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Asoke Plaza Crushed
- THE  COMPLETE  STORY


Bangkok,
01 January 2005
William R. Morledge
 
Bangkok's Ugliest Letter
"We still waiting your blood"
Khlong Toey Redux - PHOTOS
Rumor Of The Month
January's Follies in review
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....Please continue with our Feature Story here: -
         At 10:00 hrs on Tuesday, 14 December 2004, the bar beers in Asoke Plaza -located at the Asoke intersection- were descended upon by an officer of Legal Enforcement Division, the Thonglor police and wrecking crews.   The officer from Legal Enforcement served a warrant to the land lessee, and advised her that she had but brief minutes to notify her bar beer sub-lessees to remove their items of personal property before the wrecking crews began the destruction and dismantling of the structures.
The Asoke Plaza sign is the only reminder of what used to be the popular Nightspot.   Bent metal frames and wreckage are now strewn across the entire area.
Rubble and roofing frames are all that remain of the B-52 Pool Bar.

         Frantic telephone calls went out all over Bangkok - trying to locate bar beer owners or managers, calling them back to Asoke Plaza so that they could evacuate their goods.   Other calls were made to newspapers, and to the Thonglor police station in an attempt to thwart the destruction of the bar beers - to no avail.

         The wrecking crews, numbering approximately 100 persons in all, arriving in three large trucks and other smaller vehicles, entered through the Asoke Corner area to the rear of Asoke Plaza from the previously closed-off Soi 23 entrance (please see our map), and set up large metal frame rectangular tents to be used as temporary storage areas for the bar beers to keep their moveable property.
A ceiling fan and what is left of a barstool sit atop the debris of what was the Sawasdee bar beer.
Popeye's couldn't get their sign down before the demolition crews rendered it useless.

         By noon of that day, 14 December, the disassembly and destruction had begun, crews often not waiting for bar beer owners to come to claim their property.   While several of the bar beers were able to get most of their moveable property out to the tents, and to other adjacent areas within the rear Asoke Corner area, many were not able to get there in time.   Often neighboring bar beers lent helping hands to those bar beers who were unable to get there to move their property out, however most of the time, the wrecking crews either stacked the property in large piles without regard for safekeeping, or just destroyed it in place.
The shambles that was the Titano (also a victim of Sukhumvit Square last year.)
The tiny Fantacy was dragged out onto the sidewalk, lock stock and barstool.   One of Bangkok's Finest watches from a distance as the bar seemingly stays open.

         Immediately, even before the wrecking crews had completed the destruction of the bar beers, the cries went up that the raid by the police, wrecking crews and the Legal Enforcement Officer were in fact not legal, and that, even if they had been legal, no prior notification had been given.   The bar beer owners and the land lessee were already meeting together to decide on what action would be taken to press for restitution for their sometimes considerable losses.   (Note: while the land lessee subleased loc to the bar beer owners, it was the bar beer owners themselves who constructed the bars and installed their own fixtures and equipment. -ed)   

         While the land lessee, Ms Jeerapha's outrage was real enough, her protestations of being surprised by the raid were probably greatly exaggerated.   Only days before, her younger brother Kh Tonphat confronted the landowner's construction crews on the grounds of Asoke Plaza.   The crews had come to build a fence around the outside of Asoke Plaza (rendering it inaccessible to the public - and effectively putting them out of business).   Kh Tonphat sought and received a legal reprieve, and the crews went away without incident.   
The Asoke Plaza sign, now at the Soi 23 entrance, was quick to find it's new home - in the place of the previous 'Asoke Corner - Dream Place' sign.
The Angel Bar (previously Mitr - as shown on our map) sets up shop, however tenuously on the foundations of Asoke Corner's 8-Pak.

         And on the day preceding the destruction, 13 December 2004, the landowner again showed up, this time with an officer of the Legal Enforcement Division who had documentation in hand, and about 100 able-bodied workers, with the intent of evicting the current tenants and destroying and removing the structures.   The land lessee Ms Jeerapha made an immediate appeal to the court and got an injunction, stating that the legal documentation supposedly authorizing the destruction was the old document relating to the rear Asoke Corner area (an area already evacuated months earlier), and not Asoke Plaza.   The court scheduled an official investigation into the matter four days hence, on 18 December.
The sole survivor of the carnage at Asoke Plaza as photographed on 15 December.   Workmen continuing to destroy, dismantle and remove bars were careful not to damage the Spirit Houses.
The destroyed fence revealing barstools in the background is NOT Asoke Plaza.   This photo was taken on Soi 23 at Asoke Corner.   The damage to the fence shown here was done by the lessee in her ongoing battle with the landowner.   Their animosity has gone past the bunfight stage, and the cluttering of the public walkway could cause further problems.

         But the source of the problem started even earlier than that.   At the end of 2003, the landowner's operating company, J & P Ltd.'s Preecha Wasusophon refused to renew the lease for the coming year (2004).   This resulted in Ms Jeerapha and the bar beer lessees forming a group to bring suit against J & P which would hopefully force them to honor the previously agreed upon terms of 5 one-year periods - which had not yet expired.   

         Early in 2004, the land lessee Ms Jeerapha received proper legal notice to abandon the rear property (Asoke Corner), but no such notice was received for the front parcel of land (Asoke Plaza).   The rear Asoke Corner was evacuated in stages - as individual bar lessees' contracts expired, the buildings were either demolished or abandoned. (The exception was Spanky's 1, which closed for business, but kept their area for storage for their other bars, Spanky Bar 3 and Mike's Place on Patpong II - in spite of the legal order to evacuate, and as per their individual long-running lease with the land lessee Jeerapha.)
Barbie Bar's new (temporary) digs are on the near corner of the old 8-Pak foundations.
Friendly Bar and Siam Smile likewise setup on the 8-Pak slab, getting ready for the evening customers to trickle in.

         With the issue of Asoke Plaza unresolved between the land lessee and the owner, the litigation and counter-litigation proceeded ever-so-slowly.   In early December, Ms Jeerapha, land lessee, went to the group of bar owners and announced that she would need 800,000 baht for 'additional legal fees' if they were to successfully counter new moves by the landowner.   Many of the bars couldn't contribute, and many of the bars wouldn't.   (One bar, the B-52, saw the handwriting on the wall and sold out - smart move, pity the new owner.)   

         On closer investigation, bar beer owners have confided on assurance of anonymity that as the mid-December deadline for the 800,000 baht drew near, it was becoming more and more apparent that the money wouldn't be raised in time.   It was during this period that the landowner became more and more adamant that his land be evacuated, and sent crews down to Asoke Plaza to demonstrate that he 'meant business'.   But in fact, the money was not for 'additional legal fees' - it was for a fat, white envelope to the owner as an additional, and incremental bit of 'tea money'.   Simple extortion by any other name is "simple extortion".   You won't read about this in the Bangkok Post, who, by the way fell flat on their arses and missed this entire story.
The Siam Smile has a backup position in the old 4-Pak, one of the very few buildings in Asoke Corner that was previously abandoned, but not destroyed.
First In - Last Out.      Barbie Bar's sign was the last bar sign to be taken down - somehow appropriate, in that they were the first bar to open there.

         At that juncture, when the landowner didn't get his payoff, he decided on the final solution.   Not wanting to make it appear as though this were another Chuwit - Sukhumvit Square (Soi 10) job, he decided to enlist the additional support of the Wattana District Chief, Kh. Surakiat Limcharoen in an attempt to give his putsch an air of legitimacy.   

         The District Chief stepped in on queue, on the afternoon of 14 December - the day of Asoke Plaza's destruction.   He claimed he ordered the destruction of the bar beers because the bar beer staff were obstructing pedestrian traffic, and generally annoying people in the neighborhood.   He claimed that the nearby Surinakharinwirot University had complained about the bars.   He also stated that the buildings constructed therein were breaking the law.   He also claimed the ownership of the land had changed.

         Now, how many things can we see wrong with the District Chief's statements of support to the landowner?   

1.    Which laws were the buildings in violation of that they needed to be demolished, not to mention demolished instantaneously, and without warning?   It has never been stated -anywhere- which laws were broken, if any, even in the landowner's document from the court to demolish the rear area.   If the buildings themselves were "illegal" on 14 December 2004, then they were "illegal" on 14 December 1999, when they were being constructed - why were the bar owners not told immediately to cease and desist in their construction in 1999, and why did it take the District five full years, almost to the day, to notice?   

2.    If the employees of the bars were acting in a manner which outraged the modesty of the local public, where does it say the buildings they work in are to be demolished?    It of course doesn't say that anywhere - if, as in Nana Plaza or Soi Cowboy, the employees act in an unacceptable manner, the first time around is a 30 day closure, the second time around, it is (usually) more severe.

3.    The District Chief also stated that the landowners had changed, and that the new owner was in a hurry to redevelop the land.    That is as interesting as it is irrelevant - to wit; the ongoing litigation does not involve any 'new owner' and continues to involve the 'old' owner.   Even if true, where does it say that all responsibility of landowners toward their tennants disappears if they sell the land out from under them?   It of course doesn't say that anywhere.

4.    It is certainly more than a little suspect that the District Chief claimed he passed down the order for demolition, and that his justifications for doing so never once specifically mentioned the only real authority to destroy the buildings; -the court order being acted upon by the Legal Enforcement Division.   Note: he only brings up social, moral and vague, unsupported legal reasons.   To the continuing astonishment and horror of the International investment community, he never denies the destruction proceeded without due process, and was simply accomplished with a visit to Asoke Plaza by the (old) landowner, an officer of the court, a bevy of Thonglor's Finest, and a wrecking crew.   Sorry, but it is doubly obvious this transparent pretence at legality by the District Chief was an orchestrated, well-timed event, and knowing what we now know about the (old) landowner's propensity to deal in white envelopes, we don't need to guess who paid for said orchestration.
         But back to the present - MIDNITE HOUR having visited the site of the destruction several times this last week to interview and to take photographs, had prepared ourselves for writing the obituary on the entire Asoke Plaza+Asoke Corner area (Cowboy Annex), now that both areas had been evacuated and or destroyed.   We couldn't have been more wrong-footed.

         On 18 December, the court kept it's appointment to come to investigate the problem at the Asoke Corner + Asoke Plaza grounds, along with more than two dozen of Bangkok Metropolitan's Finest in several squad cars.   They spent several hours there, resolving that in fact the lessee Ms Jeerapha did at least have the right to stay on the land (her tiny office is there), that the bar owners did have the right -at least for a decent interval- to continue to store their 'evacuated' property in the rear Asoke Corner area, and that they were to be allowed access to their property through the Soi 23 gate.   We went in and took a seat at the Spanky's 1, so that we could mingle with the Men In Tan and the bar owners, to see if we could act the fly on the wall, and pick up on what was really going on.   To our surprise, Spanky's 1 was serving, so we had a drink and brought ourselves up to date.

         Far from being able to write the obituary on this Night Entertainment Area, we found that on successive days, most of the bars had reopened on the foundations of demolished bars, or in the bars that had been abandoned in the back Asoke Corner area.   They had strung temporary power lines, brought out the big picnic umbrellas and strung up the Christmas light sets and party balloons.   Click here  < link>  to see our new map.   No one is quite sure how long any of this will last - as litigation is far from over on this issue, but the bar beer owners -at least most of them- have been pulled from the fires of total ruin for the short-term.

         It is interesting to note that the recent or ongoing collapse of four of Bangkok's Bar Beer Areas followed identical paths of decay.   (They are: Sukhumvit Square, and Clinton Plaza, and Easy Square and Cowboy Annex (Asoke Corner+Asoke Plaza.)   In each of these examples, there have been disputes between the land owner, the overall land lessee, and the bar beer lessees - and in each case the disputes were caused by connivance by one or more of the parties.   All have ended acrimoniously, with the bar beer owners absorbing the greater part of the losses.   

         Years ago, MIDNITE HOUR gave these bar beer areas an additional descriptor : 'Opportunistic'.    Opportunistic, in that they were all built on prime land destined for eventual redevelopment.   The short-term 'opportunity' to utilize the lands as bar areas was taken, and the lands were parceled out and leased to the many bar owners, who built their bars on them.   That it was to be short-term was lost on no one, and investment in facilities - at least in most instances, was kept to a minimum.   In this regard, nothing has changed: the remaining Expat bar beer areas at 13 Night Market and Tobacco Road (Soi Zero) and Queen's Park Plaza will likewise disappear as historical footnotes - probably sooner than later, especially in consideration of the hyperactive construction boom that has insinuated itself onto virtually every remaining parcel of undeveloped land in Bangkok.

         The situation at Asoke Corner+Asoke Plaza remains volatile, with 'positive' rumors and 'ugly' rumors flying fast and high (See our Rumor Of The Month this month).   The only thing for sure is that more changes are in the wind before this Night Entertainment Area finally calls it quits.   MIDNITE HOUR will be keeping an eye on any changes as might have an historical impact, and will continue to advise.   Our obituary for Cowboy Annex is postponed indefinitely.

Click Here  to see our new map



A  Bangkok Eyes  Editorial

Bangkok's Ugliest Letter

Source: Letters to the Editor, The Nation, 17 Dec 2004

            Our experience in Thailand since the mid-1960's is that there will always be a small percentage of Farang like this letter writer 'James'.   Like all those coming before him, he is quick to let us know that he is a "professional" and has been here for what he considers to be a long time (2 years, in this case).   He and his ilk would have us believe they speak from some measured, moral high-ground, and busy themselves with letters like this as proof.   And as observation would have it - a means to ingratiate themselves with their riep roy Thai acquaintances or spouses.   Some longtime resident friends refer to these "Jameses" as 'Vichy Farang', which I find most amusing and colorful if not quite linearly translatable.   To a person, these "Jameses" are shallow, ultra-moralistic and closed-minded to outside thinking.   I have never met a "James" without noting they entertain the most dangerous combination of thought processes possible - strongly opinionated, and little or no experience in the subject on which they would lecture us.   
            Let's discuss "James" "hellish" bar beers for a moment (most of them Pool Bars, by the way) .   The bar beer is a place to meet, as is any other Night Venue, but without the problem of irritating cigarette smoke (or alternately smokers can smoke there without annoying others).   It is a place to have a drink with a friend, or a hostess without having to shout over a too-loud disco-type sound system.   It is a place where the air conditioning doesn't drive you out after ten minutes.   The bar beer doesn't gouge you for an unwanted show or for a cover charge, as do some upstairs bars.   It is quite often a place where you can play pool for an hour for about three dollars.   It is also a place where a "tourist" can sit outside on a winter's night in the best weather he's seen for months and enjoy a drink or two.   'Hellish', "James"?   Not so far, it isn't - so far, it's a big improvement over other Nightspots.
            But what is eating at our "James" is the women, the hostesses - as is doubly apparent from his letter.   Does James think that "seeking female companionship", to include sleeping together, only happens in bar beers?   Does he suspect that it might also be going on at trendy discos?   In Airport Lounge bars all over the world?   In Lobby Lounges in every 5-star hotel in the world?   Does "James" suspect that the identical thing goes on in Robinson's Department Store, or in Foodland?   If our "James' " answer is "yes", then where is his pent-up wrath for these "hellish" places?   If "James" doesn't suspect that people sleep with each other regardless of where they meet, regardless of 'contract', he has his head in rectal defilade.
            But more to the point, consider the bar beer owners - those that have built bars on leased 'loc' within a larger property.   Virtually all of them are women who have come from broken families, and who now want to make a living on their own.   They often borrow or partner with Farang men for capitalization.   Constructing and outfitting the bar is the easy part.   They then have to deal with bent cops, who have their hand out all too frequently for payments in lieu of one bureaucratic 'procedure' or another, or which will allow them to stay open past midnight, etc.   They then have to deal with unscrupulous landlords who arbitrarily raise their annual under-the-table 'tea money' and frequently lease them land they don't even own.   Then, as just happened at Asoke Plaza, they are the victims of egregious application of local ordinances, and have their premises (not the owner's) demolished without warning - or recourse.   They are not fools - they know what goes on in Bangkok, and what the possible consequences might be, but they hope they will last as long as two years (average survival).   So they battle on, cajoling the police, battling the landlord - generally persevering with an entrepreneurial zeal that the "Jameses" of the world will not possess in ten lifetimes.   And then we have yet another shrill, "know-best" "James" come along and say, "Tear them all down.    Watch out Nana!"
            "James", it's like programs or music you don't like - no one is forcing you to watch or listen. If the Thai Nightlife Scene isn't for you, stay indoors at night, instead of voyeuristically "witnessing obscene tourists frequenting those hellish bars".   And while you are at it, spare us your regrettably patronizing, righteously indignant snits from your elevated position of 'long term resident'.   
             "Watch out Nana,"  indeed.

Richard D. Hartman, Historian,
for BANGKOK EYES
December, 2004


Included is some corn-ball verse from a reader -which suits:

AIN'T JUST AIN'T

Front-row Lady and Preacher smile
Or friends gather up to drink a while
Where we go is not what we do
It's up to me and it's up to you

Ain't a bar what makes a sinner
And it ain't a Church what makes a Saint
It's not what's out, it's what's inner
It's what it is, and ain't what it ain't

Leon S. (December 1999)




"We still waiting your blood"

         This flier, which is currently being handed out in all the Expat Night Entertainment Areas, as well as many other locations around Bangkok in the aftermath of the Tsunami is indicative of the depth and breadth of the general public's, agencies', and government's support for the massive relief operations that are ongoing at the time of this writing.

December 2004



Khlong Toey Redux
- SOME "OLD PHOTO" MAGIC

         This September MIDNITE HOUR did an historical perspective of the old Night Entertainment Area at Khlong Toey based on our personal observations during the 1960's through to the present day.   At that time we asked readers to submit photos from that long-gone Night Scene.   

         Two weeks ago we received three photos from "Willy" from Denmark, who was a seaman during the 1960's and 1970's and spent a great part of his time in Southeast Asia.   The photos, shot in the daytime, are right in the center of the Klong Toey Night Entertainment Area.

*Click Here* to see our September historical thumbnail of Klong Toey Night Entertainment Area.


A daytime shot just downstairs at/next to the Mosquito Bar location - we must admit we never saw the Mosquito Bar in the daytime.


This is the 'outside' area under the wide overhang, where the building curves slightly, and very near the Venus Room.   (And if memory serves us well, in the distance is the entrance to the "Freedom", but we will need to confirm that before we etch it in stone.)


This shot taken from the middle of the street towards the main building (as shown in our map) - the Mosquito Bar is upstairs on the corner (nearest to us), although you wouldn't know by looking at it.   At the right, you can just see where the small soi leads off to the Sea Man's Mission.

         MIDNITE HOUR would like to thank Willy, whose website K O M P A G N I E T, is at http://www.snesejler.dk .   The site is in Danish, however it is worth a look just for the photos.   Thanks again to Willy for some great photos.   (All photos taken in the late 1960's or early 1970's.)

See our 1967 map - click HERE.


SEARCH For Old BANGKOK NIGHT SCENE PHOTOS

Do you have any PHOTOS -old or fairly recent- of Bangkok's Nightlife ?

If so, please CLICK HERE and send to us for inclusion in our historical records of Bangkok's Nightlife, and (with your permission) for publication on this site .   

Many Thanks,
William R Morledge








January's Follies
begin here

      MIDNITE HOUR presents the NEWS on the Bangkok Night Scene; - the 'history-in-the-making' for all major Night Entertainment Areas  - for the month ending  1 JANUARY, 2005 :

  • PATPONG  I • .
  MAP  
         New Year's Eve on Patpong 1 seemed to have lost it's energy of old, most certainly due in part to the pall that currently hangs over the Kingdom in the aftermath of the tsunami, but we did notice that many of the brick-a-brack stalls in the scuzzy Tent City full of rude vendors which clogs the street every night were closed down.   Maybe this doesn't mean that they were just taking New Year's off.   Maybe this means that the vendors are giving up, because they can no longer make a living there.   Maybe in the near future Patpong will be rid of this eyesore once and for all, and Patpong will return to it's glory days of the early 1980's.   And maybe in the near future...

  • PATPONG I • 


  • PATPONG  II •  .
  MAP  
          Some of King's Garden's hostesses were dressed in leftover Halloween witch's costumes to bring in the New Year.   Lacking any Old Father Time costumes, they just decided to improvise.   How shameless! - does sanuk know no bounds?   Celebrations started early and lasted late -that's the spirit!- we wish them all the best in the coming year.     • PATPONG II • 

          There is a brand-new sign on The Ramp which reads Tik+Ko.   It is, of course, the old Tik-Ko Living Room - they just wanted a new sign for New Year - something to change their luck.   In that case, we wish them luck.   • PATPONG II • 


  • NANA  PLAZA •  .
  MAP  
          The Pretty Lady having served out their time in the penalty box, have hit the Plaza running.   We welcome them back to the tar pit.   They have at least attempted to make amends for their skimpy clothing of the past, which so outraged the modesty of the benevolent morality police.    -This time around they have issued the dancers with abbreviated mini-skirts and mini-tops.   They apparently were strapped for cash, though, and were unable to come up with the funds to purchase certain items of undergarment to go with the mini-skirts.   The Pretty Lady door-touts have wasted no time in noting this omission to all passing by...   Like we said last month, shake it, don't break it, guys - we all know who else is watching...   • NANA PLAZA • 

           Boss Hogg's is open.   Opening just in time for New Year's Eve, Boss Hogg opened in the old Rock Hard / Vixen's digs as Boss Hogg's - and not Bahama Nana.   The hostess, bringing me a large plate of New Year's Eve chicken drumsticks, said that the lighting wasn't quite finished, but that they should complete it today (1 Jan).   I told her I hope not, I liked the lighting just the way it was.   Boss Hogg's, all two floors of it, is done out in natural wood, logs and split logs, and has a great viewing balcony to sit and sip on whatever you might have in your hand.   Open sided, and open fronted, it may just be the best place to go if you want to drop out of all the hassle and hustle for a while.   This is their fourth Night Venue in the Plaza - welcome to the neon night circus.   • NANA PLAZA • 


  • SOI  COWBOY • .
     MAP  
          We note, now that they have their new neon shingle nailed up, the correct spelling for the very comfortable Pool Bar at the Asoke side of the Soi is spelled, "Kanjana" and not Kanchana, as we had previously assumed.   All else status quo ante - keep on keeping on.   • SOI  COWBOY • 


  • COWBOY  ANNEX • 
ASOKE PLAZA +  ASOKE  CORNER  .
  MAP  
        
A composite panorama of what remains of the 21 Night Entertainment Venues at Asoke Plaza.

         An embarrassing and frequently recurring combination of greed, egregious manipulation of local authorities & municipal ordnance, highly suspect interpretation of local law, and gross misuse of local police resources brought about the destruction of Asoke Plaza in Cowboy Annex on 14 December 2004.   See our full story above.   Below is a full listing of the Night Entertainment Venues that were destroyed that day, and where possible, we give their current status.
Fantacy (sic)
Bar Bie Bar
'No Name' Bar
Siam Smile
Sawasdee
Tu's Bar
Ann Bar Beer
Monza Bar
Spanky's Bar 3
Mitr (No Sign)
O-2
Friendly Bar
B-52
Popeye Bar
Titano Asoke Bar
Lemon
Cheeky Bar
Tiger Bar
Chid Bar (No Sign)
O.S. Salon
@ Route 23 		- Relocated to sidewalk @ Asoke Plaza
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Gone
- Gone
- Gone
- Gone
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Gone
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Gone
- Gone
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Relocated behind to Asoke Corner
- Gone
- Gone


           
Through Friday's Eyes...
BANGKOK EYES file photo
      Bar Friday's 'door art' is the recipient of this month's MIDNITE HOUR  Door Art of the Month Award, hands down.   Now all they need is a door.   This bar operated without a name for months in Asoke Plaza, before it was torn down by police-backed wrecking crews.   Now that it is in it's new home, not much more than a hole in the wall, it has provided the first flash of color to the area in the rear (Asoke Corner), currently being reclaimed by the Asoke Plaza victims.   We welcome Bar Friday to a brand-new briar-patch all over again.
  • Cowboy  Annex • January 2005
   • COWBOY  ANNEX  • 

          Spankys Bar 1, (Asoke Corner) having closed it's doors (figuratively) to customers in August, it kept it's premises for storage for it's other bars - mainly because it still had an active lease with the land lessor,   On 14 December, when it's neighbors were chased from their digs in Asoke Plaza by the wrecking crews, they helped out with storage and security.   They also plugged their refrigerators back in and started serving beer and soft drinks.   Some thanks should also be sent their way for yeoman's service during the crisis.   Welcome back to the big uphill.    • COWBOY  ANNEX  • 

   
  • COWBOY  ANNEX  • 
      Like it's predecessor, the Bitchy Bar, the brand-new Pedros Music Bar shares a common (back) wall with Cowboy Annex, so, for as long as the Annex continues to muddle through, we will maintain Pedros on our rolls.   A well-appointed outdoor-indoor bar, it's front entrance is on Sukhumvit Road.   This being their maiden sortie into a rather dark nightworld, they'll need all the luck they can get.
     • COWBOY  ANNEX  • 


  • SOI  DEAD  ARTISTS  (Soi 33) • .
  MAP  
            As of New Year's Eve, Livingstone's completed their final scrub-down and took over where the Timbevati Boutique Lodge & Steak House left off.   And yes, the Sahara Sports Bar is still in operation at the back, poolside.   It remains to be seen whether Fate's tumbling dice will bring them sevens or nines, nevertheless we welcome them to the wolfpack.      • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  •   

             
      As mentioned here last month, the Blue Heaven Sports Bar & Lounge opened in the old Madame Claude digs.   Phillip, the Belgian owner, has been in and out of Southeast Asia for some time, but this is his first trip to the plate as a Night Venue owner/manager.   We wish them well as they lunge for the brass ring.     • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  •   

           Taking the reins from Noi Health Massage is the Teen Massage.   They offer all the usual types of massages, but with the
option on each to include " balls massage " for a nominal extra fee.   We didn't want to jump to any conclusions, so if you want the balls of your feet massaged....   We welcome them to the nightbeat.
     • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  • 

           A name change for the new year can make you lucky - especially if your name is The Cave.   The new moniker Deemonia should do the trick.   No change in owner, and soft kink remains the modus operandi.   'Do what you do, do well.'      • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  •   

             
           The Cefle ('Cefre' in Thai) has opened in the same side-soi as Mojos.   Located upstairs, above the Jina 33 Club, we are informed that it is orientation : Oriental - and is not a traditional Thai pan boran massage service.      • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  •   

           The Kongsil Massage has cashed in it's chips and headed for higher ground.   They have passed the mantle to the Thoodaw Massage (sounds Burmese?).   Both slightly ambiguous massage parlors.   We welcome the Thoodaw to the vicissitudes.      • SOI DEAD ARTISTS  •   


  • " SOI  KATOEY " •  .
  MAP  
           Hip, an upstairs bar, has rolled out the red carpet and unlocked the liquor cabinet with a vengeance.   They are located in the premises vacated by the Hip Hop R&B last March.   Break a leg, guys.     • SOI KATOEY • 


  •  QUEEN'S  PARK  PLAZA• 
  MAP  
           The O.B. 1 have closed down - but not for long.   In about a week they will be reopening in their newly spruced up digs.   In this case, they spruced up using spruce - the place has been done up in the now popular 'natural wood look'.   They took good care to preserve the wood from termites, too - they have applied a strong creosote-based stain to all the wood surfaces.   It remains to be seen whether the fumes will have dissipated enough to make the place inhabitable any time soon.   In their next incarnation, they will be called the 2 Corner (no relation to The Corner, also in this compound.).   All things being equal, we will be reporting their successful launch in this space next time.     • QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA • 

          Oraphin is closed - but they are just playing 'possum - they have given the staff -and themselves- a few days off for good behavior during the New Year holidays.   They could be back full-force as early as tomorrow (2 January).     • QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA • 

          The ritzy looking bar we reported abuilding in the far corner behind The Corner has been completed.   But the premises remain empty, and a large sign is advertising "Bar For Sale".    This is the first time we have ever seen a bar built on 'spec'.   This is a quality construction job - along the lines of an expensive British pub - a multiple million baht project.   Any takers?     • QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA • 


  • WASHINGTON  SQUARE •  .
  MAP  
           The Angel 22 Massage is closed - but look for it to open next week.   By all reports, they are just taking a longer than usual New Year's break.     • WASHINGTON  SQUARE • 


  • TOBACCO  ROAD  •  .
  MAP  
           The Linda Bar - Happy Joint looked darker than a poisoned well when we passed by last night.   Nor did we see any signs, or hear any scuttlebutt that they were "just closed for the Holidays".   Linda Bar showed up on the scene in February of 1995 - that's almost ten years in the saddle.   Before we write it off our rolls completely and finally, we'll take another look and see whether or not they were just AWOL.     • TOBACCO  ROAD    (SOI  ZERO) • 

           The Dog V Bar Pool has been sucked into the black hole of History after only a brief 6-month run.   At first we thought they were still open, but it was only being used by Sexy Night Det 5 to serve free New Year's food and goodies to their patrons across the way.   The co-owner was a survivor of the Chuwit-Holocaust on Sukhumvit Square - we hope she lands on her feet.     • TOBACCO  ROAD    (SOI  ZERO) • 

           Likewise, the Noi Bar Pool didn't make it out for the final curtain call this month.   This was her second run at it - after an earlier closure, she reopened again only last August.   Greener pastures.     • TOBACCO  ROAD    (SOI  ZERO) • 

           The last two months' closures at Tobacco Road (Soi Zero) bring the total number of bars down from sixteen bars to twelve - and this is NOT healthy.   They had sustained that level (16) for several months, but, as noted in our earlier issues, the place was looking more and more run down - more neon out of order, unused bars being ransacked for materials, etc.   Should the Soi sustain any more losses, they will begin to lose "critical mass" and no longer have a 'drawing power' for clientele.   Hopefully, the new year will bring them a reversal of fortunes.     • TOBACCO  ROAD    (SOI  ZERO) • 


  • OTHER   NIGHT  VENUES  OF  NOTE  • 

  • SUKHUMVIT    1    PLAZA  • 
           The Sports Bar 2, the first to open at this Plaza, has hung out some brand-new neon.   From here on in, call them Beaver's.   No change in ownership - and she will continue to run her The Sport Bar at 13 Night Market for the foreseeable.     • SUKHUMVIT  1  PLAZA  • 

           Of the two open-air bar beers under construction in the old parking area out front, one is very near throwing up the shutters and raking in the customers.   It has it's signs up, however they are yet to be electrified - it will be called Morning Night II.   Yup, it will be the younger sister of the very popular Morning 2 Night street-side bar beer on Sukhumvit Soi 4.   It should be open in about two weeks.     • SUKHUMVIT  1  PLAZA  • 



  • The No-News-Is- Good-News Department  • 

  • EASY  SQUARE •  .
  MAP  


  • THERMΖ  & "13  NIGHT  MARKET"  • .
  MAP  
       
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                   William R. Morledge
                 Copyright © 2005, BANGKOK EYES / bangkokeyes.com


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