Oldest Gogo In Bangkok

[Flashermac 1403]

Rick Menard owned the grand Prix. He ran it for over 20 years, then sold out and moved to Las Vegas. It was a small bar at first, until he bought out the Horny Toad bar next door and tore out the wall.

 

.........

Grand Prix Bar - Rick Menard RIP

 

 

Rick Menard, who founded and managed the Grand Prix Bar on Patpong, one of Thailand's first sports bars for expatriates and the bar that introduced a-go-go dancing to Thailand, died from cancer earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

Before coming to Thailand, Menard had served with the US military where in 1962 he had been stationed in Nha Trang, Vietnam and where he had become the first serving US serviceman to be legally married to a Vietnamese national.

 

After leaving the military in 1966, Menard joined a civilian company in Vietnam where he stayed until mid-1968 before he was transferred to Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) in Thailand.

 

Later he came to Bangkok where he met Udom Patpong and decided to open a bar. The Grand Prix Cocktail Lounge and Bar was born in a converted gift shop on Patpong Road.

 

For over 22 years, since its opening in February 1969, the Grand Prix was a hub of nightlife on Patpong Road and many international sports stars passed through its doors.

 

These included Formula One motor racing champion Jackie Stewart of Scotland, boxing promoter Don King, World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman, world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas and light welterweight champion Saul Mamby.

 

Other big name visitors had included Mr and Mrs Walter Cronkite, Bob Hope, Tennessee Williams and actor Willem Dafoe.

 

Menard, who was a great boxing fan, retired from owning and managing the Grand Prix in April 1991 and moved to Las Vegas where his two daughters, then seven and nine years old, could get good schooling.

 

He died in a Nevada hospital on April 16.

 

One of the 1st people I met on the "strip" when I arrived in '86, a really nice guy. Always kept very close tabs on the bookies in Vegas for all the major US sporting events!!

 

http://teakdoor.com/...menard-rip.html

 

And as I'd said, he didn't "introduced" gogo, but he was the first to make it work. He deserves plenty of credit for that.

[Stickman 65]

What's the oldest running go-go in Bangkok?

 

Off the top of my head, in Nana probably Sexy Night is the oldest which started around 1986, and Tilac in Soi Cowboy which started around the same time. Flash would know more about the Patpong bars. Doesn't SuperStar date back to the '70s - but I have a feeling it has moved location.....Flash would be the guy to confirm that.

[Mekong 702]

I am sure the oldest Go Go bar in Thailand (Not Bangkok) is TQ's / Tahitian Queen beach road Pattaya opened 1978

[Pom Michael 53]

Will Tahitian Queen (TQ) rise again?

Let's hope so.  

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-a-local-business-Thailand

https://www.pattayamail.com/featured/tahitian-queen-pattayas-oldest-bar-calls-it-quits-after-42-years-339508#:~:text=By Pattaya Mail,last time after 42 years.

TL;DR Version

My father, Woody, has been living as an expat in Thailand for over 30 years. He spent most of his time helping children in need using the motorcycle-club turned charity drive, the Jesters’ Care 4 Kids. With his good friend Bob, Woody co-owns a well-known rock & roll bar in Pattaya, and that has been their only source of income for the past several decades. The pandemic has worn down tourism and thus businesses across Thailand, and soon the bar will no longer be able to stay afloat. With another lockdown being imminent, I’m hoping to help the bar limp along until businesses can operate as usual again.

 

JANUARY 8, 2021by Chuliporn Underwood, Organizer

Hi everyone,

Although the bar has been forced closed due to COVID, it is still paying rent. The Pattaya Mail article made it seem like it is closed permanently, but we still have a chance to save it!

Thank you so much for donating and sharing this campaign. It means a lot to us. My dad already said he is overwhelmed by your kindness! I asked him if he could share a photo of the bar and he gave me one of him in front of the TQ back when Pattaya beach was still barely developed!