Private 69 Owners Call it Quits After 9 Months, Put Struggling Nana Plaza Go-Go Up for Sale

Only nine months after buying the Private 69 go-go bar, a pair of young Frenchmen have put the Nana Plaza club up for sale.

Formerly called Rainbow 69, the 86-square-meter, middle-floor club in a back corner next to the B-52 ladyboy bar, has struggled since its purchase, failing to carve out its own identity or attract a large-enough following. But the final straw was last month’s renewal of its three-year lease and the requisite key money and increase in the required deposit.

The two French nationals bought Rainbow 69 last summer from Tee, Nana Plaza’s biggest tenant, who had taken over the spot that used to be the Casanova ladyboy bar. They paid about 7 million baht for the go-go but are advertising it now for 15 million.

Privately, one owner has said he’d take 12 million, but even that is a pipedream, as the former, slightly larger Whiskey & Go-Go has been sold twice in the past year for less than 8 million baht.

However, Thailand attracts plenty of dreamers and a prospective Chinese buyer visited Nana Plaza this week inquiring about Private 69.

Key Money, Deposit Dooms Private 69’s Future

The thirtysomething Frenchmen got into Private 69 hoping to make 69 “really different”, with a focus on interior design, service and entertainment offerings. They had to move quickly, however, as there was only a year left on the current three-year phase of the nine-year Nana Plaza lease.

After that phase expired in June, all Nana’s tenants were hit with huge bills for key money. Bigger bars were facing new monthly expense of 500,000 baht just to pay off the key money, but it’s unknown how big Private 69’s bill was.

In addition to Private 69, property agents say several other bars also are being shopped by owners who cannot afford the new key money and deposit demands.

The Frenchmen also are on the hook for the increase in the deposit. They bought the bar without having to pay key money or the deposit, but now have to pay the difference between was paid by others and the new sum.

Add in what they claim is a monthly rent bill of 204,000 baht, plus electricity, water, salaries to what they claim are 40 dancers on the payroll plus staff, stock and maintenance and 86 square meters are too few to hope to make a profit.

Historically, the only bars that have ever been profitable in small and/or poorly located clubs are ladyboy bars such as Casanova, which had been there for decades before closing during the coronavirus pandemic.