Sexy Girls A-GoGo on Soi 8 has re-opened after a brief downtime while it was knocked though into the next door unit.

The end result is that Sexy Girls has become the widest narrow bar in Pattaya.

Rather Bizarrely, the bar has retained the bench seating especially designed for the previous very narrow bar. Previously there was not even enough width for a foot rest, so the drinks tables were ingeniously designed to provide a crossbar acting as the foot rest. These bench seats still run down either side of the newly expanded bar.

The old long strip stage has been replaced by a smart curvy central stage with the addition of an upper level stage with a glass floor.

There is also a large Jacuzzi but this still needs a bit of building work.

So for the moment the bar is more or less the same as before except wider. And although it obviously allows for more customers it is actually worse than before as one is a fair bit further away from the dancers. The dancing on the upper level of the stage is a waste of space gimmick, as the girls are too high and the lighting is too dark.

There were 10 girls dancing, 7 on the lower stage and 3 on the upper.  There were some pretty girls on stage too, but they were all bikini clad, hopefully just as short term measure. The girls were dancing 10 songs which is nothing short of ludicrous for anyone waiting for a girl to return from her dance stint.

I rather guess that the aircon is still the same as for the narrow bar as it was getting a little uncomfortably warm.

There were a few friendly girls offering a bit of hands on fun, but the prettier girls seemed to be hiding on the upper balcony maybe to avoid the hands on customer care part of the work.

There are now 78 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

The Cavern opened on 22nd May on Walking Street opposite Soi Diamond in the venue that was previously Sisterz

It is fascinating to see such a strongly themed bar arrive on Walking Street.

From my corner of Farangland, everything seems totally wrong about the theme bar concept, at least for my particular middle aged demographic.

Theme bars are a plain and clear signal that they don't don't want traditional middle aged drinkers to visit. There's the touristy Camelot Castle type bar that are just for tourists. There's the trendy bars that are clearly pitched at up market customers with money to burn. Then there's the theme bars targeting the binge drinking ladies, knowing that if they can attract the ladies, then the young lads will soon follow. The only anti-theme that attracts the older drinkers is the traditional pub. Especially those with reasonably priced beer, proper pub decor and a juke box that has been kicked into touch. (This last theme has become a massive success for the Wetherspoon chain).

Anyway back to The Cavern Theme. The bar is immediately obvious as a show bar where the customer is held at arms length. The stage is enormous and decorated as if for a cabaret rather than GoGo dancers. The dancers in the giant hand are particularly well 'protected' from the audience. Surely not the most obvious psychology for a Walking Street GoGo Bar.

There are a couple of side stages with two girls in each, but again, the Peppermint cage feel keeps the audience psychologically at bay.

This rather hands off approach sort of fits in with the rest of the chain (apart from upstairs at Baccara where the low down dancers are actually let of the usual pedestal and it feels like they 'invited' to get personal with the customers, which they do).

On my visit there were plenty of girls in the bar but they weren't the top notch quality needed for an arms length show bar. The whole concept of the bar was therefore pointless. No interaction because of the ethos of the bar, and not really worth staying in terms of a show.

But as always, it is never fair to jump to quick judgments during the early days of a bar. A good bar concept will soon attract the lookers. And of course the Cavern connections have the best track record in town for employing attractive girls.

Returning to the theme of traditional bar, Cavern has adopted the reasonable price drinks of Happy, Peppermint and Baccara. The music was also at about the right volume, which was a welcome relief after a visit to the Sapphire Club.

There are a few comfortable seats along the back wall, rather badly laid out with a long table and no entry exit points. Most of the customers are probably expected to use the stage side stools as per Happy or Peppermint. These are about the only bars in town where stage side stools are popular, but again this emphasises the need for top notch talent on stage.

I have a feeling that the Happy Peppermint chain may have opened one bar too many, all relying on employing the most attractive girls in town. There simply may not be enough suitable girls to go round. But if there are enough, then this will surely be another success.

Sapphire Club opened on 23rd May on Soi 15 located opposite Angelwitch in the venue that was previously Gamebird 2.

I stopped by at the opening party and I am sure that this will prove somewhat atypical and a more realistic review will soon follow.

I was greeted with a lively bar full of girls and half full with customers, who seemed to be fellow countrymen of the bar's Irish ownership. In fact I was then personally greeted by the owner, always a nice touch.

There are plenty of pointers that this will be a well run Farang bar with a good attitude to customer care. The drinks prices have started at a reasonable level with a 65 Baht draft beer and bottled beer at 100-110 Baht. There is a comprehensive drinks menus on each table, always a good idea.

There were plenty of girls with the main team dancing on the central stage. They were an above average team, especially good for an opening night. They were making a fair effort in dancing too. They were all bikini clad though, but you can never read much into the opening party as perhaps there were dignitaries or wives etc on the guest list.

On the downside the bar has adopted the recent trend for very loud music, not quite the loudest but too loud for a comfortable conversation. (The Cavern was later notable for not following the trend and keeping the volume down).

Oh and the great looking lighting was a real pain. They had some sort of manic light robot out of Terminator 2, with a pre-programmed mission to dazzle the customers with blasts of amplified light. I got well pissed off with it very quickly. No doubt it will be re-programmed or re-booted very soon.

Perhaps feeling a bit sensitive after being attacked by the light robot, I found the main stage lighting badly placed too. It was hard to see the girls as lights at the opposite side of the stage were also shining in my eyes and a little bright too.

Still the bar looks good and the owners seemed to have a good attitude so hopefully Sapphire Club will be a welcome addition to the hot competition of Soi 15.

There are now 77 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

At 7pm on Friday Night the curfew was officially lifted in Pattaya.

This follows a meeting held at Pattaya City Hall earlier on Friday where a number of business owners pleaded to the Pattaya Mayor to get the curfew lifted which they felt was unnecessary as there was no intelligence suggesting that any riots or other disturbances would take place here in Pattaya.

The mayor proudly showed off his achievement on Walking Street.

The curfew remains in force in other areas around Chonburi Province which remains under a State of Emergency.

The news was a little late for many bars which stayed closed but about half managed to open.

The police are doing the rounds for an early night in terms of bar opening but there is more daytime fun than usual on Walking Street

Super Baby and Super Girl have been quite lively and are opening from 7pm

Open in the daytime (from 1pm or 2pm to 7pm or 8pm):

• Nui's group: Air Port, Nui's 2, Hot Girls, New Star
• Baby Dolls
• Casnovy
• Cosy's
• Lollipop
• TQ2
• Sweetheart
• Super Model
• Rocket

Happy Group (including The Cavern) are closed

The authorities have announced that Pattaya will close for business under a curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

All businesses will be closed from 9pm until 5am and people have been told to stay home during these periods.

A bank holiday has been called for Thursday and Friday too but bars and shops will be open during the daytime hours.

In fact the bars are reported to be doing a brisk daytime trade.

Baby Dolls A-GoGo on Soi 15 just off Walking Street will be specially opening for the daytime trade on Friday and Saturday from 1pm until 7pm.

Sexy Girls A-GoGo at teh 2nd Road end of Soi 8 is closed for renovation.

It is expanding into a single unit next door. No doubt taking advantage of some low property prices at the moment.

The GoGo count momentarily drops to 76 but is set to rebound quickly with the 2 Walking Street openings.

Another mostly insignificant block of bars has been demolished on Soi 8. This time the bars at the 2nd Road end of the Soi.

And by all accounts this is to make may for more rooms at the Eastiny Hotel.

Probably still enough bars to go round though.

Building work has started on the plot at the corner of Soi 13/1 and 2nd Road.

The building on the corner of Soi Pattayaland 2 and Beach Road is being demolished to make way for some sort of gem shop.

The Thai-Anxiety team got a private preview tour of the new The Cavern A-GoGo last night (May 14). The bar is now officially set to open May 19 and the only real work left to be done is on the electrical wiring.

For a space that offers the second-largest amount of floorspace of any Walking Street go-go (with Peppermint being the largest), The Cavern now seems markedly less cavernous than Sisterz before it. The configuration is surprising.

Entering The Cavern, it's hard not to think of a Disney attraction. Perhaps Thunder Mountain. The owners have bought big into the theme, with faux rock boulders lining the walls and forming lower doorway overhangs and false ceiling in the main bar.

The next thing you notice is that they've moved the stage out of the center and now runs along most of the right side. Comfy elevated bench seating with long table, runs down the left side. Close is not the adjective you'd use for the distance between the two.

The bar does feature a couple of extra showcase stages. On the left side front corner, adjacent to the bench seating, is a small stage for 2-3 girls. At the far end of the bar, in the spot where Sisterz had its showers, is another waterfall stage with running water. Finally, on the right side in the back is The Hand a showcase stage that will give the appearance the naked dancing damsel with wriggling in the palm of a giant rock hand.

As mentioned, the wiring is still being done, so no idea about the lighting, but it better be a bit on the strong side. The bar, with all it's dark brown rocks, dark leopard-like upholstered seats, dark tabletops and dark floor is makes for a, well, dark bar.

The lineup is said to be all new girls and I can confirm no Peppermint will be used in the casting of the initial lineup. No word whether it will include any Happy , Beach Club or Baccara talent. Will simply have to show up opening night in your best Flintstones get-up to find out.

A joint taskforce of over 100 police officers from various provincial commands conducted a search at the Club Insomnia nightclub early on Sunday morning.

During the preceding investigations police arrested up to 40 persons who had presented positive samples during drug tests, including numerous nightclub staff members.

Over 100 officers joined in on the investigation searching for illegal drugs, weapons and underage girls. Following the search of approximately 500 patrons, mainly foreign tourists, Thai women and establishment staff, police arrested 40 people who tested positive for illegal drugs. The 40 women and various staff members were taken to the Pattaya Police Station for further judicial proceedings.

The Cavern, the new gogo on Walking Street replacing Sisterz will now open a bit later than previously suggested on Friday 14th May. Saying that, Pattaya Ghost tells me that the mamasang is looking for girls to start on the 15th!

Meanwhile Sapphire Club on Soi 15 has sprouted a sign proclaiming Sapphire Club A-GoGo.

Discussion on the forums suggest that it will be ready to open in about 10 days.

Tramps A-GoGo above Windmill on Soi Diamond has tramped off into the sun set and gone dark.

It is always difficult to get an upstairs GoGo established and the bar seemed to be saddled with the idea that customers want to see dancing and shows rather than interaction with the girls.

By way of recompense TQ1 has repaired the fire damage on Beach Road and returned to its role as popular daytime hangout bar.

So the GoGo count remains at 78 but will soon rise with the opening of Cavern on Walking Street.

Betty Boup on Soi 6 is also closed, but it is used when supply and demand overspill from its sister bar Passion opposite. So for the moment it is still counted in the list.

The Clutch of beer bars on the corner of 2nd Road and Soi 9 was down to the last two last night.

Perhaps May 1st is the deadline is the day that work on a new hotel is set to start.

Update: All Closed

And indeed all the bars were closed on 3rd May.

Update: Washed Away

Pattaya-at-Night reports that The Beach in central Soi 8 has closed. This was the replacement bar for the high profile Party Bar.

Sakura Club 69 on Soi 15 was dark on Sunday night. The word seems to be that this is the end of the current incarnation of the GoGo.

I have enjoyed a fair few visits to the bar over the last couple of years but not much in the last couple of months.

So the GoGo count has now dropped to 78 but will soon recover with the opening of Cavern and the return of TQ1.

What kicked off last night?

I came out of Pattaya Beer Garden around 10-45pm last night, walked down Beach Rd and tried to cross By Soi 13/3.

The police had stopped all traffic coming onto Beach Rd and next there was a convoy of police cars and motorbikes charging towards Walking St.

I didn't think there was that many police vehicles in Pattaya.