n the beginning, at least for Soi Nana's expat Nightlife, there was the Nana Hotel Coffee Shop (mid-1960's). Then there was Nana Plaza, which quickly built up into it's own Night Entertainment Area. And every once in a while, a new Nitespot would open up on Soi Nana as well. Over the years, we have been keeping an eye on the changes - would Soi Nana also become 'populated' to the extent that it would be yet another stand-alone Night Entertainment Area? Our previous complete survey and report was in April of 2009.
SOI NANA - (SUKHUMVIT SOI 4)
That 2009 survey showed that there had indeed been a lot of development in the Night Entertainment scene, but we noted that it still didn't really stand alone as an independent Entertainment Area. Nevertheless, the growth of Night Entertainment Venues, however slow, continued. This month we paid an in-depth and lengthy visit to Soi Nana to review the overall scene, and were pleasantly surprised to see the changes.
SOI NANA - (SUKHUMVIT SOI 4)
One of the first things that catches one's eye when entering Soi Nana is that the entire front of Nana Plaza has become bars (or will be in a matter of days) - these bars have one entrance on Soi Nana, and a second entrance in Nana Plaza. So are we going to call them Nana Plaza bars, or are we going to call them Soi Nana bars? Or is there really any distinction anymore? While the latter is most definitely true, for consistency we will continue to call them Nana Plaza bars - in that they are physically a part of that complex, and pay rent to the owners of that complex. An arbitrary 'convention' on our part, but in that it is more consistent historically, we have made the call.
SOI NANA - (SUKHUMVIT SOI 4)
For those of you new to our column, you may be curious as to just what we look for when considering an area as a 'Night Entertainment Area'. First of all the Nitespots must be contiguous - they couldn't be on the opposite sides of a major highway, or separated by a long walk. Secondly, there must be a sufficient number of bars in a given area to provide a 'draw' to the public - for example, two bars out in the middle of nowhere would attract no one; an Entertainment Area should be where a person would, or could go and spend the entire evening 'out on the town'. We find that critical mass is usually attained when there approximately a dozen contiguous Nitespots, even though there may be a mix of venue types (A Go-Go, or massage, lounge, pub, etc). A "Nitespot' is defined for these purposes as a location where one could reasonably expect to 'find some action'.
SOI NANA - (SUKHUMVIT SOI 4)
When reviewing Soi Nana this time around, we noted that there were 'contiguous' Nitespots' from the front of Nana Plaza to the Rajah Hotel, to include the grounds of the Rajah Hotel itself. See our new map, above. And while we are on the subject of the Rajah, with the completion of the new Strikers"super-bar beer", the Rajah compound sports enough contiguous Night Entertainment Venues to be it's own Night Entertainment Area (13 venues).
SOI NANA - (SUKHUMVIT SOI 4)
Now that Soi Nana is a well developed Night Entertainment Area in it's own right, the Midnight Hour will be surveying monthly and will advise of any changes - plus or minus - in the entertainment scene. We will also be including from time to time additional photographs for your viewing - and for our archiving.
BANGKOK EYES AUTHORITATIVE INDEPENDENT TIMELY - THE NIGHTSCENE HISTORY-IN-THE-MAKING
BANGKOK EYES AUTHORITATIVE INDEPENDENT TIMELY - THE NIGHTSCENE HISTORY-IN-THE-MAKING
I found your article on Internet snooping this (last) month to be extremely informative, as I also believe we as individuals require a lot more protection from those governmental and commercial spies. My question is you published quite a bit of information about the NSA's new secret facility in Utah. How did you get this information? (..........) Aren't you afraid they will come knocking on your door? (...message foreshortened).
B.L.
Las Vegas
Greetings, B.L,
Thank you for writing in - the August lead article has been one of our most popular and most provocative articles to date. There have been several letters similar to yours. But rest assured, all information appearing in that article was obtained from publicly available Internet websites. None of the information is 'secret', to include the satellite photos. We verified our information on two or more different sites prior to publication.
We can answer virtually any (reasonable) question on the Expat Night Entertainment Scene in
Bangkok - be it Historical or very recent. Send us an e-mail and
we will do our best to answer you soonest.
The King's Castle 3 is closed for renovations - and the transgenderite A Go-Go dancers have temporarily migrated to the new King's Corner 2 - just across the way on Patpong II. Look for them to reopen in November.
PATPONG I
The Nice Massage (the original downstairs one) has closed. We see construction materials just inside the door, and suspect that they will be closed while the King's Castle 3 continues to renovate. We'll keep you informed.
- File photo
PATPONG I
The upstairs Night Bar has answered Darwin's harsh call. No big loss - they were a 'pay-for-show' bar, which many believe ought not to exist in the first place.
The Black Pagoda has put out some major new neon - you won't be able to miss it. A unique bar, it is suspended on a bridge overlooking Patpong II. It has a growing reputation for lively hostesses. Let the good times roll. - This pic for the archives.
PATPONG II
Mike's Place has -finally- replaced it's ambiguous streetside signage. Who says beer has to be expensive on the Patpongs? Business as usual. May they persevere.
PATPONG II
The Glamour Girls, or is it GlaMour on Silom? (just say, 'Glamour') has closed it's doors for the second time in it's very short existence. They never looked that busy - something tells me they won't be able to answer the bell for the next round....
Check out The Corner (at the Asoke end of Cowboy) - now this is what we call 'Door Art'. A Go-Go dancers are silhouetted on the outside glass ....and, yes, the place was packed. Rock on.
SOI COWBOY
The Penny Black has just opened their new ground floor lounge - tastefully done. The smell of success. Wonder what took them so long? May the nightgods take kindly to their new venture.
The Pretty Lady, true to the talk on the street, has in fact taken over the Red Lips. They have already opened the new side, although there is still a bit of spit-and-polish needing to be done. There's good rockin' tonight.
NANA PLAZA
The Stumble Inn has reopened in style. It seems the "bar beer" is the common denominator these days. They now occupy three slots, instead of just the one. They are also the first of the ground floor 'front bars' to actually have a sign by their back door (that leads into the NEP courtyard). May they continue to march.
The Cut & Relax now offers massage. Located at the end of Soi Pan Pan - you'll have to look carefully to see it. We wish them constancy.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS - SOI 33
What once was Hibari is now Ko Ha Ku. Ostensibly a 'restaurant' but also entertaining.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS - SOI 33
The 33 Thai Sabai Massage - located above the Dali opened on schedule this last month, and has a bevy of very sturdy lasses to choose from. May they be dealt all aces and faces.
The best truly traditional massage, Hattasat 2, (along with their sister Hattasat 22 Foot Massage) has closed doors and moved to Soi 23. See map attached.
Dr. BJ's Nuru has just opened - almost directly across the Soi from the original BJ's (which is still open). We'll bet you are wondering what nuru is..... Nuru is a kind of gel which is used for their 'special body-to-body' massages. Or to say the same thing another way, you both are covered in KY, and at this juncture we will not go into any further detail.....
SOI EDEN - Soi 7/1 Sukhumvit
The P.P. Beer has, suddenly and without warning, gone the way of the Andalgalornis. Our file pic below shows the P.P. at one of it's happier times. We hear tell it was bought over by a karaoke. Time will tell - and so will we, once we know....
- File photo
SOI EDEN - Soi 7/1 Sukhumvit
The Star Dust Club Massage has run headlong into the Abyss without leaving a forwarding address. Ashes to ashes - so be it, then.
Bangkok Eyes jumps back in time to have a look at who was new - and who was through. We'll be willing to bet that many of you "Old Bangkok Hands" will be reminded of some bars you'd almost forgotten. (We also will be willing to bet you WON'T EVEN REMEMBER an even greater number....)
10 YEARS AGO :
September
The 2nd floor
Lipstick reopened after a brief closure. However this time around it reopened as a rip-off bar. That location is currently vacant.
PATPONG 1 - September 2002
The
IT Room opened above the Bua Luang Target (-which is currently The Strip). There is currently no entertainment facility at this 2nd floor location.
PATPONG 2 - September 2002
The Dollhouse reopened after a one-month closure. It is still there today.
SOI COWBOY - September 2002
Cactus Club newly opened in a location that was not previously a bar. It is still there today.
SOI COWBOY - September 2002
Lollipop Mermaidium closed down for renovations. One of Bangkok's landmark bars, it had a large glass swimming pool inside where naked and semi-naked young ladies swam for the edification of the customers.... and dived for thrown coins.... It would reopen as the Lollipop (sans swimming pool). It is still there today.
NANA PLAZA - September 2002
Play closed it's doors permanently. It was located in the current 4 Sport's digs.
SOI KATOEY - September 2002
Hip Hop newly opened on the 3rd floor. Currently those digs are being held down by Bearbie Bar-Karaoke.
SOI KATOEY - September 2002
SuperStar Frank'sNoriega's opened at the end of the Soi. It would eventually become Nomads. No entertainment venue is currently at that location.
SOI KATOEY - September 2002
The Yokohama Member opened downstairs in the Peep Inn Park. (Peep Inn Park is now the S 33 Hotel.)
SOI DEAD ARTISTS (Soi 33)- September 2002
The Bar Za Bar on Sub-Soi 4 closed. There is currently no entertainment venue at that location.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS (Soi 33)- September 2002
The Cafe Buongiorno at the end of Sub-Soi 5 opened for the first time. That location is currently the home to Bistro 33.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS (Soi 33)- September 2002
The As Found newly opened deep in the Soi, past Sub-Soi 5. No venue exists at that location today.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS (Soi 33)- September 2002
The Smile Bar opened new in what is now the N' Joy Bar.
QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA - September 2002
The Starlight Pub opened new in what is now the Sin Bin.
Asoke Corner / Asoke Plaza
Night Entertainment Area :
-CLOSED DOWN-
( March 2000 - February 2005 )
Ten years ago this month, the following bars transitioned in Asoke Plaza / Asoke Corner (formerly Cowboy Annex).
* Luc's Bar (in the front 'Annex') - CLOSED * Internet @ Route 23 (in the back 'Corner') - CLOSED * Bottleneck (between 'Corner' & 'Annex') - CLOSED * Fantasy Thailand (in the 4-Pak) - CLOSED * Up To You Bar (in the 4-Pak) - CLOSED
ASOKE PLAZA / ASOKE CORNER PLAZA - September 2002
CLINTON PLAZA - 2002
Clinton Plaza
Night Entertainment Area
:
-CLOSED DOWN-
( November 1998 - 7 June 2003 )
Ten years ago this month, the following bars transitioned in Clinton Plaza.
* Top Secret
(outside against the main bldg.) It would eventually move to Queen's Park Plaza. - CLOSED
* Windmill (Kangaroo) (outside against the main bldg.). - CLOSED
CLINTON PLAZA - September 2002
SUKHUMVIT SQUARE - 2002
Sukhumvit Square
Night Entertainment Area
:
-CLOSED DOWN-
( January 2002 - 26 January 2003 )
Ten years ago this month, the following bars transitioned in Sukhumvit Square.
* Colorando (On the West side) - NEWLY OPENED * Little Shinjuku Bar Beer (In the rear) - NEWLY OPENED * Gwynne's (Ex: Mooney, West Side) - OPENED * California (in the 8-Pak) - CLOSED * The Little Mermaid (facing Soi 10) - CLOSED * The Vibration (The Bar In) (West side) - CLOSED
Wagga City CouncilmanClark demonstrates one of the more popular commercially available graffiti-removing chemical compounds. See details below.
Many years ago, the township of Wagga Wagga, or just plain 'Wagga', in Australia's New South Wales very nearly became their Capitol. That, as we well know, did not happen, but fate and fortune were not to leave them alone. They now have become Australia's erstwhile Graffiti Capitol, at least if we look at the statistics on a per-capita basis. This is a crown on their heads that most do not cherish - to put it mildly.
Wanton, artless defacing such as this will surely raise the ire of Wagga's townsfolk.
Wagga's graffiti problem has become so severe that the very honorable politician from Wagga Wagga, Mr Daryl Maguire marched to Canberra (the real Capitol) to register his official rant against this spraycan thorn in his side. He noted in his diatribe to the House, among other things, that in a single 3-hour fact-finding tour of the city, armed with only a camera, he photographed no fewer than 192 individual locations that had been desecrated with graffiti. He further noted that on some of Wagga's new bridges there was so much graffiti that there was not one inch of unadulterated space remaining.
The Wagga City Fire Chief is more than a little hot under the collar at having his own station 'bombed'.
House still in session, RepresentativeMaguire also pointed out to the Minister that he had issued stern warnings to authorities and corporations (such as the Roads and Traffic Authority, the State Rail, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Department of Housing) to insure they had implemented their graffiti-cleanup programs, but despaired that any significant action would be taken. He then demanded of the Minister; how many culprits had, to date, been caught and made to clean up their mess, and has the government yet proactively banned free sales of textas (marking pens), as they have already done with spray cans? He then warned one and all that Wagga's graffiti epidemic would very soon become Australia's graffiti pandemic.
Wagga City Council is currently employing CCTV in areas frequently visited by graffiti artists.
We feel certain that honorable Mr Maguire feels a lot better, now that he has that off his chest. However, it hasn't done the least bit of good. Obviously spraycans and textas are still falling into the hands of Wagga's dark forces. Spraycans don't tag walls, people do. (Sorry, we just had to say that....). Graffiti has become such a hot topic in Wagga that local politicians, ever hopeful of getting elected, have an anti-graffiti bit of boilerplate in their campaign platforms. Local contractors are blossoming in the city, offering their own brand of graffiti-removal to companies, corporations and the government. Even Facebook addicts have become enamored with the subject of local graffiti, actively registering their "Likes" - or not.
Trains and other rolling stock are not safe from spraycan predators. These graffiti, however, could have been thrown up in other cities.
And now, perhaps less than timely, Wagga's School of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University (CSU) has invited an internationally renown graffiti artist "Moose" (Paul Curtis) to "leave a lasting legacy". 'WTF?' you say? Well, Moose's claim to fame is "reverse graffiti". That is not a typo; reverse graffiti. Listen up, dummies. Reverse graffiti is accomplished by finding a dirty wall somewhere, then, using soap and water, create clean designs, patterns, tags and other graphics (a bit like using your finger to write "Wash Me" on dirty car windows). If you are making something clean, you are doing "good" - it can't be "bad", right? And yet, reverse graffiti already has it's detractors, many of whom say, entirely knee-jerk, that it is all the same thing. - And they are, at least partially, right; some 'reverse graffiti' artists are not using just soap and water, they are using Chlorox and other solutions containing sodium hypochlorite bleach, which actually bleach out the original color. Nevertheless, Moose will be feted and wined and dined, and will even hold a 'workshop', which will include demonstrations of his art on some of Wagga's public walls (in Fitzmaurice Street, and another near the Knights Meats shop, and yet another on a wall against the levy bank on the Murrimbidgee River near the old Hampden Bridge).
Reverse graffiti lends itself to stenciling, as it often takes repeated applications for any given spot. This is an example of a commercial application of reverse graffiti.
This example of reverse graffiti is not in Wagga, however illustrates the use of a stencil and bleach.
But where legislating new laws and penalties, and attempting to catch graffiti artists in the act have failed, the
Wagga City Council are trying a 'third force'. Using new chemical formulas which dissolve spraycan paint and texta scribblings, they are forming roaming teams that can be contacted by a 'hot line'. The teams then mobilize and remove the graffiti almost as soon as it is created. At least, that is the theory. The idea behind this is if the artists can't show off their work to their peers and to the public, they will become discouraged, and feel they are just wasting their time. Well..... not wanting to sound too cynical, let's just wait and see.....
Below is a description of a popular, commercially available graffiti-removing spray available in Australia.
SURE SEAL® 300 A GRAFFITI REMOVER
Sure Seal® 300 A Graffiti Remover is the "next generation" of environmentally friendly Graffiti Removers. 300 A Graffiti Remover is based on a blend of low-odour solvents and emulsifying agents for removal of graffiti. It contains a unique catalyst which dramatically reduces stripping times. Developed specifically for the removal of graffiti from all substrates, including brickwork, concrete, metal, glass and timber surfaces. Removes residue left from spray cans, felt pen based paints and inks. Contents are listed below.
SUBSTANCE NAME
SOY/CORN ESTER BLEND (Derivative of their oils)
d-LIMONENE (a clear hydrocarbon
derivitave of citrus fruit - smells of 'oranges")
ETHANOL (Ethyl alcohol)
WATER AND OTHER
NON-HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Proportion
10 to 30%
10 to 30%
10 to 30%
Up to 10 %
CAS Number
67784-80-9/97-64-3
5989-27-5
64-17-5
- And now to Midnight Hour's own brand of BangkokGraffiti ....
Recently an extensive area on Sukhumvit Road at the Washington Square entrance 'hosted' an art installation of significant proportion. The installation appeared overnight, and drew quite a bit of comment from passers by.
Graffiti #575
Photo Installation Graff 1
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #576
Photo Installation Graff 2
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #577
Photo Installation Graff 3
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #578
Photo Installation Graff 4
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #579
Photo Installation Graff 5
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #580
Photo Installation Graff 6
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti #581
Photo Installation Graff 7
Each photo approx 3 ft high
Graffiti,Graffiti , and more Graffiti - Bangkok's original graffiti Site !
The
MIDNITE HOURGraffiti Page is prepared by
Staff Contributor"Boge" Hartman.
(Boge's photo, above, is not a graffitiper-se, although there are those who have insinuated.... -
Ed)