Pattaya Nightlife News and Reviews

Champion A-GoGo has closed at its Walking Street venue but has reopened in a new location. It has moved to the Soho Square venue that was previously home to Cedar Club. The venue has changed slight from 'Champion' to 'The Champion'

The venue has been operating on Walking Street for many years but recently it has slipped into obscurity as far as farangs are concerned as it opted for pussy tricks shows.

Soho Square has not had a good record for nightlife venues but perhaps a venue where customers are dragged by touts might be able to work round the lack of passing trade.

Last night Las Vegas II GoGo on Soi Yamato (Soi 13/1) was closed, but their sister Las Vegas III GoGo also on Soi Yamato was open for business.

In recent times they did not even have enough talent to fill one gogo, let alone two.

The reason for the closure is not yet clear. But whilst it stays dark, there are 81 GoGos open around Pattaya.

Kinnaree just off the middle of Pratamnak Soi 4 is a very convenient resting stop on some of my walking routes around Pratamnak Hill. However I generally give it a wide berth due to simply not liking crowds. I am also not keen on the the bar adding an expensive meal charge to the bill and then me having to explain that I didn't eat anything and would like it removed. However the crowds are testimony to it being a very good bar and to the fact that the meal price system doesn't actually cause problems.

As explained above I generally drop by in the evening on non-buffet days. Although many of the girls are on their way from tea time, there are still a a fair few that wait until the customers depart.

The girls are very good at circulating around the bar seeking out customers that may be interested in their services. However saying that, the girls are freelancers and don't get much out of a chat and a ladydrink, so are quickly circulating again if need be.

The girls are friendly and the drinks are reasonably priced, so encouraging the good atmosphere that prevails.

Actually the crowds also point to a few economic lessons for Pattaya. The bar provides a very popular respite from the 2000 Baht short times + 1000 baht barfines that prevail in the nighttime economy. Locals in the know can get similar (but not quite) the top quality of Walking Street for 1000 + 350 at Kinnaree.

Another economic lesson is that some services tend to become natural monopolies. The guys go to Kinnaree because there are many girls, and the girls go because there are crowds of guys. Several bars around the area have tried to grab a bit of the action, but have always failed to make any impression on Kinnaree's monopoly.

So I rather reckon that Kinnaree will be popular for some time to come. If you want plenty of girls to choose from, in a luxurious environment with very reasonable prices then Kinnaree is a pretty safe bet, but don't forget that there are many many in Pattaya who agree.

On Soi Khao Noi, about 100 metres before Goldflower Bar when coming from Sukhumvit Road, a brand new bar has opened: Patty Bar Beer.

At my visit the bar stools were still wrapped in cling film.

The cashier and the mamasan looked much better than the two 'girls' .

One of them was a 45-year-old fatty from Chang Mai who had worked a very short stint as a 42-year-old (growing old very fast) sumo at Saxo (now Le Rouge) and the other one was a short fatty who was as least as old.

The tall and slim mamasan said she was going to pick up a new girl, but I could not be arsed to wait.

I wonder if she is going to find much talent at 4,000-5,000 baht a month.

Bottled Heineken 85 baht.

Believe it or not: one more 'gogo' has opened: Bliss, but it remains to be seen if it is really a blessing.

Its location near the Beach Road end of Walking Street opposite Skyfall used to be an Indian restaurant.

The building is separated from the previous location of Beavers (now a pharmacy: Infinity) by a narrow alley.

To be honest: Bliss is not a gogo, but a coyote bar with a couple of naked performers. (In my not so humble opinion there are not 80 plus gogos in Pattaya, but rather 50 minus.)

The layout is traditional with a cheapo central stage with ten chrome poles of about 1.8 metres high, double-tier bench seating on the left-hand side and single-tier bench seating on the right-hand side.

(It seems to have become a new and probably cheaper fashion not to fix the (shorter) chrome poles to the ceiling.)

At Bliss I saw two dancing teams consisting each of fifteen more than overdressed coyotes in white outfits and two naked dancers. After their stint on stage the naked dancers put a black string and a black transparent negligee and started selling shots. (Note that the French word for such a thing is 'un déshabillé')

By far most of the coyotes were comfortably over the thirty-year mark and, to use an understatement, all but beauty queens. You will not want to wake up next to most of their worn-out bodies. It looks as if somebody has been scratching the bottom to find the most worthless available females.

On internet there has been a rumour of 1,500 baht barfines, but I could not be arsed to ask.

The waitresses were friendly enough and the music was the usual crap.

Three days after the opening there were way more girls' bums on the bench seating than customers' bums and nobody stayed long.

The drink menus were similar to those at Shark, Fahrenheit, Lighthouse, Mandarin Walking Street, Crazy House and Palace.

Draught beer (not promoted by the greeters) 80 baht, bottled Heineken 140 baht, lady drinks 150 baht.

Gentlemen's Club on Soi Diamond closed on the 22nd March. The Japanese owner has returned to his home country and has no plans to re-open the bar. The venue is for sale but no offers have been received yet.

So there are now 82 bars around Pattaya claiming to be GoGos.

Barfine in Sweethearts on Walking Street are now 1000 Baht. Ladydrinks are the same same 130 though.

Now the walls are up in the new beach club it looks a lot bigger,

Last night Upstairs A-GoGo was open and, as usual, the huge ladyboy was patrolling in front of it. That being said, I am surprised they are not closed for a long time. I guess they make their money from scamming one-off customers.

I wonder if there is a link between the closure of Infinity A-GoGo and the opening of Bliss A-GoGo. To be honest I expect more closures. The fact that the Thai-Chinese owner of Super Baby and Super Girl has quit the market is a bad omen.

On the Dark Side:

• Clover Bar has become Dusk till Dawn;
• Som Bar has reopened as Som The Diner;
• Route 69 has become Flintstone.

Also on the Dark Side following places seem to have vanished, closed or been renamed:

• Black Bush Bar;
• Mulligan's;
• Pla-Bar;
• Rendezvous Bar.

Bliss A-GoGo opened on Walking Street on 18th March 2016. It is situated by Soi 14.

There are now 83 GoGos in the Pattaya area.

Infinity A-GoGo has been dark on Walking Street for a couple of nights. The reasons are not yet clear.

Updated:

Upstairs A-GoGo on the corner of Soho Square and Walking Street was dark for a night but this was just a blip with the bar opening as normal the next night.

So at the moment there are now 82 bars around Pattaya claiming to be GoGos.

Lisa Bar is located on Pattaya Soi 6

Information current as of March 2016

The bar is still high standard, with sexy girls in uniforms - today Air Hostess, tomorrow "high school". One girl told me they have more than 20 different uniforms.

I think the bar has had a makeover since it opened, since it still appear in quite good condition.

Upstairs the short time rooms are nice, clean, with real lockable doors and look very new to me. I would say they have been redone within the last year or so. Bathroom/shower is down the hall.

Prices:

• Room 300
• Girl 1000 (I didn't negotiate)
• Coca Cola 60
• Lady 140

At Passion Gentlemen's Club in Jomtien some changes have been taking place and not for the better.

The only remaining theme days are bikini on Thursday and lingerie on Saturday.

The price of the ST rooms has become 400 baht, from 350 baht before.

They again have started hiring coyotes at 10,000 baht per ten days.

Those coyotes are extremely pushy for lady drinks, to the displeasure of both punters and freelancers. Several freelancers have already moved to Kinnaree Place.

Bottled Heineken 89 baht, up from 80 baht

The Pattaya Music Festival will take place on the 18th-19th-20th of March with three stages.

The main stage will be in the waste ground near the Hard Rock Hotel,  A second stage will be near the Beach Rd junction with Pattaya Klang and the third will be near further up Beach Rd near Soi 4

Beach Road will be closed off from 4pm to 1am on those dates and no doubt traffic chaos will result around town.

Pandora's on Soi LK Metro is a small traditional gogo with a side stage, perhaps a little reminiscent of some of the defunct GoGos on Soi Pattayaland.

The venue is a gentle hands on affair, a little less raunchy than Windmill and Babydolls, but nevertheless a good addition to the rather narrow variety otherwise found on Soi LK Metro.

There were enough girls for the reasonable amount of customers that were present late on a Saturday night. Perhaps not the line up for fans of Bacarra or Sensations, but at least the dress code was bikini and topless rather than the near streetwear codes found in many a bar with a more top notch line up. Saying that there were a few girls on show that surely wouldn't be struggling with their barfine quotas.

I was entertained by a very friendly and obliging girl, and it made for a very pleasant visit.

As is often the case with the more hands on approach, it needs a little proactive management to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. And Ricky was on hand to fulfill the role admirably.

Drinks are reasonable and the company is convivial.

On Walking Street opposite Skyfall a new gogo is taking shape: Bliss . The Thai text on the banner mentions the word “ อะโกโก ("agogo").  (Note that my dictionary defines the word "agogo" as "a musical instrument used in Latin and African music consisting of two or more joined metal cones that are played by hitting them with a piece of wood"). The building is separated from the previous location of Beavers (now a pharmacy: Infinity) by a narrow alley.

In Pattaya the breath tests are still going on. Some nights ago I was stopped at the crossing of Soi Khao Talo and the railway. Police appear to have small black breathalysers now, about the size of a remote control of a camera.

I seriously doubt if the closure of Harem A Go Go (Harem 2) on Walking Street is temporary as even the electronic sign has been removed.

On Soi Xzyte (Third Road Soi 23) Love'sis Bar & Lounge appears to have closed. I guess there were not enough punters who could (or wanted to) afford their prices.

Some news from the Dark Side:

• Jungo Bar on Soi Pattanakan Soi 4 has become The Green Bar.
   
• Black Angels Bar on Soi Lablae has become a Thai kind of bar.
   
• The Dive on Soi Khao Noi has become a Thai kind of restaurant.
   
• S aint-George and Dragon (previously UMIM Bar, USABAR and AUSA Bar) on Soi Khao Talo Soi 9 has gone dark.
   
• The Thirsty Beaver on Soi Khao Noi seems to have closed.

  Apart from the name, not much if anything has changed at Spice Club (previously Beach Club) on Soi 15.

There were tons of bikini girls, most of them around thirty years old and in the 4-to-6 quality range. Many were wearing underwear.

I saw only five girls in strings.

No nudity.

Bottled Heineken 150 baht.

Beach Club previously on Soi 15 is moving to a new location on Soi Happy next to Happy A-GoGo. Building work is in progress and is scheduled to take about 6 weeks. The new bar will be pretty small as it uses the space previously occupied by four open beer bars.

The original Soi 15 venue has now become Spice Club.

Meanwhile the Happy Group, of which Beach Club is part, has increased its lady drink prices to 145 Baht. However the barfine is still 800 Baht.

For the moment the GoGo count stands at 83.

At Champagne A-GoGo on Soi LK Metro is a hole in the wall now towards a LOUNGE or VIP LOUNGE where Club Malibu used to be.

The central stage of the former Club Malibu has been replaced by a smaller, round (unused) one and there is a pool table behind it. The bench seating of Club Malibu is still there, but it was deserted

In Champagne A-GoGo itself were three dancing teams of about ten mostly chubby to fat, overdressed, double-topped and double-bottomed coyotes , some of them with ugly pot bellies and ugly tattoos. They stayed on stage for very long stints.

After a short pole-dance intermezzo most customers left.

I did not see the infamous elderly Nancy with the giant glasses, ridiculous silicone balloons and worn white net stockings, who had come from Kiss A-GoGo.

The only nudity I saw were the fatties soaping in the shower cubicle and the erotic cartoons on the television screens.

A mediocre 23-year-old girl told her barfine was 1,200 baht and she wanted 2,000 baht ST and 4,000 baht LT, adding same Walking .

A cute 24-year-old spinner from Surin said her barfine was 800 baht and she wanted 3,000 baht ST and 4,000 baht LT.

She was the only slim female I have seen there and she was a good girl , who did not drink alcohol, did not smoke (in any sense of the word) and wanted to preserve her backdoor virginity.

She did not even push for a lady drink, which is why I finally paid her one. Pity she had such an ugly big tattoo on her small belly.

Many people, staff included, were smoking cigarettes and that caused a terrible stench.

Bottled Heineken 125 baht, lady drinks 150 baht.

Club Nevada is located at the Beach Road end of Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office).

I visited on early evening of a Saturday night and found the venue to more lively than expected. There were about 10 girls serving about the same number of customers.

Surely not Walking Street standard, but there were a couple of attractive dancers. The dress code varied from bikini to nude. There were just 3 dancers on stage at a time dancing for a nice short stint of 3 dances.

The beer was cheap, as were the lady drinks. I am pretty sure they were only 100 Baht, but surely an excess of beer wharped my memory, they can't possibly be that cheap, can they?

I stayed a while simply because 2 dancers proved to be very good company.

Nevada may be a standard old school GoGo with few of the thrills you would expect on Walking Street. But if you hit it off with a pretty girl, it is just as good as any in town.

Left or Right Fantasy and Disco Club in the Rompho beer bar complex in Jomtien still exists.

There are only two stages with chrome poles left, each with two to four dancers on them at any time.

Around midnight there were about twenty mostly sub-average double-topped and double-bottomed coyotes clad in white, many of them covering their midriff and also many of them wearing tights.

There were also two or three chubby to fat girls in white string bikinis who tried to sell shots. No nudity.

There was no ladyboy any longer, but there were some effeminate waiters.

During my visit (but it may have been a mere coincidence) by far most of the customers were Hells Angels from various countries (according to their jackets from Sweden, Switzerland and even Thailand ), who arrived and left in groups of five or six.

Loud monotonous music and tons of cigarette smoke.

I saw nobody buy lady drinks, let alone barfine.

I wonder what their business model is, but that applies to many bars and gogos.

They do have check-bins now and bottled Heineken was still 100 baht.

More than 100 police raided nightclubs along Pattaya's Walking Street early Friday morning and took dozens of foreigners in for interrogation because they were not holding passports or ID.

Police from the Central Investigation Bureau and soldiers from the 14th Military Base went into five venues finding at least 30 foreigners without their passports.

All of them were taken in for criminal record checks and were reportedly released after they were able to show their passports to police.

There seems a consensus of opinion that carrying a copy of your passport (with the main page + arrivals stamp + visa if held) is sufficient to satisfy such police checks.

  Harem A-GoGo has closed on Walking street for a month's renovation.

Zero A-GoGo has closed on Soi Buakhao with a less hopeful chance of re-opening.

So there are now 83 bars around town claiming to be GoGos.

And from Pattaya Addicts , a couple Russian oriented bars have given up around Walking Street:

Virgin on Walking Street lasted just a month. Crazy Russian Girls also on Walking Street, previously Crazy Horse , has also closed. Deja Vu at Soho Square has seen it all before and decided to close.

Dolls is a coyote bar located towards the Beach Road end of Soi 6.

It has been closed for a couple of weeks citing rework in the bar and re-opened on 12th February.

Babydolls A-GoGo is located on Soi15.

I returned after a bit of break and was welcomed back with open arms, (and more). I was well looked after and hence found the bar to be deserving of fives stars for hospitality and intimacy. Ca

tching up on stories did rather bring it home to me that there are some very loyal staff members at the bar, who have been there for an awfully long time. I took this as an indication of staff satisfaction (and a decent amount of customers).

When distractions allowed, I cast my eye around the bar and found it was working pretty much the same as it has always done. Maybe a little easier to get a seat than on previous visits at about this time of year.

There were interchanging teams of dancers on the central stage with a little nudity, and more nudity at the special show tables.

I think other customers who wanted company were being looked after with similar hospitality to myself, so can easily recommend the bar. Perhaps those that prefer top notch girls should try another bar, but I am sure most would find a few girls here worth cuddling.

Although a bit of a fan of Windmill on Soi Diamond, I haven't been for quite a while, partially due to it being full (or way too crowded) on my last few look ins. So this time I tried the early slot.

The bar was still two thirds full, making me think there must have been a queue at the door for opening time. Anyway, I got a main stage side at the end with the showgirls.

And there was plenty of activity of to keep ones mind occupied (as well as well as ones roving hand).

The main stage was pretty near full of dancing girls showing plenty of nudity. Maybe not quite top notch lookers, but plenty were well attractive.

The shows on the play tables were a bit staid at the time, being more an opportunity to apply make up than anything else. However there was an atmosphere of anticipation whereby one would expect more penetrating performances once the drinks started to flow.

But even at that early hour, one customer was locked together with his drinks partner doing things not often seen in polite company.

It is clearly a very popular bar with plenty going on to entertain all sorts of customers, from those there to enjoy the spectacle, to those that want to get a little more involved.

Closed

I was surprised to read that Super Baby and Smile Rock girls had closed. Pussy Galore has been closed for months.

On Soi LK Metro White Room has closed once again.

Dolls coyote bar on Soi 6 is still closed.

Rioja

The roadworks on Thepprasit Road Soi 7 are over now, but Rioja gentlemen's club is still a disaster.

When I arrived there were three other punters, but they soon left.

I saw seven or eight sub-average females who looked very bored.

I was approached by a 34-year-old shapeless fatty from Ayudhya with two sons. She said she had been working at Johannesburg in South Africa for over a year and had been fucking eight locals a day at 500 rand a pop and she wanted to go to Singapore where she thought she could handle thirteen small dicks a day. Not my cup of tea.

Just like at Le Rouge (previously Saxo) the clumsy swivel stools are all but comfortable.

Bottled Heineken still 80 baht.

Edelweiss

On Thappraya Road Soi 13 I discovered a Swiss restaurant: Edelweiss.

Everything is a bit basic, but the food is good, reasonably priced and plenty and the place appears to be popular with Swiss people.

They have two daily specials: menu 1 at 225 baht and menu 2 at 315 baht.

Both daily specials and all main dishes include soup and salad buffet.

See edelweissth.com

Yesterday shortly before 9 p.m. I visited the gentlemen's club Montana Bar & Lounge.

I was the only customer and apart from the fatties there was an older tall lady who took my fancy. We agreed on ST upstairs, went to room 6 on the second floor, showered and started cuddling on the bed.

Suddenly the girl reached for her mobile and said: Police come. At first I did not grasp what she was talking about because of her limited English. Then she insisted on putting our clothes again and going downstairs.

For me, at that point, the momentum was completely lost anyway. At the bar I finished my drink at my ease, awaiting what was going to happen. She asked me lukewarmly if I wanted to come back the next day. No police showed up, only a bunch of drunken frogs, one of them stripping naked.

I am still puzzled: did she suddenly change her mind for some reason? Anyway, she will have got her share of the lady drink (130 baht) and the barfine (400 baht).

The long running Super Baby is closing on Soi Diamond as of the 1st February.

And the notoriously dreadful Smile Rock Girls on Soi 15 has also closed. Dancers have moved to sister bar New Star on Soi Diamond.

Another long running bar, Pussy Galore has also closed on Soi Pattayaland 1.

Assuming that these are permanent closures, there are now 85 bars that claim to be GoGos with Thai dancing girls.

Angel Bar Beer on Soi Khao Noi opposite Soi 9 has changed hands once again and has become Black Swan Bar.

The music was a bit loud for a closed beer bar and of the four girls I saw, two were totally uninterested.

Barfine 300 baht ST. The ST room upstairs is no longer used, but they do have a not particularly cosy, free room about 100 metres up the soi.

Bottled Heineken 80 baht, lady drinks 120 baht.

Ban Chang

It looks as if the website www.banchangbars.com no longer exists as it returns error HTTP 404. Anyway, that website had not been updated for about a year.

FLB Bar on Walking Street has been running for about 18 years on Walking Street but is now set to close at the end of the month when the lease expires.

In fact the main indoor section closed 2 years ago but the entrance space had been home to a small open beer bar since that time.

FLB will surely remembered by the internet savvy of Pattaya because it was an early innovator of internet forums, which for several years provided an excellent feeder for the bar. The original forum is still continuing at Pattaya Talk and maintains a sizeable following.

The bar will have a final party on 29th January.

Dolls is a coyote bar on Soi 6.

The bar is now closed for 1 week citing internal repairs.

Thailand and the United States will co-host the annual multilateral Exercise Cobra Gold in various areas of Thailand from February 9 to 19.

This year's exercise will consist of three primary events: a command post exercise, which includes a senior leader seminar; humanitarian civic assistance projects in Thai communities; and a field training exercise that will build regional relationships.

And of course the 4th unspoken primary event is that members of the US military get to enjoy the fun of Pattaya.

What's Up Imagine is a show bar on the 2nd floor of What's Up. Its use is a bit sporadic but seems to follow the pattern of opening in high season only. this year it has closed early citing audio and power outages, but more likely to be down to customer outage.

Meanwhile I have heard unconfirmed rumours that another high season bar, Silver Star on Soi 8, has also closed early.

Another bar has opened on Walking Street featuring East European dancers. No doubt it will follow the usual pattern of being outrageously expensive. Saying that though, this was not always the case. Many years ago Las Vegas City bar on Soi BJ featured Russian dancers whilst maintaining ordinary GoGo prices.

The bar opened on 8th January and is next door to Moulin Rouge.

Update: What's Up re-opens

18th January 2016. Thanks to Ishi

What's Up Imagine has e-opened on Soi 15. Presumably the power outage was temporary after all

Meanwhile Rhino coyote bar is now dark towards the southern end of Walking Street.

Bar de la Poste on Soi Lengkee is open from 1.30 p.m. to 2.00 a.m., which is half an hour more than the Post Office on Soi Post Office, which opens from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

As usual I was escorted in by a ladyboy.

The bar area seemed darker than in the past and the quality of the girls seemed to have gone down.

The females still lack underwear under their short stretch dresses and their tariff is still 500 baht for BJ and 700 baht for FS.

One girl was running around in her birthday suit, probably after servicing a gentleman.

I was told that the ST room upstairs is no longer available and the barfine for the play corners is still 300 baht.

Nice and clean toilets.

Bottled Heineken still 80 baht, lady drinks now 110 baht down from 120 baht.

Club Mistys on Soi 15 off Walking Street has become a 100 % coyote club.

There were about twenty dancers in huge black tops and white shorts with underwear underneath. About six of them went on stage for very long dance stints. Some were average, but most were sub-average. Not the slightest nudity.

The music was too loud to allow any conversation.

On Second New Year's Day there were not even ten customers.

I did see Tim, but not Brian, nor the fattest mamasan.

There is still a donation box for the orphans at the Camillian Social Centre in Rayong.

Bottled Heineken still 145 baht.