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Walking Street - The future if any?


john luke

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Walking street like many other past prominent nightlife places will bounce back, if and when restrictions are removed and some sort of normality resumes. Before covid when half the town was suffering due to a lack of visitors,  WS was still rocking. 

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For me the death of WS is greatly exaggerated.

Were there a market on these things I'd be long WS and short on Treetown, the latter is way over-hyped.  And borrowing from bodyeste above it will be rocking when normality resumes, whereas Treetown will be an awful lot of similar bars scratching round for customers.

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The location of Walking Street makes it a certainty that it will live on when things open up. The closeness to the sea, traffic routes etc will see it get back to some sort of tourist melting pot.  Whether that is in its present state of business or new infrastructure development it will still be a tourist magnet.

Knock down the beach side and develop a promenade could be a way forward but I believe when tourists come back the street will still be a main thoroughfare and will entice new business for the masses.

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4 hours ago, nampla69 said:

Sad but nice pics John.

Was there by any chance a sign for Le Pub anywhere ?? I believe you may have seen it before ....

I've seen it all over the world. 🍭

The original is still there in Walking Street, however there is electric cable running in front of it.

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The past scene will come back, but it'll take a while as many of those businesses are gone for good. Some may come back, but for those that do it won't be over night. Essentially, I don't really foresee any "major" redevelopment regardless of how some may try to promote that idea.

In order to have a major makeover (ie. Family Values paradise) there will have to be a combination of both private and public investment.

For example - the new drainage and placement of utility cables under ground. I would think the money that was put up for that took years to come up with and boatloads (years in the making of planning). Those funds must be somewhat depleted. Since that wad has been blown and there has essentially been no new revenues coming in (and I'm sure they are in the red with Covid expenses, etc.). It's going to take a long time for the public sector to crawl out of that hole. It will be difficult enough to maintain essential services.

I'm not saying that type of funding won't be back one day.... but it's going to take years.

Typically large private spending (meaning major development projects) will be hesitant to sink in massive money, until they have assurance that the underlying public money will be there to support the development. I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

There may be some private investors willing to take the risk to put a new bar or something, but for a major deal. nope.

 

**** with one exception to the above. If they legalize gambling and designate Walking Street as the place they want to put it. Then it's a whole different ball game.

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20 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

**** with one exception to the above. If they legalize gambling and designate Walking Street as the place they want to put it. Then it's a whole different ball game.

Exactly. If anything the last 18 months of Covid induced suffering has pushed the imminent arrival of legalized gambling forward a few years.

People are suffering.. I don't mean the people that can't afford food and have nowhere to live. 

I mean the people that are really REALLY suffering. The ones that can't afford to buy another apartment in Mayfair or to send their children to prestigious private education establishments abroad. Those that can no longer afford to buy the latest luxury, top end Merc for their 17 year old children. That is suffering like none other and they want their money and they want it now!

(Legal) Casinos are just around the corner IMO...

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It’s a shame, but whatever the future holds, Walking Street isn’t/wasn’t 95% of Pattaya nightlife. Maybe I’m a little different in that in all the weeks I spent in Funtown, I very rarely took ladies from there. Wasn’t planned that way, but it’s just strange that’s how it went, now that I think about it. Spent lots of time at Secrets and on Soi 6, as well as taking out massage girls, and a good few from discos(OK they are on WS). And Sois 7-8, as well as Babydolls/Windmill. 
 

But right on WS…..Christ I’m adding it up and I doubt if I BF more than 3 gogo ladies total in 10+ weeks. 
 

Does that make me weird? Anyway, there will always be countless options to find entertainment outside of WS

Edited by Golfingboy
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Before I discovered forums and Secrets, WS for me was all about the clubs, like Lucifers, Old days of Tony's, Marine etc.. Odd gogo before the club. But didn't really barfine from there apart from Secrets, maybe a handful of times from other bars. 

Keeps the majority of Hiso Asians away from places like LK so they don't drive up prices there, assuming they ain't expanded there as I'm a bit out of touch these days.. 

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8 hours ago, monkeyman said:

Let's be mindful of the fact that 20 years ago Walking Street didn't have much to offer in the way of entertainment. When it came to go go bars and the like, the place to go was Soi Pattayaland 2.

Maybe things will relocate again.

Walking street was already the premier gogo/bar area 25 years ago.  The Pattayaland sois hadn't died out, yet.  Yes, it has diminished over the years, but the Pattayaland sois went the way of soi 7/8.

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35 minutes ago, tko said:

Walking street was already the premier gogo/bar area 25 years ago.  The Pattayaland sois hadn't died out, yet.  Yes, it has diminished over the years, but the Pattayaland sois went the way of soi 7/8.

Ooooh , your comment made me think.... It is the use of the word "premier" that scuttled me. "Premier" for whom?

25 years ago I'd drive down from Bangkok on a Friday night, arrive about 9pm, drive along WS to the Ciao sign turn left, turn left on 2nd road and check into Cherry Hotel.WS area was definitely not busy.

I'd go to soi 2/3 which was rocking in comparison to WS with bars/music/agogos/bar stool BJs/ everything ..Then circle around to We are the World/Wonderful bar area which again was busier than WS. In my memory WS was a great daytime drinking area and at night Marine was busy (accessed by walking up the staircase) bars like hand rock were busy but it certainly wasn't a "premier"  area for me.

If we think about this more. 25 years ago Ricky was temping in the "new" AW in Nana to give Matt a rest. Dollhouse was just moving out of Clinton Plaza. Moulin Rouge/ Penthouse etc hadn't moved to WS yet...

It is such a difficult thing to quantify personal opinion..Perhaps you are right ..who knows..

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3 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Ooooh , your comment made me think.... It is the use of the word "premier" that scuttled me. "Premier" for whom?

25 years ago I'd drive down from Bangkok on a Friday night, arrive about 9pm, drive along WS to the Ciao sign turn left, turn left on 2nd road and check into Cherry Hotel.WS area was definitely not busy.

I'd go to soi 2/3 which was rocking in comparison to WS with bars/music/agogos/bar stool BJs/ everything ..Then circle around to We are the World/Wonderful bar area which again was busier than WS. In my memory WS was a great daytime drinking area and at night Marine was busy (accessed by walking up the staircase) bars like hand rock were busy but it certainly wasn't a "premier"  area for me.

If we think about this more. 25 years ago Ricky was temping in the "new" AW in Nana to give Matt a rest. Dollhouse was just moving out of Clinton Plaza. Moulin Rouge/ Penthouse etc hadn't moved to WS yet...

It is such a difficult thing to quantify personal opinion..Perhaps you are right ..who knows..

I agree WS is always pretty much dead during the daytime.  But the Simon complex, NLD, Happy, Peppermint, Carrousel, Super baby, Supergirl, Paris, lucifer, the Katoy show next to Nong Nual seafood, beer bars in diamond and along the street, all that was happening at night and much more.  My second favorite area then was the Pattayaland sois, but I was primarily a WS guy from the late 90s until I switched to the LKM area around seven years ago.  Prior to "rediscovering" Pattaya in the late 90s I was a BKK guy after one visit to Pattaya in 82 which didn't impress me.

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16 minutes ago, tko said:

I agree WS is always pretty much dead during the daytime.  But the Simon complex, NLD, Happy, Peppermint, Carrousel, Super baby, Supergirl, Paris, lucifer, the Katoy show next to Nong Nual seafood, beer bars in diamond and along the street, all that was happening at night and much more.  My second favorite area then was the Pattayaland sois, but I was primarily a WS guy from the late 90s until I switched to the LKM area around seven years ago.  Prior to "rediscovering" Pattaya in the late 90s I was a BKK guy after one visit to Pattaya in 82 which didn't impress me.

It is so bloody difficult to quantify things 25 years ago isn't it. I can only do it by association.

- I can't remember Simon complex from 25 years ago. Siren yes - Simon no. Same same Lucifer no.

- Peppermint was a place to use in Patpong in the early 90s where the BA aircrew used to go for a drunken shag. I thought it moved after 2000.

- My memory of WS "sea front" was it basically was empty apart from a few market stalls. I'm sure the seafood restaurents weren't there 25 years ago but I'm old now so perhaps it is very likely I am wrong. You could walk under Marine to the sea and walk along the seafront in the dark unimpeded by restaurents. I'd love to know when King Seafood opened...98 ish? I'd love to know...

Thanks for awakening my brain on this Friday morning !

 

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Pattaya was struggling for years before covid came .strong baht , drink getting more expensive and ladies prices doubling in price but not in value . 
a lot of bars and clubs will never reopen again . Thai government has basically closed the country to foreigners for the last 2 years and I can’t see any improvement this year either . 
when Thailand opens again I wonder what it will look like ? 

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1 minute ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

It is so bloody difficult to quantify things 25 years ago isn't it. I can only do it by association.

- I can't remember Simon complex from 25 years ago. Siren yes - Simon no. Same same Lucifer no.

- Peppermint was a place to use in Patpong in the early 90s where the BA aircrew used to go for a drunken shag. I thought it moved after 2000.

- My memory of WS "sea front" was it basically was empty apart from a few market stalls. I'm sure the seafood restaurents weren't there 25 years ago but I'm old now so perhaps it is very likely I am wrong. You could walk under Marine to the sea and walk along the seafront in the dark unimpeded by restaurents. I'd love to know when King Seafood opened...98 ish? I'd love to know...

Thanks for awakening my brain on this Friday morning !

 

The seaside stuff was there then.  Peppermint gogo's original location was up an escalator seaside.  NLD1 was seaside as well as the Katoy show and Nong Nual seafood.  There was a skanky gogo across from soi Diamond seaside as well, maybe called Nuis?  97 is when I first started going back, and I always stayed at the Diamond beach or Dream hotel on 2nd road.  

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Maybe the shape of things to come at what were formerly WS gogos, now rebranded as bistros and lounges?  From the Facebook page of Fahrenheit Pattaya:

Fah1.png

I guess the girls will sit on the mats on the stage and hand-feed customers snacks.  :default_acute: I might be popular with Japanese and Korean customers, but I doubt it will generate much enthusiasm among farang.

Fah2Capture.PNG

Fah3Capture.PNG

But of course, if the girls are attractive enough, it won't really matter if there is dancing or not. 

92788_n.jpg

In any case,  GOOD LUCK to all WS establishments that reopen.  They are going to need it.

Evil

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10 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

It is so bloody difficult to quantify things 25 years ago isn't it. I can only do it by association.

- I can't remember Simon complex from 25 years ago. Siren yes - Simon no. Same same Lucifer no.

- Peppermint was a place to use in Patpong in the early 90s where the BA aircrew used to go for a drunken shag. I thought it moved after 2000.

- My memory of WS "sea front" was it basically was empty apart from a few market stalls. I'm sure the seafood restaurents weren't there 25 years ago but I'm old now so perhaps it is very likely I am wrong. You could walk under Marine to the sea and walk along the seafront in the dark unimpeded by restaurents. I'd love to know when King Seafood opened...98 ish? I'd love to know...

Thanks for awakening my brain on this Friday morning !

 

Lobster Pot was definitely there in 93 , first restaurant I ate at visiting Pattaya , the GoGos in WS used to bore me back then, they all did the same shows ( flower , ping pong , darts , lucky fish etc .. ) I would only visit WS to eat at Lobster Pot for many years - It's only in the last 12 years I've really started to enjoy WS 

Edited by Stillearly
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Think I got back into enjoying WS after a Happy Hour pub crawl myself and a few mates did .. started at Oasis ( 6-8 )  on Baukhao but then finished up in WS at Babydolls 8-10 and Sisters ( 10-11) , there might have been another couple of places along the way , but those are the ones that stick out .. 🙂 

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Without dwelling on the past of WS, which we all have personal memories of, the question being its future, in whatever guise and form it takes.

In the same way the GoGo's have adapted to a different spectrum of clients, the face of WS has also changed a fair bit over the years. Businesses have adapted to the conditions they have faced, be it an increase in Asian tourists and decrease in Europeans, to an increase in those from India and Russia, there has always been something for everyone.

Looking at how businesses are adapting now, in the face of uncertainty, it is encouraging to see and perhaps gives us an idea of what to expect. Maybe "Bistro lounges" are the way forward, maybe they might become part of the entire set up. I do think that the days of the beer bar on WS are firmly over and done with, however. Noteable survivors might be the complex where the African girls used to hang out plus perhaps one or two others, but the demolition of the major complex on WS has put paid to that idea.

Regarding the physicality of WS itself, I personally think there is far too much money (both legitimate and otherwise) sitting on the beachfront side of it to warrant total destruction and removal. However, if it were removed it would push the price and value of the remaining properties through the roof. Personally I can't see it happening, despite the rumours and purported "artists impressions". It's never going to be a particularly pleasant vista if the buildings were removed, plus there's more than enough beach already.

I can see WS slowly emerging from it's covid coma over the coming few months. There will still be some old names and there will certainly be some new ones, but eventually it will return to what we all disliked it for, that being hordes of Japanese following a flag bearer, Koreans spending the equivalent of our entire holiday budget in one evening and over priced, self important GoGo queens looking for the next pay dirt.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same", as the saying goes.

Edited by Butch
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