just need a bit of time to regroup.

Just round the corner, Paradise A-GoGo is set to open on Soi LK Metro. No chance of time for soft opening there, straight in with the main party night of the year.

Hot & Cold A-GoGo has moved 2 or 3 doors up Soi 13/2 to a new bar. First impressions are not good, but more on that in a day or two.

And today the 'estimated' count of Pattaya GoGos is 77.

Thanks to Brian:

I had my first visit at Baron Club ago go in Sio Diamond at 10.00 pm.

Ordered a Heineken, only one other customer there, went to pay my bill , Heineken 140 baht,

Very overpriced for what's inside.

But early days yet.

Meanwhile Paradise A-GoGo is set to open on Soi LK Metro today. It is another GoGo from the makers of Kiss A-GoGo, nearly opposite on the same soi. Kiss has always been well reasonable for drinks prices, so Paradise is unlikely to see any of that 140 Baht beer nonsense.

Eazy A-GoGo has re-opened on Soi 15.

It opened for a few days but closed again. The reason seemed to be a lack of girls. Presumably the bar has now recruited and has therefore re-opened.

So whilst it stays open, there are 78 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

It looks like Paradise A-GoGo on Soi LK Metro will soon be open too.

ToyZ A-GoGo opened in mid December on Soi 15. It is now at the venue that was previously Climax A-GoGo and before that Sakura Club 69.

ToyZ is easily the best of the recent GoGo openings. The bar has near instantly established a lively and fun filled atmosphere with not an agency coyote girl in sight.

The mamasang is from the original ToyZ in Covent Garden, and reportedly has rounded up a fair few girls from the old bar.

There was plenty of interaction between the girls and the customers and many of the girls seemed quite hands on friendly.

The bar itself is pretty much the same layout as it has been for a long time with the square centre stage surrounded by 3 walls of bench seating.

The Jacuzzi has been shifted out from its previously badly tucked away location but it still has a limited viewing arc. Perhaps it will be hands on friendly and command its own little audience of waterside devotees.

The centre stage was filled with dancers in all stages of undress, and definitely no coyotes. They were all putting a reasonable effort into their dancing.

The drinks are reasonably priced too.

In fact the only downside is the on-going ToyZ policy of long dance rosters. The current system is for a 9 song stint. Way too long! As soon I spotted that my drinking partner would be away for so long, my mind started to drift towards the delights of Babydolls next door.

Actually there were always many good things about the old ToyZ, but when the bar wasn't buzzing, and the dancers weren't quite so enthusiastic, then the long dance rosters made the bar boring. I hope they don't make the same mistake here. They have to bear in mind that Babydolls is right next door and they have an excellently brief 4 song dance sequence.

But for the moment ToyZ is lively and fun and so this is not really so much of an issue.

The banners are out for another new GoGo on Walking Street. The new Lighthouse A-GoGo is being built towards the Beach Road end.

I am not sure that Pattaya's Lighthouse Club will be too impressed by a GoGo bearing the same name. Lighthouse Club is a business networking charity organisation. There could be a few crossed wires there.

There is (or was) a church in Pattaya called Lighthouse too. Even more potential for people getting either offended or evangelised.

Unhappier news for Eazy Room A-GoGo which was closed last night after only being open a few days. lack of girls was cited as the reason, so hopefully a temporary glitch.

So as of last night there were 77 bars with dancing girls in bikinis or less.

Meanwhile on Soi 6 a new lady boy has opened. Not an event usually covered on Thai-Anxiety but this one deserves a mention for its name, A Bar. You hardly need ask where the bar is located, its next door to Z Bar of course. Strangely though, A Bar and Z Bar don't surround either B Bar or O Bar.

Moon Club is located at the corner of Walking Street and Soi Diamond.

I stopped by at prime time during the week before Christmas. The welcome girl sounded a little desperate calling out the line: draft beer only 65 baht.

Anyway I stepped inside expecting to be swooped upon by hoards of tequila hunting agency models, but something was strangely awry...there weren't any.

There were about four customers totally unhassled by anyone. There was a perfectly friendly service girl who wanted immediate payment for my drink, but pointed out that I could have a bin if I wanted.

On stage were a handful of unimpressive GoGo dancers in complicated bikinis that were almost one piece costumes, and weren't really very sexy at all.

After a few songs, there was a change of entertainment when a couple of cabaret style showgirls took to the stage. But as they didn't quite tick enough boxes of being young, pretty and female I took my leave.

So there you have it, a trip to the moon without being hassled in any way whatsoever; and experiencing only a brief interaction with a pleasant service girl; and enjoying a decent cheap beer. Better than I ever thought possible. But I suspect that this is not the way it should be, and something is up at Moon Club.

As mentioned earlier, Club Relaxxx has re-opened in Covent Garden on Soi 16.

Unfortunately they seemed to have hot upon the value policy of less for more. On one there is no cheap draft, and on the other the bar seems to be coyote only.

Meanwhile the small Eazy Room which has opened on Soi 15 (previously Fun Room) is offering draft beer at 49 Baht. And hopefully a few less clothes than at Relaxxx.

Barda Bing A-gogo is located on Soi BJ, 10 paces off Walking Street in the venue that previously TQ2.

I popped by at 11ish on a weekday evening. The bar had a decent amount of customers but was not very full.

The bar is a nice size with the now mandatory central stage surrounded by comfortable bench seating around the sides of a square bar. There are stools around the stage but there weren't any takers. It seems a sensible layout without being quite as glitzy as other recent newcomers.

On stage were about 10 coyote dancers doing the usual gogo shuffle. One of them was particularly attractive and the rest were about par for the course (which is actually pretty good). There was yet another team of coyote dancers sitting chatting amongst themselves whilst waiting for their turn to dance.

There did not seem to be much life to the bar in terms of customer interaction, but a couple of bikini dancers were sitting with customers.

Shortly a couple of younger guys came in and it wasn't long before they had 3 good looking coyotes by their side. It is often the way with coyotes, they tend to be a bit choosier than most.

Actually things got a little more interesting on stage at the change of shift. The next team of half a dozen less inhibited dancers shed most of their clothes. Previous reports had suggested that the majority of dancers were nudity averse, so I assume that the girls on the stage were the showgirls. The numbers on stage were still made up with a couple of coyotes though.

The drinks prices are well reasonable with a 55 Baht draft beer and 115 Baht lady drinks.

Overall the bar seems to have made a solid start and is worth a visit. I'm not sure what the long term intentions are in terms of having so many coyotes, hopefully just a start up strategy. I suspect that if they hang round for too long, the customers won't. I will certainly be back for another look though.

Eazy A-GoGo has opened on Soi 15. It is the small GoGo between ToyZ and Misty's.

Meanwhile Club Relaxxx is reported as re-opened. Also perhaps starting slowing with a soft opening followed by a grand opening on Christmas day.

So with a bit of a pre-Christmas rush, the GoGo count has surged to a healthy 78.

Clinic A-gogo is located on Soi 7 near the Beach Road end.

I visited at about 10pm on a weekday evening and the bar seemed to be ticking over quite nicely.

There was a fair sprinkling of customers, maybe about a third full and there were half a dozen dancers with another girl soaping herself in the Jacuzzi.

The dancers were quite a mixed bunch in terms of both, attractiveness, and clothes sense. Several were wearing way too much, equally others were wearing none at all. There were always a couple of dancers on stage that would turn most heads.

The customers seemed happy enough to watch quite a lively dancing show, but there wasn't much interaction between the girls and the customers.

But on the whole it shows that a few attractive girls are enough to keep a bar ticking over nicely.

Happy A-gogo is located just at the end of an alley of bars off central Walking Street.

I visited at midnight, on a weekday, a couple of weeks before Christmas.

And it was pretty much the same successful looking GoGo that it has always been.

The stage was pretty well packed with dancers, most of them being topless. Surely an above average crew, but not quite the top notch. That accolade is reserved for Baccara these days.

There were a couple of coyote dancers on the centre stage and disappointingly the small corner stage, once knickerless, is now well overdressed. At some point in the last couple of years it has been hijacked by coyotes.

The crowd was a mixture of guys gawping at the girls, a few sitting with girls, and there were even a few farang couples converting a corner of the bar into an impromptu disco.

Perhaps not quite the packed audiences of old, but that's fine by me. In fact the bar was probably about 2/3rds full.

As always, the male service is spot on in terms of efficiency, but way off mark in terms of an opportunity for a chat.

All seems well at Happy.

ToyZ A-GoGo has now re-opened at its new Soi 15 venue on 16th December 2011. This venue was previously Climax A-GoGo.

The bar looks pretty much like it did as Climax but there is now a 2 girl Jacuzzi feature.

There were 30 dancers in the bar. Of these 9 dancers were on the stage at a time. Some were bottomless (Bar Fine: 800B) and others were topless (Bar Fine : 600B).  Thankfully there were no coyotes.

Draught Beer: 65B (all night)
Soft Drink: 95B
Lady Drink: 115B
Happy Hour is from 8pm till 9:30pm with 65 Baht drinks.

ToyZ started life as Catz in November 2005 in the Covent Garden Complex on Soi 16. Catz renamed to ToyZ in January 2010 but closed in the summer of 2011.

The Pattaya area GoGo count is now at 75 bars that have girls dancing in bikinis or less. With more to open shortly.

Sweethearts A-gogo is located in central Walking Street.

I popped in for my very occasional beer and everything is about the same as usual. Except that the drinks prices have edged up. They are still within the very reasonable range, but are now more psychologically expensive than major bars with prettier girls and less clothes.

The friendly greeter made his welcome, leaving me to scan the bar. There were plenty of girls with 6 dancing at any one time. They were doing an excellently short dancing roster of just 3 songs. That would be great for customers awaiting their drinking partner to return from her dance shift.

But actually there weren't any customers that I could see sitting with girls. Most seemed to have been attracted in by the open door policy. Other bars just don't seem quite so welcoming to tourists with just a passing interest in GoGos. This rather left groups of customers, several of them ladies,  chatting amongst themselves rather than being interested in the girls.

The bar still is designed around table dancing which is not a comfortable viewing position, too much neck craning and the likes. Also there's no fun if the girls are all respectably clad in full bikinis.

So as usual, I left everybody in the bar enjoying doing their own thing and moved on. A traditional and perfectly pleasant, but unexciting, one beer visit.

The large plot on the corner of Soi 2 and 2nd Road in north Pattaya opposite Big C is now cleared ready for a new hotel development, or whatever.

The loss of the complex that used to have Toy, Classroom beer bar etc has ripped the heart out of the area, and is having a knock on effect to the surrounding bars. The area seems to have lost the momentum required to make for a good bar crawl and so many customers have departed elsewhere.

One notable casualty is the recently renamed Dancehall Club, previously known as Maximum Club. This has closed after after just a couple of months in its new guise.

It has also been reported, but not confirmed, that Lek's Classroom has also given up the battle. The last time I dropped by in October it seemed pretty near to the end, so things don't look hopeful. Update: An incorrect report, Lek's Classoom is still going fine.

If so, then the GoGo count temporarily drops to 74. However it is due to pick up again this weekend.

Not quite a new bar, but has just recently changed format to a coyote dancing bar organised very much like a GoGo.

It is located just a few paces of Paratamanak Road a few metres from the corner of Soi 4. It is in a square with a large Harley shop. The bar has no welcome staff, nor open sign, but if the neon sign is on and it is between 6pm and 2am then it is open.

It is a small single unit bar with a central stage. Either side of the stage are 3 sofas to seat 3. This probably means that the comfortable maximum is 12 customers. There are a few stools at the bar at the back though.

There were 12 girls on duty of which 3 were dancing at a time. Not a bad ratio for the size of the bar. The girls were a surprising attractive crew for an off beat location. The girls were all dressed in coyote attire of shorts, top and bra. There was a theme which I think was probably meant to be naval.

I am not usually a fan of coyote dancing bars but I found this more like a GoGo bar where the girls were wearing a little too much. These were not agency girls, nor girls likely to be sponsored, or not interested in barfines etc. they were regular girls making a good effort for lady drinks and barfines.

The mamasang was friendly and helpful. In fact I found the bar to be well run and a very pleasant place for a drink and a chat with the friendly girls.

And just as the night was drawing to a close the girls were getting a little merry and a couple dressed down from coyote to GoGo.

Bottled beer was 70 Baht, lady drinks 120 Baht, early barfines 700, and late barfines 500.

Police have raided Carousel A-GoGo on Soi Diamond. They detained 3 under 18 dancers and 2 Cambodian doormen without a work permit.

It seems a yearly occurrence that police step up their raiding activities just at the time when things are picking up for high season.

Bada Bing A-GoGo has opened on Soi BJ, just a few paces off central Walking Street. It is at the location that was previously TQ2. The bar opened on 9th December.

The dancers were divided into 3 teams. Each team having 8-10 dancers.  The 1st team was made up of 8 bikini gogo dancers, and 2 of them were topless. The 2nd and 3rd teams were disappointingly all coyote, presumably agency dancers used until the bar can attract some less shy dancers of its own.

The bar will also feature shows.

Draught Beer : 55B
Soft Drink : 99B
Lady Drink : 115B
Bar Fine : 600B (Show Girl : 800B)
Happy hour is from 8pm till 10 pm.

So there are now 75 bars around Pattaya featuring girls in bikinis or less. With several more opening very soon.

Spank'ys has just opened in the centre of Soi Diamond, between the closed Gentlemen's Club and Diamond A-GoGo.

The bar has had a pretty low key opening with most early visitors reporting very few girls working in the bar.

On my visit there were 6 dancers on stage on 2 waiting in the wings. They were an attractive crew and were putting a fair amount of effort into their dancing. The girls were nicely dressed in mostly not very much. Thankfully no sign of coyotes here.

The small team of girls made for a pretty impossible situation. By my observation they were dancing 75% of their time and if you offered a lady drink, the girl would be back on stage barely before she had time to drink it.

The bar is pretty small, with the now almost mandatory central stage surround by a couple of tiers of comfortable bench seating. There's a Jacuzzi feature but it wasn't being used on my visit. And as a bit of nod to Angelwitch, the bar has an upper gallery from which the girls can slide down poles to the stage.

However there was no sign of a show. Maybe this is something for the future for when the bar gains momentum. After all the Bangkok branch is known for shows. I suspect the bar may prove a little small though to become a show venue. Maybe the small size will mean not enough customers to share the overheads of a show.

The staff were friendly and the mamasang was particularly personable.

I don't think I'll be rushing back though. Especially with a coke being a very expensive 130 Baht. I was a bit gob smacked being asked to pay such a premium price when the bar was operating at such a minimal level. I think they need an opening promotion to keep the drinks prices down until such a times as there is a premium product to justify them.

Its always tricky for bars to start up, it it very tough to get girls until the bar is up and running for the girls to see a good prospective employment. But for the moment the bar offers very poor value indeed, at least for coke drinkers.

ToyZ A-GoGo was a well respected GoGo in Covent Garden that declined probably as a result of change in demographics as the area became something of an Arab quarter. ToyZ sold up in summer of this year.6

But now the GoGo will re-appear in Soi 15 in the venue that was previously Climax A-GoGo (and before that, Sakura Club 69). The bar is aiming to re-open on the 15th December.

Hot & Cold Getting Hotter?

Hot & Cold, the even longer running GoGo on Soi Post Office is also on the move. Although not much of a move. It has taken over premises just a couple of units closer to 2nd Road. The workmen are in whilst Hot & Cold stays open in the existing and rapidly disintegrating venue. Saying that, there doesn't appear to much going on there in the afternoons these days.

Surely a brand spanking new venue will change the character of the bar. The current rundown venue is almost part of the charm.

Sexy A-GoGo Not So Sexy

Sexy A-GoGo on Soi 7 near 2nd Road was dark last night. I'm not yet sure whether this is temporary or permanent. The bar seems to be the lowest priority of the group and gives way when necessary to Far East Rock, Kiss, and the soon to open Paradise on Soi LK Metro.

Casnovy A-GoGo is located towards the Beach Road end of Walking Street.

Casnovy has occasionally flattered and has been up there with the most popular bars on Walking Street. It seems to have dropped off the radar a bit in recent times, but it is still a loud and lively venue that may better suit partying visitors, rather than seasoned expats.

My last visit was pretty much as normal, with a fair amount of attractive dancers amongst the three rows of dancers. Two of which are made up of table dancing positions and the middle row is the centre stage where the girls seem a little less inhibited about clothes.

The dancers are a pretty mixed bunch in terms of being friendly, some were hiding away just awaiting their white knight, whilst others were playing the crowds.

I was looked after by a very friendly service girl on my last visit. She was playing some strange game of keeping one foot on the floor and never quite sitting down. Something to do with house rules that service girls aren't allowed to sit with customers. She did a good job of sitting with this customer, even though it wasn't quite legally sitting.

On the whole the bar made for a decent visit. But I think it is rather waiting for the high season crowds  so as to realise the true spirit of the bar.

Work has started on a new coyote bar in Soi LK Metro. It is taking over from the Redz bar and the next door unit. So it will become a near neighbour to Submarine A-GoGo.

Reports suggest that it will be an inwardly looking coyote bar something along the lines of Sugar Sugar on the same Soi. (As opposed to an outwardly looking coyote bar such as Club Blu)

The new bar that is taking shape in Soi BJ has now revealed it self as Bada Bing A-GoGo . This is the venue that was previously TQ2.

The bar is now aiming to open on 9th December. The bar will offer an all night draft beer at 55 Baht.

There is also progress on Soi 15. Builders are currently hard at work at Climax A-GoGo, and no doubt they will be aiming to complete in time for the hoped for December upsurge in visitors.

Also Easy A-GoGo next door is preparing to re-open.

The noted Nana Plaza show bar, Spankys, opened its Pattaya branch on 3rd December 2011.

It is located at the centre of Soi Diamond between Diamond A-GoGo and the defunct Gentlemen's Club.

Review to follow.

So now there are 75 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less. For all the economic highs and lows Pattaya's GoGo count has been 76 +/- 10% for years.

The original Silver Star re-opened on Soi 8 on Friday 2nd December.

The layout has changed a little with a re-modelled stage and and a relocated Jacuzzi.

Not really what could be justified by 5 months of closure. So perhaps the bar is set for seasonal opening just for high season.

So now there are 74 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

And more on the way.

Monday 5th December is the King's Birthday (and also Fathers Day).

Bars have been closed for the last 2 years, but this is not always the case.

And it now seems set that 2011 will see bars open for birthday celebrations.

Fahrenheit is a Gogo on Walking Street between Soi 14 and Soi 15.

Until November, the dancers were split into 2 teams, and each team danced for 20 minutes. Whilst dancing the girls did not rotate around the stage.

From December, the pattern changed a little. The teams still dance for 20 minutes, but half way through their set, the girls at the front and back switch their position to the opposite end of the stage.

I enjoyed this change because I was able to get a look at more of the dancers.

Sapphire Club re-opened a few nights ago. It is located on Soi 15.

It is always exciting to see what's new when a major upgrade takes place. And indeed the newly enlarged bar makes a good visual impression. The bar has expanded into 2 next door units so maybe is about twice as big. The bar is now rectangular as opposed to the more square shape before. there is a long central-ish running lengthways down the bar. It is surrounded by Baccara style sofa seating. And most impressive of all, the stage was jam packed with dancers.

My visit started with a niggle though, the 65 Baht draft beer displayed so prominently on the welcome boards does not exist. Presumably it's on its way, but why display the signs when it isn't yet available? Having spent a good packet on the refurbishment why not invest a tiny amount more on correctly priced signs. After all the bottled beer is perfectly reasonably priced and a 75 Baht happy hour beer price would be a perfectly attractive promotion on a sign.

Sitting down to survey the bar, I started to think that the new design wasn't all that ideal. Bigger does not necessarily mean better for a GoGo bar. The distance to the stage is all important, there is something very sexual about proximity. Also greater distance can make signals of interest such as smiles, gestures and gaze that little bit harder to pick up. I felt that Sapphire has the bench seating around the sides of the bar just that little bit too far away. This is especially true on the shorter sides of the bar which have a poor viewing angle on the long thin stage. At the worst seats, one just sees the couple of  dancers at the end of the stage.

There is also a Jacuzzi at the back of the bar.  It is not located for general viewing though, so is basically entertainment for those sitting directly at the bath side. Something to try on the next visit.

And then there is the issue of coyote dancers. It seems to be that 2/3rd of the dancers are coyotes wearing shorts, bras and tops. Admittedly the shorts were about as small as they could possibly be. But I for one find coyote dancing unappealing. Firstly nudity is so much more attractive, and secondly coyote dancers are on average for more likely to be 'unavailable' due to personal choice, sponsorship, price, or just being selective. And of course their barfines are higher for no reason that I can fathom (beyond them being supplied by an agency).

It was also strange how the bar has organised the shifts. The girls were split into 3 teams and every so often the teams change. This seems a perfectly good idea, but what I couldn't understand, is why two of the teams were entirely made up of coyotes. So for the majority of the time there is no nudity on display. Wouldn't it be a better idea to distribute the gogo dancers amongst all the teams so that there are always some nude dancers on stage for those that like that sort of thing.

On the positive side, the bar has built up a very good customer base in a relatively short time and the sheer popularity of Sapphire brings with it a very lively atmosphere. The Thursday parties have traditionally been a great success and I don't suppose minor niggles about coyote dancers will be much of an issue then.

Sapphire Club re-opened a few nights ago. It has expanded into 2 next doors units and is to be found at the centre of Soi 15.

The bar now features the almost inevitable Jacuzzi. There are now single sofas around the stage like Baccara.

The dancers are divided into 3 teams. Each team having 13-17 dancers.

The 1st team is made up of coyote dancers, topless and bottomless gogo dancers.

The 2nd and 3rd teams are disappointingly all coyote.

There are no shows or similar to break the pattern.

The bar has ratcheted up the bar fines somewhat with the traditional counter intuitive higher fees for the less entertaining dancers.

1st rate gogo dancers have an 800 Baht bar fine before midnight, and 600 after.

2nd rate coyote dancers have an 1000 Baht all night bar fine.

3rd rate coyote dancers have the same bar fines as the GoGo dancers

Another old bar has re-opened just in time for high season.

Club B4 is located on the corner of Soi Diamond and Pratamnak, next door to Baron Club.

In the past it has basically been a disco with coyote dancers. But it has tried a bit of everything, even gogo. It has a sign for cheap lady drinks so presumably there are some sort of dancing girls on offer.

Baby Boom is located just off Soi Buakhao opposite Soi Honey. there is a welcome girl posted on Soi Buakhao itself.

I stopped by at about 9pm, a week after re-opening.

It is a bar in need of a reality check. The facts from a customer perspective:

• The bar has the most expensive beer of all the nearby gogos.
• It has the least number of girls.
• The girls are the most overdressed of all the gogos (excluding the coyote bars).

In fact the bar has 5 dancers of which 3 were dancing at a time. Between them they just about qualified as a gogo with one of them wearing a bikini. The rest were overdressed with the addition of various skirts and solid bras. Actually there were a couple of decent looking girls on the team.

Before I departed there was at least one indication of a good previous night for the bar, as a presumably satisfied customer returned for another session with the pick of the dancers. So after they promptly vanished, there were just 4 girls. And with 3 of them dancing at a time there was no time for any of the dancers to hook up with customers (well one customer actually). No doubt the girls will soon be pissed off for having to dance nearly all night too.

But really what can one do with a small GoGo? It is so hard to get the balance of customers to girls right, and if they did, a couple of barfines would soon put it out of balance again.

I can't really see a small GoGo working as a bar for just watching girls dance, as the small scale show will always be somewhat underwhelming. If this is all the bar has to offer then customers will soon shoot off to Champagne or Oasis.

Perhaps the only way a small bar can work is as a hands on venue with lots of interaction. The scale of the show is then pretty unimportant. So maybe the best policy would be to make sure a girl jumps on the lap of every customer who enters, so at least 4 or 5 customers can have a good time, make a few friends, and make it a bar to return to.

The original Silver Star on soi 8 is due to re-open on Thursday 1 December, with a soft re-opening at the strange time of 23.49.

This will be followed by a full-on opening night party on Friday 2 December from 8pm, with free food. Many of the girls from Silver Star 3 on Walking Street will be re-deployed for the party.

It will be interesting to see if Silver Star continues beyond high season. With sister bar Silver Star 2 so nearby, it may be a permanent move to keep the Original Silver Star as a high season only venue.

Meanwhile Sapphire Club re-opened as expected last night and successfully packed out the newly expanded bar.

Sapphire Club is set to re-open tonight. It has expanded into 2 next doors units and is to be found at the centre of Soi 15. There has been lots of late night work going on at the bar, so the owners must be pretty keen to stick to their dates.

If all goes to plan then pattaya's GoGo count will increase to 73. Actually this increase is also due to Baby Boom, just off Soi Buakhao, confirmed to have a handful of dancers in GoGo style wear. Review to follow.

Spider Girl Bar was an underwhelming open corner bar about a third of the way down Soi 6 from 2nd Road.

It has now smartened itself up a bit with some renovations and got a few more girls in, at least for a while.

It has sensibly dropped the Spider Girl name and will now be known as Tiger Girl Bar.

The bar has been bought by connections from the nearby Night Wish Bar which is now up for sale.

Climax A-GoGo on Soi 15 was suddenly closed earlier this month.

It now appears that in fact it was sold, and the new management have closed the bar for a short renovation.

Walking Street rumours suggest that the new bar will be re-born bearing the proud Catz/Toyz pedigree.

And thinking about Cliamx reminded me of another news snippet. It was obviously not a path to prosperity for the old Climax a-Go-Go, but I noticed that HALO nightclub on Walking Street is now doing a similar 29-baht draft beer for Happy Hour --- which runs 8 pm to 1 am!

Of course, there's not a lot to look at there at that time a night, but one needs to cheap imbibement, then it might be worth considering.

MASH is located on Soi LK Metro.

MASH is basically a sound bar but I find it a bit hit or miss.

On the dancing side the bar usually has a few attractive girls but mostly they are overdressed coyotes. There's usually somewhere in the range of 3 to 6 dancers and only a third wear various GoGo costumes.

Of course if you have a pretty girl at your side, then the dress code on stage is not nearly so important. And perhaps that's where I find MASH so hit or miss. There are some girls who seek out lady drinks but not all. So sometimes it can be a fun place but most of the time it seems a bit dead.

Most other things are fine in the bar. There are reasonably priced drinks, the service is good and I've never been hassled by any silly bar annoyances.

The most opened and closed GoGo venue in pattaya has provided the day's news yet again.

Climax A-GoGo on Soi 15 has once again gone dark. It was dark from the 17th November.

Perhaps all is not lost, as there are rumours that the bar may just be closed for renovation. But on the other hand, the rapid approach of high season means that now is the time to be re-opening, not closing.

It always seems expensive to refit a bar. It struck me that the main cause of the bar's lack of popularity was that cardinal sin of the girls not being very interactive. Only the top end bars can mesmorise customers into rapt attention with their dancers beauty alone. All the other bars have to supplement the girls visual charms with either great chat or great hands, depending on the style of the bar.

Pattaya's GoGo count is at the low water mark of 71. There are 4 more soon to be added so hopefully the numbers will increase.

Baron Club is the latest name for the Soi Diamond Gogo that used to be named Mirage Club.

I popped by on a quiet mid week evening and the bar looked very promising.

There were half a dozen girls dancing on the long narrow centre stage. The girls were above average and were dancing in the complete range of clothing from bikini to none.

I spoke to one girl who was a devotee of mamasang Miki and was working to pay for university. She was good company and it made for a pleasant visit.

There was not really enough customers in the bar to warrant a Jacuzzi show a-la X-Zone but Miki says that some of her girls are up for the required naughtiness.

It seemed a bit academic for the moment though, as a quiet bar generally seems to be a coy affair. It's as if the girls are communally shy until such a time as that they can all be naughty together.

Anyway the bar looks as if it should do the biz. The only question is whether enough customers will get to know it.

Sapphire Lodge has just opened on Pratamnak Soi 4 opposite the Asia Hotel and near the beach end of the soi.

There's nothing like opening with a splash, and Sapphire Lodge have done exactly that. Most bars struggle to get girls for the opening days but Sapphire just happens to have a GoGo worth of resources currently waiting for a sister bar to re-open after renovations.

And really have GoGo quality girls available in a hostess bar setting makes it the best set up I've seen in daytime for a long time. Actually I was there as afternoon turned towards evening, and there were say 30 girls in attendance even in the early evening. I hope that they can maintain the option for an evening visit. Other similar bars tend to die a death after 6pm. A downward spiral sets in where the girls (mostly freelance) depart because there are few customers, and any customers that give it a try do a U turn when there are no girls, never to try again in an evening. I don't see why there shouldn't be a reasonable pool of customers in the evening. It's just that everyone knows (or thinks) that the bars are not properly open in the evening and don't even give it a try.

The bar itself is a large rather square shape but it has been nice broken up by having a balcony floor as a walkway for upstairs rooms.

A few days ago I commented on the similarly sized indoor bar at nearby Exotica which I found a bit open plan. Sapphire Lodge is a definite improvement. It has bays that split up the seating running along the long sides of the bar. Having the option to sit against the wall and having the occasional barrier just adds that little gesture towards privacy that a girly bar really should have.

In general the bar looks the biz.

There is a swimming pool and outside bar but I did not take a look.

Bottled beer was 85 Baht and lady drinks were 120 Baht. There are various food options with specials on several days of the week.

I predict that this bar's natural pairing with a GoGo is going to provide very tough competition for the 3 nearby gentlemen's clubs. Just like in Walking Street, the most popular bars are easily the one's with the best girls. And this bar is winning hands down so far.

The original Silver Star A-GoGo on Soi 8 has been closed since July with news at the time that it was closed for a 3 month renovation.

Anyway the workmen are now in and the bar has been gutted. No clues yet as to what will fill the void.

The new bar that is taking shape in Soi BJ has now revealed it self as Bada Bing A-GoGo . This is the venue that was previously TQ2.

The Bada Bing name has previously made an appearance in Soi 8. The venue really wanted to be a coyote bar cum disco. But when the idea didn't pan out too well, it tried something different and became a GoGo. This didn't seem to work out either and it soon gave up trying.

Another bar that has revealed a new identity is the old Goodfellas above Soi Lucky Star. It is next to be named as Play . And from the adverts for the opening night on 25th November, then it looks like it will be a night club/disco.

Baby Boom re-opened as promised with the clear description, Baby Boom A-GoGo, proudly displayed by a welcome girl on Soi Buakhao. However on a 10:30pm visit on Saturday night there were no dancing girls whatsoever, so for the moment the GoGo count remains unchanged whilst they employ a few girls.

It looks like Sapphire Club in Soi 15 won't be adding to the GoGo count for another week or two. Maybe they can blame the delay on the floods.

Having already upped prices to gouge high-season tourists, Walking Street go-go bars are now using Thailand's flooding crisis as another excuse to lay on more disproportional drink-price increases.

Iron Club - already one of the city's most-expensive bars - has added another 7% (10 baht) to prices of house spirits (read Thairot-gut vodka, whiskey and rum) and 7.5% to the cost of a tiny shot of tequila lady-drinks, making them a whopping 145 baht.

The mixed-drink pricing mirrors reported changes to draft beer prices which are going up as much as 10 baht in some bars.

Queried on the price increases, two different Iron Club managers said the prices were raised due to wholesale price increases and/or shortages from the Bangkok floods. But when asked if the prices would drop again after the floodwaters recede, staffers acted non-committal.

While some exceptions - such as X-Zone's recent price rollback - can be noted, generally once prices go up, they rarely come back down, especially with the Christmas-Holiday gouging season nearing.

The increases are especially irking in the light of 5-10 baht price hikes for the high-season from the Peppermint/Happy group of bars, the Shark/Tiger duopoly and others. With the likes of What's Up charging a stupid 160 baht for rotgut shorts and up to 250 baht for lady drinks, some Pattaya venues now match or exceed Bangkok pricing.

Perhaps the Russians and U.S. Navy guys actually have it right: Buy your drinks at 7-Eleven and take the party back to your hotel.

X-Zone is located on the upper floor of the Covent Garden Complex on Soi 16 just off Walking Street.

X-Zone with its new bosses and modifications is now doing well. Two new mamasans in there: One whose made the full lap and returned to Covent Garden after getting her start as on one of the original Club Boesche mamas, and the other a 5-year veteran at Heaven Above.

Unfortunately, she brought none of the beauties from Heaven Above to X-Zone. A mama who comes without a herd of girls is pretty useless to a new employer, me thinks, but apparently she had some falling out with the boys (or one of their wives) at Heaven.

Would have been nice to have some of those angels in X-Zone, but those princesses would never stoop to doing the tawdry things the X-girls have to do.

Baby Boom A-GoGo is set to be the first in an upward turn in Pattaya's GoGo count. If all goes well it will re-open on Friday 11th November at 8pm. Bottled beer will be 95 Baht and house spirits will start from 95 baht for a double.

There's no draft beer for the moment but it is planned for, at least when supplies get back to normal.

Baby Boom is located a few metres off Soi Buakhao, nearly opposite Soi Honey.

Sapphire Club is also set to re-open on Soi 15. It is scheduled to open on 12th November but the staff outside reckon on the 13th November.

And being busy people, the management have just opened Sapphire Lounge on Pratamnak Soi 4, opposite the Asia hotel and near the beach. It is another in the mould of luxurious daytimes bars that are not actually as expensive as they look. By all accounts the opening day was a big hit.

There's plenty of builders and bar fitters being hard at work on Walking Street.

There is something new taking shape at the old TQ2 bar, although only whispers about what.

Spanky's on Soi Diamond will be with us in about a month and Sapphire Club will reopen in its new doubled sized format within days.

I'm not sure what the progress is at Goodfellows though, hard to tell being upstairs out of sight. It is set to become a GoGo.

There are also 2 GoGo units in the refurbished Soho Square that are said to be ready to go should their be any takers. But with recently failed venues available nearby at Hooties, Boesche, Dream and Relaxxx, one can't help but think that these will be a difficult sell. It's as if there's an international border fence at the Walking Street tree.

The Dollhouse has been predictably one of the first to raise its prices, in the wake of flood justified shortages. The all night price of draft has gone up 20 Baht to 79 Baht.

Meanwhile other bars have quietly made less noticable squeezes.

Champion has ended  an 'all night happy hour on Mondays' promotion.

Actually one missed from a little while ago. For sometime this year Beach Club and Cavern were running their Happy Hour until 10pm. This has now reverted to the previous 9:30pm.

And beware of lady drinks at Baron, these could set you back 180 Baht for an 'ordinary' lady drink. There is actually a 130 Baht option, but this denied when asked by a Thai-Anxiety roving reporter.'

Unfortunately there will be more to follow.

Exotica is a daytime gentlemen's club on the Jomtien side of Pratamnak Hill opposite Soi 4. The venue is the the last of the block and there is a plot next door acting as a car park.

The bar is on the first floor, with pedestrian access through an uninviting and dingy ground floor area with the access steps at the back to the room. The bar would probably do itself a few favours by getting a neon sign on the ground floor, proclaiming that the bar is open and then inviting people in.

As you reach the top of the stairs then suddenly it becomes a very luxuriously appointed bar. The first room you enter is the pool room and the large main bar is just next door.

The bar area is very open plan, maybe it would have been better with a few token gestures of privacy such as seating bays.

I arrived late afternoon and there were about a dozen girls and a dozen customers. Most of the girls were tied up with guys, and there was not much doing except watching other guys having fun with girls on their laps. But there was a good turnover of customers, and the girls were very proactive in search of drinking partners, so it wasn't long before getting a bit of attention.

There were a couple of pretty girls getting drunk and having fun, and there were several others that would surely get a fair few barfines a month. Most I spoke to have had experience at similar bars such as Kinnaree.

It turned out to be quite a fun sort of bar but the management has to be careful to ensure that there are enough girls to go around.

The beers were 80 baht a bottle and the lady drinks were 120 Baht.

There is also an outside section with a swimming pool, but when I visited, all the action was inside.

Looks promising.

Bar owners have reported a significant increase in the wholesale price of beer to the tune of 10 Baht a small bottle.

And of course there is the added incentive with the line, that's if you can get it all!

The floods have got a lot to answer for.

Lao khao anybody?

Club Relaxxx is located on the bottom floor of the Covent Garden Complex on Soi 16 just off Walking Street.

Relaxxxx is on its last legs. The Turkish owner has been MIA for weeks. Some girls have remained, but are getting paid nightly by the cashier. They're staying in hopes the boss returns and pays them what he owes.

But ever since the owner refit the bar (again, for like the 4th time), business has gone down the tubes. Where once Relaxxx was very dark and there was quite a bit of fun to be had in the corners, the new design is all-white and very bright. Not only has all the hanky-panky stopped --- backed by a policy that if a girl is caught doing something naughty she is fined 2,000 baht --- the lights show every stretch mark and every wrinkle. Dim lights and neon are often the best friend for many of Pattaya's working girls. Without those, the customers have stayed away in droves.

Update: Closed

6th November 2011.

No sooner mentioned, than it came to pass. Club Relaxxx has completed the complete downstairs closure of the Covent Garden Complex.

That leaves only X-Zone in operation upstairs. They will have to really pull up their rubber gloves and get to work on providing a venue that will pull the punters in. Still, they have a few unique ideas that have done them well so far.

Meanwhile there are now just 72 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Baby Boom A-GoGo is located just of Soi Buakhao in a soi nearly opposite Soi Honey.

It seems that the bar is now readying for a return on 10th November.

And whilst on the subject of new bars Cafe Ole on Soi 6 next door to Lucky Love has opened as a short time bar with girls. It has no aircon though and an open front.

Dream A-GoGo on the ground floor at the Covent Garden Complex on Soi 16 has closed with a for rent sign on the door.

The bar had recently had only open for a few months since it was bought in the summer.

Perhaps this highlights the remarkable work by the previous owner Robert, who kept it open for several years. He managed to keep it going by having a bit of a social flair, and a good circle of friends who would drop by for a few beers.

Catz, as it was known then had its hey day for a couple of years after it opened. It had plenty of girls, a good show, and even managed to be the first on Walking Street to dream up the air hostess theme.

There are now 73 bars in the Pattaya area that have girls dancing in bikinis or less. A pretty low tally, but there are 3 more on the way. On the other hand there are 4 or 5 that look to be on the way out.

Here's a new bar soon to open that I hadn't come across before. But then again I have never been down Pratamnak Soi 1/11. Turn off Pratamnak at the Ratchawarun Road the main junction towards the highest point of Pratamnak. Then head towards Cozy Beach and look for Soi 11, the last soi as you head towards the sea.

Anyway Ed of Pattaya Rag reckons it looks good and it will be open this Friday, 4th November. The opening hours are 1pm until 10pm.

Club Mirage on Soi Diamond had a short lived opening a couple of weeks ago and went dark a few days later.

It now seems set to be returning with a new name. The bar is now bearing a new look and a new name, Baron Club A-GoGo.

Baron Club opened for business on 28th October 2011. It has started without draft beer but is selling cheap end bottled beer at 79 baht.

There are now 74 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Update: Prices

31st October 2011. Thanks to Ishi

Baron Club opens at 9pm and has1a a happy hour running until 11pm.

There is no draft beer but bottled Chang is a cheap option at 59 Baht during happy hour and 790 Baht afterwards.

Lady drinks are 130 Baht and barfines are 700 Baht.

Mamasang Miki is on a lightening tour of Walking Street, taking in X-Zone, Relaxxx, Dollhouse, Windmill and now she is playing at Baron Club. She seems to have dropped her team of groupies along the way though at Windmill.

The Office A-Gogo is located on Soi LK Metro

There's an old adage saying that one's experience of a bar can change from day to day and hour to hour.

I find that this description aptly fits The Office. It is basically a well run bar that ticks most of the boxes that it should to make a good GoGo.

It has a good team of attractive dancers, perhaps second only to Champagne. On my latest visit, there were about 8 girls on stage of which half were topless. Actually this was better than on previous visits, The Office/MASH/Submarine group of GoGos often seem a little nudity challenged and sometimes seem more coyote than gogo.

The girls are generally friendly and most seek out a customer for a chat, but sometimes I have been in early and the girls don't seem very interested. Perhaps the bar needs to build up a bit of momentum before the girls are spurred into action.

But sometimes the bar can get very crowded. I tend to do a quick U turn when I see the bar is full. There are then far too many guys for the number of girls available and there is little chance of any interaction with the girls. A bit like Champagne just down the soi. However spectator mode seems to keep plenty of customers entertained, so they must be doing something right.

Passion Dance Club is located on Soi 6 towards the Beach Road end.

Being a creature of habit I always start a stroll down Soi 6 starting from the 2nd Road end. And more often than I would expect, no girl stood out as a potential drinking partner for the entire length of the Soi.

So now as I get to the end of the So I like to find a bar with half an hours worth of aircon and a couple of cold beers whilst I consider my options. Maybe to try another cruise of the soi or else hop on a baht bus down to Walking Street.

Anyway there are 3 bars that fit the bill where you pop in without selecting a girl first and chill whilst being entertained by dancers. OMG is a bit of a write off at the moment, it hasn't really gelled as a dance bar. My favourite is Mandarin where there can be good hands on fun, but unfortunately it is often lacking enough girls and is therefore unreliable. So Passion becomes the default choice as it is very reliable for having pretty girls on the stage and enough atmosphere to let the time fly by.

Passion is also the closest in style to a traditional Walking Street GoGo. It usually has 3 or 4 girls dancing, a couple sitting around and the rest sitting outside. This sitting outside seems to be the main difference to a traditional GoGo and is presumably a nod to the Soi 6 ethic of being able to pick up a girl on the way into a bar.

The beer is cheap and cold, as is the aircon. Excellently fitting the chill out criteria, exactly as required.

Lek's Classroom is located on Soi 2 a few paces off 2nd Road.

The bar is now divided in two with a big black curtain. The front section is a coyote bar with girls dancing in the windows and a live band.

The back half of the bar is a GoGo. The GoGo section hasn't really changed in layout and is essentially even worse than before. The comfortable seating along the back wall is simply an impossible distance from the stage.

The GoGo operation has been well squeezed by a poor layout, coupled with the surrounding area declining as a nightlife centre as it makes way for new hotels.

There were just two girls dancing, and there was a 3rd girl doing her rather tame stuff in a Jacuzzi.

There was another two or three guys who were being well looked after by the girls awaiting their turn to dance.

The mamasang was doing her bit to ensure that the smattering of customers were happy enough.

But really the GoGo was operating below critical mass and things don't look good.

Unless there was a last minute hitch, Exotica Gentlemen's Club should have opened today on Pratamnak Hill.

It is located on Pratamnak Road itself between Soi 4 (Soi Asia) and Soi 5.

The term gentlemen's club usually indicates a daytime bar with a touch of luxury in terms of furnishing and amenities. And that doesn't mean expensive.

The Cavern is located on Walking Street nearly opposite Soi Diamond.

This was my first visit since the introduction of the centre stage. And it is immediately clear that it is a big improvement. There is now a lot more comfortable seating, and it all comes with a good and closer view of the central stage. A win-win improvement that also looks good and seems to generate a far better atmosphere for interaction with the girls. Presumably the dancers are now better aware of customers that are signalling interest.

Perhaps a little ironically, the bar is now a similar layout to when it was Honey A-GoGo many years ago. Since then Sisterz had 2 major refits and after that Cavern has now had its second. The bar fitters have done really well at this location and perhaps are also smiling at its reversion to the original design.

There was still the long slow march of girls through the 9 or so dancing points on the central stage. There were some good looking girls, and most (but not all) were topless.

The side stage dancers were a little disappointing though, as most were also topless. They were all nude on previous visits.

Sex A-GoGo is located at the 2nd Road end of Soi 7 and is not to be confused with Sexy Girls A-GoGo  located at the 2nd Road end of Soi 8.

Since I last stopped by, the bar had a period of closure, with a sign proclaiming renovation. But in fact I didn't spot anything that had been renovated, not even the girls. Presumably it was put on ice for a while. The bar is probably the most minor of the ownership trio that includes Kiss and Far East Rock, and is probably the most likely to give way when the girls are needed elsewhere.

There were only half a dozen girls in the bar, with two dancing at a time. And a below average team at that. It doesn't appear that the bar will be setting Soi 7 alight any time soon.

But, as always, I found some pleasant company for a couple of cheap drinks, and I enjoyed my stay anyway.

The Walking Street GoGo group comprising of Fahrenheit, Shark and Tiger has raised its drinks prices in time for high season.

After the 9:30pm happy hour, draft beer has increased from 60 Baht to 70 Baht.

For those that prefer the stuff bottled, then it will set you back 130 Baht for the usual small bottle.

No doubt other prices have increased similarly.

Multiple police departments initiated a mass raid of Lucifer Discotheque on Walking Street in South Pattaya in the early hours of Friday morning. Over 150 Officers took part and descended on the 500 revelers inside the club.

Everyone was searched, including foreign patrons, Thai girls were tested for drugs along with a few farangs which resulted in the arrest of 14 women and 2 male employees of the club.

Drug taking paraphernalia was found in the Men's Toilet and a large quantity of pain relief tablets were seized. Also some anti-histamine Chlorphenamine Tablets. No illegal narcotics were found and all licenses were found to be in order.

Lucifer's is expected to be open as usual over the weekend.

Nui's Club 2 is located on Walking Street a few metres south of Soi Diamond.

The bar has a good location and gets a good throughput of customers. However the bar does not really have enough girls or enough space to capitalise on this.

Sitting in the bar for an hour reveals how it rapidly fills up and equally quickly empties again. There simply isn't enough good seating to provide for many customers at a time. There's just a single bench seat for 5 or 6 people. After that, there are a few seats around the front stage that has no view of the main stage and a lack lustre dancer rarely doing her best to entertain customers on the 'lonely benches'.

The girls are a mixed bunch, with usually a couple that attract attention. And if the situation allows then they can be quite hands on and fun.

It is a bar that is worth a look, but one must always be ready to make a quick getaway if the best seats are taken.

In a rather grand headline Pattayaone has announced that Pattaya has its first authentic Dancehall.

The Dancehall features international and Thai DJ's along with live bands, seven nights a week and includes a variety of musical styles, including Reggae, Ragga, Soca, Rocksteady, Dub, R&B, Funksoul, Neosoul, Hiphop, Salsa and Ska.

The club also has the almost inevitable coyote dancers and drinks are said to be reasonably priced.

In fact Dancehall is replacing maximum Club on the corner of Soi 3 and 2nd Road. Maximum also had DJ's, live bands and coyote dancers.

So perhaps just a change of neon.

As mentioned yesterday, Spanky's is coming to Pattaya on Soi Diamond.

The builders are currently working on the old Limmatquai 80 lady boy bar between Gentlemen's Club and Diamond A-GoGo.

Spanky's is a GoGo in Bangkok's Nana Plaza specialising in shows, so presumably they have something similar in mind for Pattaya.

The bar is set to open on or before 25th November 2011.

Club Mirage on Soi Diamond. was dark last night. It was pretty dead when I passed a week ago too so maybe the prognosis is not good.

So there are now 74 GoGo bars in the Pattaya area.

The count looks set to rise shortly though.

Goodfella's, the upstairs bar over Soi Lucky Star is closed with s sign promising something else very shortly. And the word on the street is that a GoGo is expected.

A sign for Spanky's has appeared on the old Lady boy bar between Gentlemen's Club and Diamond A-GoGo. Spanky's is a GoGo in Bangkok's Nana Plaza specialising in shows, so presumably they have something similar in mind for Pattaya.

ByBlos on the corner of Soi Diamond and Pratamnak has edged its draft beer price up from 45 Baht to 49 Baht. Still cheaper than most.

new Living Dolls One is set back a few paces off Walking Street opposite Happy A-GoGo

The bar is a long running and successful GoGo, that in style and popularity, sits a notch just below the Happy group GoGos.

It is farang run and is therefore aware that the best customers are repeat customers. The drinks & barfine prices are reasonable and the bar is well run ensuring that there are no worries about hassles and other silly tricks that some other bars get up to.

There are enough girls in the bar to have about 10 girls on stage at any one time. The slow procession of GoGo dancing is punctuated by frequent shows. The shows aren't choreographed, just girls making a bit more of an effort than the usual dancers, with a few variations such as body painting.

In terms of interaction with the girls, the bar is similar to the Happy group. Customers won't get asked unless they signal their interest to a girl. Then the girls are more than willing to oblige in partaking in a lady drink or more.

The bar was doing a good trade without being particularly full. Perhaps better than most given the low season visit.

Rhino GoGo Club is located on Walking Street towards the south end and opposite Tony's or Abyzz as it is now.

The bar features the currently fashionable centre stage layout. In fact there is a small variation, in that the centre stage is split in two. There is comfortable bench seating down one side and stools down the other.

There is also a Jacuzzi feature towards the back of the bar featuring a naked lady trying to entice a few customers to her bathside.

The dancing stages were filled with half a dozen girls in traditional gogo wear. They were probably a little below walking Street average, but there were a couple who would turn a few eyes.

There was quite a busy mamasang working hard to conjure up a bit of life from the dancers, and also trying to hook up customers with girls.

It seems that the bar is trying hard, but really the sprinkling of customers didn't give the impression that the efforts were succeeding. For my own little contribution I stayed, just for a one drink look, as I heard that the lady drinks are on the high side at 150 Baht. But the offerings on show weren't worth paying the premium pricing for.

The bar seems modelled on Airport or Iron, but hasn't built up the necessary momentum yet to make it work. Possibly the location is working against them. But at least they seemed to be trying hard to make it a lively venue.

Byblos is located on the corner of Soi Diamond and Pratamnak Road. The GoGo bar is upstairs and there is a coyote bar on the ground floor.

Having heard that the pussy tricks shows had been given the push, I thought it was time to take a look.

And indeed the upstairs bar now operates as a standard GoGo. There were about 10 girls in the bar, enough for 2 shifts of dancers. 4 girls were dancing on the centre stage and one girl was soaping herself down in the Jacuzzi. The two teams would swap every 4 or 5 songs. For 1 or 2 of these songs two of the main stage girls stripped off their bikinis for a bit of a lesbian show.

The girls were about average for Walking Street, which is pretty good, and two of the girls would surely get plenty of barfines. At least if a few more customers were to turn up. A few customers turned up whilst I was there and they all got a pretty girl turn up to politely ask if they would like company.

I spotted an old friend from Shark who would have told me a bit more about the bar, had she been working there a bit longer. I may have stayed a bit longer but for her request for another tequila the moment she downed the previous one. Perhaps a temporary hang over from the pussy show incarnation of the bar, but the service staff were a bit pushy for tips, and there was a tip box on hand for the rather lame lesbian show. It was nothing that couldn't be handled by a stern 'no', and will probably subside if the bar gets popular with the farangs.

There were reports that the bar may be targetting a hands on sort of Jacuzzi show etc, but it was hard to tell on this visit as there wasn't really enough customer momentum to get that sort of thing going.

I suspect the bar bar will struggle to get people up the stairs. It has been a pussy tricks bar way too long, and will be out of consideration for a large portion of the target audience. Also any assertive attempts by the welcome staff to get people upstairs will probably just end up convincing people that it is still a bells and whistles place. At least they are trying to entice customers in with a 45 Baht draft beer.

I'll give another go though.

Yet another GoGo has been lined up for Soi LK Metro. This is beyond the Kiss 2 (not the actual name) GoGo announced last month.

The latest project is set for the bra that is currently Redz and a next door neighbour unit.

So the projected dance bar count for Soi LK Metro will be 7 GoGos and 2 coyote bars.

Banglamung Police have conducted raids on 55 bars and other late night venues in East Pattaya over the weekend.

The states aim was to detect illegal drug activity and to ensure venues were operating within the restrictions of the law.

31 bar employees and patrons were arrested after failing urine tests, and 1 bar owner was arrested for selling alcohol without a license.

More police raids are expected.

Update: Pattaya-wide

5th October 2011.

The mass bar raids are not constrained to east Pattaya but have been going on throughout town.

TQ 2, or more formally Tahitian Queen 2, has closed on Soi BJ, a few paces of central Walking Street.

The owners have sold up and there are reports that the new owners will convert it to a coyote bar.

The long running TQ2 was an American targeting hangout bar that had a gogo dancers as a bit of sideline. It has been languishing somewhat in recent times, but it used to feature a very popular calendar of parties and special events.

There are now 75 Pattaya bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Byblos is located at the corner of Soi Diamond and Soi Pratamnak (2nd Road)

The upstairs bar has now changed format and ditched the bells and whistles show. It is now a standard format GoGo complete with a Jacuzzi.

The mamasang learnt her trade at Windmill, so there is a good chance that the bar could follow a similar style. I do hope so.

The downstairs bar remains as a coyote bar, but the cheap 45 Baht draft beer is available all night in both bars.

Sapphire Club on Soi 15 seems to have done well since converting to a gogo in 2010. And now it has big plans.

From the 1st of October the bar will be closed for renovations. It will be expanding and and will open with a new look. The work is expected to be complete for a re-opening on 12th November 2011.

Update: On Schedule

1st October 2011.

Sapphire has taken over the two beer bars next door, so the resulting venue will be impressively big.

The girls are dispersing for the duration of the building works. What's Up and Climax have been mentioned as temporary workplaces.

There are now 76 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Perhaps taking inspiration from the popularity of Kinnaree Place, two more gentlemen's clubs look to opening up in the Pratamnak area.

The first is to be called Exotica. It will be very large and will open around the end of September.

The second will have a swimming pool and is targeted at a mid-November opening.

Update: More Details

10th September 2011.

Exotica is located at the old Mountain View Hotel on Pratamnak itself, between Soi 4 and Soi 5.

The venue is set to open on the 1st of October and it will feature a large swimming pool and plenty of girls looking for fun.

Update: Sapphire Lodge

13th September 2011.

The second gentlemen's club mentioned above has now been revealed as Sapphire Lodge. It is located on Pratamnak SOi 4 (Soi Asia) nearly opposite the Asia Hotel. It is the location that was previously Freedrop.

The bar is associated with the Sapphire Club GoGo in Pattaya Soi 15 and the 15% discount card will be accepted in both venues.

Sapphire Lodge is scheduled to open in Mid October

Update: Delayed

1st October 2011.

Exotica didn't make the 1st of October opening due to the inevitable slow building work. The reschuled opening date is now 15th October 2011.