Having recently made another rather extended 'Pattaya Run', we thought it would be timely to re-survey Soi Bua Khao (last survey 2006). We would, or so we imagined, do the bar survey during the day, and the photography at night (while correcting any of the day's survey mistakes and omissions). But we made one fatal miscalculation - we underestimated -by far- the amount Soi Bua Khao had grown over the last few years. We realized we would have to be content with the re-survey of Soi Bua Khao's 'centerpiece' : Soi LK Metro.
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
And even then, we did not anticipate how much Soi LK Metro had grown. Nine years ago, they had a total of 21Night Entertainment Venues, compared to today's 34 Nitespots (and we are not even counting some of the guest-houses cum bar beers). To put this in perspective, Soi Cowboy currently has 32Nitespots, Nana Plaza has 34 (including those Venues facing Soi Nana). So Soi LK Metro has come into it's own as a Night Entertainment Area - within the already existing Soi Bua KhaoNight Entertainment Area.
But the big surprise at Soi LK Metro was the number of Nitespots that were A Go-Go bars. While Bangkok's A Go-Go bar scene has been busily committing suicide (oh, yes they have.... - runaway dancer salaries in combination with rents only the top ten-to-fifteen percent of the bars can now afford), Soi LK Metro has been slowly, steadily increasing the number of A Go-Go bars. And these are not low-budget bars - the owners/ lessees have put a lot into making these venues into an enjoyable playground for the Pattaya nightcrawler.
Needless to say, we were most favorably impressed with the changes at LK Metro. Below we have shown a few of the LK Metro Nitespots- the next time you are making your 'Pattaya Run' and want something other than the smothering effect of Walking Street, take a hike up to LK Metro (see map above). You won't be disappointed.
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya
Door Art Of The Month
Award
The Malibu Club has our vote (and only we vote) for the Door Art of the Month Award. No explanation necessary - the pics tell the tale....
Jean Claude Van Damme was in Bangkok for the filming of Kickboxer in the 1988 - 1989 timeframe. This pic taken outside the original King's Castle (daytime).
Unattributed reader submission. - excerpt conforms to Copyright Fair Use terms.
Hello,
One of my childhood movies (Jean Claude Van Damme's Kickboxer) had a go go bar scene in it. I have been trying since forever to track that place down. Do you know which place it was? Thank you kindly for your help!
Thanks,
DW
Greetings, DW,
We asked around, and the consensus was that it was one of the King's Group bars on Patpong (that was our gut-feeling, but we wanted to hear what other long-time residents would say independently, without us putting ideas in their heads up front). That started us on a quest of old pics in our archives, endless re-watches of the scene in Kickboxer, and a re-survey of Patpong. We finally struck paydirt.
We noted four telltale clues from the movie - the "fan" shaped design on the rear wall behind the dancers, the large cylindrical columns covered with vertical strips of mirror, and atop the columns the star-shaped neon. Lastly, the scene was filmed in a 'large' bar, not a single-shophouse wide bar. From our archives, we found an old photo of..... wait for it..... King's Corner. That photo (immediately below) shows exactly those four 'give-away' tell-tale features. Not happy with just that, we re-surveyed the Patpongs, and today, although there have been several changes in many of the bars, there is only one bar on the Patpongs with the large cylindrical column - again - King's Corner.
We did one further check - what was the King's Corner called back in 1988 - 1989? We found an old map (Patpong Sisters - Cleo Odzer) made at that time which confirms that the bar in question was already called "King's Corner". We have, therefore, one inescapable conclusion - the scene was filmed in the King's Corner A Go-Go bar.
A further interesting aside - and a distinct possibility - that scene could have been filmed at two separate bars. Our astute mentor on all things cinematic - 'Hanuman' (formerly of the Bangkok Post) - noticed that at the later part of that scene, they sit down on a row of white chairs with a slightly different backdrop - typical only of the original King's Castle. This, we also recalled from past visits. But the main parts of the Kickboxer A Go-Go scene were definitely filmed at the King's Corner. We have included here two out-takes of the film which correspond to the below photo.
Best,
Boge
King's Corner circa 1989. Unattributed reader submission. - excerpt conforms to Copyright Fair Use terms.
Out-take (1) from film Kickboxer showing the distinctive 'fan' background.
Out-take (2) from film Kickboxer showing oversize cylindrical columns with vertical mirrored strips topped off by 'star-shaped' neon (see left column). Entire movie can be viewed on You Tube ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPd7vyrRQ1Y ) - fast forward to minute 24:39 to view the A Go-Go scene.
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.
A for-the-archives pic of Patpong I Road taken last Saturday night out in front of the King's Group A Go-Go bars. We haven't seen the bars on Patpong this quiet for many months.
A for-the-archives photo of the Cosmos Club. Cosmos seems to be bullet-proof when it comes to staying alive during the downturns and low seasons. And we can tell you from experience, they don't have a complicated system for success - it's called 'taking care of the customers'. - Lo and behold - the customers want to come back; many customers having been "regulars" for a decade or more.
PATPONG 2
The Barcelona Cocktail Lounge was locked down tighter than Alcatraz last weekend. Yet another bar up on The Ramp runs headlong into the abyss - pickings are getting pretty slim up there these days, and the hot season is just getting under way. The future doesn't look bright ahead....
Up until last September, they couldn't sort out whether they would call themselves Voodoo or Hoodoo or Underground - finally settling on (of course) Underground. But, unfortunately, it now looks like the Underground has met it's 'Waterloo'. (Sorry, we just couldn't resist saying that....) Hope they finagle a good tax write-off.... The real estate is now available; prospective bar "owners" please note. However, if what we hear about the rents at Nana from
Stickman is true, and I'm sure it is, I wouldn't want to have to hold my breath until we see a new occupant in these digs...
The single-shophouse Naughty Girls is one of Soi Nana's long established bars. It is easily overlooked (but shouldn't be) by nightcrawlers plying back and forth to the larger Nitespots on the Soi. Let he who is naughty be naughty still - a fun place. Rock on.
SOI NANA
Chequers pub is another 'old man' of Soi Nana - having been around for donkey's years. A 'mini-pub' by today's standards, still a favorite of many of the long-term residents and new arrivals alike.
A for-the-archives shot of the upstairs Bearbie Bar - Karaoke. When we passed by last Saturday night we couldn't tell if they were open or closed - some lights were on, but the door was closed... ?
The Penguin Relaxation Room has supplanted the S22 Massage & Spa in the Honey Plaza. Goes to show, a short-time place doesn't have to look like one.... Welcome them to the bright city lights.
SOI 22 - (Sukhumvit)
Taffys Fawlty Towers, unbeknownst to us, has disappeared. So has the entire soi it used to be on. How could we not have noticed that earlier?
After having threatened (with new signage) to open for a little over two months, the Fine Massage & Spa has finally rolled out the red carpet. Welcome them to the neon jungle.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS - SOI 33
Last month we noted the Shimai was undergoing a complete overhaul, predicting their imminent reopening. And open they did, but they are now no longer a "Snack" and are going by the name Gate (Bangkok) Barbecue. No longer a "Night Entertainment Venue", we will discontinue regular reporting on this restaurant.
SOI DEAD ARTISTS - SOI 33
We spoke with the people at Lips, and they say they will be reopening any day now. They will, for the time being, open under the "Lips" neon, but sans hostesses. The name is slated to be changed soon afterward.
The Hot Stone Spa has some new neon nailed up - they are now emphasizing more strongly Thai traditional massage over various 'spa' services. Most relaxing....'everybody wants to get stoned'....
SOI AMBASSADOR - SOI 11
A for-the-archives pic of the WXYZ Bar neon - located in the Aloft Hotel building. Open mostly on weekends. One of three Night Entertainment Venues in that hotel. May they continue to rock.
SOI AMBASSADOR - SOI 11
The Rosabieng Restaurant is easy to overlook as a Nitespot (as did we). It actually functions more as an al fresco music lounge (live music). They have a small, but very active central bar which keeps the refreshments flowing - 'till late.... If you enjoy sitting outdoors in a natural environment under balmy Bangkok stars, you might want to give it a try.
We caught Steve of the Cockwell Inn sneaking around the corner 'freelancing' at the Nice & Easy. Can't say we blame him, however. Let the good times roll....
Bangkok Eyes goes back in time to
see
Who was new - And who was through
in the Expat Night Entertainment world.
How many of these old 'oases'
do you remember ?
Patpong I
* The upstairs
Kangaroo Club started calling itself the New Kangaroo Club.
* The Cicciolina opened above the Sawasdee Bar (- Sawasdee is now the Thigh Bar). Cicciolina took over the reins from the Erotic Bar Classic Ago Go. That upstairs area now home to a rip-off bar of no particular name.
* The upstairs Pantera Rosa opened in what was the Black Star Bar (on Soi Bookstore).
Patpong 2
* The Bua Luang Karaoke opened newly on the 4th floor of the stairwell opposite Foodland supermarket. There is no Nitespot at that location today.
* The Imagine Bar, opened newly above the Memphis Queen. No bar now occupies that real estate.
* The Sawasdee Club, did a name switch to Club Sawasdee. It would eventually become Cosmos Club which is still there today.
* The James & Vinai Club opened newly up on The Ramp. No venue currently occupies that space.
* The Spanish Eyes, also up on The Ramp, reopened after a brief closure. Spanish Eyes is still at that location.
* The Counter Patpong, yet again up on The Ramp closed. No venue currently exists at that location.
Soi Cowboy
*No changes that month / year.
Nana Plaza
* The Bubble Gum closed. (We remember it well....) It was eventually absorbed by the Lollipop Mermadium. Now home to Suckers.
Soi Katoey(Silom Soi 4)
* No
changes that month / year.
Buckskin Joe Village(~ April 1988 - 9
June 2006)
(Also known -
originally- as Tobacco Road or
Soi Rot Fai, and later as Machim [Thai] and
Soi Zero)
Graffing Greek Discontent
THROWING UP FINANCIAL WOES
Greece has been in the news recently, and again, regarding their chronic financial woes. Less seen in the news (but surfacing more and more on the editorial pages) is the graffiti reflecting much of the population's discontent - and the perceived causes of that discontent.
This excerpt from open Internet sources in conformance with Copyright Fair Use clauses.
Stop us if we're wrong (we are not financial experts), but Greece wanted to be in the European Union in order to right their sinking economic ship, but instead they blame the EU for their seemingly incurable financial doldrums. They see the common currency, the Euro as the devil, and blame the European Union (and especially Germany's Merkel) for forcing it on them. They also want the IMF to get out, and they blame Capitalism in general for their financial predicament (their perpetual borderline bankruptcy couldn't possibly be because of their own mismanagement) - but yet they want to be 'bailed out' by Capitalist countries.....
This excerpt from open Internet sources in conformance with Copyright Fair Use clauses.
Be that as it may, Graffiti has been thrown up on city walls throughout Greece with political commentary and criticism as the prime objectives - not just for the purpose of perpetuating one's tag and/ or displaying one's personal spraycan talents. It remains to be seen how effective this form of protest will be in the long run.
- Copyright Getty Images ? - This excerpted photo covered by Copyright Fair Use clauses.
This excerpt from open Internet sources in conformance with Copyright Fair Use clauses.
This excerpt from open Internet sources in conformance with Copyright Fair Use clauses.
SOI LK METRO - Pattaya 
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April's Nightlife News 
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