Investments in bars on Walking street and gogo bar girls.

[Radii]

I remember when I was travelling to Thailand frequrently from 2010 to 2018 I often been in Pattaya and Walking Street. 

But even this relatively short period of time and some additional information let me convinced me that Pattaya is in decline and the pandemic was not the reason, it was happeninig before gradually.

So lets say in last 15 years some of iconic gogo bars was closed and those which are still open are not as good as before.

I mean Airport Club, Beach Club, and a few more. If you been there you know what I mean. And I will not mention even Secret Hotel and Bar it failed much quicker.

But depite this there is lot of investment in pouring the concrete but not in the girls, as far as I understand this.

Edited December 24, 2024 by Radii

[Stillearly]

If you haven't been recently then try XS , Chicks , Pin up , Opium , Fahrenheit, Shark .... Pattaya is always changing some bars close then others replace them  ... still fun to be had 

[Radii]

1 hour ago, Stillearly said:

If you haven't been recently then try XS , Chicks , Pin up , Opium , Fahrenheit, Shark .... Pattaya is always changing some bars close then others replace them  ... still fun to be had 

Yes I know. When I come I usually start from Frogs Land in the afternoon and go from bar to bar to find very good body. I do not drink a lot of beers noawadays it would be too much for me for one night. Soda water is better for me. Next time I will spend some days in Pattaya and some in Nana and Soi Cowboy. But I still feel big nostalgy regarding to Pattaya.

[Freee!!]

6 hours ago, Radii said:

I remember when I was travelling to Thailand frequrently from 2010 to 2018 I often been in Pattaya and Walking Street. 

But even this relatively short period of time and some additional information let me convinced me that Pattaya is in decline and the pandemic was not the reason, it was happeninig before gradually.

So lets say in last 15 years some of iconic gogo bars was closed and those which are still open are not as good as before.

I mean Airport Club, Beach Club, and a few more. If you been there you know what I mean. And I will not mention even Secret Hotel and Bar it failed much quicker.

But depite this there is lot of investment in pouring the concrete but not in the girls, as far as I understand this.

The decline of Pattaya has in my experience been ongoing for at least 25 years and old timers were already complaining about it when I first came to Pattaya nearly 30 years ago.

[Glasseye]

Investing in a Walking Street bar would be dumber than putting your money into Chinese real estate bonds.

[Yesitisdakid]

8 hours ago, Stillearly said:

If you haven't been recently then try XS , Chicks , Pin up , Opium , Fahrenheit, Shark .... Pattaya is always changing some bars close then others replace them  ... still fun to be had 

It absolutely has declined but you're absolutely right you make your own party if a guy goes out with the attitude that it's shit then that's what he's going to get. Still something for everybody if that's what they're looking for I'm just not a big fan but they don't give two shits about me because they don't make a lot of money out of soda water do they

[galenkia]

I found the biggest problem was the change in clientele. When I first started going to Thailand it was very European and US based, then it started to get full of Chinese, Russian and Indians. That’s when I started to lose interest in the place.

Edit: Should of added Aussies and Kiwis, met plenty of good people from there over the years.

Edited December 25, 2024 by galenkia

[Glasseye]

4 hours ago, galenkia said:

I found the biggest problem was the change in clientele. When I first started going to Thailand it was very European and US based, then it started to get full of Chinese, Russian and Indians. That’s when I started to lose interest in the place.

Edit: Should of added Aussies and Kiwis, met plenty of good people from there over the years.

 

You saved the worst for last.            55555555555555555 !

[Radii]

4 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

It absolutely has declined but you're absolutely right you make your own party if a guy goes out with the attitude that it's shit then that's what he's going to get. Still something for everybody if that's what they're looking for I'm just not a big fan but they don't give two shits about me because they don't make a lot of money out of soda water do they

Yes. Definitely not a big money out of soda water, coca cola or even chang beer. But once good body is found bar fine is paid and in some situations I buy expensive drinks for girls also. Perhaps I was cheep Charlie 30 years ago, now not anymore. The reason I am not coming there recently because family commitments, I made my Thai heaven in UK and I think lots of guys made similar choices and it seems that waves of new customers in Pattaya are interested of buying small buddas or kings pictures instead of going into the bars. Quantity over the quality this is current business model so wooden shed is not good enough anymore. But those old bars are still in my mind I think I feel nostalgic when I see old photos such as Blue Pattaya Bar and so on.

Edited December 25, 2024 by Radii

[Radii]

Just to clarifiy, the reasons of me drinking soda water instead of beer is not the difference of price betwen them both in the bars, but  noawadays is because in searching for a good body walking from bar to bar I would drink too much beer this would definitely work against me, the staff would accuse me of being drunk so they will not give me the girl I want or I would be blind taking average girl. This is noawadys more critical as there is not a lof of very good girls anymore in my opinion and currently you might see good girl there but next week she is not anymore.

Edited December 25, 2024 by Radii

[coxyhog]

1 hour ago, Radii said:

Just to clarifiy, the reasons of me drinking soda water instead of beer is not the difference of price betwen them both in the bars, but  noawadays is because in searching for a good body walking from bar to bar I would drink too much beer this would definitely work against me, the staff would accuse me of being drunk so they will not give me the girl I want or I would be blind taking average girl. This is noawadys more critical as there is not a lof of very good girls anymore in my opinion and currently you might see good girl there but next week she is not anymore.

I was doing that in 1981....

[Radii]

21 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

I was doing that in 1981....

In 1981 I was 5 years old and I peed my pants in kindergarten from time to time but one morning I stayed at home I watched TV but instead of cartoons I remember when General Jaruzelski declared martial law. But despite this I was able to fly to Thailand at the age of 17., then I moved to UK finally at the age of 29 having a masters degree and with anger it took so long to be there. But at least I had no any reasons to come back. And some years later I married my woman she is 13 years younger than me. I have no doubt it was a good decision.

[Butch]

Pattaya has always been very dynamic and a victim of it's own success with regards to everything from the Bars, the girls right down to the small infrastructure improvements.

30 years ago the demographic was totally different. There was the Arab quarter near Marine 2, Sois 7 and 8 were still being dug up for drainage, you could hire a big wheeled Jeep for 500 baht a day and cold draft beer was relatively rare. In fact I recall a Bar on Soi Yamato getting chiller lines and serving draft beer opening to great fanfare one day.

Prices were, given inflation, not really that much different. I recall paying 200 baht BF and 400 Baht LT in 95 from a girl from a Soi Post Office Beer bar. She stayed all night and into the following afternoon.

Attitudes have definitely changed as well, and you're 100% right saying that finding a good girl is much harder these days.

Walking Street is no longer somewhere to buy 30 baht drafts at Peppermint, it is pretty much aimed towards a different demographic and some may allude to money laundering. Either way, yes, Skyfall GoGo is great for eye candy but I won't pay over 5K Baht for a girl from there. I'm actually long term friends with a girl who works there and she makes more in LD's than barfines. She also makes the same money I was making in the UK 4 years ago. Which is a not insignificant amount for a Thai bargirl.

If nothing changes, everything else remains the same.

[Derek Dangleberries]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

30 years ago the demographic was totally different. There was the Arab quarter near Marine 2, Sois 7 and 8 were still being dug up for drainage, you could hire a big wheeled Jeep for 500 baht a day and cold draft beer was relatively rare.

South of Dolphin was English speaking and North of Dolphin was German speaking ........

[Derek Dangleberries]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

Attitudes have definitely changed as well, and you're 100% right saying that finding a good girl is much harder these days.

In 96 I remember having a map booklet with all of the Cellsites in Bangkok marked on it..(Including Tobacco!)

I bought a couple more for the rest of the team and paid a bar girl to sit on the beach with me to put stickers on the new booklets. Bfed her Friday night to Sunday lunch. I was on 450 quid a day at the time (The good old days!) and I remember telling her up front how much I was gonna pay her if she didn't make any mistakes ..

I paid her a very large tip for two nights and we had a fantastic time !!!

I wonder where she is now ... probably still bragging about the customer with a small willy with a big tip ...

 

[Radii]

4 hours ago, Butch said:

Pattaya has always been very dynamic and a victim of it's own success with regards to everything from the Bars, the girls right down to the small infrastructure improvements.

30 years ago the demographic was totally different. There was the Arab quarter near Marine 2, Sois 7 and 8 were still being dug up for drainage, you could hire a big wheeled Jeep for 500 baht a day and cold draft beer was relatively rare. In fact I recall a Bar on Soi Yamato getting chiller lines and serving draft beer opening to great fanfare one day.

Prices were, given inflation, not really that much different. I recall paying 200 baht BF and 400 Baht LT in 95 from a girl from a Soi Post Office Beer bar. She stayed all night and into the following afternoon.

Attitudes have definitely changed as well, and you're 100% right saying that finding a good girl is much harder these days.

Walking Street is no longer somewhere to buy 30 baht drafts at Peppermint, it is pretty much aimed towards a different demographic and some may allude to money laundering. Either way, yes, Skyfall GoGo is great for eye candy but I won't pay over 5K Baht for a girl from there. I'm actually long term friends with a girl who works there and she makes more in LD's than barfines. She also makes the same money I was making in the UK 4 years ago. Which is a not insignificant amount for a Thai bargirl.

If nothing changes, everything else remains the same.

Wages in UK vary a lot even in the same trade. Depending what company can afford and how greedy or generous they are and how smart and experienced you are too. Having UK average plus a little overtime is not bad thing if you have your own nice place to live and everything else. But I remember some years ago I remember the same thing as you mentioned one good bargirl was complaining to me that she is making only ... per month and I understood I am not making a lot of more back in the UK but at this times I was in greedy shithole despite it was aerospace industry and so on. But I work overtime only when money is right, there is no point of wasting my time in the wrong place.

[Radii]

7 hours ago, Butch said:

Peppermint, it is pretty much aimed towards a different demographic and some may allude to money laundering

What do you mean aimed towards a different demographics?

[Radii]

7 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

South of Dolphin was English speaking and North of Dolphin was German speaking

But even much later I stayed in Green Park Resort this is near Dolphin Roudabout where Beach road starts and there was plenty of Germans guys in the hotel and some of photos in cabinet as well from West Germany. They still have got business conections from there.

[Stillearly]

9 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

South of Dolphin was English speaking and North of Dolphin was German speaking ........

In 93-95 a lot of the girls on Soi 8 had German -Thai phrase books .. the original owner of Sailor Bar had a German husband iirc 

[Butch]

5 hours ago, Radii said:

What do you mean aimed towards a different demographics?

By that I mean Walking Street is no longer aimed at European / US and Australian male visitors as it was back in say, 2002. It had more GoGo bars, more beer bars and prices were reasonable for everything. They were almost on par with the rest of town, so for example a GoGo girl from Pattayaland 2 would cost roughly the same as one from Happy A GoGo.

Today, Walking street is aimed at visitors from India and other parts of SE Asia such as Korea and Japan.

[Radii]

40 minutes ago, Butch said:

Today, Walking street is aimed at visitors from India and other parts of SE Asia such as Korea and Japan

Maybe you are right, but where best girls are? Usually in the most expensive bars? 

[Butch]

1 minute ago, Radii said:

Maybe you are right, but where best girls are? Usually in the most expensive bars? 

Yep, the most attractive girls are generally in the expensive bars. The guys with the money (mostly koreans / Japanese) go to those bars, so those bars are more geared towards them in the way the girls present themselves and dress.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, but Walking Street investment these days isn't just about expensive girls and GoGo bars, which was more the case back in the late 90's and 00's.

 

[Radii]

18 minutes ago, Butch said:

Yep, the most attractive girls are generally in the expensive bars. The guys with the money (mostly koreans / Japanese) go to those bars, so those bars are more geared towards them in the way the girls present themselves and dress.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, but Walking Street investment these days isn't just about expensive girls and GoGo bars, which was more the case back in the late 90's and 00's.

 

With exceptions to some hot spots where young freelancers are but this is risky. I seen loads of Asians on Walking street but nobody in the bars. With one exception. One Japanese older guy in Beach Club back 2010 or 2011 when girls had no pants allowed.

[Stillearly]

2 minutes ago, Radii said:

With exceptions to some hot spots where young freelancers are but this is risky. I seen loads of Asians on Walking street but nobody in the bars. With one exception. One Japanese older guy in Beach Club back 2010 or 2011 when girls had no pants allowed.

I have seen Japanese in the GoGos since my first trip , especially the ones that used to be around Soi Diamond , plus Bacarra and many others I'm sure ... 

[Butch]

6 minutes ago, Radii said:

With exceptions to some hot spots where young freelancers are but this is risky. I seen loads of Asians on Walking street but nobody in the bars. With one exception. One Japanese older guy in Beach Club back 2010 or 2011 when girls had no pants allowed.

My last trip was April this year, Skyfall had many more Asian customers than farang, as did Sensations and many of the other GoGo bars on the main "Strip" of Walking Street. Peppermint had very few customers, but of those I was still the only farang in there.

Decent GoGo's on Walking street do get a fair amount of custom, more so during high season, and of course that custom on a Monday won't be the same as it is on a Friday. I can only go from what I've seen anecdotally. In recent years I've seen more Asian men in the GoGo's on Walking Street than I have farang on many occasions, and also into the mix, Middle Eastern men visiting them as well.

Of course, my experiences might well differ from someone visiting in June or September.

Soi diamond was different though, Windmill was all farang customers.

It's for those reasons myself, and I'm sure a few other guys avoid Walking Street unless using it as a route to get to Le Pub and see Phil.

Edited December 26, 2024 by Butch