Magic Palace is set to open on Walking Street on New Year's Eve. No time for soft opening niceties for them.

The bar is located in the centre of Walking Street under Polo Entertainment in the venue that was previously Climax Rock Bar.

There are now 81 bars listed as girl gogos.

Official festivities for Pattaya’s New Year’s Eve celebration will begin at Bali Hai pier at 5:10 p.m. and continue through to 2:20 a.m.

Highlights include a concert featuring God Jakapan, AF#4, Chin JKI, Cherry Cherry, Punch Black Head, plus the Du Dokkradon Comedy Group, and the most beautiful woman in Thailand, Nong Or, Miss Thailand 2007.

At 11:55 p.m. the countdown will begin, with fireworks over Pattaya Bay to welcome 2008.

Bali Hai Pier is at the far end of Walking Street when starting at Beach Road.

Spicy Girls A-GoGo has now closed on Pattayaland 1. It is has moved to Pattaya Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office). It is now located near to the post office

On a first glance it is almost as if the bar has been moved brick by brick  from the old venue to the new. The layout is nearly exactly the same with a central stage and comfortable bench seating on one side and uncomfortable stools on the other. The bar is towards the back and the toilets are also a near exact replica of the previous incarnation.

The familiar front doors are the same as will be the signage.

The bar is still playing rock music with TV monitors to watch the music videos.

Most of the girls have been retained as has their full bikini dress code. Unfortunately the policy to totally ignore their customers has also been retained.

Obviously the gayification of Pattayland probably counted against the bar in terms of passing trade but in Pattayaland the bar was competing against overpriced comptition.

In Soi Post Office that bar may find the local competition hotter. As it stands at the moment, Spicy is twice as expensive (beer at 95 Baht rather than 50), the girls wear twice the amount of dancing clothes, and by my experience, the girls are simply half as friendly.

Surely Spicy will have to get a little spicier.

The new issue of After Dark Magazine, Volume 5,
will be available next week.

It is sold at a fair number of Pattaya outlets so it won't be hard to track down. The price is 150 Baht.

The Election Commission (EC) is ready to hold a Senate election on March 2.

EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said the new government will be asked to issue a royal decree for the Senate selection and election.

Apichart said the EC will today hold a meeting of the senate selection committee to work out a plan.

The recent pattern is that bars will be strictly closed at 6pm on 1st March. The bars stay closed during the day on 2nd March but the authorities relax enough to allow opening from 8pm.

Many gogo bars take advantage of the large influx of Christmas visitors to put up prices between Christmas and new year.

Of course the bars claim that the higher prices are for the customers best interests and are merely to maintain enough girls in the bar to entertain the drinkers. But on the other hand the bars seem less interested in customers interests when it comes to keeping them informed about the high prices before they start investing in time and lady drinks.

Anyway the following barfine prices have been reported so far

• Coyotee's 2000 Baht until closing time
• Carousel 2000 Baht until closing time (1000 also reported)
• The Sea 2000 Baht LT (shorter times 1000 & 1500)
• Super Baby 2000 Baht LT (1000 Baht ST) until midnight
• Super Girls 2000 Baht LT (1000 Baht ST) until midnight
• Secrets 2000 Baht for dancers 800 Baht for hostesses until 12:30 (Increases Christmas & New Years Eve only)
• Taboo Club 1500 Baht
• Byblos 1500 Baht
• Roxy 1000 Baht (will be maintained well into January)
• Club Boesche 1000 Baht
• Silver Star 1 1000 Baht
• Silver Star 2 1000 Baht
• Hooty's 1000 Baht
• Naughty Girls 1000 Baht until midnight
• Dollhouse 1000 Baht until midnight
• Whats Up 1000 Baht until 11:30
• New Living Dolls 1 1000 Baht before 11am, 600 Baht after (with brownie points for clearly signposting the increase)

And bars that have not increased their prices

• TQ 2, barfines not allowed until midnight
• Casnovy
• Betty Boup
• Kiss Kool
• Peppermint
• Beach Club
• Happy
• Heavens Above
• Insomnia Gentlemen's Club

Update: After New Year

In general most of the bars restored the normal bar fine rates after the new year celebrations were complete. However I was told in Roxy that their excess will continue until mid January. Possibly Club Boesche are doing the same. Best to enquire just to make sure. Coyotee's A-GoGo are also continuing their 1000 Baht barfines for dancers through the high season

• Catz 600 Baht but no barfines until midnight
• Coyotee's 1000 Baht until 1am
• Carousel 1000 Baht until 1am
• Roxy 1000 Baht
• Club Boesche 1000 Baht
• Happy 1200 LT, 600 ST

There seems to be a resurrection of the talk amongst Pattaya bar owners that in January, the authorities will introduce restricted opening hours of 6pm until 1am.

These hours have been printed on bar licences for some time.

Also of concern is the fact the the army government passed the Alcohol Control Act in a final flurry of bills this week.

The opening hours are so restrictive that surely they will do real damage to Pattaya's economy, so hopefully the powers that be will find a way to somehow not quite enforce them.

The coyote dancing bar where coyotes wear less has now started a happy hour until 10pm. All drinks are 55 Baht (except lady drinks). The VIP card is not available during Happy Hour nor are the free shots.

The bar is located on Soi Diamond.

Update

20th Dec

Bars will definitely be shut on Saturday 22nd December and most of Sunday 23rd December. The bars seem hopeful that the police will relent once the ballot closes on Sunday and are planning to open at about 8pm on Sunday evening.

Update

17th Dec

Pattaya's Walking Street gogo bars sprang back into life on Sunday evening. However it was clearly an uneasy time for the bars. There seemed to be no nod or wink from the police, just a gradual realisation that the police weren't on patrol.

At 8pm there were half a dozen gogos open but being very cagey, dark signs with touts whispering at passers by. By 9pm they were joined by many more. By 10pm lights were on and touts were in full voice.

Many bars remained dark but presumably they had already given the staff the night off.

Update

16th Dec

All Pattayas main bars have been forced to closed much to the annoyance of those realising that Bangkok gogo bars have been allowed to open albeit with no alcohol.

Pattaya bars are expecting to be able open from 6pm this evening but it is not yet totally sure whether this will be allowed.

Update

15th Dec

A couple of GoGos last night tried to open serving soft drinks only. But they were soon closed down.

There are still bars open with the lights turned out but most are selling soft drinks only.

Of course there are still bars serving beer, but there are a lot less than on most dry days.

Police were checking that bars stayed closed (even without alcohol) on Soi 6. The police were even putting their ears to the door to check properly closed.

Update

14th Dec

Pattaya's bars are planning on being able to open on Sunday evening after 6pm (presumably after the poll stations have closed).

It seems that the idea of the alcohol ban is to prevent candidates organising parties where attempts to buy votes may occur.

Weekend 14-16th December

Pattaya police have been touring Pattaya informing businesses that alcohol cannot be served from 6.00pm, Friday December 14th to midnight on Sunday December 16.

This is attributed to general election advance voting for Thais living away from home.

The order is said to be a military dictate and will leave little hope of any local deals. The order is backed up with threats of draconian penalties of 90 days closure orders and the possibility of jail for both sellers and drinkers.

The restrictions will apply to all businesses but it seems that bars may still open for soft drinks and short times.

22nd-25th December

The booze block from 6.00pm, December 22nd to midnight, December 23rd is already common knowledge and will be enforced by law with a large police presence. The world will be watching!

Recently Thai TV news reported that the public holiday on 24th December will be dry but some Thai boards are now claiming Christmas Day will also be alcohol free. The justification for the post election alcohol ban is unclear and unverified. It seems that some areas have local elections that will cause an extension to the ban. Also the authorities seem edgy that the elections may generate unrest and so may have their eye on an alcohol ban for this reason. Hopefully this won't pan out and the bars will be open for Christmas.

There is a new Walking Street development that is making a gradual opening. It is located just after Covent Garden (walking from Beach Road) and is named Soho Square.

It is basically a shopping area but it has a large night club/live music bar and beer bars are also appearing.

The night club is named B-52 and it seems to have a Russian/East European target audience. There is live music in the ground floor section and there are East European coyote dancers upstairs. More of a disco than a place for erotic entertainment.

The new bar at the corner of LK Metro and Soi Buakhao will be named Club BLU and should open by mid January 2008.

The ground floor will be a coyote dance club, the 1st floor a lounge with 2 short time rooms. The 2nd and 3rd floor will be guest rooms. On the roof will be sun beds and an outside shower.

The owners have a good track record of attracting talent eg at U Too Bar in North Pattaya.

The old Climax Rock bar has been gutted, both the inside and outside sections and the banners have gone up advertising for staff for Magic Palace A-GoGo.

The new bar is located under Polo Entertainment next door to Lollipop A-GoGo.

We would like to invite everyone to have a look at our remodelled club. New layout with more sofas, lower main stage in the center plus 2 small stages will get you near our showgirls and dancers. Showtime as usual from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

Promotion 19th and 20th of December: Chang and Singha (Bottles), Gin, Vodka, Bacardi, Thai Whiskey and Soft drinks only 65 Baht all night!

Roxy is a showbar situated on Walking Street opposite Tony's Disco

There's a new website listing the bars of Soi 6 at www.soisixpattaya.com.

The intention is to give a detailed listing for each bar (and other businesses). For the moment there is a useful map of the soi with all the bars listed along with other shops and restaurants etc.

Two new venues have opened for coyote dancing.

Jomtien Lucky Bar in Jomtien Complex on Thappraya Road is an impossibly small looking bar for dancing but it advertises coyotes and disco from 10pm.

Hotties Club is a coyote dance club  situated at the back of the new beer bar complex located almost opposite Mike Shopping Mall on Second Road.

The place is owned by the well-known Khun Lek, the operator of the similar Honeypot and long-running Classroom 2000 gogo.

There is a friendly foreign manager, a live band playing good older popular music, a DJ who also spins discs that would be familiar to most people, and, most importantly, plenty of ladies. Most are friendly and interact with the customers. Libations are reasonably priced with house spirits at 95 baht.

We are refitting Electric Blue as a high quality fast food and snack bar open 24/7 aimed mainly at the takeaway market but having about 25 seats inside.

The menu will be similar to Foodland with many additional Farang dishes including lamb Kebabs (not chicken or Pork).

We will still call it "Electric Blue" Takeaway & Snack Bar as people know the name and location.

We will be opening soon (about 1 week) but in a low key way.  This to make sure that we can offer a quality service for a big opening party late January.

The Copyright Police are currently conducting raids around Pattaya on a daily basis, however it appears that there are still some bogus groups taking money from unsuspecting business owners.

This is one such case which was reported to Police Lieutenant Colonel Chayaporn at Pattaya Police Station on Monday Night. Khun Ootai from the Sakura 96 Bar in Soi 15 off Walking Street explained that a man who claimed he was from the Red Beat International Co, a record label based in Bangkok, demanded money due to Copyright violations at the Bar. The sum of 60,000 Baht was handed over to a man named as Khun Prabit on 6th December to cover Copyright violation offences.

However, Prabit was in fact from a rival record label and on 10th December another representative from the Red Beat Company went to the bar and was told by the owner that money had already been paid over to Prabit. We understand that legal proceedings are now underway between the Red Beat Company and a rival record label in Bangkok concerning this and other similar cases.

Sakura Club was closed temporarily by the owner and should be re-open again now.

Kilkenny, the Irish themed restaurant and bar has had a makeover. It is now named Molly Malone's

The large, previously derelict, building next door to Hammer Disco has become King Cafe, a terrace restaurant.

Both Angels A-GoGo and Hot Girls A-GoGo have started early/afternoon opening.

The old Follies Pigalle GoGo opposite Tony's was empty for ages. It then became a simulator ride, but that soon failed and it became a bookshop. But it doesn't seem to be a lucky venue and the bookshop has now closed as well.

Weekend 14-16th December

It is reported that no alcohol can be served from 6.00pm, Friday December 14th to midnight on Sunday December 16. This is because of political rallies over the last weekend before the election, rallies which authorities fear could turn in to protests, demonstrations or worse. The last thing they want is to add alcohol to an already volatile mix.

Pattaya's Beach Road will be closed to make way for political rallies and no doubt the resulting traffic congestion will add to the unease.

There is debate that the alcohol ban on this weekend may be limited to Bangkok and that Pattaya may escape.

22nd-25th December

The booze block from 6.00pm, December 22nd to midnight, December 23rd is already common knowledge and will be enforced by law with a large police presence. The world will be watching!

Recently Thai TV news reported that the public holiday on 24th December will be dry but some Thai boards are now claiming Christmas Day will also be alcohol free. The justification for the post election alcohol ban is unclear and unverified. It seems that some areas have local elections that will cause an extension to the ban. Also the authorities seem edgy that the elections may generate unrest and so may have their eye on an alcohol ban for this reason.

Behind Bars

Stickman adds to the concerns by suggesting that police enforcement may be strict with the possibility of prison time for sellers and drinkers alike!

Spicy A-GoGo is relocating from Soi Pattayaland 1 to Soi Post Office

They are having a closing party at Pattayaland on December 21st!

The will be having an opening party on Soi Post Office on the 28th December!

Perhaps the bar is escaping from the onward march of the boy bars in Pattayaland 1.

YU? bar on Thappraya Road, opposite the Jomtien Complex, has been struggling to be a gogo for a while now. But now the bar is displaying a large hand drawn karaoke sign on the front door.

Presumably the bar has given up pretending to be a gogo.

Roxy is open during the remodelling phase which will be completed 18th of December

The middle stage is in place already, more sofas, more tables and two more smaller stages (one for dancers, one for something unique in Pattaya) will complete our changes.

Shows are on as usual from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily - from now on in the center of the club which gets our girls nearer to the customer.

Kitten Club on soi Pattayaland 2 seems to have split into two. There are now two doors; one saying Kitten Club and the other Obsessions. They look to be two separate clubs.

Now Obsessions in Bangkok's Nana Plaza is a ladyboy bar so there is the possibility that this is the case in Pattaya too.

Due to high prices and customer unfriendly policies such as unpriced bills in the bin, Kitten Club is on the Thai-Anxiety, "Never Again" list. So it may be a while before further details are available.

Kitten Club also has a large impressive new neon sign.

The Walking Street hostess bar, FLB, has installed a live public webcam which can be viewed at Pattaya-Live.

I can't think of anything more dangerous to people's marriages and relationships than the combination of public webcam, alluring ladies, barfines and drink.

I guess the girls with sponsors will be non too happy either.

I wonder if the bar at least displays prominent warning notices.

Most if not all inside bars will now have CCTV cameras overlooking the bar (not just the entrance) but most will surely be keeping them as private as possible.

Get fired up for an evening of partying at Shooters Bar on Soi Diamond.

Fire-up hour prices:

• Draught Tiger, Chang, Singha, Singha Light, Tiger 35 Baht
• Smirnoff Vodka, Gordons Gin, Bacardi, Red Label, Jim Beam (w. Mixer, 33 ml/1.1 fl oz!) 60 Baht
• Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Water, Soda, Fruit Juice, Diet Coke, Lemonsoda 35 Baht

Fire up hour happens every night from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. Starting date is Saturday, December 8!

Bars have already been told that no alcohol can be served from 6.00pm, Friday December 14th to midnight on Sunday December 16. This is because of political rallies over the last weekend before the election, rallies which authorities fear could turn in to protests, demonstrations or worse. The last thing they want is to add alcohol to an already volatile mix.

The booze block from 6.00pm, December 22nd to midnight, December 23rd is already common knowledge. Recently Thai TV news reported that the public holiday on 24th December will be dry but some Thai boards are now claiming Christmas Day will also be alcohol free. The justification for Christmas Day is unclear and unverified.

There is also a local Pattaya election around Christmas so this may have an impact too.

There is building work going on at the Club Electric Blue Jr in Soi Diamond.

The neon still reads Electric Blue so perhaps the developers still have a gogo in mind.

A bar counter has been built in front of the bar.

There seems to have been a bit of a last minute decision to make the King's Birthday a dry day.

No doubt the gogo bars and other large bars will adhere to the rules but there will surely be a few smaller places for a beer.

The ban on drinks is a local decision and there are reports that Phuket is celebrating the King's birthday with a little more spirit than Pattaya

The beer bars on Soi 6/1 (ie those opposite the Soi 6 bars) have had their day and are now scheduled to make way for whatever the latest development is.

A Norwegian was beaten up and severely injured allegedly by a British bar owner and employees late Saturday night.

Police said Bjorn Tennebek, 45, was admitted to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital at 3:30 am Sunday.

His two eyes were badly injured with sprayed pepper and he suffered severe cuts on his head and had a badly-bruised face.

The man told police that the owner of Champagne Go-Go Bar on Soi Buakhao, Central Pattaya, assaulted him.

He said he went to drink at the bar Saturday night and when he was about to pay his bill, he found that he was overcharged by Bt60. When he asked the cashier to review the bill, the bar owner, who appeared to be a Briton, showed up and alleged that he was refusing to pay the bill.

The tourist told police that the Briton sprayed pepper over his eyes and had two or three bar workers drag him out and they started beating him.

He said passer-bys helped send him to the hospital.

Pattaya police chief Pol Col Noppadol Wongnom said he would later interrogate the Norwegian so that police would take legal action against the bar owner.