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Bangkok's Night Scene In Review
Cowboy Street Scene
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A BRIEF PICTORIAL
Entering Soi Cowboy from either end, the visitor is welcomed by the bright neon of the dozens of Night Entertainment Venues. However before reaching any of the individual oases, one notices a sea of faces outside the bars.
Often. as the evening kicks off - before the crowds arrive, a group of hostesses will be waiting outside to greet passers-by. Such is the case with these attractively attired young women outside the Baccara.
A throng of customers and staff mix outside the Country Road as they wait for the next 'set' to start from the in-house band.
Even as the evening monsoon shower commences, girls between dance sets, and others, continue to dash back and then forth across the soi to the various food stalls, or sometimes just to talk to a friend working in a nearby bar.
After slipping on a pull-over shirt and skirt, an A-Go-Go girl takes a quick break to wander outside to buy a drink and some fried grasshoppers.
Push-cart food vendors are kept busy the entire evening. Although a variety of 'roadside' foods are available, Isarn dishes are usually the 'order of the day' - as can be seen here outside Shebas.
Between A-Go-Go sets, the girls will wander out to the outside tables and talk with customers and/ or tug on the sleeves of those passing by. The girls at Our Place are always most gregarious.
Cowboy 2 door girls are not hard to spot in their distinctive red cowboy hats. Joined by idle dancers, they make a most attractive bunch. This Nitespot, as with most others, hires some young women specifically for the purpose of enticing customers inside for a drink.
Unequivocally, the Cowboy Scene starts here, then, not behind the swinging door or the parted curtain. And, unsurprisingly, we often get feedback from resident farang and tourists alike that they have found a most compatible companion even before getting inside to put an elbow up on the bar.
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 September, 2005 :
PATPONG
II
MAP
The years-long game of cat-and-mouse continues as the original Pink Panther makes it's fourth attempt to display it's name of old. Some of you may remember that we have been keeping score through the years - as the sign gestapos catch them and make them change their sign, then after the heat is off, out comes the Pink Panther sign all over again. We of course have no idea how long it will be before they get their next visit from the livid little men in ill-fitting chauffer suits, but rest assured, like Schwarzenegger, they'll be back. A pity, as we have a nostalgic recollection or two from the old Pink Panther's heyday - we like the name just the way it was. ...Shake it, don't break it, gang - nevertheless, we like your illegitimi non carborundum attitudes.
SUKHUMVIT1PLAZA
The unnamed bar beer in front of the the downstairs portion of Pink Panther (-downstairs is still called the Bar & Pub The Pink) is being torn down. Several years ago, this bar beer used to have a small sign referring to it as the Pink Panther Bar-Restaurant (in Thai) but for a long time has been without a name. Word from within is that it will be rebuilt immediately - a completion date still a couple of months down the road - new name, if any, not known. PATPONG I I Located on 'The Ramp', the Tik + Ko closed down for renovations last month, only to open this month with a brand new moniker. The Coyoty (sic) Spicy Girl, as it is now known, has some brand new neon, to boot. We aren't sure whether this is a case of , or if they just didn't know how to spell 'Coyote'... May the nightwinds bring them fortune, misspellings and all.
The Century (home of last month's door art award murals) has closed for renovations - or so says a hastily scrawled note taped to the door. Folk on the ground there say they shouldn't be closed for more than a month. Century is located on the 4th floor of the Cosmo's stairwell. One floor down, still in the Cosmo's stairwell, the Bua Luang Karaoke has reopened after a four-month hiatus. They have done some sprucing up, from the looks of the new sign, and all. We note with a certain amount of trepidation (even though they offered the info in an unsolicited context) that they are busiest between midnite and 04:00 a.m. Welcome back to the vicissitudes.
NANA
PLAZA
Secrets, although absorbed by Angel Witch over a month ago will not be providing any additional square footage to the overall equation until the beginning of October at the earliest. Part of the reason might be that Angel Witch seems to be doing a pretty good business as-is, and they don't want to close down, even temporarily, while they break the wall down between them....
NANA PLAZA
MAP The Big Mango Bar has opened up on schedule in the old Boss Hogg's digs on the second floor. Some changes have been made - the hole in the ceiling which previously opened up onto the upstairs pool area has been closed off to give added square footage - more pool tables. The trick remains how to get people to come up the escalator and do a button-hook past the Mandarin and Silver Dragon doorgirls, and into the Big Mango - once they figure that out, the cat-bird seats overlooking the Plaza's entrance will be packed out nightly. Ask no further, the name of the bar was inspired by the book. We welcome them to, well, The Big Mango - let the good times roll....
The Roadhouse bar beer in the old parking lot started and completed renovations this last August - and things look a lot roomier. And while they look for a place to re-hang their sign, all are invited back - business as usual. Keep on keeping on. NANA PLAZA Obsession - at least the inside A-Go-Go portion - is closed for renovations. The mostly transgenderite A-Go-Goers have all moved upstairs to their 'sister' bar Cascade (3rd floor) in the interim. The outside bar beer area is still open for business, and looks to be keeping fairly busy. NANA PLAZA
SOI
COWBOY
MAP The Deja Vu have, it seems, paid their dues (figuratively speaking, of course...) and have been graciously granted permission to open again by the Thonglor arbiters of street-justice. It looks like many of the old staff have returned, and are dancing up a storm - making sure. of course. that all snaps and straps and laces are secure beforehand. SOI COWBOY As mentioned last month, the Apache closed down for major renovations. The rumors of table-top dancing are true, by all appearances - (we stuck our heads in last night for a quick look-around). If they aren't opening right about......now...they should be open in a day or two - should be interesting. We also note that during the renovations, the outside got a sprucing up - the Apache maids never looked better. The scuttlebutt that the Cowboy 2 has poker machines is all too true. On our occasional visits, we have never seen them being used - they don't look like real big money-spinners from where we sit.... Considering how popular gambling in general is with Bangkok's Finest, one might consider a snaller radar signature.... SOI COWBOY
SOI
DEAD
ARTISTS(Soi 33)
Although still closed, one of our more erudite gaijin linguist friends has informed us that this was the "Rich" mahjong parlor (in the Peep Inn Park). We note that 'Rich' is a phonetic transliteration. Mystery solved -
MAP
SOIDEADARTISTS
Also in the Peep Inn Park, the Club Ayano has bowed down before Darwin's harsh call - survival being for the fittest, after all. Opening in June 2003, they had a good two-year run of it. Darkness now hides the windblown leaves and gathering dust. SOIDEADARTISTS Set back in Soi 1, just beside the Pan Pan Italian Restaurant, the More Massage has opened up. This is a traditional massage, somewhat less ambiguous than some of the massage parlors on this soi, and has a couple of professional masseuses - for those who really enjoy the pan boran style of massage as taught at Wat Po. Break a leg, girls - not literally, of course.... SOIDEADARTISTS
The Venus Club, which we noted as closed last month, but which had 'for hire' signs taped on the windows, did in fact reopen this month. They still haven't got a new 'cheerleader' for their sign, which previously sported a Vargas nude (and which was promptly pounced upon by the local sign gestapos). Welcome back to the delights of Sin City. And just next door, the Oliver reed's club has very quietly become the R. Club, complete with new neon. No change in format. Let the nightgames proceed.
SOI
KATOEY
The Roxy Bar & Club have got rid of (most of) their cushioned sidewalk, replacing the cushions with small tables - and opening the front up to become "inside-outside" instead of "inside and outside". It remains to be seen how this will help (or hurt) business - they looked rather quieter last Saturday night.
SOIKATOEY
MAP
QUEEN'S
PARK
PLAZA
Angel Bar bar beer actually opened last May - and by this last August they had saved up enough for some new neon. All else remains the same - the beat goes on.
MAP
The Smile Bar is no more - although you wouldn't know it to look at it. Last month they found a way out from under it all and sold out lock, stock and chrome barstool to a previous co-owner of the Siam Smile on Soi Eden (she cashed in her minor holding three months ago to look for new digs). While temporarily operating under the old Smile Bar name, the new name will be Friendly Bar. (Signpainters should deliver in about two weeks.) If the name sounds familiar, that's because it is. It was originally located at Asoke Plaza, and when it was demolished with several other bars by criminally unscrupulous real estate developers, she moved the Friendly Bar back to Asoke Corner. A little over a month later in a repeat performance, the same criminally unscrupulous real estate developers demolished all the bars in Asoke Corner, including, of course, the Friendly Bar. The owner of the old Friendly Bar and others from these "Asoke debacles" then formed a hoon and opened up in Soi Eden - however 'personalities' quickly became a problem. Now that she is over in Queen's Park Plaza, she is once again her own boss. Welcome back, Friendly Bar, to the rough-and-tumble. QUEEN'SPARKPLAZA
WASHINGTON
SQUARE
The 'new kid on the block' is the Good Times-Bar. Although we passed by several times this last month, we didn't even see this one coming. When we stopped by last Saturday, they still had the party balloons up, and had quite a few customers ebowed up to the bar. Pool Bar is the operative descriptor - with one solitary table in the rear. This is the third bar in that grouping (along with Crystal Bar and Happy Pub - perhaps the additional 'shininess' will be good for all three bars. Wish them well - as they cast their dice against the pitted wall of fate.
MAP
The Crystal Bar holds the unofficial world's record for most closings and reopenings for a Night Entertainment Venue. This month, the doctor is "IN". And they seem to be busier than usual - may we pick this opportune moment to suggest that if the door is open, then the people can get in....? It's amazing how that works.... Keep on rocking on. WASHINGTONSQUARE
SUKHUMVIT
1
PLAZA
The Isan 40 Degree Bar has done a complete make-over - last month they were a rather ramshackle open-fronted bar beer, this month they are a comfortable, subtly lit lounge bar with decent music - (thank goodness - no Isan music). The interior decoration includes more works by the same graffiti artist that did the new outside wall - and if time & space permit, we will publish (with permission) those photos. Rumored to have quiet dancing later in the evenings, although we can't (yet) attest to that. Maintain the momentum - that's all you gotta do....
MAP
Last month we said, "(Josephines Beer Garden)...looks like they are ready to skip town without paying the rent." Guess what? Gone without a trace - they didn't even bother to take their broken sign with them. The repeat lesson here is that, discounting the rare exception like 'show' or 'after hours', upper-floor Night Entertainment (above 2nd storey) is a real low-down bitch. Always was, always will be - Josephine's being on the fourth floor, had problems before they opened and they didn't even know it. May they find things a little more to their liking a little further on down the road a piece. SUKHUMVIT1PLAZA The Night Night Joop Joop continues to morph, and then morph again. They originally acquired The One Bar last November, and in June they subdivided - half to remain the Night Night Joop Joop and the other half to become a sports bar (one outside sign reading Big Screen Sports Bar). The inside sign never materialized; both halves remaining the Night Night Joop Joop. This last month (August) the partition between the two halves disappeared, and renovations were completed on what was the 'back half'. And truth be known, it now looks more customer-friendly than ever in its present configuration. Go with the flow, gang.... SUKHUMVIT1PLAZA
SOI
EDEN
Until we saw the flyer that the girl was handing out to passers-by on Sukhumvit Road, we had no idea that the The Blue Star Bar also offered traditional massage on the upper floors. Body, foot and oil are on the menu, - we don't (yet) know the level of ambiguosity. Prices are competetive.
MAP
OTHER
NIGHTSPOTS
OF
NOTE
Down inside Sukhumvit Soi 23 is the new "Glow - The ultimate chill-out experience of Bangkok". And Glow glows - but if you are a first-timer, you may need a map to assist you (see below). -And it will be worth the trip. Glow hasn't given itself a label, like lounge or pub or other - that will be for you to decide. May the Fates deal them all aces and faces.
SUKHUMVIT SOI 23, FIRST RIGHT, THEN FIRST LEFT - AND YOU'RE THERE
NO
NEWS
IS
GOOD
NEWS
DEPT.
--- Datzit Fernow William R. Morledge
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