mikeinseattle2 Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Just finishing a week long trip here in Bangkok and wanted to update everyone on tidbits of information. I'm not much for paragraphs, so I'll just go with point form. 1. NEP is the worst of the three main go-go drags. The ground floor has many ladyboys mixed in the bunch and save for a few bars, most have gone down in quality. One of my old favourites, Voodoo has completely diminished in quality. G-spot was another favourite and has gone down as well. Hollywood on the ground floor was somewhat decent. Drinks (non-alcoholic) are 95 bahts on average and lady drinks range about 130-140. 2. Soi Cowboy: The best of the three. Showings are commmon, love the glass ceiling at Baccara and Dollhouse brings in some good energy. Mix of smaller and larger bars and quite busy. Girls look better and more fun and energetic. Rawhide and Long Gun are also doing better. Surprisingly, many bars in Soi Cowboy have given up on their discrimination policy against colored folks and have gained a lot of business in the process. Specifically, Long Gun, Rawhide. In return, I make sure my patronage is valuable by buying drinks regularly and tipping well. Drinks are expensive in most bars (130-140 bahts for alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks) and 140 bahts for lady drinks. 3. Patpong: I wrote this place off the first couple of days I came but I think it really picks up mid-week onwards. Of course the night market is a total tourist trap, but barfines are 500 bahts even. Drinks are 90 bahts and the atmostphere is energetic. Quality is a total range (slim, big, old, young) and lot's of tourists. Still a good place to party once in a while. 4. Soi 7 Beer Garden - I was expecting a total dragon fest but was surprised with the quality. For a go-go bar going patron, it does seem surprisingly cheap with no bar fine, cheap drinks and reasonable prices (1000 bahts up). I found the daytime girls a bit nicer and better looking than the evening mix. 5. The Grace: Russian central. At least 50 Russian girls plying their trade. Most are 20 lbs over their ideal weight. The Grace disco is open now and usually hopping every night with the Russian/some Thai girls along with the Al- Queda types ( :grin: ). Seriously, though not for all the white folks out there (I only saw 1 white guy in the whole disco) but totally worth a look, if only for the circus value. I had a grin on the whole time I was there (twice). The disco charges 200 baht entry which gets you 1 drink. Not cheap, but I found it to be a very interesting experience. Non-Sanuk related: 1. Shopping Malls are exploding: Big one in Pratunam, new high-end mall in Siam City area (Paragon Shopping) and the Esplande in Rachada. All worthwhile checking out if you like shopping in Thailand. 2. The decrease in the US Dollar is hitting a bit. Going from 40 or 42 bahts per dollar to barely 35 bahts per USD has impacted the pricing overall. At one point I was getting 48 to a USD (basically 2 bucks for every 100 bahts). However, the way inflation goes in 3rd world countries, Thailand is holding pricing increases down to a minimum. 3. Forget owning a bar to make money in Thailand. Here's the best money making venture out there. Moneylending (or realisically loan sharking). Thai people pay 20% interest per month to borrow money (mostly from the Indian Tailor type looking guys). 10,000 bahts is returned after 1 month for 12000 bahts. Need a shorter term loan, like say 1 week? They have the 7/8. Borrow 7000K for 1 week and return 8000K. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you while I'm here. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Good points, I was in THermae last night and it was booming also along with some very unusual occupants looking for girls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YimSiam Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 To me, the Grace is synonymous with the latenight underground coffee shop, for at least a couple years the place to be after four a.m. - is that downstairs den of evil still open late, and if so are you brave enough to go spend some time in there, to give us an update? Many nights spent in there, which I (vaguely) remember fondly... YimSiam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith doug Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 well said yin, !!!! that was my port of call about 2am once!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasySt Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 I'll second the thumbs down on Voodoo and G-Spot. Half the girls in Voodoo were not always girls. The other half make the post-ops look like a much better option. G-spot has some decent lookers and a couple stunners but they are all a bunch of ice queens. I've NEVER had anything other than a forgettable starfish experience out of that place. If it wasn't for that damn night market I would say Patpong is just as good as Nana these days. I think it's mostly because Nana has gone downhill so much and not that Patpong has really improved. Soi Cowboy always seems to be the wildcard. There can be some fun girls to be found but a lot of roughage to wade through. Thermae? Unless it has changed very recently it was nothing but Jap specialists last time I was there. Some of them look good but they don't seem to have any interest in Farangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 As I wrote in 6 weeks it has changed significantly - when you next visit town go check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeinseattle2 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 To me, the Grace is synonymous with the latenight underground coffee shop, for at least a couple years the place to be after four a.m. - is that downstairs den of evil still open late, and if so are you brave enough to go spend some time in there, to give us an update? Many nights spent in there, which I (vaguely) remember fondly... YimSiam The disco closes at 2pm sharp, but of course you have the hours of milling that occurs after the closure. There are two 24 hour coffee shops that all the girls congregrate to afterwards. I think just for entertainment value, this place rocks. The mix of people is fun and you will feel like a different experience. My guess is that the Russians are not very good providers. They seem to come back awfully quickly when the leave with a customer. My guess is that they are the "short time specialist". Most have a bit of an attitude/edge to them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeinseattle2 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 With respect to Nana, you can bascially write off the entire left hand side. Voodoo was TOO disappointing. However, short time with most girls can be had for 1500 or less. Patpong has the cheapest barfines of any gogo in Bangkok. 500 bahts is a pretty sweet deal in today's age. I remember the bar fine used to be 400 bahts 10 years ago when the baht was 20 to a US Dollar. BTW, tip for anyone wanting to visit the Rachadapiskek (Rachada) MP's. Best way to get there is take the BTW to ASOK station and go down to the MRT and take HUI KWANG stop. Takes you right outside Nataree and all the other MP's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Good report. I think many expats are too proud to admit patpong is worth a stop. The attitude is like "patpong is for newbie tourists, but I know the good places". Meanwhile they pay a lot more and miss out on a lot of the better bars in town. I equate BG7 to Bangkok's biggest public smoking room. I would spend more time there, but it's pretty revolting despite all the fans. Scary thing about midnite in cowboy is it seems to be turning into a katoey bar. I see new ones everytime I go there. That bar really packs in what seem to be Indian punters for some reason. They do offer cheap drafts there, though regular drinks are quite expensive. For exchange rates, up until about 10 years ago it was locked at 25 baht to the dollar up until the big economic collapse. Maybe it will get there again and we'll miss the days it was in the 30's. I miss the days it was in the 50's to the dollar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeinseattle2 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 I thinkt the hard part is making a Patpong bar your "home bar". There's always a favourite place each punter has where they know you spend money, and which girls you like. It's tough to get that recognition in Patpong. But the quality has to be good, if not just for the outside eye candy of tourists walking by. Patpong draws from the night market. BTW, unless you go to Patpong 2 or side streets, Patpong does not discriminate! I was a bit skeptical, but 500 baht bar fines, 90 baht drinks (starting) and less than 1500 baht short time makes Patpong the best go-go bar value from all the 3 areas. BTW, has anyone else seen this 1/2 thai 1/2 caucasion mamasan at King 1? Can you bar fine her? Looks very sophisticated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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