Time for a big Pattaya bars update: Three big-name go-go bars, the worldβs largest Hooters and a high-flying new nightclub are the latest victims of a slowing tourism industry as low season bites hard in Pattaya.
Club Electric Blue and Dollhouse Pattaya were sold last week to David, the British owner of the Windmill clubs on Soi Diamond. His two new (re)acquisitions on Soi 15 have been closed for renovation and all the girls moved to the original Windmill and Windmill 2 (formerly Diamond a-Go-Go) opposite it.
Ironically, David originally owned the Pattaya bars operating where Electric Blue (and sister bar Beavers) first opened. More than 15 years ago, when Soi 15 first became a Pattaya bars street, David opened Club 69 and Babydolls go-gos next door to each other.
David eventually sold out, with Babydolls continuing until July 2019, when it became Beavers. Electric Blue opened where Club 69 once was, but was merged into Dollhouse across the soi during the pandemic, as was Beavers. But, in December, Beavers moved back into its standalone location.
Pattaya Bars: Champagne Club Closed
The Dollhouse/CEB bombshell follows the shocking announcement earlier last week that long-running Champagne Club, operating on Soi LK Metro for nearly 20 years, is closing indefinitely.
In a Facebook post, Champagneβs owners called the closure βtemporary situationβ and that βwe will look to renovate later on this year and open same or something otherβ.
In the same post, Champagne wrote that Rise, the club it owns next door that has been shut since the pandemic, will reopen βvery soonβ.
The Pattaya bars corridor straddling Soi Buakhao, which includes Soi LK Metro and Soi Boomerang, has been hit especially hard by the stark turndown in tourism that has hit Pattaya since March.
Dynamite Blows Up
On May 12, the owner of the much-hyped Dynamite Entertainment, on the corner of sois Buakhao and Boomerang, shocked Sin Cityβs nightlife world by announcing it was closing, effective immediately.
Dynamite, owned by the man behind Korandoβs Bar in Pattaya, had employed legendary manager Captain Hornbag and had built an odd, hybrid venue that mixed go-go with beer bar with short-time brothel. The interior was slick, the drinks cheap, the girls hot and the host the most. But, after a few months of disappointing earnings, Korando pulled the plug.
Captain Hornbag told Stickman Bangkok that the combination of location, cost of agency girls and low season proved too much for the owner.
He added that coyote agency βsharksβ have locked up all the young, thin attractive ladies. The only girls available for Pattaya bars to hire directly in Pattaya are, he said, older and, letβs say, less thin.
Warehouse Gutted
Within a week of Dynamiteβs closure, the Thai owner of new and popular Warehouse disco on Soi Buakhao β the club that finally rounded out the areaβs menu of entertainment options β said it was shutting down, the victim of a greedy Thai landlord.
With Warehouse becoming a huge, money-making draw, the owner, who had previously leased it out to the Pook ladyboy Pattaya bars, decided that she wanted more of that cash and raised the rent to astronomically. Warehouseβs bosses refused to be extorted and walked.
This week Warehouseβs frontage has been demolished and the venue will now become an open-air, Thai music venue operated by the Matador Bar near the Treetown complex.
Hooters Mooted
But Pattaya bars and nightclubs arenβt the only ones shutting down. Hooters on Beach Road β the worldβs largest boobs-and-wings restaurant β shut down, with heavy trucks taking out fixtures and all the furniture removed.
Hooters management said the closure is a direct result of a rent dispute with the landlord and that it hopes to open a new location somewhere else, possibly on Walking Street. But rent on Walking Street isnβt going to be any cheaper.
Club 79 Opens
Amidst all the closures, a new go-go bar opened on Walking Street, Club 79. It set up in the spot of the former Abbeβs beer bar. Itβs long and narrow but was said (figuratively) to have βhundredsβ of girls.
