Construction continues apace this week at Bad Beach Soi Cowboy.
Construction continues apace this week at Bad Beach Soi Cowboy.

Vacant since before the Covid-19 pandemic, Soi Cowboy’s former Lighthouse go-go will soon be reborn as Bad Beach.

Construction crews are working daily to convert the double shophouse into the fourth bar and second go-go from the Crazy House group. The pace of the work is moving along, but it’s still months away from opening.

Building plans for Bad Beach show that it will bear little resemblance to Lighthouse, although, in reality, there’s only so much variation you can have with a go-go bar with a large center stage.

It’s also expected that Bad Beach will fully utilize the second floor, which was rarely used during the venue’s Lighthouse years. Crazy House, on the other hand, has its upper floor open most nights.

Bad Beach Finally Revives Soi Cowboy β€˜Dead Zone’

Bar owners and customers, for years, shook their heads and wondered how such a prime piece of property in the middle of Soi Cowboy could have remained vacant for so long. The answer, of course, was greed.

Unlike landlords across the city, the older Thai woman who held the majority interest in the Lighthouse townhouse refused to cut, suspend or defer rental payments to Lighthouse’s farang bosses during Covid-19. Then, when the lease came up on the closed bar, she demanded a new set of key money. Refusing to be ripped off, the bar bosses simply handed back the keys rather than be exploited.

Then, in June 2022, as Soi Cowboy came back to life, she sat back and watched as, month-by-month, the Neon Alley exploded with tourists. The ripoff β€œArab bars” even eventually reopened. Only the Lighthouse space remained dark as the owner reportedly stuck to her high demands for rent and key money.

The truth proved a bit more complicated, but wouldn’t become public knowledge until 2024. It turned out the older woman did not have full control of Lighthouse and her partners were the ones sticking to unrealistic expectations. Lawsuit threats and cash settlements finally ended the deadlock early this year and the Thai police-connected Crazy House group swooped in.

Crazy House 2? Don’t Bet on It

Those expecting Bad Beach to be β€œCrazy House 2” likely will be disappointed. After all, we’ve been down this road before.

Back in 2018, Crazy House bought the Old Dutch restaurant on the corner of Cowboy and Soi 23 and began work on converting it into the Kazy Kozy go-go bar. There were lots of attempts to recreate the spirit of Crazy House, but it never really worked. The upstairs bar rarely was opened and, downstairs, the entertainment was dominated by β€œstupid pussy tricks” shows.

There was, on various nights, some β€œhands-on fun” that actually went farther across the line than anything that happens in Crazy House, but because the bar couldn’t attract enough customers, it couldn’t attract enough girls.

Once Covid hit, Kazy Kozy’s go-go days come to an end. It re-opened during the pandemic as a music bar and, by October 2022, management made it official, ripping out the stage and making a live music house full time.

5-Star Also Not Crazy House 2

The same short-lived hopes for a Crazy House 2 came with the group’s takeover of the Five Star bar at the Asoke Montri end of Soi Cowboy. It, too, worked for a short while as a rather β€œhands-on” go-go, but the talent was often terrible and it went the same way as Kazy Kozy and turned into a live music bar.

Bad Beach Will Remain a Go-G

Due to its location smack in the middle of Soi Cowboy nearby The Dollhouse and Suzie Wong, there’s no doubt that Bad Beach will start and always be a go-go bar.

Will it be Crazy House 2? Unlikely. While half the ladies at the original have only birthday suits as uniforms, the full monty is in short supply at both Dollhouse and Suzie Wong. Most likely Bad Beach will see the majority of dancers in beachwear.

It’s also a solid bet that, also given its location and the fact Crazy House and Suzie Wong do them, that Stupid P-Tricks shows will be on the menu in Bad Beach as well. Hopefully they reserve shows only tourists want to see to the upstairs lounge.

It will be at least August until we find out for sure what Bad Beach will be, but there’s no doubt it will be a boost for Soi Cowboy.