Is Nana going .......

[vinod]

Hi

 

I agree with you, there a lot non sex tourists... I travelled quite often from India to Bkk, not once I met any Indian in the night life...nana & soc, They all end up in pp, massages and a few you can c then in CM2.

 

I can still tell many of the tourists only know PP and nana & soc is beyond there radar.....

 

cheers

 

[Belem]

So a monopoly type situation exists, one which will ultimately kill this business interest of theirs...quite the clever chaps aren't they...

 

The 'Nana is going to be developed' argument is an interesting one...to me Sukhumvit is a shit hole, much of the business exists because of the p4p scene, Nana etc is the honey pot...say it gets closed and developed, a hotel being likely, what then? Why would tourists come to this smelly highly polluted dirty city? As a stopover sure, on their way elsewhere, but Bangkok has a limited appeal and there's not a lot to do once you've looked at some historic bits.

 

Didn't stop a hotel going up in place of Clinton Plaza, a new park being built in place of the Soi 10 bars, and the subway station being built in Asoke, where beer bars used to be. Also, Soi Zero may end up being a parking lot, I heard. Go out to Wat Pho, the Grand Palace, Jim Thompson's house, Khao Sanh Road, the boat trips on the Chao Phraya River, etc. Nana and the nightlife didn't lure those tourists to Bangkok. And Travel and Leisure Magazine didn't have Bangkok as a top 3 city in the world because of the naughty nightlife.

 

[rchapstick]

To my mind, the biggest problem with Nana is its biggest operator, Crown. It being run with a trust fun baby's "fuck you" money. It is clearly run as a hobby, not a business. If all the Crown bars went away tomorrow, the owner's standard of living would not change one iota, and it shows.

 

Rainblow is a small step above a point-and-go whore house. No fun to be had, just a quick (and pricey) screw.

 

AW has created a nice business catering to the 1-week millionaire tourist trade. OK once in a while, but not as much fun back when The Beast and Atilla plied their trade.

 

Who gives a rats arse about Casanova and Obsession? The rest of the lot are bottom feeders.

[Flashermac]

Nana had some great bars 7 or 8 years ago. I agree that the Crown Group and the Johnny the Frog bars killed that. They were the ones that started raising prices without any reason except greed. The Purachai crackdown put an end to the shows and most of the nudity, which made drink prices even more out of line. Once upon a time even Casanova was a fun place to take a newbie and see if he caught on. Some of the dancers could fool you. Now they all look like cyborgs and they sit outside like extras from Star Wars.

 

Only time I go to NEP is when someone is in town and wants to go there. NEP is only a shadow of its old self.

 

 

 

[farangman]

>>You say 'no way' but it's not backed up with any visible evidence whereas the view of Suadam and myself is. Have you been to the bars much in the last few months or are you just trusting what a few (self-interested) people tell you?<<

 

Stickman is definitely right on this one. It has nothing whatsoever to do with making enough money without having to pay off the police. The owners are desparate to show again hence some of them pushing the rules as far as they think they can get away with. If they could pay a fee for showing on a "semi-legit" (oxymoron I know) they would be queueing up on Wireless Road. I have spoken with owners like David Walls of Crown Group, Peter of Playskool who all agree. The increased benefit to business is incredible.

 

The Lumpini Police are very different to Thonglor police. I know that because I am a part owner of a bar in Lumpini district and my partner is a Thai policeman in the Thonglor district. The rules change from district to district, from day to day, from hour to hour in some cases. What you can get away with at Cowboy for example would get you closed down in 5 minutes in the Nana area - bribe or no bribe. Even my Thai police partner tears his hair out sometimes.

 

 

 

[..]

Fair enough; but different from what I heard from one of those gentlemen regarding payments to the MiB. Tho' we were talking about another area...

 

Cheers,

SD

[bibblies]

The owners are desparate to show again hence some of them pushing the rules as far as they think they can get away with.

 

So why aren't Rainbow or Crown trying very hard?

 

For example, Rainbow has 4 bars. They could easily use Rainbow 3 as a 'testing ground' for doing riskier things because they could afford to lose it for a month. There are only about 4 customers in there at any one time.

 

Basically why can some bars employ pasties while Crown and Rainbow don't? Logic suggests that, if others could, they could.

 

Also, why are Lumpini police suddenly so different since 2001/3? Did they have a big pay rise and don't need the money anymore?

[farangman]

It's because they are willing to push the boundaries and take the risk. Some people (owners) are willing to do that whilst others aren't.

 

They may feel that it's worth the chance to earn a few extra bucks, whilst other bars don't want to risk a closure even though they have more than one bar to sustain them. Even a Rainbow 2 or 3 will be taking 2 million baht a month plus. That's a hefty gamble to take. If they were closed you could guarantee that their other bars would not be 2million plus up during their sister bar's closure.

 

Regarding Lumpini changes since 2001-02. It's down to the head guy there what is allowed and what is not allowed. They DO still earn money off the bars. You still have to pay more or less the same monthly fee, but you are entitled to less than you were back then. It's one of the most lucrative stations in Bkk for gaining a slush fund. The rumour going around 3 or 4 years ago was that the top position there cost 3 million baht when it was time for their re-shuffle. That shows how much money they make.

 

I'm not defending Nana bar owners - just giving background information - they could start by just cleaning up the place and not let it get into the run down state it is today. That would be a good start in my opinion.

[bibblies]

This still doesn't add up.

 

Firstly, I doubt Rainbow 3 is making much money. It's deserted most of the time and only seems to house about 10-15 girls. The Rainbow group could easily afford to let this bar close for a month because, if it did, the girls could easily be absorbed by their other bars. It's not as though punters go to that bar for the furnishings. It's for the girls. The punters don't care whether they see the girl in Rainbow 1, 2, 3 or 4.

 

Secondly if the police position costs that much to get, why wouldn't they accept more money? The top guy surely doesn't even have to know, come to think of it. Does he personally visit the plaza in disguise?

 

This all still points to the theory that Rainbow and Crown are lazy, resting on their laurels, more content to bank what they have rather than risk anything for more. If other bars try to show and become too successful, it's cheaper to shop them than to compete. :thumbdown:

[MooNoi]

Rainbow and Crown are lazy, resting on their laurels, more content to bank what they have rather than risk anything for more.

 

Agree with you 100% Bibs, but looking at it from their point of view, the above isn't a bad business philosophy.

 

They're making good (great?) money as it is, so if it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

Take tha Japanese out of Rainbow I and II and there would be very few punters in either bar. I have said this before, and I'll say it again: I don't know why the Japanese go there. Somewhere like Baccara I can understand them flocking to... but Rainbow?? WTF?

 

What do they get from Rainbow? Nothing kinky going on in there at all. Would love to have fluent Japanese and ask a few of them why they flock there.

 

Must be some Sushi360.com board that raves about the places and they all follow like sheep.