The Asia Bugle

[dirtydog]

This and all there other great stuff can be read at www.asiabugle.com


Scuttlebut said;

This is often the quietest time of the year around the bars and looking at Sukhumvit Road the other evening it certainly looked quiet. However most of the Bangkok bar owners I have spoken to are encouraged by business levels. In the plaza the Rainbows are packing them in at both 1,2 and 4 which either means there is a lot more business around or somebody else is doing really badly. We know some of the business has come from the top floor Hollywood Bars (see below). The no name group’s new Katoey bar Temptations is doing a storm, but I am assured there is no intention of re-branding Apache in Soi Cowboy into a modified boy’s bar.

To follow up on the management changes at Hollywood bars on the top floor of Nana Plaza, I understand over 30 girls have now left and either followed the mamasung Ann to Rainbow 1, or simply gone elsewhere. I looked into the smaller of these bars last night, and it did seem very short of girls. However there was a happy hour till 10.30 offering drinks at 95 Baht. I think they will have to do better than that!
I have had several emails with tales about Eric the Clock, or Johnny the Frog. Thank you to the correspondents but I do not publish uncorroborated stories and I am not really interested in history unless it becomes relevant as part of a current situation. But having said that, it was very interesting background! Assuming of course it is all true! If I was the said gentleman, I think I would watch my back!

Ricky Diamond agogo Pattaya suffered a certain indignity when he got nicked for not having a work permit. It would be a fine line as to whether he needed one, many may think, as in common with most Pattaya bar owners, he is a supervisor not a worker. The facts are that he was stitched up by a rival bar owner. The Immigration Police admitted that much when they arrested him. Whom is not altogether clear, although everybody has an unsupported theory! A farang seems to be the most likely! I suspect Ricky’s problem was that Diamond agogo was doing too well. And maybe recent publicity saying it was the best in Pattaya stuck in someone’s craw! Remember the number 1 rule in Thailand is “low profile!”
A couple of interesting points came out of this event. The Immigration Police stated that anybody who is a partner in a bar should have a work permit. I think that really means if you are a partner in the bar and spend time in the bar, rather than a simple investor. The evidence that Ricky was working was that he was shaking hands with customers. But the reality was that they knew exactly who to arrest and nothing he said, or did, could have stopped it. If I was a bar owner in Pattaya without a work permit I think I would be thinking hard about getting one - and paying the taxes! You can get a work permit with a company with a paid up capital of 2 million Baht but you can not serve behind the bar or do the cashier’s job. In other words, a job a Thai can do. I think you can get a work permit with other business vehicles, so take advice.

Yet another fire in Nana Plaza! This time it was the transformer that is located under the escalator. It blew with a big bang about 4 am on Sunday. According to one insider, the likely reason was because rubbish has been piled up around it. Boss Hog tried to do something about it a couple of years ago and built a steel cage to keep the air circulating around it, but the Thai’s in their infinite wisdom broke in by hacksawing the padlock. The next problem was that the owners of the Plaza maybe wealthy, but they are also mean, so instead of telephoning a reputable company and saying fix it, they told their handy man to do it. So having had no power on Sunday night, the Plaza had power on Monday until 9pm when it went again. Finally on Tuesday, EGAT was summoned and everything was fine on Tuesday. Meantime these are lot of very unhappy bar owners muttering comments like” they get no rent this month.” Of course the beneficiary is Soi Cowboy. I wonder how many Nana Plaza customers, who have never been to Cowboy will, now they have found it, go back - maybe in preference to the Plaza?
With 3 fires in about a year one wonders how long it will be before the big one? I am reliably told the main problem is the rats that eat all the insulation on the power cables. The danger time is not when the place is open but when the only occupant is a dozing security guard and a lot of fat rats. When Playskool was gutted, the fire was spotted in time. Fifteen minutes later and the fire could have jumped to another unit. The no name group assure me that Playskool is now wired with armoured/rat proof cable. But is anywhere else so equipped?

Strange goings in Soi Cowboy. It seems that Syrus, the owner of Spicey Girls, was convinced that another owner had it in for him. Despite assurances to the contrary, the guy brings in a load of mafia heavies, and to make matters worse gives then a few bottles of San Tip to rev up on. The police get the message that something might go off and suddenly there are fifty plod standing in the soi. I found out about this on Monday night when I was there at chucking out time, and so were half of Thonglor’s finest. Why, I asked? Needless to say other bar owners are less than impressed. I am however told that Syrus has been put back in his box and has been cured of his paranoia: for now!
Mind you I witnessed a scene at Spicey Girls some months back. A very angry farang, who was almost certainly wrong, was demanding to see the manager. Two mamasungs were trying to calm him down and eventually the Old Bill arrived. And who was watching all this and doing nothing? The boss. All he had to do was step in and the situation would have been defused in seconds. He did finally when the Bill arrived and that solved the problem. If you are frightened of being hit, do not run a bar!

Sam Worthington was at Calderazzo’s new Bistro and Rioja a good Spanish restaurant for when you want to eat something different or just pig out!

Thinglish.com is a new website with a blog to add comment and your input. A kind of web board except that we post an article, or comments, then let you lot loose to make comments. Hopefully a debate or two will break out. Aspiring writers with lots to say let me have an article or two and I will post them on the site. Send to us

We have two other new sites coming on line. Soilangsuan.com (Bangkok’s best kept secret) and Cambodiabars.com which we are building at the moment. You can add your own thoughts on any bar on the site.

[dirtydog]

From The Baron at www.baronbonk.com

Sex Sells
Soi 33 is a soi that for a long time held a simple reputation: an expensive place to get laid. All those "artists” bars offering mutton dressed as wolf held little attraction to those of us used to the lower end of Sukhumvit. However in recent years, more and interesting establishments have been setting up in that area. In addition the area adjacent to Soi 33, has almost become the Rose Street of Bangkok with four major pubs within staggering distance, as well as a couple of ‘almost pubs’ be it that they are popular watering holes.
On the street itself the biggest recent addition has been Livingstone’s. I trundled in the other night and was impressed. This is effectively a small resort and would look more in place near a beach, not Sukhumvit Road. There are acouple of tusks a la Baghdad over the entrance and fortunately the similarities end there. Apart from the hotel side due to open next month, there is a Thai restaurant and the area around the pool. Here there is a popular sports bar with a few lonely ladies as well as a big screen telly and a pool table. Around the pool is a dining area with an interesting menu. The open kitchen is also part of this area. There was an inside dining room but this and an adjoining hall area are being changed into a nightclub. A nice touch is that all the prices are something ‘and 7 Baht’. This is the service change that goes to the staff. A good idea that I think others could adopt. I did, however, find a couple of problems with the service. The staff use wireless i-pods to place orders, and as I have found before, this system is fraught with danger when put in the hands of the child of an Issan farmer. The problem maybe that Guido, who is the charming boss, is German. Now the Germans do not mind waiting ten minutes for a beer, as in fact it takes that long to pour a beer in some parts of Germany. But we Brits rather expect a beer immediately, if not sooner and if it is the first beer of the night that is still not quick enough! So ordering a beer in one place with the order sent to another place, by i-pod, and then retrieved by a farmer’s daughter is neither immediately nor sooner - it is just too slow. I also ate here and intended to review it but I thought Guido was a nice guy so I shall just say there are glitches to be ironed out and not all can be put down to the i-pod! That is a pity because the menu is interesting and follows the African theme. It will get better, I presume!
Suddenly there is a raft of new bars without artists names. Well that kind of artist! The Oliver Reed bar is, I suppose, named after an artist of sorts! I did caterpillar in and find some friendly and lonely souls distinctly short of the product that made the said Reed a household name. I then decided it would take more than the monthly stipend to enliven the girls to an O Reed level, so I beat a hasty retreat! This club is next door to Livingstone’s and then it is the Casablanca karaoke where I would think “as time goes by” is now banned. After that it is the Venus Club.
In the other direction it is a few paces to a short dead end soi that used to house Madame Claude’s bar that actually offered drinks at something like lower Sukhumvit prices. It has now been renamed Blue Heaven and is blindingly white with a strange mural on the wall opposite the bar. The prices are now more in line with the rest of the soi’s bar’s - that means happy hour prices are normal. After 9 pm, when Happy Hour finishes, it is 5-star hotel prices. Here a Tiger was 130 Baht after Happy Hour as opposed to 150 Baht in most places.
Opposite Livingstone’s is the soi that contains The Office, a friendly and popular spot that would qualify as pub if they did not rent the staff out by the night. Mojo’s is also here. I raved about Mojo’s when it first opened but unfortunately it has degenerated into another cover band hideout and best avoided unless you like bad versions of “Simply the Best,” or dare I say it “Hotel California.”
Soi 33/1 is the home of the Bull’s Head, the pub I always think is most like boozers back home, and it could be any city centre pub almost anywhere in the UK, with businessmen inhaling a quick sherbet or several before dashing home! The newcomer to this soi is The Robin Hood at the entrance to the soi. The strange thing about this pub is that in English pub culture Bull’s Head is a typical tenanted pub. And somehow the Robin Hood is a typical managed pub with the staff in uniforms and the manager wearing a tie. I did one night catch the live music there. They were that typical happy band that one expected to break into “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” at any moment. The type of band that makes you want to tap your foot to the music and be sick at the same time! But whatever one may think about too many pubs, they all do good business. Not only these two, but the nearby Londoner (at the junction of Soi 33 and Sukhumvit Road) and the Dubliner (On Sukhumvit near Soi 22) are both regularly packed.
Back in Soi 33, the Basilico is a new Italian pizzeria restaurant that replaced a much grander operation that was not as grand as it thought it was! Full review here.
In conclusion the expansion of Soi 33 has certainly bought more oomph to the whole soi. However as there are more bars and therefore more girls, this leads to the obvious conclusions that there is more business. So once again we have the scenario, that is repeated around the country, that under a government waging a so-called social order campaign and taking the moral high road that sex not only still sells, but more and more sex sells! And for that matter British culture, in the form of pubs, seems to be more popular than Thai culture’s equivalent!

[dirtydog]

From Nightmarch In Pattaya;

Lateral Thinking: The management of the Living Dolls gogo (Walking Street) have, sensibly in my view, introduced a happy hour on bar fines, reducing the usual 500 baht impost to just 300 baht for the last hour of operations (between 1:00 and 2:00AM). The new deal will be trialled until the end of June and is aimed at giving punters an incentive to pay now rather than try and organize an after-work tryst.

Shiny Boots and Not Much Else: There is a rumour suggesting the Champion gogo (Walking Street) may soon be closing its doors after the owner of the building hiked up the rent recently. True or not, Champion is still running one of the better happy hours in town between 7:30 and 9:00PM with draught amber at 35 baht and other liquid refreshments just 50 baht. After happy hour the draught nectar retails at just 45 baht all night. Liver wasters and the like rise to 95 baht.
The place has its moments of popularity and one of the key reasons is the number of dancing damsels who seem to delight in displaying all their charms apart from their feet, which remain firmly encased in thigh-high boots.

Older than Methuselah: Aussie Bruce recently sent me an e-mail suggesting the oldest boozer run by the same interests in Pattaya is the Honey (Walking Street) which, according to Bruce has been operated by a pair of sisters ‘since the mid 70s’. Considering the average lifespan of many boozers is not much greater than a Mayfly, to be in control of a successful ale shack for so long is an impressive achievement.
To recap on previous long-running boozers run by the same people, Café Ole in Soi 6 has been going since 1981, Scandi Bar on Second Road kicked off in 1986 and the Vicky beer boozer in Soi 8 swung into operation in 1987. Congratulations I think are deserved to all concerned.

Covering All the Bases: The biography of the late Father Ray Brennan, founder of the Pattaya Orphanage, In the Name of the Boss Upstairs by Jerry Hopkins, has been translated into Thai and is due to be released in June. The book is also to go audio with both Thai and English language productions. According to Tom Vincent, who is co-coordinating the projects, the English audio version began recording in mid-May while the Thai audio should be close to completion by the time you read this. All proceeds from the sale of these books and audios go to the Orphanage.

Where’s Your Buddy? Got chatting with an English guy in the What’s Up gogo (Soi 15, off Walking Street) recently and he related a story of being accosted by a couple of American MP’s who wanted to know why he was walking around without his ‘buddy’. It appears the MPs had mistaken him for one of their service personnel. Apparently, all US military personnel who come to Pattaya for a good night out must be paired up and remain together while out on the mean streets of Fun Town. I wonder what happens when one man feels a stirring in the trouser department while chatting with a damsel of easy virtue and is so overcome with desire he coughs up the moolah for the bar fine and they scoot off to find a hotel offering short-stay lying-in facilities. Does his ‘buddy’ accompany him and watch over his friend, perhaps offering sage advice at certain crucial moments while his friend and the damsel are entwined in a lover’s embrace? Kind of kinky these young Americans.

A Chance to Turn a Black Hole to a Shining Star: Work is currently under way to create yet another nighttime entertainment venue in the ‘black hole’ located in Soi Marina Plaza, the main link between Soi Lucky Star and Second Road. I’m told two of Pattaya’s better known ogling den operators are currently working on converting the currently vacant spacious building half-way down Marina Plaza into what they hope will be Fun Town’s next ‘must visit’ chrome pole palace. The place has been known as the Feigling Pub, My understanding is the premises should be open by the end of July.

Attitude: A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to the Philippines where he sang the praises of the Filipino working damsels, making interesting comparisons with their Thai counterparts. “They haven’t heard of short-time,” he claimed. He was also impressed by their general attitude.
This brings me to an issue that’s being raised with me more and more by long-term ex-pats. Many are bemoaning what they perceive as a paradigm shift in the attitude of the average Thai working damsel. The grapevine has extended across the ogling den spectrum and almost every dancer (be she young, old, tall, short, thin, fat, beautiful or ugly) now has a standard, practically non-negotiable, price. What amazes me are the numbers of damsels for whom Hans Christian Andersen may well have penned The Ugly Duckling yet seem to have no trouble being bar-fined on a regular basis. Of course part of the reason is there are those who think because the girl is not a stunner she doesn’t get taken very much and will therefore be almost grateful. Of course, most of us know this is total rubbish.
There are women out there impersonating dancers and there are dens with chrome pole molesters who could easily pass muster as the ‘before’ photographs in an advertisement for cellulite.
As Pattaya becomes more and more prosperous and starts to look like a seaside version of Bangkok, it’s inevitable prices will rise. The north Asian tourists, foreigners working in Singapore and Hong Kong, people working on contract off-shore, are all helping to fuel the rise in the price of mattress dancing services. Up in the Big Chilli, the damsels of Nana Plaza and even Soi Cowboy are asking for 2, 3 and even 4,000 baht for their amorous favours. Sounds ridiculous I know. What’s even crazier is there are people who pay these inflated figures. Yet a walk down the sidewalks of Sukhumvit Road at certain times of the evening can see an assignation organised for the same impost as the bar fine in most ogling dens, and some of the damsels are a long way from having been beaten with the ugly stick.
A friend told me of an experience with a dancer in Peppermint recently. The girl was complaining, “Farang not like me; I don’t know why.” When my friend asked her what sort of remuneration she expected to receive for playing hide-the-salami she stated, “5,000 baht.” He was then able to explain the reason why she wasn’t exactly popular with foreigners.

Around and About: Happy hour in the Peppermint ogling den (Walking Street) has been gradually carved back over the last couple of years as the place has continued to hold its incredible popularity. The 45 baht all drinks happy hour now ceases at 9:00PM. Until a few weeks ago it was 15 minutes longer. Nonetheless, draught amber fluid remains at 45 baht all night.
The FLB lounge lizards libation room (Walking Street) has Heineken draught amber at 60 baht as is Thai rotgut. Most liver wasters run to 95 baht, but if punters want a double the price is not doubled. For example, a double vodka and tonic would set you back 170 baht, not 190 baht.
The Super Model ogling den (Soi Diamond) has maintained its early popularity with plenty of dancing damsels caressing the chrome poles and the happy hour between 8:00 and 9:30PM draws plenty of imbibers with libations at 49 baht. Lady drinks are industry standard 95 baht.
Kittens, the only surviving ogling den in Naklua, has undergone a change in the management structure and has been re-badged as the 1969 chrome pole palace. The outside has been given a facelift, the inside remains the same, but then it didn’t need any real work. The new regime, apparently well-known long-time operators of such dens of iniquity, is preparing to make some serious improvements, particularly in the area of the quality of the chrome pole huggers.

Tales from the Crib: A condo dweller in south Pattaya was telling me about an incident in which he came home one evening and, in the early hours of the morning, was suddenly shaken awake by loud music emanating from the unit next door. The music was of the German martial style, all trumpets and clashing cymbals; think Richard Wagner and Gotterdammerung (The Twilight of the Gods). Thinking there was a wild party in progress next door, my friend, a tall man, leaned over his balcony and was able to peer into his next door neighbour’s lounge room. Instead of a bacchanalian booze and dance fest he saw a lone man sitting in a lounge chair while a Thai lady knelt before him clearly practising the arcane art of oral stimulation. One wonders if the man was hoping to time his final release to coincide with the climax of the martial music pounding out of his stereo system.

Piece of Pith: ‘The world has always gone through periods of madness so as to advance a bit on the road to reason.’ Hermann Broch (1886–1951), Austrian novelist. The doctor, in The Spell.

[dirtydog]

From the Prowler from the beach in Phuket

General

The month of May was slow month here in Patong, but two major sporting events held at the end of the month helped pick things up. The absence of large numbers of tourists does not signify doom and gloom as most Europeans don't take their main holidays until the months of July/August. Hotel prices are down and most places are offering attractive incentives to book with them. Patong at the minute is a buyer’s market and anything is negotiable. Else where on the island prices are even cheaper so if you don't want the hectic night life, you can easily find peace and quiet in Karon and Kata beach areas.

International Rugby Tournament

The Clive Williamson Memorial Trophy Competition was held on the weekend of 28th and 29th at the stadium in Karon Beach. This is the 7th year that this very popular event has taken place. This year brought in more than thirty international teams and their supporters to Phuket. As is tradition, each night the various groups of "rugger buggers" were seen down in the night spots decked out in team fancy dress. I am not sure what the ladies of the night thought of the twenty Elvis lookalikes but at least Soi Bangla was having a fun time with them all. The actual competition went well and the Karon stadium had a full crowd on both days.

Phuket Hash House Harriers

The Phuket Hash House Harriers (a running club with a drinking problem) celebrated reaching their milestone 1000th run on June 4th. They also incorporated the Thailand National Hash for 2005 into a week of running and partying. The 30th May was the start with a mountain bike Hash ride and then there are events for the next seven days. The main nightly events were held in the "Hash Plaza" (the car park) between the Ex Pat Hotel, Faulty Towers and Valhalla. All three establishments laid on food and discounted beers for the week. There were more than 150 international visitors.


Kamala

Kamala is getting more and more popular and has a nightlife of its own. This beach area was hit harder than Patong and recovered more slowly but is now back in business with many bars and restaurants open. This area may be considered a sleepy backwater by Patong standards but that is the way the locals like it. The Kamala Beer Garden is a popular hang out in the evenings for cold beers and a bit of fun. The Hans Christian Andersen restaurant on the Beach Road is serving good Danish specialty meals and cold beers. On the Main Road opposite The Ban Rim Klong the Argentinian Steak House has enough seating to feed a small army and is available for large party groups.

V.I.P. Bar

This bar and pool hall is situated on the corner of Soi San Sabai opposite the top end of Soi Bangla. It is less noisy than its neighbours Baya Beach and Taipan and is a place where you can have a relaxing drink before venturing down Bangla .At the entrance there is a Danish snack bar where I am told you can get the best hot dogs in the area.

Chalong Circle

Only a few years ago the only thing of note at Chalong roundabout was traffic jams as the various dive operators and tour companies tried to deliver and pick up customers from the old rickety pier. That has all changed (although Thais still have difficulty using the roundabout) since the new jetty was opened and a whole community complete with bars and restaurants has gradually evolved. Down on the pier road there are coffee shops and snack bars and the Thai seafood restaurants are still as busy as ever. The Tamarin Bar on the beach does a brisk nightly trade. The approach road from Rawai has a number of good restaurants featuring various European cuisines. Several developments of shop houses stretch along the Kata Road and are slowly being filled by new business ventures. There are even some dimly lit little hootches adorned with fairy lights that could do with a closer inspection.

[hillbilly]

Damn, where does you find dis chit?

Dis is what is da truth in da LOS!

[dirtydog]

baronbonk has been doing his email letter for years, he said i could post it if i put some linky in or something, my next project is to find out wot that linky was supposed to be
although i think i have it right, well i hope so, although he did mention sending out nite march to hunt me down and chop me up into tiny little small pieces with a swiss army knife, so i gave him your address hillbilly, i hope this wont interfere with your life too much

[hillbilly]

Damn...wheres me shotgun :?:

[seth106]

:idea:

you kud git rid o dat picsure boy

that do sure as hell scare lil ol me