Elections are this weekend folks. As mentioned in the Weekly it seems there will be no booze Saturday after 6pm and probably until Sunday after 6 pm. Some areas may be forced to close but no one is totally sure yet. So tonight is probably the last night for full operations so hit it hard. Take no prisoners. Khi has in depth coverage of the elections with some predictions. Interesting stuff. I hope for stability and time for the current government since this is the only way for Thailand to move forward.
XXO beach club in Pattaya is working with Universal Player to throw some beach/club parties in Pattaya. If you are in Pattaya just stop in but if you are in Bangkok you can catch a bus down and back. I like the idea of it and will be trying to catch one of the parties this month. To RSVP please email.
Bay area in the news for all the wrong reasons. I am somewhat stunned that someone who is being kneeled on while face down needs to be shot in the back. Seems bizarre.
Thai Airways is struggling. It will be interesting to see how bad it gets before there is some major restructuring or another silent government bailout but for sure things are going to get worse for them. First off they ordered a bunch of new planes they can’t pay for:
Thai Airways International has been successful in seeking postponed payment to Airbus for the incoming six A330 aircraft.
Suffering from an acute liquidity crunch, THAI’s acting president, Narongsak Sanghkapong, explained that instead of the first scheduled payment this month, the carrier would make its first payment to the plane maker in February.
The delivery date for the new planes in April is yet to change, but THAI have been granted a three month delay for each payment date, The Nation reports.
The Santika saga gets more interesting by the day. I am somewhat reluctant to discuss it but everywhere I go people are taking about. So please - my discussion of it on this blog is for purposes of bringing forth how complicated this situation is and I hope no one sees this as disrespectful to the tragedy and those involved.
On one hand people will easily assume that the owner has to be responsible for everything that happened. On the other hand Santika is no different than many other pubs and clubs in both how they are operated and compliance with safety issues. I have stated before that I think the negligence regarding the accident has to be the fireworks allowed inside the club. Both the customer fireworks and the show fireworks. Neither should have happened. Period. Who do you blame for that though? I guess ultimately the owner but they are chasing the owner with charges that in my opinion won’t stick. I think this is deliberate. Already you can see signs of this.
Today’s Bangkok Post is already discussing loopholes related to the charges:
The City Hall clarification over the building’s status came after engineering and architectural experts pointed the finger at Watthana district office, which granted the construction permit for the pub which opened in 2005.
They said the construction permit issued by the district office held the key for pinpointing who should be responsible for the fire that killed 64 revellers and injured 68 others.
Under the Building Control Act, buildings categorised as private accommodation are not required to adhere to the same rigid safety regulations as entertainment venues.
The district’s construction permit would reveal if the pub building had been used for the purpose listed in the permit and if the building owner followed safety regulations issued for a certain type of building, they said.
Watthana district officials yesterday refused to give details about the construction permit, saying the document was issued during the term of the previous district chief.
One official said the office could not even find a blueprint of the pub building, submitted for construction approval.
In the quote above you can see the City is already deflecting blame to the district responsible for construction permits. Notice how the police are already out of the picture here? Why? Because the police in the Thong Lo district take millions of baht a month from the businesses in the area and they want to protect that stream of income. For sure the owner is willing to expose that racket so charges against the owner are being pushed into an area where they won’t stick. So now they look to the City. The City won’t take it on the chin so the City pushes on the sub-district using construction permits as an example.
Construction permits? Folks most small to medium size businesses in Thailand hardly ever get them. Or they get them after the fact or during construction. And guess what? You can pay for those too. Meaning a nice package delivered to the right guy will ensure that you get your construction permit. Usually multi-story developments, new buldings and building with elevators don’t get the same treatment but a place like Sanitka was neither so chances are they worked around the system or worked within the system depending on how you look at it.
My guess is none of this will stick or smaller heads will roll in district offices but there is no way that this will bring down the whole notion of how the overall process works in Bangkok wrt to police, permits and so on. It is just too big a racket. I think civil charges or families suing the owner might be the only way money actually exchanges hands here. For sure the CIty will decide to get more pro-active with safety and inspections. You can see that happening now and that is a good thing. It needs to be done but I don’t see things changing all that much with the big picture because to do so would require a serious shot over the bow at corruption. The upcoming economic calamity is going to be the most important task for the current government - not a war against corruption.
After all folks - this is Thailand.
Popped into Cowboy last. They are working on Rawhide which also suffered a fire. The damage looks minimal but enough that they are working on it. I think the smoke and water damage coupled with the smell are the biggest problem. My guess is it will need some work to get it open. In my opinion they should just stop and truly remodel it. All the girls have moved to Long Gun but it means too many girls for one bar and not enough customers. Word is some of the other bars have already had some success with poaching the talent.
It was brought up over some drinks last night that the slower times should make it easy for bars to get girls. In some sense possibly new girls enter the game because they need money but there is another factor involved working against the bars. If the girls don’t get enough customers they tend to leave Bangkok. It is an expensive city to live in if you are not bringing in some money. So rather than struggle in Bkk and live above the bar many girls just choose to go home. It is cheaper and best of all - tough for the wicked mother to ask for money if you are sitting right next to her in Isaan.
First stop was Tilac. I enjoy sitting outside for the happy hour while watching the girls report to duty. Tilac has some good music, no underwear and a fun vibe. A few stunners, little bit of attitude but a good place to kick off.
Then off to Shebas. Shebas is great lately. Tons of stock, lots of nudity and shows. I suggest checking it out. There are some young ones but not Mandarin young.
After Shebas we headed to Cocktail Club. Why? It was there. I found porn star there many moons ago and i like the dancing in the underwear vibe. BBB swears there are favors to be had in the toilets as well. Problem is that CC is devoid of dancers and the ladyboy buffalo mamasan scares the shit out of me. She is always trying to grab me. We had to leave. I think BBB grabbed some digits. No - not the ladyboy.
From Shebas to Dollhouse. Dollhouse has the most girls with the best tits on cowboy. It was a little light last night but we had a a drink on ogled the boobies. One never tires of ogling the boobies.
Off to Shark. Ran into my old R3 girl. Shark is still a great place to hang. Good music, lots to look at but the talent is a little light these days. Both BBB and I were in agreement on that.
At this point BBB was hungry and forced me to eat some proper British food. He promised me it would be better than the grub I had in High Wycombe. We went over to Offshore and ate some grub. Not bad and for the money I would say a good deal if one is planning on boozing and needs something to fill up on.
After ingesting we headed over to Long Gun. Lately Long Gun is partially on the mend. Most of the Rawhide girls are in there, there is lots of showing and the remodel did help some. I wish they would have dumped the booths for something new but they didn’t. The bathrooms are not done but everything is somewhat better and cleaner than before. The crowds seems to be back as well but I wish they would dump the Patpong like shows.
ah yes the ladyboy buffalo mamasan at cocktail club. brings back dreadful memories of a few months back when i was there and he snuggled next to me to tell me about his various open relationships. as i was trying to avoid him by texting someone he proceeded to grab my phone, type in his number and call himself. for the next week he’d call three or four times a day. i never picked up. god that was awful. only question now is what happens next time i’m in cowboy and i’m unfortunate enough to cross his path?
View all comments by generous sponsor
yea go cocktail, the tilac happy hour trick worked a treat again,drinkin til after 11 on the cheap,then hit laokhao shop,cpl shots 15b each.i can feel the pinch is on,this tart white as white, even her black ass was white,had time 4 a drunk
View all comments by 2kkooooool
“Better than High Wycombe” is rather damning with faint praise, but sometimes you just need some microwaved/deep-fried stodge to soak up the booze. Offshore is nothing like a great English chippie, but it’s a convincing replica of a grotty English chippie. Which is sometimes just what’s needed.
The ladyboy buffalo mamasan terrifies me. Surely the fact that I’m in a girlie bar, leering at boobies, should be a fairly strong hint that I’m not particularly interested in butching up with a fat poof?
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
bbb - one would think, but this character was seriously crunk at the time and listening to him was like going to a dr. gonzo’s bazooka circus concert. someone to be avoided at all costs.
View all comments by go go groupie
@gs/ggg: You seem to have two names. Confusing.
But yes, I know the guy in question and he is certainly one to be avoided. Was in Cocktail a while back taking a piss out back (on my own, no ‘favours’ being had for once). He wandered in and watched. Freaky. In the UK that’d get you a beating.
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
You made mention that the crowds seem to be back at the end of your blog, which is strange as the beginning part when discussing Tilac you inferred it was empty and part of the blog was about some of the talent leaving Bkk. Which is it?
View all comments by Indu WangZi
Did you watch the thai tv news last week and see one of the bangkok governor elects talking about if he was elected he would increase the alcohol bans for all public holidays especially Songkran? He would work to get rid of the embarrassing [farang] nightlife areas of Nana, Cowboy, and Patpong that give Thailand a bad international reputation of being a wild city. He also said if he had jurisdiction he would get rid of Pattaya nightlife too. Other fun topics:
- Giving driving lessons for all the non-air bus drivers so they would be more polite.
- To combat crime he would install florescent lights under all the bus stop waiting areas.
I was surprised at how much of a target the farang stuff was considering this was Thai tv news. I always assumed farang nightlife areas were ignored by most Thais.
View all comments by Hard one
i - I was discussing the amount of people in the bar. Long gun had been losing people and seems to be on the mend but it could just be all the rawhide punters are in there as well.
is this what u r referring too?
tilac was the fist stop so was not busy yet. my comment on the girls is to give people some insight that if places are not busy it does not mean it is easy to get girls since they will leave town.
i think everyone who runs bars would agree that this is not a normal high season.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
h1 - there are always some factions within the thais that wont to get rid of the farang stuff. the culture minister was known for wanting to get rid of the stuff. very two faced indeed and they seem to pretend it does not account for some serious dough. the current PM though gets tourism so I dont see anything happening to cut rev on a year like we are going to have.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
SSB - thanks, that clears it up quite a bit
View all comments by Indu WangZi
Ahh the Cocktail Club Water Buffalo LB. He can be very much a put off but once he knows your intentions are with the ladies then he will leave you alone. When I 1st started going there (before 9pm) he was obnoxious but settled down.
He’s thrown me a few free drinks. But this is probably because this place is my starting point and I tend to buy a few drinks for some of the girls (aung, pal, duan)when I am there.
View all comments by farang_jai_dee
I have yet to see any of these shows. What’s the best time to see them? The only one I’ve heard of was at Suzie Wongs at 10:30pm. I stayed until 11pm and there was no show. Do the shows happen continuously or is it just hit or miss?
View all comments by Nana
Usually there are shows every single night at Sheba’s, Suzie Wong, Long Gun and Rawhide (currently closed) amongst others. With the police out checking fire safety in the bars this week, some bars may have cancelled the raunchier shows. I was told that Wednesday night was particularly bad, with no nudity at all in the bars that are usually known for it.
The Suzie Wong lesbian show usually kicks off sometime between 10.30pm and 11pm, but like most things here in Thailand, I wouldn’t advise you setting your watch by it.
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
sheba showtime about the same time and so is baccara right?
they all do it at the same time - if they were smart they would all stagger them some but that would take critical thinking skills which one cannot buy in MBK.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
SSB- maybe not MBK but i’m sure they have those at Chatuchak in between the baby monkeys and use japanese sextoy stall.
View all comments by UnCochinoWetback
Baccara around 11pm I think, but was only weekends last I checked. Which was admittedly some time ago.
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
Baccara show is Thurs/Fri/Sat only.
View all comments by Brewsterbudgen
The Bay Area situation is pretty f**ked up, but is being made worse by the media here. They have been showing the Video footage non-stop on the evening news. As usual it will eventually blow over, But that Rent-a-cop is gonna be screwed! - Hey, Maybe the Bangkok Boys in Brown need a Farang new trainee???
The Rawhide news is a real bummer. I am a big fan of the Sisters who grace that place on the weekends.
View all comments by Radicalron
Doll House- Tits: ummm, yes, some
Good place: ummmm, fuck no
View all comments by But Different
On the issue of nude shows, the place no one ever seems to mention is Five Star which runs a nude show nightly at 11:45 or midnight. The show features a girl dancing naked on your table, which is only about twice the size of your computer keyboard.
Five Star also runs the same show early most evenings… somewhere between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
I got the feeling that commenter Nana was asking about the “Patpong style shows” that ssB mentioned. In 4 years of visiting Soi Cowboy I have never once seen these shows at Long Gun, though I continually read that they exist. I’ve never been able to figure this out.
If you’re into the old candle-wax-dripping-on-naked-bodies or flourescent-body-paint shows, I’ve seen them at Our Place Showcase on every visit there.
View all comments by Werewolf
“So rather than struggle in Bkk and live above the bar many girls just choose to go home.”
so that’s where May went.
cool.
i thought she just didn’t love me anymore.
View all comments by jack dawson
@JD how could anyone not love you?
@SSB had a stroll along Cowboy on Wednesday with a first time visitor to BKK. Stopped by Tilac, Baccara, Shark, Afterschool, Long Gun, Suzie Wong, 5 Star, chippie and Twins he tells me he had a great time can’t remember much about it myself although on checking my wallet the next day I’m sure I must have! Spent some time with Joy? who is one of the ladies who performs the shows in Long Gun (knew i recognised the face just couldn’t remember how?)37kg, indeterminable age and a bunch of fun, she switched to cokes after a few Tequilas said she didn’t want to blind any of the punters! Suzie Wong 10.30 to 10.55 no show, when asked always sure 5 minutes will start. Cowboy in general about 50% of the normal crowd, I would say overall quality of ladies down, saw some bellies nearly as big as BBB’s but still plenty of fun to be had.
View all comments by Riodon
I was at Cowboy in June with my mates and there were so many hot girls we had to pace ourselves and pick only the cream of the crop. I went back 3 times in December and I didn’t see any of the previous hot gals.
You would think Cowboy would be busting at the seems now with hot gals trying to make rent money. But their routine is to work for 3 months marry some stupid punter and move to his home country.
View all comments by BBB Fan
rr - it is messed up and I think they should take the guns away from the BART goons
ww - have not checked it. the LG shows have a smoking show, a banana show, blow the candle out show, the horn show and dart pop the balloon show. all disgusting.
jd - feel better now?
r - as stated this past week there were inspections due to the santika thing show shows and nudity were reeled in.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
well at least you get some nudity in bkk,here on samui you see the bored two step with bikinis covering everything,got to be the lamest gogos in the country,the freelancers make up for it though at all the nightclubs.
the high season here is quite different this year-must be the new stupid 15 day visa rule.
have a safe new year everyone,
cheers zep
View all comments by zepplin
Ok guys, looking for some realtime updates…It’ KnightRider’s 1st night in Bangkok and we have elections…Grrrr. (Ok, it’s really my second night, but that doesn’t sound as dramatic) Stopped by the Mango this afternoon for a burger and some insider info but I guess Sideshow was fixing his hair and Pmmmp was probably down in the basement beating off the the Yankee’s 2009 media guide, so no scoop, but a damm good burger. Anyway, I’m going to hit the sauna (hey, it was a good post), so if there are any updates on who is serving tonight (nana, cowboy, patpong…anywhere) I’ll be checking back in an hour and 2 minutes…you know, 30 min there, 30 min back, and 2 in the sauna…I did say it was my 1st night didn’t I?
View all comments by KnightRider
zep - how is that samui post coming along?
kr - not sure what to say but we are not always in the bar and sorry we missed you. good to hear on the burger
no ONE is suppose to serve but u may find people “breaking the law”. Patpong may be one of those places. I think nana wil have to close but soi 4 stuff open but not serving.
cowboy open but not serving.
just tonight. u can handle it. should be all systems go tomorrow after 6. the better plan was u bought some booze, barfined some girls and went back to your room.
u did do that right?
View all comments by sideshowBOB
dave the rave’s splog says nana is open
View all comments by Pattaya Ghost
Sideshow - Ummmm, let’s see,
Now where am I supposed to find some girls in Bangkok, little help here if anyone has any ideas. LOL
#1 - booze, check, I got a mini bar!!!
#2 - bring girls to room.
Ghost - Now that’s what I’m talking about. But…open or open and serving?? Oh well, worst case I get a nudie show while sober. I think I can deal
View all comments by KnightRider
‘Dave the Rave’? Who is he? Sounds like a dick.
View all comments by Daywalker
@DW - hes a proper dick. You’d have to be a monumental turd to give yourself such a moniker when your middle aged
View all comments by Young Penfold
kr - as stated before. bkk is a dry town tonight. the places that will be breaking the law and serving probably wont be the ones with girls. except for maybe patpong
one night buddy. do it sober
View all comments by sideshowBOB
Five Star’s show seems to be starting later and later. now seems to be rarely before 12:30. By and large just stripping then nude prancing on the small tables as WW says.
Personally I use it to have a cigar break outside, as I think once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all(*), but plenty seem to like it
(* The exception imo being Angelwitch in Pattaya, where I thought the show verged on being entertaining. Shame I was then dumb enough to bf a girl there whose attitude once away from the place would have been considered sniffy even by the Rainbow girls).
View all comments by Sarf Essex Taff
My 2 weeks up and having returned, I cannot check to see if Ladyboy Buffalo Mamasan at Shebas is as scary as one at G Spot in Nana, but I’d be willing to bet a Beer Lao (dark) at Big Mango she is not…(G spot is not usually on the normal Nana tour, but walked up stairs early & saw what looked to be a stunner walk in and thought “what the hell?”.)
I can only assuage my tender ego (and count my blessings) that LBM at G Spot didn’t chase after me as she was too busy pushing the girls for bar fines (mine had been sitting with me for 2 mins and it was not that busy), lady drinks, 10 baht ping pong balls and generally scaring the shit out of the bar staff as they scurry out of her way as she bowls around that dank little second flr spot.
Luckily, was able to escape intact and immediately repair to Rainbow 4 for shots and a bevy of Nana’s finest to wash that little nightmare away…
Perhaps a LBM icon and warning sign for the unsuspecting? :>)
View all comments by 2 Week Trevor