The Avenue Mall on 2nd Road opposite Soi 13 has proclaimed the construction of  the Fabulous Entertainment Complex.

Unfortunately the plans do not include anything along the lines of GoGo bars and beer bars.

Instead there are two new elements to the Fabulous Entertainment. Firstly a new swish looking awning style roof is being built over the courtyard. This will then be used as an open air but covered concert area. No doubt for the traditional live band style open air bar.

Secondly the floor above where the phone shops are is to become a large open area for pubs, ie bars with no girls. Presumably they will be targeting Russian couples, I don't suppose the idea will have much appeal to many westerners in Pattaya.

Pattaya-at-Night is reporting that there is a new GoGo taking shape on Soi Buakhao. It is said to have a clinic theme.

It is being built in the Blue Rantree Complex which is a new beer bar complex perhaps half way between the Soi LK Metro area and South Pattaya Road.

There are two new  beer bar complexes in that area but they don't seem to have drawn many people south from Soi LK Metro yet. Perhaps a GoGo will help.

A previous attempt on the area with an earlier Paradise A-GoGo didn't quite stay the distance. GoGos need to be in a group so that customers can try somewhere else, should there be nothing that catches the eye.

The bar has a banner proclaiming the name Rehab but this doesn't actually mention GoGo. Instead it just says that it will be called Rehab Bar and Lounge.

A smart looking new dance bar seems nearly finished on Soi LK Metro. It is located between Queen Club and MASH.

It is a multi levelled affair with dancing in the middle floor. Not found out much about the place, but given the unique design, there may be some innovative ideas for what goes down there too.

Happiness A-GoGo is located at the centre of Soi 7. The venue was previously Tiger and before that Tattoo.

The bar has a rectangular stage with 6 poles and normally occupied by 6-8 coyote dancers. It also has a small cage/shower show area and usually empty. Customer seating is along the walls and on stools at tables, and stools around the stage.

During the hourly shows which lasted for about 15-20 minutes, dancers were topless and there were also lesbian nudes. The cage also provided a very enthusiastic lesbian show which even had all the staff watching.

As for the promised 50 girls, the bar has maybe 20 dancers. The rest were service staff and freelancers?

Bottled beer was 110 Baht. No draft was available.

The opening was very rushed. It was too busy and very disorganized with no signage inside and TV's not working.

And as a bit of a landmark for Pattaya it is the 80th bar with at least some girls dancing in bikinis or less.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Police Captain Chalerm, held a meeting of Police Officers from around the Pattaya region.

He began by demanding action on the well-documented Jet Ski Scams which have plagued Pattaya for many years. He wants urgent action and a report on how Police will plan to tackle this problem.

He also demanded action on late-opening Bars and stated that all bars in entertainment zones which permit late closing must be shut before 2.30am from now on.

On the 13th June Secrets Bar on Soi 14 fell victim to a raid by undercover police. Larry, known to many through the Secrets internet Forum was arrested.

For some reason the police were from the Crime Suppression unit of Bangkok.

Undercover police were told by an alleged prostitute that the female staff received 2,000 baht and 500 baht was the fee for a room in the adjoining hotel.

Eight policemen pretended to be tourists and caught two women in the act of offering sex. The two suspects were taken to Pattaya Police station for questioning.

Hopefully all got sorted later.

Happiness A-GoGo is taking shape at the centre of Soi 7. It will occupy the venue that was an indoor bar and coyote bar going by the names Tattoo and Tiger.

It is due to open on the 19th June although the workmen suggest later.

Interestingly the bar is announcing an opening with 50+ girls. This is probably well too hopeful for a new bar, but perhaps it indicates that the bar is related to an existing bar so that it can borrow the girls for the opening.

Each year Abraxas rates Walking Street GoGos primarily based on the bars with the most attractive girls.

He then organises a poll on Pattaya Addicts in which the forum members vote for their selections.

The current standing on this forum members poll is:

1 - Baccara 74 votes
2 - Airport 46 votes
3 - Baby Dolls 37 votes
4 - What's Up 34 votes
5 - Happy 28 votes
6/7 - Iron / Heaven Above 26 votes
8 - Windmill 24 votes
9 - Peppermint 23 votes
10/11 - Sapphire / Fahrenheit 22 votes

Happiness A-GoGo is taking shape at the centre of Soi 7. It will occupy the venue that was an indoor bar and coyote bar going by the names Tattoo and Tiger. It is due to open on the 19th June.

A new GoGo on Soi LK Metro is imminent. It looks pretty smart and is just a couple of doors north of MASH A-GoGo.

And in the longer term a new, the Fabulous Entertainment Complex is under construction at the courtyard of The Avenue Shopping Center. The venue is for beer bars and GoGos. It is located on 2nd Road opposite Soi 13.

Illusion Club Pattaya was a bells and whistles show bar with entrances on Soi 14 and Soi 15.

It has been closed and empty for a long time, but now the builders are in and the venue has been gutted.

The rumours are that the bar will re-open as a disco or nightclub.

The GoGo on Soi 15 that was previously Eazy Room A-GoGo, and before that Fun Room A-GoGo, has given up the GoGo game and has now reverted to a beer bar.

The venue was too small to be a GoGo and the beer bar option may be better.

The bar is hosting an opening party on Saturday 9th June

I visited Queen Club's Grand Opening on June 2 at 9:30 pm for about 2 hours.

As you enter the club:

• it has one long stage with 6 dancing poles and was occupied by 2-3 topless ladies followed by 4-6 coyote bikini clad dancers
   
• at the front left side of the club, there is a table dancing area with 1-2 coyote dancers (occasionally topless)
   
• at the back left is a Jacuzzi occupied by 1-3 naked girls, offering hands-on audience participation

Shows:

• costumed ladies descend from the second floor down a pole one at a time, usually ending up topless & lesbian.
   
• gymnastics shows featuring 1 or 2 ladies doing horizontal pole dancing
   
• lesbian shows using rings above the Jacuzzi

Prices:

• bottled beer from 100 Baht
   
• all ladies drinks 125 Baht

The Queen Club has the same owners as the Iron Club on Walking Street and offers great entertainment value.

It has set a new standard for agogo bars around Soi LK Metro as well as many on Walking Street.

See Google map of LK Metro bars

Update: Draft

7th June 2012. Thanks to Ishi

Queen Club has now introduced a draft beer priced at 60 baht all night. The GoGo will surely provide some welcome competition for other GoGos on the soi, particularly those that are more coyote than GoGo.

Club Relaxxx is located on the ground floor of the Covent Garden Complex on Soi 16, just off Walking Street.

The bar has just re-opened and Ishi looked in.

There were 7 dancers in the bar but 10 more are expected to join the bar on 5 June.

All the dancers were topless and bottomless and thankfully not a coyote in sight. Some were attractive.

The dancers were a friendly bunch too.

There is a Happy hour from 8:30pm - 10:30pm and there is a draught beer at 59B all night. Bar fines are 600B.

There is a new GoGo on the way on Soi 7. It will appear at the venue near the middle of the soi that was previously a coyote club called Tattoo.

Somewhat less hopefully there is another venue on the way at the Bali Hai Complex at teh south end of Walking Street.

The complex has previously been home to expensive clubs targetting Russians. It is unlikely to appear on the radar of westerners.

Club Relaxxx is the ground floor bar below X-Zone in Covent Garden.

The bar re-opened towards the end of May. Mamasang Mikki is in attendance presumably bringing along her entourage of dancers. Not yet sure what format of dancing is on show.

So there are now 79 bars in Pattaya with dancing girls in bikinis or less.

Gentlemen's Club is located at the centre of Soi Diamond.

The bar seems to be trying a unique policy of GoGo days alternating with coyote days.

On a GoGo days the girls are mostly bikini clad with some topless.

The alternating started with the 27th May being a GoGo day and the 28th being a coyote day.

It would be interesting to know how it pans out and whether the bar has a bigger take on GoGo days.

The now has a 50 Baht Happy Hour until 10pm.

Louis was a very popular nightlife personality. He was the long time manager of Paris A-GoGo which closed a couple of years ago in Soi Diamond.

He has died in a care home back in his native France.

Adieu Louis.

Queen Club opened on 26th May 2012. It is located opposite Lolita's on Soi LK Metro.

The new bar is from the team that brought you Iron Club on Walking Street.

On the opening night there were nearly 20 dancers in the bar, and  all were coyotes.

I heard that there is Jacuzzi show which starts after midnight.

No draught beer, bottled beer is from 100B.

The Armageddon Bar on Soi LK Metro is having a facelift.

It's still trading using the front part of the bar but the back is closed off and having new toilets fitted and then the wall between comes down.

Should be finished in about another week.

There are still plenty of scrap metal sculptures around the place but they have moved Jonny Depp out of the way of the dust and he will be back when the building work is finished.

They got rid of the croc because it grew too big.

Carousel A-GoGo is located on the quieter side of Soi Diamond.

It has been dark for a couple days, but staff were spotted inside last night.

There's no word whether this is a short term hitch or something more long term.

Update:

And indeed the 'For Sale' sign has gone up, the bar is closed, and Pattaya's GoGo count drops to 77.

Soi 6 was closed by police this evening. Every bar was shut down and all the girls/lady boys made to undergo piss testing and their ID checked for age.

This seems to be a yearly event these days.

Update: Mass Arrests

8th May 2012. See article from pattayaone.net

Police checked the licenses of each venue and the ID of the girls to ensure that no minors were working in the bars. No irregularities were found and the police turned their attentions to drug tests. Over 100 women and transsexuals were urine tested with 60 of them failing the test which led to their arrest.

The 50 women and 10 transsexuals were later transferred to Pattaya Police Station and charged with class 1 drug consumption offences. The majority of the arrestees claimed they failed the tests as they were taking prescribed medication.

The bars have re-opened for business.

Update: Follow Up

9th May 2012. See article from pattayadailynews.com

This press report seems to give a more believable figure of 60 positive tests out of 400 rather than the 100 reported earlier.

Also in light of concerns about slimming tables inducing positive tests, those tested positive will be given follow up tests before being charged with offences.

Silver Star is located on Soi 8 towards the Beach Road end

The bar has once again 'closed for renovation'. Presumably it is now set for a seasonal opening pattern, and is only open during high season from December through April.

The girls have been redeployed to Silver Star 2 a few metres away on Soi 7.

There are now 77 gogos with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Club Relaxxx has gone dark on the ground floor of Covent Garden.

It had re-opened a few months ago, initially as a coyote bar, but it didn't make much impact.

There's now a bar for sale sign on the door.

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

Roxy on Walking Street has rebuilt its entrance. It has done away with the tunnel and replaced it with an open space.

Interestingly this is done in conjunction with the old Hootiy's bar right next door. And it looks like something new is afoot there too.

Update: Roxy 2

In fact the old Hooty's is set to become Roxy 2 .

It will be a coyote bar and should be open in about a month from now.

New York New York is located on Soi Marine Plaza at the venue that was once Coyotee's A-GoGo.

It is part coyote bar, part show bar, part night club surely targeted at tourists rather than expats. It is reported to be the same owners as Moon Club.

Thanks to Ishi:

I have visited twice since Songkran. I saw about 20 dancers in the bar each night. 5 dancers on the main stage. There are 2 big wine glasses (which are half filled with water) right and left of the main stage. Each glass has 1 dancer. All dancers are coyotes.

They have 2 shows which begin from midnight. One is topless (some use pasties) with 5 Thai ladies, the other is underwear/bikinis by 3 East European ladies. 1 or 2 European dancers dance off the stage (to collect tips).

There is draught beer at 65B, soft drinks are 100B, bottled beer is120B and lady drinks are 160B. Bar Fines are 1500-1800B (1000B after midnight)

Wait staff t-shirts say New York New York A Go Go. But it's difficult to say that this really qualified as a GoGo.

The shows just about squeeze the bar into the GoGo definition, so there are now 79 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Gentlemen's Club is located at the centre of Soi Diamond.

I visited after Songkran and saw 7 or 8 dancers in the bar. All dancers on stage were coyotes. But they also have a short show, with just one lady getting naked.

Draught beer 95B, soft drinks 95B, bottled beer 95B-135B, Lady drinks 130B (but with lady shots  100B) Bar Fine 600B (show girl 800B)

The sign says Gentlemen's Club A Go Go. But it's difficult to say that this really qualified as a GoGo.

However just squeezing into the list with it a naked showgirl, this bumps up the GoGo count to a healthy 78.

New York New York was set to open on 2nd April at the Soi Marine Plaza venue that was previously Coyotee's A-GoGo. It is said to be a coyote bar and.

However it did not quite make the opening day target and looks in need of 2 or 3 days more work.

Update:

The bar duly opened and the only thing I have heard so far is that it has agency dancers.

Update from Pattaya Talk

As I'm not venturing out until after Songkran here's some info from the forums.

New York New York is connected with Moon Club and is charging similarly high prices. It is said to be half coyote bar, half night club.

Barfines are 2000 before midnight and 1000 after. Lady drinks are 160 Baht but bottled beers are a more reasonable 120 Baht.

Pattaya at Night is reporting that the next new bar to open in Soi LK Metro will be named Queen's Club A-GoGo. It is located opposite Lolita's.

I'm not sure what type of bar it will be, but the name does somewhat suggest ladyboys.

Update:

Queen's Club A-GoGo is from the team that created Iron Club on Walking Street. Is it a coincidence that  Iron Club is also a name with gay allusions?

But that aside, there have been a few changes since the last update.

Lovejoys has given way to Wet Dream. It was previously an open bar but now the front wall has been restored.

Kiss Kool has had the same idea and have just restored their front wall. I'm not sure if this will change the way the bar operates or not, but it will have to wait until the end of Songkran before I give it a look. The bar is now under new management.

Ruby Club has re-opened more or less the same as before, except that this inside bar is now signed as something naughty and enticing. Again something to try once the water madness has dried up.

Sky Bar has been dark for a while and  is sporting a for rent or sale sign.

One of Pattaya's long running soapy massage parlours in north Pattaya has closed. Sabai Land has closed on the corner of 2nd Road and Soi 3. Two nearby sister parlours, Sabai Rooms and Sabai Dee will no doubt pick up the slack.

Soapy massage parlours don't quite seem to make the same impact in Pattaya as they do in Bangkok. Pattaya reviewers generally report that is something to try once but repeated visits soon get to be a bit mechanistic.

Update:

Pattaya at Night reports that the venue is being renovated and will re-open after extensive rework.

Three Australians have bought Gentlemen's Club in Soi Diamond, right next door to Spanky's.

Renovations are being completed and the new owners hope to have the ground floor open around Wednesday 11th April. The 2nd floor should open 2 - 3 weeks from now.

There is a royal funeral on Monday 9th of June. The bars have been asked to turn off the lights and music for 3 days from the 8th to the 10th. This seems to mean that the main gogos, coyote bars and discos will be closed for those 3 days.

However it seems that the beer bars will be allowed to remain open in a low key way.

Maybe the 3 days off will spill over into a welcome long break for the girls who like to go home for Songkran (official holidays stretching over 13-17th, and water being thrown from 11th-19th).

So a 12 day break from the GoGos for those who choose to avoid the water madness.

Update:

There seems to be a bit of buzz that the GoGos will try for a re-opening on 10th.

There was plenty of music on TV on the 8th so its not a total prohibition. It looks like entertainment programmes will be banished from TV on the day of the funeral itself, on the 9th.

Baron Club is located on Soi Diamond, near Pratamnak Road

Baron Club closed after a police raid in mid March.

It re-opened on 1st April with the added hassle that dancers will be strictly bikini clad for a month.

Mamasang Miki has departed and taken some of the younger dancers with her.

There are now quite a healthy 77 Pattaya area bars with dancers in bikinis or less.

Guugle Show is located on Walking Street above Champion and with the entrance next door.

Guugle had a few days off to complete a bit of building work. The replaced a stage previously used for shows with more seating. The bra is now more focused on the central stage.

The GoGo count returns to 76, albeit including the intermittent Eazy A-GoGo.

Meanwhile New York New York will open at the Soi Marine Plaza venue that was previously Coyotee's A-GoGo. The new bar looks set to be a coyote bar and will open on 2nd April 2012.