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Hermanolobo
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Stickman's latest made me feel as though the 'S' has gone out of LOS ? More expensive, more restrictive and the girls getting greedy ?
I am not in Thailand at the moment and I am not resident there. How much of the following article squares with your RECENT experiences ?
Stickman Weekly 22/1/2006
The bible thumpers standing outside Nana refuse to leave, despite the furious scowls from many customers and even some of the farang bar owners and managers including Dave The Rave, Matt, PJ, Johnny et al, none of whom can see the humour in their customers being told that they are sinners, destined to a life of hell. But if the expression "as hot as hell" is accurate, perhaps the bible thumper was himself the devil, because I have never seen anyone dripping so much sweat in all my life - and this was at night time! Bible thumpers are one of those things that I hate seeing in Thailand, something I thought that we'd left behind upon moving out here. Just to digress for a moment, missionaries often speak the best Thai of all farangs in Thailand because the church usually sends them to a language school for several months before letting them loose on the locals.
The last week was reportedly bad for a large number of the bars in Nana with the only money makers purported to be Rainbow 2 and 4, Angelwitch, G Spot and funnily enough, Cascade! Many bars are way down on the same period as last year, some as much as 60%! Is the bible thumper's presence keeping customers away?
Or maybe the problem at Nana is that no one can get into the damn place? One night this week there were exactly 7 motorbikes, 1 vending car and 1 pick up truck parked right in the middle of the one and only entrance way into world famous entertainment complex. The impression this gives for a first timer is that surely, the place must be closed for why else would someone block the entrance like that? Try parking your wagon like this in Cowboy and you'll be lynched by the bar owners!
Next time you see Johnny from Hollywood, ask him what the significance of the number 350,000 is. Just make sure you are out of arm's length and have your running shoes on...
The most attractive bar in all of Nana Plaza, Big Mango, has hired a few very nice, attractive girls to play pool with at their bar or, if the mood should grab you, they could play with balls elsewhere. The problem the guys running this excellent bar have are the ridiculous ugly and aggressive door girls from Mandarin and Silver Dragon - they sure look like dragons. The job of these girls is to entice punters into their bar and they try everything to block the way for customers who actually want to go to The Big Mango - and the weak punters never made it. But this is a problem all the bars have, and this bar is just unlucky to be located in a corner where the one and only way in can be blocked easily.
Carnival on the third floor is really having a bad, ummm, few months. Most of the most attractive girls have gone and on a Saturday night you can choose between 20 ladies, many of whom were about as old as me - and Stick ain't no spring chicken any more! Perhaps the Crown Group should take a few lasses from some of their other bars to make up the numbers in Carnival?
Closing times remain at 1:00 AM in Nana for most bars and showing only occurs when the security guys out the front of the bars showing are on DEFCON 4, fully armed with radios and other stuff to be faster than you know who...
There has been a huge influx of Japanese customers into Soi Cowboy. The Japanese have long been fans of Patpong, and started hitting Nana in serious numbers in the late '90s where their custom was embraced by a number of bars, particularly Rainbow 1 and 2 bars which are now truly Japanese strongholds. In Soi Cowboy the free spending Japanese's custom has been welcomed and while strolling through Cowboy this week I was surprised to hear girls from one bar calling out to Japanese customers, in Japanese! Rumours of bar owners in Soi Cowboy erecting new neon signs in Japanese and tripling prices are for the time being just that, rumours.
The blood of some Pattaya locals is boiling at the antics of a number of tourists who have been observed putting 500 and even 1,000 baht notes into the garters of girls table dancing in these quasi gogo / table top dancing bars that are all the rage in Pattaya these days. Some girls have been seen with over 5,000 baht in their garters - and presumably that is just what they have earned that evening! One reader emailed me about 5 different girls who were approached with a view to their barfine being paid, and all turned it down - no doubt due to the huge amounts that they are getting, just from dancing. Table top dancing bars are turning out to be quite a phenomenon in Bangkok and a huge earner for the girls. How long until they come to Bangkok?
It has been learned from some Patpong bar owners the reason for the early closing times - an investigative team of reporters from the local TV station ITV has been snooping around using hidden cameras and undercover reports along with obvious in the open camera teams. They started it all for an expose of the queer section on Silom Soi 4 and got some sneaky shots of the bad boys waving their weenies around. And this being Thailand someone in the crew let the word out to people on the Pong. The crew was on a roll liking the footage they got so they decided to head up the road to the more popular section of the Pong, where the girls are. Naturally the boys in brown nearly passed out into their bowl of rice and sent out the word that everybody has to toe the line and not cause anyone to be sent to Siberia, or at least one of the far flung corners of the Kingdom due to any wrong doing caught on tape while the cameras were around.
So according to the type of license they have, the closing hours for drinking and entertainment venues at Patpong is as follows. Disco license, which most of the music venues have, allows them to stay open until 2 AM. Gogo bars can only stay open until 1 AM, and beer bars only until midnight! So it will be the letter of the law enforced with an iron fist for the time being on the Pong at least until the TV camera crews disappear.
Following the post of last week, imbibers in The Red Parrot pool hall wanting to help the local economy and purchase a drink for any of the workers there better beware because the cheapest price is 150 baht for workers drinks. The good news is the management has the smarts to know that the shock of that high price may cause customers to pass out so they have instructed the staff to verbally warn the customers of the high price before getting the requested drinks. You have been warned.
It appears that the promise of high season this year in Pattaya will remain just that - a promise. Undelivered was the return of overflowing bar and nightclub customers who in past years helped support owners through the much longer low season. Pattaya had a fair number of visitors, albeit fewer than years past. But the make-up of tourists now in Fun City assumes different characteristics. More families, more visitors from the former Soviet Union, more Chinese and Koreans. Hardly the big spenders who frequent gogo and girlie bars.
Adding to Pattaya’s woes this year are the growing number of gogo bars and growing demands of dancing girls for higher and higher salaries. This represents a double threat for owners, inasmuch as clubs are competing with one another on two levels: both for the dwindling number of tourists and for the available stable of Isaan girls willing to trade in their baggy clothes and sandals for high heels and nothing else.
But as clubs - new and old - find themselves forced to offer higher wages in order to lure dancers as well as showgirls and waitress away from other establishments, they are forced to push up the price of drinks and bar fines. Hardly a combination that will attract those sought-after customers. In fact, with beer and alcohol prices hovering around and above 100 baht, bar fines surpassing 500 baht - to 600 and 700 baht - and ladies demanding 1,500 to 3,000 baht for the pleasure of their company - even visitors from Bangkok are thinking twice before venturing down for the weekend.
The depressing picture seems to have taken its first casualty. Teasers, the gogo that launched operations a mere three months ago, closed its doors last week. No one could be reached to explain the club’s demise.
If higher prices are not enough to ward off business, attitudes are contributing to the problem. Girls are making so much money in many gogo bars that they have less reason to flirt with customers. This weekend, visiting a dozen Walking Street clubs - most of which were hurting for business - the overwhelming majority of male patrons were sitting by themselves while dancers, idle between sets, mixed only with their own - ignoring the obviously willing clientele. Instead of buying another round and a lady drink, the overlooked customers bolted after their first drink.
Furthermore, Walking Street clubs seem to have toned down the glamour, despite now needing all the resources they can muster. Shows at most gogo bars have become tedious, there is less showing, and the quality of dancers and showgirls has suffered a marked decline.
Even such new and promising venues as Angelwitch and X-Zone leave a lot to be desired. Interesting decors and layouts, to be sure. But that is not enough to overcome a les-be-friends show featuring fully dressed performers, or every dancer fitted with white cotton ankle socks. Where’s the fun in that?
X-Zone, featuring scores of overpaid gogo girls, has missed the mark on design to the extent that customers’ views are restricted - with structures impeding one’s vision of the stages, and show areas scattered around the sizeable room. Novel is an elevated glass dance floor - where girls forgot their britches to the delight of a half dozen gazers beneath them - as well as a working shower and separate sudsy bathing area. But again each is visible only to those in their immediate areas.
Fortunately for those new clubs, they packed in curious imbibers while many other bars saw Friday and Saturday business at recent lows. Even the once popular Carousel gogo had only a handful of customers by midnight, matched by a like number of dancing maidens.
Walking Street itself suffered a long night of low numbers from South Pattaya Road to Soi 16, where the half dozen or so Covent Garden beer bars fail to draw, despite being adjacent to four gogo bars, three of which are quite popular (Catz, X-Zone, and Club Bouschet). The fourth, Babe Watch, has been redubbed locally as “Dog Watch.”
A party at Diamond brought a crowd but much-too loud banging music - heavy on the bass - drove many away. On that same soi (Diamond), The Sea had a good number of ladies but few are attractive and fewer still seemed interested in connecting for the night or even for a drink.
Fans of Sukumvit Soi 7/1 will be pleased to hear that Absolute 7 bar has started a happy hour between 4:00 and 6:00 PM. Buy one drink and you get the second absolutely free.
From Pattaya I can confirm that it is 120 baht for a beer at the Collosseum, oops, I mean Angelwitch. They are doing a decent trade, but things will need to pick up a bit more before you see a grin on Matt and Pim's faces. Pim even said that it will take two years to get it up to speed with all of the other bars in Pattaya. I am sure they will get there much quicker than that.
I could not help but chuckle when I heard that one gogo bar in Nana Plaza has redesigned the drinks menu and added a message to it that they are looking for new investors. I guess this isn't as tacky as Hollywood which at one time had notices in the toilets asking for investors.
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If you find yourself in Panthip Plaza and all of the goons in the corridor keep saying "Anna", "Anna" to you, don't think it is some new Thai word that means contraband, or bootleg software. Anna is the name of a second grade Thai singer who frankly, I had never even heard of until two weeks ago, when a naughty video of her started doing the rounds. It features her and what is apparently a university boyfriend of hers from two years ago, doing the dirty. The gentleman who made it did quite a good job and it would appear that he used auxiliary lighting, so unlike many of these home made naughty movies that do the rounds, everything is bright and clear. The story as to how the video was found and released is somewhat humorous. Apparently the guy's computer died and he took it to Panthip Plaza to get it fixed. While it was in the shop the technician saw that there were a video on the hard drive, had a look at it, saw what it was, and copied it, passing it on to mates at which point it was distributed to all and sundry. I don't know many people who haven't seen it, and it only started being distributed the first week of this month.
When I first came to Thailand I used to listen to 105 FM a lot. At the time I think it was the only English radio station, with perhaps 90% in English, and just a little Thai. It went through a couple of changes and the most recent guise of Virgin FM was perhaps not the best, but it had decent DJs, farang newsreaders and did aim at the farang market. I went to tune in recently and found that it had gone. Finito! It's a shame that there is one less "farang radio station" to listen to.
It is all copyright Stickman (c) 1998 - 2005.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:23 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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Bangkoksexydotcom
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It is very east to read were he gets he free beers and girls from and were he does not. I wonder if he goes out at all I never seen one nippon guy in Soi Cowboy? I know for a fact that have taken over Therme. And Japs never invaded Patpong maybe Tanya buts that not even in Patpong.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 4:32 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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Hermanolobo
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Quote: from Bangkoksexydotcom on 6:19 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
It is very east to read were he gets he free beers and girls from and were he does not. I wonder if he goes out at all I never seen one nippon guy in Soi Cowboy? I know for a fact that have taken over Therme. And Japs never invaded Patpong maybe Tanya buts that not even in Patpong.
I have seen a lot of Chinese 'fishbowl' tourists gawking in Pattaya but as yet as you say few Samurai in Soi Cowboy.
Anyway I hope the more informed among you can add some real-time intelligence ?
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:35 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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Finchy
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Quote: from Bangkoksexydotcom on 6:19 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
I never seen one nippon guy in Soi Cowboy?
What about Baccara? There are a few Japanese in there. I have seen them in many places on Cowboy. They are not exactly taking over but they go there.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 4:47 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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stu
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In Dec. I went to Therme every night and only saw young japanese guys in their 20`s. Never saw white,black or brown people,however,the police came in 1 or 2 times every hour,why I have no idea, Many girls where asking and getting 1500 bhat for short time without any problems. Saw many older japanese in beer garden on soi 7 but prices there have not gone up yet.Wonder why they would go to such cheap places? Also stayed at the Manhatten and 90% of people staying there where Japanese -that was a real shock
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:15 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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brewsterbudgen
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Quote: from Finchy on 6:35 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
Quote: from Bangkoksexydotcom on 6:19 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
I never seen one nippon guy in Soi Cowboy?
What about Baccara? There are a few Japanese in there. I have seen them in many places on Cowboy. They are not exactly taking over but they go there.
Baccara is normally full of Japanese and many of the girls, particularly the hostesses, will only go with Japanese as they can get 2,000 ST and 4,000 and above LT. Seriously! They call them "2-3-4" -
only last 2 minutes
only have 3 inches
will pay 4,000
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:50 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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Abrak
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Well as a farang who has lived in Thailand for over 10 years I will give you my own personal impression.
First of all Thailand is more fun than ever - sexual liberation has quickly been absorbed in Thai society (or much of Thai society) and that is f***ing marvellous.
To me the gogo scene - patpong, SC and Nana - have lost most of their attraction. Many people would put that down to me being a typical expat who has got bored or jaded by the scene. Fair enough but I dont see it that way.
The fact is that 10 years ago the P4P market and the gogo bars were the major intermediary between Thai girls and farangs. Many of the girls were working there not just for the money but because they wanted to have a good time and meet farang.
Things have changed. Every girl has a mobile phone, there is the internet and email (and of course there are the freelancer bars). Thai girls can interact with farang without having to work in a gogo bar. Even better girls who wouldnt ever dream of working in a gogo bar can now interact with farang.
So the gogo scene has just become a meat market. Where girls work there for the money a bit like farang hookers in the west. They are essentially trying to screw as much money out of you for as little service as possible. To put it more simply the gogo scene increasingly resembles the massage parlour scene. Thats fine for some guys but less interesting for others.
Luckily for those looking for a TGF or simply a TGF experience there are many more avenues to explore. Stickman is a married man who laments the passing of the gogo scene - that is his perspective - but I or one much prefer the way things are now.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:02 am on Jan. 24, 2006
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ItaliaThug
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Quote: from stu on 7:02 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
In Dec. I went to Therme every night and only saw
Why would anybody go to Thermae on consecutive nights? Much less everynight? Please explain...
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:51 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
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manowar
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Quote: from Abrak on 7:49 am on Jan. 24, 2006
Well as a farang who has lived in Thailand for over 10 years I will give you my own personal impression.
First of all Thailand is more fun than ever - sexual liberation has quickly been absorbed in Thai society (or much of Thai society) and that is f***ing marvellous.
To me the gogo scene - patpong, SC and Nana - have lost most of their attraction. Many people would put that down to me being a typical expat who has got bored or jaded by the scene. Fair enough but I dont see it that way.
The fact is that 10 years ago the P4P market and the gogo bars were the major intermediary between Thai girls and farangs. Many of the girls were working there not just for the money but because they wanted to have a good time and meet farang.
Things have changed. Every girl has a mobile phone, there is the internet and email (and of course there are the freelancer bars). Thai girls can interact with farang without having to work in a gogo bar. Even better girls who wouldnt ever dream of working in a gogo bar can now interact with farang.
So the gogo scene has just become a meat market. Where girls work there for the money a bit like farang hookers in the west. They are essentially trying to screw as much money out of you for as little service as possible. To put it more simply the gogo scene increasingly resembles the massage parlour scene. Thats fine for some guys but less interesting for others.
Luckily for those looking for a TGF or simply a TGF experience there are many more avenues to explore. Stickman is a married man who laments the passing of the gogo scene - that is his perspective - but I or one much prefer the way things are now.
Abrak's opinion is always highly valued and I agree that the gogo's have probably seen their best years. If I were BKK long time residents, gogos probably rank at the bottom unless I have out of town guest and just want to show them the novelty of it. The problem with short time visitors to BKK is to find a "sure thing" and a "sweet thing" in very short order. They do not have time to shop around much, try picking up non p4p at the mall........etc. The G-clubs are stocked with stunners but the girls are not "sure things". That leaves you with gogos, MPs, beer bars and FL clubs. Because the gogos are all concentrated in the 3 main areas - NEP, Cowboys and Patpong, so the short time visitos can spend the least time with the most choices of girls. quality is average at best, but for someone who can only stay for a few days in BKK, every minutes counts. That's why I think the gogos are still serving the needs for these short time visitors. But the gogo girls are mostly quite hardened and like ST because they can turnover a few times with ST each night. Not my idea of a good time with a lady. I think FL clubs are the wave of the now and future. But there is a downside with FL clubs in that the grils are not being supervised or monitored by the clubs and so from time to time, if the farangs get ripped off in their hotel rooms, there is very little recourse. Buyer Beware!
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 12:52 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
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Abrak
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Quote: from manowar on 2:39 am on Jan. 25, 2006
Abrak's opinion is always highly valued and I agree that the gogo's have probably seen their best years. If I were BKK long time residents, gogos probably rank at the bottom unless I have out of town guest and just want to show them the novelty of it. The problem with short time visitors to BKK is to find a "sure thing" and a "sweet thing" in very short order. They do not have time to shop around much, try picking up non p4p at the mall........etc. The G-clubs are stocked with stunners but the girls are not "sure things". That leaves you with gogos, MPs, beer bars and FL clubs. Because the gogos are all concentrated in the 3 main areas - NEP, Cowboys and Patpong, so the short time visitos can spend the least time with the most choices of girls. quality is average at best, but for someone who can only stay for a few days in BKK, every minutes counts. That's why I think the gogos are still serving the needs for these short time visitors. But the gogo girls are mostly quite hardened and like ST because they can turnover a few times with ST each night. Not my idea of a good time with a lady. I think FL clubs are the wave of the now and future. But there is a downside with FL clubs in that the grils are not being supervised or monitored by the clubs and so from time to time, if the farangs get ripped off in their hotel rooms, there is very little recourse. Buyer Beware!
I agree with you 100%.
I was merely explaining why Stickman has his fairly narrow worldview.
For the short term visitor where 'scoring' is at a premium and their time in Bangkok is limited, then the gogo bars still represent the best option (even if they are not quite as user friendly as they were).
As a simple rule of thumb - if you have never been to Thailand on holiday you will find the gogos and girls a lot of fun. As a regular holidaymaker you might see that part of fun has disappeared but we would all have to be pretty pathetic to argue that the rise in a bar fine from Bt350 to Bt600 is much of a dicinsentive to shag some of the world's most beautiful women.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:20 pm on Jan. 24, 2006
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