End of an era for Thermae

[klongmaster]

That bastion of Bangkok sleaze commonly referred to as Thermae is now closing at midnight...

Had occasion to visit Wednesday night...arrived about 11:45...bought a beer and then saw the sign that their new trading hours are 8pm - 12pm...HTF can a business operate only being open 4 hours a day...

the staff assured me that things would be back to normal after Songkran and as I get there about once a year it won't affect me much...

however, for those who like the sleazier end of Bangkok's nitelife...be warned...

Oh...the pavement bars were doing a roaring trade...BiB are real idiots...improve Bangkok's image to the world by taking all the whores from an underground bar where they are well hidden and put them all onto one of the city's main thoroughfares at a time of night when they will be seen by all and sundry...jeeze wayne...

[peterpan]

Even tho I lived in BKK for 12 yrs, only paid Thermae a visit one time, what I saw that night so horrified me I never returned.

[madjbs]

Sounds interesting......tell the story

[Texpat]

^^Phoot jing.

I too visited once, for about 5 minutes. Looked like the bar from that space movie (star wars?) with grotesque malformed punters sniffing out the raunchiest and most hideous pleasure centers in the universe.

I beat feet outta there right quick.

[Marmite the Dog]

I had a Cambodian take-away on my birthday once from there.

[barbaro]

I had a Cambodian take-away on my birthday once from there.

Noodle or soup take-away?

Anyway, there seemed to be a certain vibe in that place when we'd stop by late at night.

[stroller]

I used to enjoy popping in there for a drink, unsurpassed, unique atmosphere.
There were different 'shifts' working there, early evening it was a scary freak show of old-timers who looked like they hadn't seen the outside of Thermae for several years, from 9 onwards regulars and part-time freelancers would slowly fill in, used to get really packed when the gogos closed 2-3am and the left-over girls came for trade, after that the yabba and smack skanks would rule the place.


In 2003 they enforced closing times, that's when the place predictably lost its edge. And it has fluctuated between 12 and 2 am since.

[klongmaster]

I too visited once, for about 5 minutes

What's the story Tex: your wife a regular reader of TD...5 minutes eh...which door did you walk in and which one did you leave by...would take a lot more than 5 minutes to walk around the place on a busy night...

it's not my favourite bar by a long shot but I don't feel the need to make it worse than it really is...

anyway the point of my post is their early-closing policy...not the dubious nature of the clientèle...

[Butterfly]

I used to be a regular, back in the good old days when it was opened until 8am, a lot of hotties and fun there, girl fights, funny crowd, all kind of funny farangs,

it's all over now, I haven't been back in 10 years and I was told it was pretty miserable there by other regulars, so I don't bother checking there for a late fuck

[kingwilly]

Even tho I lived in BKK for 12 yrs, only paid Thermae a visit one time, what I saw that night so horrified me I never returned.

i've never been, not even once, (and i lived 10 minutes walk from there for 5 years)

but wow if you found it horrifying....

[chinthee]

Yup, me too. Only went in once about 4 years ago for about five minutes. The place was filled with Japanese guys and very dodgy whores.

[Texpat]

I too visited once, for about 5 minutes

What's the story Tex: your wife a regular reader of TD...5 minutes eh...which door did you walk in and which one did you leave by...would take a lot more than 5 minutes to walk around the place on a busy night...

it's not my favourite bar by a long shot but I don't feel the need to make it worse than it really is...

anyway the point of my post is their early-closing policy...not the dubious nature of the clientèle...

Right off the street, few steps down, into the dank.... bar along the right hand wall curving out to be in front of you about 10m ahead. Ordered one beer and slammed it. Straight out from whence I entered. It was a bad experience and thanks for asking my wife doesn't read TD, that I'm aware. She does have a chuckle every now and then when delivering a cold beer to my computer room and notices some tawdry avs.

[Bluecat]

I think last time I went there must have been 6-7 years ago.
Too packed at that time and too much smoke for comfort (ceiling too low).
But well, at least a place you could go after everything else was closed.
They lost that selling point long time ago, so they'll be closed soon.
And so many discos these days where you can go all night...

[kingwilly]

And so many discos these days where you can go all night...

plenty, they just aint farang oriented.

[klongmaster]

punters sniffing out the raunchiest and most hideous pleasure centers in the universe

very dodgy whores

Gentlemen: you might like to check the thread in Members (Therma Girls Circa 1996 - 2002)

[Texpat]

Cheers Klong, Not saying the Therm isn't a bargain-hunter's paradise -- but the night I was there, the blue-light special wasn't enforced, Just the rock-bottom bin of seconds and misfits.

Shall have a look.

[Blake7]

Last tiem I went in there was a bout two years ago with Moog - predicatably he seemed to know all the dodgy "local" expats drinking there - mostly they seem to be the film extra types (therefore lower even than TEFLERs).

It sure wasnt what it used to be.

I remember back in the late nineties when you used to be able to score hot office workers and students looking for extra pocket money. Now it seems to be the hard-core whores rather than the part timers.

Where do the hot part timers hang out now then? this is indeed a moot question...

[Texpat]

a moog question?

[Bluecat]

And so many discos these days where you can go all night...

plenty, they just aint farang oriented.

What is a farang oriented disco?

[Norton]

That bastion of Bangkok sleaze commonly referred to as Thermae is now closing at midnight...

An institution now doomed for certain closure if the midnight closing time is enforced. I first went there in the late 60s as a young randy sailor. At that time it was the Thermae Massage Parlor" which happened to have a coffee shop on the ground floor. The massage parlor was your typical "I'll have number 41" type that are now all over the city. The coffee shop was the real draw though. It was the only place in town where you could drink all night with friends because it was a "coffee" shop and not a bar subject to bar closing times. Late in the evening from about midnight to 4AM ladies of all descriptions would begin to appear. Some real stunners that would hold my eyes like a deer in the headlights and a few that would bring on wretches and stomach convulsions. However, as with each night after 4 or 5 gallons of beer, by 2 AM they all started looking like Suzie Wong. Funny that! Being a young sailor on what one could call a limited budget (monthly salary $87) it was a big value to not have the bother of a bar fine. After negotiating with the girl of my dreams, the first one to pick me up off the floor and treat the gash on my forehead, off we would go to the nearest hotel to perform the horizontal bop. This act was repeated nightly until I either ran out of money or could no longer remember how to get there as a result of the multiple concussions.

The Thermae massage parlor and it's splendid coffee shop closed about 10 years ago and was relocated to it's current location. I have visited the "New Thermae Coffeeshop" a few times in a vain attempt to relive a little of my youth. As with me, it ain't what it used to be.

[stroller]

I used to be a regular, back in the good old days when it was opened until 8am, a lot of hotties and fun there, girl fights, funny crowd, all kind of funny farangs,

Thermae was cult.

[Butterfly]

Where do the hot part timers hang out now then?

RCA, and Thong Lor for students,

office workers, they no longer hide, you can catch them anywhere, but usually Soi 33 has quite a few of them doing extra for the night in those horrible overpriced bars where they love to cheat on the bills,

Patpong used to be hot for late nite discos with a lot of freelancers, all gone now

[Butterfly]

Thermae was cult.

no, it was Legend

[chinthee]

I didn't go to the beer garden for a few years on soi 7. Is that still the same as always?

[Bluecat]

Not at all.
The girls you knew retired...