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Bad News, Guys


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The Arab bought Suzie Wong (on Soi Cowboy).

 

I don't know when the transaction went down, but it appears to have been recent.

 

I stopped in last night. The vibe was different. There were Arab-style front porch girls out front, doing the "Hello welcome!" thing. The waitresses were HEAVILY hustling for lady drinks.

 

An old friend of mine was not working. A couple of people told me she went to Bar 10 or 10 Bar. I received other intel (source not identified for good reason).

 

I left, and went to her new digs. She was there. We talked. She didn't say, at first, who the new owner was, but, when I said something about it looked and felt like the Arab bars, she nodded. I said "Please tell me you're kidding." She confirmed it, point-blank. The Arab now owns Suzie Wong.

 

I told her that, if I had not already made the decision never to go back into Suzie Wong, just based on the vibe (which decision I had already in fact made), that information would have been enough to do it.

 

The good news, such as it is, is that, when she left Suzie Wong, 15 of the dancers followed her. (She also mentioned that one went to Tilac Bar.) Apparently, the Arab is not universally popular...

 

I hate to see it. I have many good memories from Suzie Wong, including, among others, the sweetheart several years ago who came closer than any other girl on the planet, before or since, to making an honest man out of me. No more...

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:surprised:

 

 

For some years now Soi Cowboy bar owners have been split between the "Arab" and everyone else. There is considerable speculation about where the guy's money is coming from. (He's actually an Iranian.) His modus operandi is to buy a bar, spend millions remodeling it, then pay his dancers and non-dancers way over the top. Allegedly, the US DEA has its eye on him. Nothing they can do about it though.

 

There must be maybe half a dozen Arab bars now. The other bar owners want nothing to do with him. The late Darel of the DH had nothing good to say about the Arab. Too bad Stickman has stopped writing. He'd surely have heard something about this.

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:surprised:

 

 

For some years now Soi Cowboy bar owners have been split between the "Arab" and everyone else. There is considerable speculation about where the guy's money is coming from. (He's actually an Iranian.) His modus operandi is to buy a bar, spend millions remodeling it, then pay his dancers and non-dancers way over the top. Allegedly, the US DEA has its eye on him. Nothing they can do about it though.

 

There must be maybe half a dozen Arab bars now. The other bar owners want nothing to do with him. The late Darel of the DH had nothing good to say about the Arab. Too bad Stickman has stopped writing. He'd surely have heard something about this.

 

Suzy Wong changed hands a good few months ago (though no idea if that was when The Arab bought it or if it has changed hands again since). I remember hearing then that the happy hour had been abolished (The Arab is not big on happy hours, nor on opening early, strange as it may seem) so my guess is - and it is only that, a guess - is that he probably acquired it a while ago.

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Although I did not ask, it seems very likely that this is a second change of hands.

 

My source was VERY happy with the first new owner. Whoever he was (I think I know but am not at liberty to say more), he made some changes that were needed, and she fully approved. Installing front bait and putting a hydraulic floor jack under the prices were not part of it. Nor was killing off Happy Hour.

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