Pattaya Go-go bars, beer bars & restaurants (News closures and Updates)

[Mrmango]

1 hour ago, Horizondave said:

The reason, I could take the wife, no sexy shows except for coyote dancers (I think that's what you call them). Wife felt comfortable as nothing was going on, no nude dancers, no seedy guys playing with girls, seemed well run with professional staff attending. Mamasans chatted to us regularly.

Maybe some would disagree with what I have said but I can only go by what I saw.

I understand all of that of course, but that was not what I thought the bar would be when explained to me.

As much as I dislike Ben's ethics I admit he was a marketing genius - He took a unfavorable location with an outlier business plan and made it work for many years.

[Butch]

I only ventured into Secrets a few times, on one occasion I felt a bit of "imposter syndrome" as s few guys looked over at me from a table. I was meeting a mate in there.

My main reason for going in prior to it closing was to see Moulee, we went through a few cocktails together one night, and reminisced about the time we found the "FLB Book of cocktails" hidden above the bar one evening in FLB, whereby again, we went through the lost together. I really hope she's doing OK now.

Secrets was a really nicely laid out bar, relaxed but as a non BM of the forum back then, and as an occasional visitor, I did think it was a bit of a clique. I was never a fan of Hilly nor him me. It did have a damn fine selection of girls though.

I have known Ben since his pre pattaya days , he ran a pub in my home town. I'm aware of how he became the person he is today. Under the surface he was a decent chap, to me anyway. He did save me after my drink was spiked in Thailand many moons ago, got me back to my Hotel and sorted a girl to stay with me to make sure I was OK. He wanted to take me to hospital as I was in a bit of a mess, but I went against that idea.

Over time I distanced myself from him, only because those I associated with had been subject of some dodgy deals and I was a bit hurt by the fact he was largely responsible.

Like many events of Pattaya past, some are best left confined to history and eventually forgotten about. Ben was no different to many guys who decide to make their living there, no different from the old Penthouse or Classroom "shares" that were sold to unwitting guys wanting to have the boast back home of "owning part of a bar in Thailand".

 

[Horizondave]

1 hour ago, Mrmango said:

I understand all of that of course, but that was not what I thought the bar would be when explained to me.

As much as I dislike Ben's ethics I admit he was a marketing genius - He took a unfavorable location with an outlier business plan and made it work for many years.

Felt it was a place that had a regular clientele, the sort who could make it their first and last bar of the night, the type who could chat, as the music wasn't so loud.

It obviously did food, and it was a great drinking place (drinks station surrounded by seating), so it seemed more of a social meeting place rather than a full on go go. The girls dancing almost seemed an afterthought, but were enough to keep some entertained and coming back.

As I said it was a place I could go with my lady; I think also, Mr Egg was working there when I was visiting, so did occasionally have a chat at the bar.

Think I did pop in solo occasionally but never felt pushed by the ladies, which is a total plus for me. It is a reason I rarely pop into a go go in Patpong, when in Bangkok, impossible to sit, drink and watch without company arriving next to you the minute you sit down.

 

[bob lt]

8 hours ago, boydeste said:

That is a perfect assessment of the model Secrets had.

Was my all time favourite bar. Lost count of the amount of girls that found their way to my room from there!

Only ever took one girl from there, must have been back in 2010. Great girl, stayed until 2 p.m. LT used to mean long time back then.

[Lirchenfeld]

I think I ever only visit Secrets twice. One drink, a pee and out again. The place didn't appeal to me.

I liked the forum though and stayed there till the end.

[maipenrai]

I was a regular visitor on my trips, spent my fair share of time and money there and always enjoyed my visits; didn't really do a lot of barfines from there but bought lots of lady drinks. 

[Jambo]

19 hours ago, Horizondave said:

Felt it was a place that had a regular clientele, the sort who could make it their first and last bar of the night, the type who could chat, as the music wasn't so loud.

It obviously did food, and it was a great drinking place (drinks station surrounded by seating), so it seemed more of a social meeting place rather than a full on go go. The girls dancing almost seemed an afterthought, but were enough to keep some entertained and coming back.

As I said it was a place I could go with my lady; I think also, Mr Egg was working there when I was visiting, so did occasionally have a chat at the bar.

Think I did pop in solo occasionally but never felt  pushed by the ladies, which is a total plus for me. It is a reason I rarely pop into a go go in Patpong, when in Bangkok, impossible to sit, drink and watch without company arriving next to you the minute you sit down.

 

Nightclub/hotel/forum/Villa/cruiser/three "taxi's"/ 30+ hostess /Food/Great sound system/Party nights/live music.

Hardly anyone ( least of all most of the shareholders) had the faintest idea how successful Secrets was for a good number of years. An absolute cash cow with a nights takings more than most bars took in a week or more.

Let the good times roll. Ben was more like the Brother I never had.

Then the addiction set in.

He started playing poker from Manila to Vegas to New Zealand to St Petersburg etc etc never once telling me when he was coming back. Larry used to keep me updated as to how he was doing in the tournaments.

I resigned when he didn't leave me enough in the bank to pay the staff monthly wages. Phil and I were always the last to get paid.

What a shame.

 

 

[Glasseye]

20 hours ago, Horizondave said:

Felt it was a place that had a regular clientele, the sort who could make it their first and last bar of the night, the type who could chat, as the music wasn't so loud.

It obviously did food, and it was a great drinking place (drinks station surrounded by seating), so it seemed more of a social meeting place rather than a full on go go. The girls dancing almost seemed an afterthought, but were enough to keep some entertained and coming back.

As I said it was a place I could go with my lady; I think also, Mr Egg was working there when I was visiting, so did occasionally have a chat at the bar.

Think I did pop in solo occasionally but never felt pushed by the ladies, which is a total plus for me. It is a reason I rarely pop into a go go in Patpong, when in Bangkok, impossible to sit, drink and watch without company arriving next to you the minute you sit down.

 

 

26 minutes ago, Jambo said:

Nightclub/hotel/forum/Villa/cruiser/three "taxi's"/ 30+ hostess /Food/Great sound system/Party nights/live music.

Hardly anyone ( least of all most of the shareholders) had the faintest idea how successful Secrets was for a good number of years. An absolute cash cow with a nights takings more than most bars took in a week or more.

Let the good times roll. Ben was more like the Brother I never had.

Then the addiction set in.

He started playing poker from Manila to Vegas to New Zealand to St Petersburg etc etc never once telling me when he was coming back. Larry used to keep me updated as to how he was doing in the tournaments.

I resigned when he didn't leave me enough in the bank to pay the staff monthly wages. Phil and I were always the last to get paid.

What a shame.

 

 

 

I don't remember what year it was. I had been on the forum for at least a year or more before I was able to get over here and get in there.

I was so excited. I sat down at the bar, had a drink all full of energy and anticipation. I was psyched.

Then Ben came in and I recognized him. I approached him to introduce myself. 

Within that first 15 seconds or so my feelings turned from elation to sheer disappointmnet. Shaking his hand was like grabbing a shelled clam. His general attitude deflated me almost instantly. It is difficult to explain the feeling I had at that moment.

Then from somewhere in the back corner of the bar a savior appears from the darkness. This dude from Detroit. The lightswitch in my gut was turned back on, and everything was again good with the world.

I didn't do a lot of nights there, but had a few good ones. I think it was that trip where I met this bloke named Stew.

As the next few years rolled on Dolls was where all the really fun times happened for me at least. Some of those nights in there were beyond belief in terms of good times. And extremly therapudic for me. Still much appreciated.  

[Scottie]

When I first went in I met Larry and any other visits he always took time

out to speak.

[tko]

I used to mostly visit during the day, maybe early evening, every visit to Thailand.  Those were the Larry years, and I enjoyed meeting several Secret's forum BMs on the Sunday get togethers.  We even brought our (~2yo) daughter in for lunch now and again.

I also saw Ben's personality decay, but I didn't know the reason.  From the way he fidgeted the last time I met him I thought it might be yahbah.

[Butch]

1 hour ago, tko said:

I used to mostly visit during the day, maybe early evening, every visit to Thailand.  Those were the Larry years, and I enjoyed meeting several Secret's forum BMs on the Sunday get togethers.  We even brought our (~2yo) daughter in for lunch now and again.

I also saw Ben's personality decay, but I didn't know the reason.  From the way he fidgeted the last time I met him I thought it might be yahbah.

Ben was a chunky bloke while he ran FLB, he dropped a shedload of weight fairly quickly while he was at Secrets. I did ask him if it was due to all the running he was doing, getting away from debtors, police and immigration and to be fair he did see the funny side of it.

He always had the fidgets, whenever he spoke to me he'd never be still, always moving his head or torso from left to right, like an excited kid at Xmas. I don't think he was ever on "the gear" though, but as I said earlier I had distanced myself from him by that time. I think he always spoke to me as I knew his Ex in UK and also exactly what happened when he decided to break all ties and head to Thailand, but that's not for this public knowledge on this forum.

I was not complicit in it in any way, in case anyone is wondering.

Last time I spoke to him he showed me his new Rolex, and very nice it was as well.

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Butch

[Nightcrawler]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

Ben was a chunky bloke while he ran FLB, he dropped a shedload of weight fairly quickly while he was at Secrets. I did ask him if it was due to all the running he was doing, getting away from debtors, police and immigration and to be fair he did see the funny side of it.

He always had the fidgets, whenever he spoke to me he'd never be still, always moving his head or torso from left to right, like an excited kid at Xmas. I don't think he was ever on "the gear" though, but as I said earlier I had distanced myself from him by that time. I think he always spoke to me as I knew his Ex in UK and also exactly what happened when he decided to break all ties and head to Thailand, but that's not for this public knowledge on this forum.

I was not complicit in it in any way, in case anyone is wondering.

Last time I spoke to him he showed me his cock, and very nice it was as well.

 

Slight bit of comprehension adjustmen,in the  last paragraph

😁😁

[Yesitisdakid]

After I made the move from secrets to baby dolls one night a very good customer that I had had at Secrets came in. He told me he was having dinner at secrets Ben came up to him and started talking to him about poker and then was twitching and jerking and bouncing up and down he said it made him dizzy 😊

[Yesitisdakid]

This photo taken from this week's Stickman weekly shows an aerial view of the Las Vegas beer bar complex. Looks like they've got the concrete foundation in and that's all. When I went by earlier in the week in the middle of the afternoon there was not a worker insight in the place was locked up tight. That could have been because of the holiday they might be back on it shortly but I don't think it's going to meet its original January 15th opening deadline or for that matter even the end of January but stranger things have happened I wish them the best of luck

[forcebwithu]

What I had hoped might be a strictly drinking place in the Prommannee location is looking like it'll be a pizzeria.

The restaurant and drinking place opposite Nirun will soon have competition. The cynic in me thinks it doesn't bode well for the peace and quiet of the area.

[Yesitisdakid]

7 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

What I had hoped might be a strictly drinking place in the Prommannee location is looking like it'll be a pizzeria.

The restaurant and drinking place opposite Nirun will soon have competition. The cynic in me thinks it doesn't bode well for the peace and quiet of the area.

I was wondering if we would be getting a new pizza place just what we need 😊

[Blue Streak]

Danny's Sport Bar on Soi Buakhao where the old K Bank used to be.....

[Lemondropkid]

4 minutes ago, Blue Streak said:

Danny's Sport Bar on Soi Buakhao where the old K Bank used to be.....

Not one customer watching a TV😀

[boydeste]

22 minutes ago, Lemondropkid said:

Not one customer watching a TV😀

Probably Spurs playing.

 

 

 

 

[bob lt]

1 hour ago, boydeste said:

Probably Spurs playing.

 

 

 

 

Ouch 

[Lemondropkid]

9 hours ago, boydeste said:

Probably Spurs playing.

 

 

 

 

Ouch! 

We are one of the most , if not the most entertaining teams in the  league, an outrageous statement !!!

[Horizondave]

12 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

Ouch! 

We are one of the most , if not the most entertaining teams in the  league, an outrageous statement !!!

Yes, when I look on my HDPrime streaming app, I don't look on the Sports section anymore for Spurs, their games are now always in the comedy section on Sky lol

[Lemondropkid]

24 minutes ago, Horizondave said:

Yes, when I look on my HDPrime streaming app, I don't look on the Sports section anymore for Spurs, their games are now always in the comedy section on Sky lol

...Pot...Kettle...Black.

[Horizondave]

2 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

...Pot...Kettle...Black.

Yes, we were also on the comedy channel for a while but luckily we got promoted back to the sports channel lol

[Blue Streak]

A quick look around the new bar complex behind Myth Night.....

This morning about 1.00......