Bangkok - Good Nite Venues, Oct 2007
by greengrasser@yahoo.com


In early October 2007, I looked for places for nightly entertainment. Which ones were good is obviously subjective. One reason is my own value system. Another reason is availability. In other words, a gogo club will frequently change its entertainment. Third reason was whether I visited the right day of the week and/or hour of the night.

Why am I making this list? Because Bangkok is no longer the city that I visited over 25 years ago, and wanted to stay forever. So, gogo clubs no longer occupied 90 percent of my leisure evening time and I looked elsewhere for evening entertainment. Good-bye, NEP and Soi Cowboy.

Let me explain. Over 25 years ago, there were two main areas for foreigners looking for girls. They were Pat Pong (when the streets were filled with vehicles and not street vendors) and Soi Cowboy. There were smaller areas for foreigners, such as several bars/clubs clustered along Soi 33, Washington Square, southwest corner of Sukhumvit and Soi Asoke (wiped out to make a big intersection), and an area divided by Ploenchit Road to the west side of the Holiday Inn (formerly President Hotel) and across Ploenchit Road (both street lots were wiped for multi-story buildings), which after the Vietnam War was supposedly number two to Pat Pong.

In those early days, many gogo places in Pat Pong and Soi Cowboy would consistently have 40-60 girls crowding the stage. They barely had room to stand, much less dance, and another group of girls were waiting their turn. There were hardly any K-boys hidden among the girls, unlike many of the gogo clubs today. One of my early observations was that girls who I rated a high 9 or possibly a 10 would disappear within a half-hour of my seeing her. I proved this many times, by returning every night for one to two weeks to the same club looking for her and never saw her again. One time I did meet a girl I rated an 8 about a year later. She told me that a European guy was supporting her so that she would not work in a club and she only had to wait for his periodic visits to Bangkok. Consequently, nearly all of the available girls were 7 or lower and I had to look at a lot of girls before I could find an 8 or was drunk enough to take a 7. Thus, the quantity of girls in gogo clubs is important to me.

In the early 1980s, most of the foreigners in the gogo clubs were Europeans. Some were Aussies, but I met more Aussies in the Philippines than in Bangkok. The few Americans I met were either middle-aged ex-military who had R&R in Bangkok during the Vietnam War, or oil workers vacationing from their ocean platform for a few weeks, or under-cover law enforcement agents. Japanese and Chinese had their own clubs and hardly any were seen in the gogo clubs for foreigners. A few of these Asian-only clubs were located on the south side of Ploenchit Road; now gone.

In my early days in Bangkok, Pat Pong had pussy-trick shows at clubs located on the second floor, but most of these clubs lured you in for the price of the cost of one drink. After you were inside having a drink, they would try to collect a fee for the show, after you saw two or three acts and while the show was in progress. One club on the west corner of Pat Pong 1 and Silom had a weekly female mud-wrestling show or female Thai boxing bouts. Grand Prix club had free movies on videotapes shown on several tv monitors and available headsets to block out the music and listen to the soundtrack. One club on Soi Cowboy also had free 16mm movies but everyone watched sitting on metal folding chairs, which had the ambiance of a cheap basement. Otherwise, the only other entertainment was rock music videos on tv monitors. Remember those days were before cable tv, dvd, and videocassette rental stores.

Five types of evening venues not discussed are streets with female walkers, beer bars, massage parlors, dance places, and discotheques.
... In my early days, there were hardly any street walkers on Sukhumvit, between Soi 3 and Soi 19. Now there are many on Sukhumvit and in the Nana Hotel parking area.
... Only well-known beer bars for foreigners that I visited were Soi 7 beer garden and Thermae. Of course, there are many bars with free-lance girls and female staff in Bangkok, such as the bars at Washington Square and the bars in the building on the north side of Sukhumvit Road close to Soi 1.
... Massage parlors appear to continue with many girls although fewer than the wall-to-wall girls in my early days. Also, today the ones located along Sukhumvit Road and Pat Pong are not filled as many girls and/or as attractive girls as during my first days in Bangkok.
... Dance places is my label for a type of evening venue, where one can drink and dance with a girl selected from a fish bowl room located discreetly out of sight from the main area and nearly 100 percent of the patrons were Thai and other Asians. In my early days, I only went to one of these dance places in Bangkok. It was on the top floor of a ten-story building on the west corner of the block as the Holiday Inn Hotel (formerly President Hotel). This building and the nearby rows of one-story buildings (some housed girlie bars for foreigners, mentioned in a previous paragraph) between it and the hotel have been demolished and another hotel stands there. I do not know if these dance places still exist in Bangkok.

Some gogo clubs make up for the lack of quantity of girls by having some of their girls go topless or wear translucent tops. My comments on the listed clubs indicate the principal reason(s) for their being on this list.


PAT PONG:

I did not try any second floor clubs, especially with street hawkers yelling "light show" and showing a paper list of various stage tricks. I visited a few of them last year, saw several acts, and was, as expected, harassed to pay the un-announced show surcharge, which I declined to pay and hence exited the club, especially not seeing any stage trick that was entertaining or new.

... KISS. On a Sunday night at 8 pm, Kiss had the most girls on stage. Nine females.

... KING KASTLE 3. This club had the second most girls on stage on a Sunday night about 8:15 pm. Seven females. However, the first group looked like they were all K-boys or K-toys, several over 6-foot tall in high talls and looked like over-painted ideal of feminine beauty -- too painted perfect. Also, they were very aggressive in approaching my table to buy them a drink. The mama-san sat her butt besides me and asked me to buy her a drink and select a girl. My reply was to say that the girls looked like katoeys. The mama-san did not respond, not even to deny it.

... ELECTRIC BLUE. I only listed this club because it has really gone downhill from a year ago. Fewer girls, higher prices except for the draft beer, and more male door hawkers.


NANA ENTERTAINMENT PLAZA (NEP):

... RAINBOW 4. Only club during my Bangkok visit that had the quantity of girls I expected. More than its sister clubs of Rainbow 1, 2, and 3. Usual number of girls on stage were 20 to 30 and on one Saturday night I counted about 40 girls. No other club had at least 20 girls on stage It was my favorite gogo club in Bangkok. A beer cost 125 baht.

... PRETTY LADY. This club only had about 8 to 10 girls on stage. But, they tried hard to please the customers. They made eye contact, they smiled at you, after dancing they came over to chat, they expressed desire to go with you, and if you were not interested, they quickly moved on to another customer. It was my second favorite NEP club. A beer cost 120 baht.

... ANGELWITCH. Only gogo club to consistently present shows, every night beginning at 10 pm and continuous throughout the night to 1 am. It presented 20 - 30 minutes of various dance numbers and rested for 10 -15 minutes while about 15 available girls on stage were displayed on stage. The club was usually crowded during show time, especially during the latter part of the week. The acts were varied and many acts had interesting concepts, but the quality of performers and performance ranged from excellent to poor. Dave the Rave, manager, was his usual friendly self and very forthcoming on leads about other clubs. See his web site, www.davetheravebangkok.com . The club is for sale. A beer cost 130 baht.

... CARNIVAL. This gogo club did not have many girls, about ten, who were typically heavy build, not attractive, and/or obviously well-experienced, but the club had a mechanical bull. One evening about 9 pm, I saw five attractive white girls walking up the dead escalator to the second floor. My first thought was that they were Russian girls going to work. Later, after a beer stop at a gogo club, I went to Carnival. Inside the five girls were sitting around the mechanical bull, having a drink, and watching a Thai girl riding a slow-moving bull. The fun was watching each girl ride the bull for up to a minute. They all fell off the bull, when the female Thai operator hit the button that made the bull do quick circles. A beer cost 135 baht.

... MERCURY. A spacious, but small, club that has a girl performing a few pussy tricks. I was not curious enough to ask when the show was presented in order to see it again.

... VOODOO. On a Friday evening, there was a gay guy sitting at a table outside the club door, who looked like he might have selling admission tickets. I only stuck my head inside the club to see what was going on. Two fat, middle-aged transvestites with clown makeup on were going through a mock wedding on stage and telling jokes that the Thai girls laughed at. On Saturday evening when I was in a different mood, I visited Voodoo again. But the door staff said that the show was given only on Friday evenings at two different show times.


SOI COWBOY:

... RAWHIDE. This club has several dance acts, that tend to be abstract (no story line) dancing. A typical act was two lesbo girls, who removed their tops to show their breasts and kissed each other on various parts of the other's body. A beer cost 120 baht.

... LONG GUN. Shows began 9 pm. One dance act was two girls doing the usual lesbo act, but in soap suds on a small stage against the wall at the front part of the club. There were a few other dance acts and a few pussy trick acts, such as shooting balloons, smoking a cigarette, and tooting one note on a flute. This would be the recommended club to go see pussy tricks -- without being asked to pay a show surcharge. A beer cost 120 baht.

... BACCARA. About 10 pm, three pairs of girls dancing on the glass ceiling or the second floor glass dance floor went into a lesbo act. Hanging around for half hour, the show seemed to have just the one lesbo act. A beer cost 140 baht.


SOI 33:

... RENOIR. This soi has a lot of clubs and bars, but no regular shows. I went there only one night during this visit to Bangkok. I got lucky. On Saturday, 8 pm, October 13, 2007, there was only one club that obviously had any action going on. Renoir had loud, live music played by a band outside its front door and loads of people milling around. Inside was crowded too and on a wall there was a sign describing its 3-day, 21st birthday party, Friday - Sunday. Upstairs, a table had free food, that were trays of chicken kebob, baked potatoes, and other chicken variants. A show was scheduled for 11 pm. Only issue was paying my bill, a minor issue. Instead of the usual club-tracks-your-hidden-bill, the staff decided to collect when you receive your order. They wanted to collect for my second beer and when I told them that I also wanted to pay for my first beer, the staff was confused and took about 15 minutes to determine that I did owe money for two beers instead of one beer. A beer cost 90 baht before 9 pm and 160 baht after 9 pm.


SOI 7/1.

... ABSOLUTE 7. This place seems very popular. One night I could not even get in because it was so crowded. It has live bands that plays mostly country music. I did not like one band with female Thai singers, because I could not understand the English words. A beer cost 95 baht.

... TEQUILA DRAGON. This place has a three-piece live band. It plays mostly old country songs, like Suzie Q. The lead singer and guitar player is a Texan, who told me that he has lived in Thailand for 11 years. The band starts playing at 10 pm. A beer cost 95 baht.

... EDEN CLUB. I defer to reports on this club, written by others, about its special two-girl offers.

... RING BAR. This bar might be similar to Eden Club, which is its next-door neighbor. The girls pointed out the bottom of the drink menu, which listed Fashion massage by one girl for 90 minutes for 1,500 baht and by two girls for 2,500 baht. The bar has a sign on its wall that said free buffet on Saturday nights. I visited on a Saturday night at 7:30 pm, and the free buffet were two bowls of raw vegetable sticks and a dip, sitting on a table outside a neighbor pub. A beer cost 95 baht.


OTHERS:

... Soi 4. SWAN 5 COYOTE. I guess coyote refers to complaints about young Thai college girls who danced to make more money than doing other work? It has 3 to 4 females on four-foot high stage dancing to the recorded music and sometimes to the live band. I guess 3 of the 8 dancers looked like K-boys. None of the girls look liked college students The club has a great sound system and the female singer is better than the male singer. They played a variety of rock music. It has a large floor for dancing and some guys did dance. A beer cost 120 baht.

... Soi 4. ANNIE'S PUB AND BAR. Look in the Rajah Hotel parking area for a place with running water on its plate glass windows. A 2-man band plays a bunch of old country music tunes about every 20 minutes. Most of its customers shot pool. A beer cost 100 baht.

... Sukhumvit, bwt. Soi 5 and 7. CHECK INN GARDEN. This club has the most professional show on this list. It has 3 female singers and a male keyboard player-singer. The females are good singers, well-rehearsed, and use a variety of dance moves in unison. The club has a small dance floor and, whenever a couple or two danced, the three singers automatically retreated to the ten-inch high band stand. On October 1, 2007, it held its 20th anniversary and charged 199 baht for open bar and food. Unfortunately, I missed it. A beer cost 150 baht.

... Soi 11. GENESIS. Located where the soi turns left. A small club with a good sound system and two female dancers, where one can rest between nightclub-hopping on Soi 11. Entrance and first drink cost 100 baht.

... Soi 18. LA RUEDA. A club for Latin dancers, especially Salsa. Dance lessons start around 7 pm, mostly days of the week including Sunday. It had half-dozen males, who knew their dance moves. They were a mix group of Latin, westerners, and Asians. The females were all Asians and appeared to be learning how to dance. Besides La Rueda, there is another place which supposedly has Latin dancing at 10 pm. It is called Noriega and is a bar-restaurant located at the end of Soi 4, off of Silom Road. This Soi 4 was formerly Pat Pong 3, where there used to be a half-dozen boy bars. See www.silomsoi4.net which indicates that gay boys still hang out there.


Last Words.

Bangkok is not the great city for gogo clubs that it used to be. What happened? Where did all the girls go? Did they get good daytime jobs, move over to the Asian clubs, go to Pattaya, or other?

For a large quantity of girls to select from in Bangkok, I would recommend the massage parlors on Ratchadapisek Road and Petchaburi Rroad. Otherwise, for gogo clubs consider shorting your visit to Bangkok and going to other destinations, such as Angeles City, Manila, and Pattaya.


Keep on mowing.
GreenG

That is the biggest complaint, sponsers and business people who are in Banbgkok for one night, paying over the top prices for a quick fuck.

And of course the government clamping down on this and that, and then theres the surcharges killing the business there, this killed the soapys off.

But looking on the bright side you can get cheap sex from the street walkers, i even have a few phone numbers for when i get into Bangkok 2 in the morning.

Interesting report GG. I too had been in BKK back in the day. In fact I was stationed at U-Tapao for a while,just south of Pattaya. In those days (1979) Pattaya was a tiny place and the big draw in BKK was indeed Patpong and for GI's Soi Cowboy. The girls would cook and wash clothes for you and a 1 dollar tip went a long way. I do still enjoy going to Thailand, but you have to look long and hard to find girls who are both beautiful and have a great attitude. I often do better with the freelancers on Sukumvit Rd. They are motivated and not as jaded as their working sisters. AS for Pattaya, I try to stay away from Walking st. it has gotten more and more of a ripoff over the years. I refuse to pay a girl for shitty service and bad attitude. Lately I have been going to DR more and more. I find the girls are friendlier and more responsive and the 5 hour flight beats 20+ hours to LOS. Mojo.

"Otherwise, for gogo clubs consider shorting your visit to Bangkok and going to other destinations, such as Angeles City, Manila, and Pattaya."

I couldn't agree more and I've only been coming to Thailand for 6 years. Prices are up and quality is down overall in Bangkok. I doubt the quality will ever recover enough to warrant any stay greater than 1 night enroute to someplace better.