Glamour A-GoGo recently opened in the Bali Hai Complex at the southern end of Walking Street.
The bar was closed on Christmas day with a hand written notice proclaiming that it would be re-opening soon.
It has been closed since.
Hopefully just for a short time, the GoGo count drops to 90.
Update: Re-opening
30th December 2012. Thanks to Ishi
Glamour A-GoGo is now set to re-open on 5th January.
Obviously a bit of a disaster to miss out on the peak season week between Christmas and New
Year. There's been no explanation of the closure. A Guess maybe that agency dancer fees have a peak season premium too.
Miami A-GoGo opened on Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office). The venue was previously that used by Hot & Cold before it moved
I stopped by in the early evening and it was all very disappointing.
The bar is quite traditionally laid out with a
smallish central stage. There is comfortable bench seating to the right, a little bench seating to the left, but for the most part there is a long bar counter with a few swivel stools.
The bar looks a little incomplete as there is a large unused
space behind the central stage. Perhaps space for a Jacuzzi stage or something later. But in the meantime it leaves a lot of the back right bench seating overlooking exactly nothing.
There were just 2 dancers taking turns and each were dancing for
3 songs. Topless was the dress code. The dancers were below average. There were however 2 other bikini clad girls who were excused dancing for some reason. One was below below average, but the other was attractive. However she was enjoying a chat with
her friend rather than doing anything that may improve customer experience in the bar.
Draft beer was 50 Baht but that has already been reduced from the 60 Baht reported at the opening, a few days ago.
All very dreadful but at least its
bound to better next time.
A 23-year-old Thai man was fatally shot outside the Silver Star 2 GoGo bar on soi 7.
The victim may have been accidentally shot by a gunman, who apparently meant to kill his drinking companion. Others opened fire on the gunman as he ran down soi 7,
wounding him seriously as he collapsed.
When police reached the scene, they found one victim lying on the ground in a pool of blood, crying out in pain. He had been shot four times: in his right shoulder, stomach, in the middle of his back, and
under his right armpit.
The officers checked on two more victims, including one who was fatally shot. The dead victim was shot on his left cheek bone, and also through his left ribs, with the bullet severing an artery in his heart and killing him.
After initial investigation by police, it appeared that the killer had armed himself with a gun to seek revenge on another man over a previous dispute. The man who was killed was drinking with the intended victim.
Then other men with guns
shot the killer four times as he was trying to run away and escape down soi 7.
Update: High Noon! +/- 12 hours
29th December 2012. From Thai Visa with thanks to Dick Farang
Dick Farang noted that local press reports put the time of the shooting at 5pm and 4am.
However an eye witness added his experience to the Thai Visa forum and noted that the shooting occurred at around 3am:
OK as I was there I will put this story straight. We went inside the bar at around 3.00am (approx) We herd about 3 pops outside and I saw the security run inside, one had blood coming out of his neck. It turned out to be a flesh
wound. within a min all the staff were armed and went out.
We left about 5 mins later and outside there were at least 20 Thais arguing. At this point I did not see anyone fatally wounded outside like several stories have
suggested. Apparently the fatality was shot in the head. Well I do not think he was shot in the head with the initial 3 shots anyway otherwise I would have seen him floored outside! We walked away and the police sirens where coming from the top and
bottom of the soi. So all this secondary shooting must have erupted in the presence of the police as the guy lay on the beach road looked very similar to one of the Thais who was arguing outside.
To me it seems a second bout of
shooting must have started shortly after we got off. It was like the gun fight at the OK coral, EVERYONE was carrying.
It seems a bit of a race against time but Sugar Baby A-GoGo is looking to open tonight (24th December). It is located on the corner of Walking Street and Soi 14 and has ownership connections with Windmill on Soi Diamond.
It'll be the 91st GoGo in
the Pattaya area when it opens.
Meanwhile a surprise drop in drinks prices just at the start of the peak Christmas season. Lighthouse and Mandarin are now offering all time draft beer at 70B, down in peak time from the previous 80 Baht.
Update: Christmas Opening
25th December 2012. Thanks to Ishi
Sugar Baby failed to make Christmas Eve, but is now set to open on Christmas day at 7pm
Miami A-GoGo has opened its doors on Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office). It is located at the (thankfully) renovated bar that was the previous location for Hot & Cold.
The GoGo is offering draft beer at 60 Baht and a review will surely follow.
Meanwhile Submarine A-GoGo has re-opened on Soi LK Metro. This is a bout 6 weeks after being closed following a police raid.
There are now 90 Pattaya GoGo with girls dancing in bikinis or less. 90 marks a new zenith in the GoGo count and there
several more being built.
Hot and Cold is located at the 2nd Road end of Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office)
Hot and Cold has moved downstairs since my last visit. Having to climb the stairs in the remote hope of finding an attractive dancer to sit on your lap proved too much
for most customers, and the GoGo had dwindled to almost nothing.
The new area is very small, very cheap, and very traditional Hot & Cold. There is probably only enough seating for 8 customers (and their fondle slabs).
At least being
downstairs, there were a steady stream of people sticking their heads round the door for a gander. Actually a few stayed for a beer too.
The bar has also invested in a new sign.
And the best surprise of all was that there were 2 attractive
dancers out of the 6 in attendance.
The small bar seems cuddlier and friendlier than before, and I was tempted to stay for the odd half dozen beers by one of the attractive girls on hand.
Understandably Hot and Cold has many detractors
(probably the vast majority of GoGo goers), but if you are willing to shoo away the oldies, then I usually find there is plenty of good fun to be had.
All Pattaya's society big wigs got together for a promotional party to introduce a new beer from Pattaya, unimaginatively named Pattaya Lager.
From the label it seems that the brewer is sticking to the Thai convention of beers being associated
with animals. Perhaps the beer will be become known as Dolphin Beer.
The party pictures reveal a snappy promotional line:
Come Pattaya, Drink Pattaya
It might even take off!
However
reports suggest that the beer will be premium priced similarly to Heineken. Perhaps therefore will only appeal to novelty seeking tourists.
The Winchester has been well known in Jomtien since it was established in 1995. (Except for a period when it was named The Blind Beggar).
The bar has just been extensively renovated and will rejoin the fray on Friday 14th December 2012.
As
well as the traditional day time hostesses there will be themed nighttime entertainment promising such delights as oil wrestling, domination, sexy nurses and more.
There will be an opening promotion of free food at lunchtimes throughout December
(barring Christmas and New Year Eve)
A new A-GoGo bar (which has no name at this moment); is aiming to open on 25th December. It is located at the corner of Walking Street and Soi 14, opposite Mandarin.
New York New York; is set to re-open as an A-GoGo bar on 7th December.
Meanwhile 39 Baht happy hour draft has returned to Club Relaxxx.
Dreams Bar has re-opened after renovation on 27th November 2012.
The bar is located opposite Silver Star A-GoGo on Soi 8. In fact Dreams displayed a sign suggestiing that it would become a GoGo but this didn't pan out and the bar returned as a
coyote bar.
Update: Dreams
2nd December 2012. From ishi
I haven't see any dancers on the stage for the last 3 nights. More beer bar with a stage than a coyote bar.
Dreams Bar has re-opened after renovation on 27th November 2012.
The bar is located opposite Silver Star A-GoGo on Soi 8. In fact Dreams displayed a sign suggestion that it would become a GoGo but this didn't pan out and the bar returned as a
coyote bar.
Soi Yamato (Soi 13/1) is the home of the recently renovated Las Vegas and its sister bar Las Vegas III.
Soi Post Office (Soi 13/2) is the home of Club Nevada A-GoGo (which itself was once named Las Vegas).
A new GoGo is now taking shape
next door to the Londoner Bar just by Hot & Cold A-GoGo. The new bar is following the pattern and will be known as Miami A-GoGo.
There are currently 86 GoGos in the Pattaya area, but Miami is one of a few that will soon push the count up to
90.
Utopia A-GoGo is located on the corner of Walking Street and Soho Square.
The venue has now been renamed Upstairs A-GoGo but it is not yet sure if there has been a change of management.
There are now nominally 87 GoGos on the Pattaya
list but this figure is need of a re-count as there have been several recent chjanges.
Update: More Fun
20th November 2012. From Upstairs A-GoGo
The new renovated Upstairs Agogo Bar has a big Cacuzzi with
shower now where customers can play with the girls and enjoy.
There's a new bar Slogan: We have sexy girls and serve ice cold drinks .
Drink specials include an all night promotion: buy 1 get 1 free on house whiskey, rum,
vodka, or gin for just 119 baht. The bar has introduced cocktails and an extended range of mixers and beverages. They also offer a late hour special from 02-03 am (all bottled beers for 69 baht)
The police have been very active lately raiding bars. The current casualty list reads:
Club Relaxxx in the Covent Garden Complex is closed by police for 1 month from 15th November. There's a possibility to re-open on 22nd November.
New York New York on Soi Marin Plaza. The closure seems to be set for a month. The
bar has got a notice on the door claiming to be closed for renovation.
Submarine A-GoGo on Soi LK Metro is also closed. Presumably a month but this is not confirmed. One post on the Pattaya forums suggested that the closure may be
permanent.
Mum Bar re-opened 1st of December 2012. The bar had a bit of a upgrade, same layout, walls are now wooden, not painted,
There's a new pool table at the back of the bar, and as before there are coyote dancers.
Mum Bar is located on Soi
Diamond a few paces from Walking Street.
Carousel open air bar opposite Mum is looking at renovating after high season, putting air conditioning in with all glass walls in the area where you can sit down and drink.
Glamour A-GoGo has opened in the Bali Hai Complex at the south end of Walking Street. The venue was once set to be Ozone but that venture fell through.
The latest offering is run by Philip, a former co-owner of Lollipop.
I saw 6 coyotes and
about 10 dancers (some were topless) in the bar. There's a shower booth but nobody was in it. Show time by naked dancers has not started yet.
Draught beer is not ready yet.
Most of the signs outside are still Ozone They all will be
changed in one week. And some dancers who worked at Lollipop are going to join this bar.
Halo A-GoGo takes over where Lollipop A-GoGo left off
5th November 2012
Thanks to Ishi
Halo A-GoGo is located on Walking Street towards the Beach Road end.
Halo Club changed its name to Halo A-GoGo on 4th November.
I saw 11 dancers in the bar. Dancers are from Lollipop and they have the same number plates when they worked at
Lollipop. Two bottomless ladies were in a Jacuzzi and half of the dancers on the stage were topless.
draught beer was 59B(all night).
Barfines: Coyotes (they all dance outside): 1500B (1000B after midnight) GoGo dancers (they all dance
inside): 800B(600B after midnight)
There are now 88 bars in the Pattaya area with girls dancing in bikinis or less.
Ginza A-GoGo is newly opened on Walking Street next door to Nui's Club 2.
I was in Ginza last night around midnight. They did have draught beer for 65 baht as opposed to the 59 baht it costs during happy hour.
The upstairs bar is now open and features nude and topless dancers, while the downstairs dancers are now bikini-clad. However the upstairs bar is very tiny and only features 2 or 3 dancers at a time.
Club Oasis on Soi Buakhao has changed name and now bears the moniker The Club A-GoGo. However it has retained 'Oasis' in its tagline: An Oasis in Pattaya.
It is not yet clear as to the reason for the change. One suspects that it will be
known as Oasis for some time to come. "The Club" is not a very useful name as it is simply not clear in speech or typing as to what is being referred to. Not good for Google searches either.
The builders at Ginza A-GoGo have completed and the bar opened on 15th October. The bar is located next to Nui's Club 2 on Walking Street. And for background Ginza is a smart Tokyo shopping area.
On an opening night visit there
were 25-30 dancers in the bar and most of them were coyotes.
They have another stage on the upper floor, but it's not opened yet.
No drinks menu, no draught beer, no prices displayed outside.
Soft drinks are 95B, Bottled beer is 125B and bar fines are 600B. There is an early happy hour from 7:45pm to 9:00pm
The bar will take a week or so of soft opening to work out how it will operate.
Assuming that "mostly coyote" implies that some girls were dancing in bikinis then there are now 87 bars in the area with girls dancing in bikinis or less. An all time high and will creep higher in the next few days.
Update: Early Last Orders
23rd October 2012. Thanks to Ishi
Ginza have come up with an original idea. The bar now serves draft beer during the bar's short happy hour until 9pm. The option is then
hastily removed from the drinks menu for the rest of the evening.
It all sounds a bit mixed up. What's the point of attracting customers looking for a cheap drink and then totally pulling the rug on them a few minutes later?
Paradise A-GoGo has new owners who are well known in Walking Street where they own Sweethearts A-GoGo.
Johan has now outlined the vision for Paradise and it is to provide traditional GoGo pleasures with plenty of nudity and good value drinks
prices. Expensive coyotes and agency models are not going to be found in Paradise.
Connections are hoping that customers will find a girl or two that are attractive enough to barfine, and that expectations for compensation will be
reasonable. Drinkers will hopefully find a girl or two that is fun and friendly, and drinks prices will be reasonable enough to make for an enjoyable visit.
The previous friendly manager Paul is continuing in the job.
Hooty's Showgirls re-opened on 5th October on Walking Street next to Roxy and Insomnia.
However is has now become a pussy tricks show bar targeting tourist couples.
It has an entrance charge covering the first drink and seems to be part
of the chain that operates the similar Playgirls and Hot Girls. (The same owners also run GoGos targeting farang guys, such as Airport and Nui's Club 2).
Hooty's was previously a long running GoGo that specialised in sexy shows, but closed in June
2011 after a long decline.
There are now 86 bars in Pattaya that have girls dancing in bikinis or less. However this includes 2 expensive East European dance bars and 4 pussy tricks show bars that are unlikely to appeal to farang guys.
OMG, a GoGo on Soi 6 has changed hands and become Fun Seeker Dance Club.
OMG took over from Wanthana's in April 2011. The venue was Betty Boup before that.
This doesn't change Pattaya's GoGo count, but the count has been incremented
by one to 85 as topless dancers have been introduced at the new Showgirls on Soi LK Metro.
Show Girls on Soi LK Metro also opened on 4th October.
I visited Showgirls A-GoGo on Oct 5, 2012 and stayed there for the massive rain that night for 2-3 hours, before wading through ankle deep water on Soi LK
Metro and knee deep water on Soi Diana and Soi Buakhaow.
The downstairs is badly screwed up and agree with Ishi's comments. Go directly to the second floor stairs if you can negotiate those seated or standing around.
The second floor part is much bigger and lots more girls, some coyote in the window visible from Soi LK Metro, as well as various cages, some dancing topless on the second floor glass ceiling of the first floor.
The third floor is for parties and short time.
There is a glass elevator between the second and third floors which moves up and down with a coyote dancer visible from Soi LK Metro.
World Wide A-GoGo on Beach Road has now re-opened after renovations on 4th October.
Show Girls on Soi LK Metro also opened on 4th October. Initial forum comments centred on warm beer and a rather poor layout of the downstairs bar. Seems best
to try upstairs. Drinks prices are reported to be higher than the Soi LK norm.
Meanwhile Private Dancer on Soi 15 is set to open its new wing tonight (5th October). This is a new section of the bar added by merging in the old Eazy Room GoGo.
The GoGo count has now incremented to 82 but this does not include Showgirls. Early reports say that there is no nudity and that the girls are fully clothed. Maybe just a coyote bar for the moment.
World Wide A-GoGo on Beach Road is now set to re-open after renovations on 4th October.
But no doubt Show Girls on Soi LK Metro will steal the lime light when it opens on the same day.
One day behind is Teazers. It has had a bit of a
renovation and is implementing ideas to try and better use the rather narrow space. It is set to re-open on 5th October.
Meanwhile Ginza A-GoGo on Walking Street next to Nui's 2 is now targeting 17th October as an opening date.
An about a
month away there are new plans to bring back Hooty's. It has been closed for quite a while. There was a plan, that got at least as far as remodeling the entrance, for it to become Roxy 2, but this was later shelved. Talk at the time was for it to become
a coyote venue. Anyway the bar is now being renovated, and something new will appear in about a month's time.
Carlsberg, the world's fourth-biggest brewer, is returning to Thailand after a seven-year hiatus, following Heineken's successful bid to expand in Southeast Asia.
Carlsberg is teaming up with Singha Corp. to distribute, market and sell its brands
in the country, it said Sept. 28. Thailand, with a population of about 67 million, is one of the few Southeast Asian countries where the Copenhagen-based brewer has a negligible footprint. The joint venture with the maker of Leo beer gives Carlsberg a
partner that controls almost 60% of Thailand's beer market.
The Danish brewer has stumbled in Thailand before. A joint venture formed in 2000 with Chang Beverages, failed to develop as planned. The story was that Chang were caught relabeling Chang
as Carlsberg rather than brewing to the approved Carlsberg recipe.
Mandarin Walking Street opened on 1st October 2012 at 8pm.
It is located at the corner of Soi 14 and will add to the chain of Tiger, Shark, Fahrenheit and Lighthouse.
A visit on opening night revealed that everything is almost the same as
other Shark Group GoGos.
However the dancers were rather over-dressed. I counted nearly 30 dancers on the stage in the 2 teams. I saw no bottomless dancers, and just a couple of topless dancers.
There are now 82 bars with girls dancing in
bikinis or less. And there are several more are about to come online.