Stickman

There's a development - it turns out Stickman and K. Sanuk are the same guy, only finally revealed by this accidental repeat posting under different names... Huh.

Damn, the secret's out!

You mean this lady, right? I am 95% sure she no longer works there...

[Photo removed. Sorry, Stickman, but without her permission I cannot post that photo - KS]

The Lumpini Police called bar and restaurant owners from across the district to a meeting at the station tonight so the current rules and enforcement of closing times couple be explained,

Venues without an entertainment licence (some bars in Nana Plaza have one, some don't), cannot sell alcohol after midnight.

The cops stated that they expect that midnight / 1 AM closing is expected to last a long time and said there would be severe punishment - arrest of manager and members of staff and hefty fines - for any bars which failed to comply. Venues which have an entertainment licence can sell until 1:00 AM - but not a minute later.

All other bars in the Lumpini Police district must close at midnight. This will kill the late-night venues which had only resumed opening late about a month or so back after a long period in which they could not open after 2 AM.

It also means street carts selling booze on the sidewalk won't be able to operate.

I won't say that this meeting was unprecedented but I have not heard of a meeting like this taking place at the Lumpini Police station in quite some time. While the rules might seem harsh, the cops took the time to explain everything to bar operators so they know what to expect.

TrueCrypt still works. There was conjecture over whether something may have happened in a recent version so the idea is to simply install one of the older versions before v7.2. I am still running it and it works great. Never a problem.

I think Sticks appeal is more to those not here than those that are here,

Bingo! Reader patterns change but the majority of the traffic to the site is from outside Thailand.

There is a portion of readers outside the country who wish to stay in touch with what is going on so they tune in once a week to catch up on news and gossip. They may be regular visitors to Thailand or they may not. Another group is those who used to enjoy going out to the bars and the bar industry in general, but have since moved on and their lifestyle has changed. I think reading about what's happening in places they have been to and seeing photos of how things are currently gives them a connection to the place and may help revive nice memories.

Why are you leaving LOS Stick?

3 main reasons:

- I don't enjoy living in Thialand like I used to. I mean I still like it, but not as much as I once did. Small things that never used to bother me now do and things I used to enjoy doing and places I used to enjoy visiting I now don't.

- I don't enjoy running the website any more. The time has come to stop it, or at the least, take a long, long break from it. It takes too much time for something I don't enjoy any more.

- I desperately need a new challenge and think moving on from Thailand to another country will provide a challenge.

As for the decline in members, yes, the name change almost certainly was a part of it, but the rise of social networking and the increased ease of setting up websites were certainly a large part of it as well.

 

Sanuk!

Agree with this 100% although my feeling is the name change was not as much a part of it as the other reasons. Go back 10 years and there were few sites with information on the nightlife...now there are many.

You had a banner ad exchange with Secrets for a time and isn't Sunrise Tacos owned by Sunbelt Asia who writes a column in the place in the weekly where Mrs Stick wrote before you two divorced? You also plugged got implicated in a raid of underage girls when he had to flee Thailand and go back to England.

First of all, is it necessary to name people? This should be edited and removed as I am sure it is against forum rules. Further, what you have written is factually wrong. Why do you continually do that?

The relationship between Sunbelt and Sunrise is immaterial to any mentions made of either on my site and NO, Sunrise is NOT owned by Sunbelt. Again, the facts are wrong.

Yes, I once had a banner exchange with Secrets but that is NOT why I mention the bar. I've long said Secrets is my favourite bar in Pattaya and many years after the banner exchnage ended, that's still the case and I still mention it BECAUSE I LIKE IT THERE! I mention venues I frequent and venues which provide with information about what is going on. I tend to mention the same veues rhese days because I don't go out a lot and when I do I tend to gravitate to the same places.

Sunbelt Legal is not an advertiser although, yes, they have a banner which is a thank you for the legal questions they answer.

Like I said in a previous post, I happen to eat at Sunrise more than anywhere else hence it is mentioned more than anywhere else. In the past I mentioned Tilac Bar in Soi Cowboy a lot because, funnily enough, I used to go there more than any other bar.

Funny before you said it was the same rehashed shite every week and you couldn't be bothered reading it. It's really a plug for his advertisers like fill in the blank Irish or English bar with an all you can eat Sunday carvery, Sunrise Tacos, any bar affiliated with Dave the Rave, or Secrets in Pattaya having an event. He's been going through the motions for awhile with very mundane opening topics. Like I said, he caught lightning in a bottle and started a nightlife website when no one else stepped up....and I give him credit for that.

Some of the content of the weekly column is simply a reflection of the places I go and the bars that contact me and provide information. That's why some places are mentioned over and over again and some are never mentioned.

Dave The Rave's bars don't advertise with me, neither does Secrets, neither does Sunrise Tacos.

In the case of Dave, yes, he is a friend and he also let's me know what is happening in his bar. If i am in Nana I go in to see him, I see what's happening in his bar and write about it. Ditto when I am in Pattaya I go to Secrets. They don't advertise with me. Secrets quite simply has a format that works for me. Sunrise Tacos is where I eat often so I write about it. Yes, the owner is a good friend, but if I didn't like it, I wouldn't write about it! I have many friends in business who have bars or restaurants I don't like and I simply don't mention them!

There are other bars like Heaven Above in Pattaya and Club Malibu recently which get frequent mentions BECAUSE THE OWNERS LET ME KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. I have long tried to get bar bosses to tell me what's happening so I can plug parties, promotions and events but most are really slack at letting me know what is going on.

Props to Stickman for doing it week in /week out... I still read his site weekly, ya it gets repetitive sometimes but sometimes also very insightful ! also enjoy some of the readers submissions

It's nice to hear that you still tune in. Yep, I'll be the first to admit that some weeks my weekly column is flat. Some weeks I am happy with what comes out and others my heart isn't in it.

Reader numbers for my site have dropped in recent months. They haven't plummeted or sunk, but they're down about 15% on the middle of last year. They remained steady for a very long time, but about 6 months ago the decline started. They did pick up again in November or December which is probably indicative of people tuning in before their high season visit, but they have come off a little again.

The long term trend on all Thailand forums with a nightlife slant is down. It's simply a reflection of the industry itself with fewer newbies coming along. Aas I have written ad nauseum n recent times, the bar business is suffering and operators are hurting with many bars seeing a turnover down by 50% or more. Given that drinks prices and barfines have gone up, it suggests the number of vsitors is down by 50% plus. I maintain that the prognosis going forward is grim for all parties.

He may have departed already, as I had sent him emails but no replies

 

or

 

he may be busy packing up...

I have been away from Bangkok this week and only just got back so my apologies for not replying as yet. I am 6 days behind on emails and it's probably not going to be until Monday when I get a chance to catch up.

KS got scared back in 2001 during the Thacksin draconian crackdown and changed the name.

It's posts like this that demonstrate well why I tend not to post on the forums any more. There's so much misinformation - and this is a really good example of it.

The sad part is that people read stuff from people on forums who don't have a clue what's going on and they believe it. Worse still, they repeat it, often twisting it further or adding false comments such as "my friend who knows KS or Stickman or whoever said that......".

As for this forum's name change, that came several years later and was nothing to do with KS being scared or anything like that. It was due to a completely different and one which KS need not explain nor justify.

When he did his black and white "behind the scenes" nightlife book, Trink slammed it, saying it couldn't compare to Dean Barrett's Beautiful Women of Thailand".

 

Nick was pissed off, but I told him how Trink had slammed a nightlife book I did the Bangkok section for, since I hadn't listed his favourite noodle shop in the dining section and left out a hotel which hadn't been built when I wrote it.

Nick's "Patpong Bangkok's Twilight Zone" is a brilliant work, just totally utterly brilliant.

I never saw Dean's original book but picked up the version he published 10+ years ago.

You really can't compare the two books as they are totally different. Nick's is a very dark and honest look at the nightlife and what happens to those who fall in to it while Dean's is a celebration of Thai women.

Nick is definitely argumentative. He was my neighbour for 5 years or more. We used to sit in front of his apartment with another friend, drinking coffee and arguing for hours on end. At the end of it, we'd all smile and go back into our homes.

I like Nick a lot. I haven't seen much of him in recent years although we did catch up a couple of months back.

In many ways we shouldn't get on because we're ideologically poles apart, are both head-strong and not shy to say what we think even when we know it won't win us any friends - and might even have the complete opposite effect.

What I particularly like about Nick is that you can have a good, deep debate on issues in this part of the world and walk away as pals, just as you say, Flasher.

Hi,

 

"I will say that in terms of shock factor (I prefer to call it pleasant surprise factor), the most recent Pong event exceeded anything before it."

 

Yeah, I heard it was a golden moment

 

Sanuk!

The evening was showered in sanuk....

I bet you the girls were prettier in the old days.

Hard to say. I ran a bunch of photos from a 2001 dance contest and the most recent dance contest in my last column. I don't think it's clear that either group is prettier than the other and one thing that struck me (and surprised me) was the heavy tattoos one girl had back in 2001. I always think of lots of tats as being a recent thing...obviously that's not quite right.

Could the atmosphere today ever hope to capture the atmosphere of yesteryear ?

 

I don't think people are as shocked today and far more have been further and farther than back in the day.

 

Pity I have no time now, not like before.

The Nanapong dance contest held in Club Electric Blue 2 weeks ago was brilliant in every respect. The night had an atmosphere that was every bit as good as the past - and may have even exceeded it.

Comparing events that span eras is like comparing the great rugby or football players of today with the greats of the '70s - it's just not possible to make an accurate comparison.

I will say that in terms of shock factor (I prefer to call it pleasant surprise factor), the most recent Pong event exceeded anything before it.

In terms of fun, it was as good as any night I have experienced in a Bangkok gogo bar. Ever. I think you will find the origanisers and all those who were lucky enough to make it along would agree.

I also heard there was a death in a Soi 4 bar last night.

Yep, at a beer bar in the vicinity of Dynasty Inn, I hear...

No, it's complete BS. It is open as per usual. Stickman doesn't know what he's talking about....I hate Stickman!

Noticed that there was not much concern about the "dry" days for the elections this time.

Seems that they police don't have much police power or time to regulate vice like normal.

There was concern in the Thonglor district. On Saturday night the manager of Royal Oak was taken away after they were selling when the other pubs in the vicinity - Londoner, Dubliner and Robin Hood all were not.

I go to the dental department at BNH Hospital, simply for the reason that the doctors there for general medical are very good, and I live not far away.

I would rate the dentists who have seen me as very good. Fortunately I have had no real work done, just cleaning and a couple of fillings. The one thing they have never done there is try and sell me more, or convince me my teeth are all about to fall out and I need dentures.

I am satisfied and continue to go there.