The World Cup is winding down and, with it, the last hurrah for Bangkok and Pattaya bars as they try to keep their heads above water during the worst low season since the pandemic.
Pattaya has taken the brunt of the down times, with Redlight Report’s April prediction that it would be the worst low season since Covid coming true.
Still, there are always the optimists, with two new Pattaya Walking Street go-go bars opening within a month.
Sun Sets on Skyfall
After 11 years, Skyfall a-Go-Go on Walking Street is no more.
Skyfall, which opened in January 2015, marked its final night July 10 after it was sold to Asian investors.
It’s actually amazing Skyfall lasted this long. It has struggled badly for years, ever since dumping Digital Mints as its marketing team, losing its hottest ladies and resorting to a steady stream of AI slop on its Facebook page.
When Skyfall opened, it was owned by Nui, the woman behind the long-departed Airport Club and succeeded in a Walking Space spot that previously had been Snowice, Voodoo, the Nok beer bar complex and Halo.
In its heyday, Skyfall was the queen of the coyote bars. Later, under current management, Skyfall spiced things up, letting up on the overdressed-coyote concept. But, as all top Walking Street bars done, Skyfall rolled off the top of the hill and was put up for sale more than two years ago.
The asking price – reported 23 million baht – was laughable. Not just for any bar, but one on the water side of Walking Street. All bars on that side of the street technically are illegal and have had the threat of demolition hanging above their roofs for decades.
The word out of Pattaya Saturday was the bar was sold during this worst low season to Asians of unknown nationality – but good money is on Chinese – and changed hands for a bit more than 10 million baht.
Once Again Into the Abyss
There’s one thing you have to admit about the Chinese: They’re persistent. After failing (twice) with Okeanos and the, after just 79 days, Abyss, a Chinese-led consortium has reopened the thrice-failed go-go bar as Harem Ultra.
Harem celebrated its grand opening admits this worst low season July 9 with a bevy of Bangkok models imported for the occasion and sexy female DJ BP Butter and MC Petchploy leading the festivities.
The former bossman at Abyss, Kingman Chen, is on the team behind Harem. As Redlight Report hasn’t been in Pattaya in a few weeks, it’s unknown what kind of renovation, if any, the bar underwent or how the new Chinese team plans to avoid the fate of their previous countrymen during this worst low season.
The Party Debuts Aug. 9
Complete with rooftop swimming pool, The Party Walking Street finally is set to open Aug. 9 on Soi 15 in the site of the former Shark Club and Jisoo a-Go-Go.
Based on the photos posted on his Facebook page by Toto Pattaya – the former manager at Lighthouse a-Go-Go who now does the hosting duties at The Hive – the pool may not be ready, but the lower floors – go-go bar and VIP karaoke lounge – will be.
The Party is a collaboration between a number of experienced Walking Street managers and owner. Besides Toto Pattaya, whose real name is Alberto Cervantes; ownership includes Lauren Arcachon, the current manager at Chick a-Go-Go, and the Japanese owner of The Hive. Arcachon said on his Facebook page on July 10 he would be leaving Chick for The Party.
The Party Walking Street is positioning itself as an “entertainment center” with an all-new go-go bar on the ground floor, VIP karaoke on the middle floor and a rooftop to host groups for private pool parties.
Initial plans for the middle floor to house a golf simulator were dropped. Management also decided to gut and redo the go-go after initially saying they’d keep the stage and layout created by Jisoo only six months previous.
Opening in the lowest part of the worst low season in years is… optimistic.
Are Pattaya Beer Garden’s Days Numbered?
Pattaya’s iconic Pattaya Beer Garden is open July 12, but, according to a bartender, Sunday was supposed to be its final day.
The barman told the trusted source that Pattaya’s worst low season in years has convinced owners to close. Beer Garden owners, however, denied the closure on Sunday.
The Pattaya Beer Garden has earned a place among the city’s genuine institutions. Since opening in 2008, the over-water restaurant at the entrance to Walking Street has become one of Pattaya’s best-known landmarks, offering something few venues could: a quiet beer and panoramic sea view literally steps away from Thailand’s most famous nightlife strip.
Over nearly two decades it has welcomed everyone from families and first-time tourists to longtime expats and Walking Street regulars, carving out a niche as the place to start — or escape — a night out.
Its loss would have represented more than another restaurant shutting its doors during the worst low season in years. The Pattaya Beer Garden has survived military coups, political unrest, Covid-19, repeated tourism downturns and countless changes to the city’s nightlife landscape while many neighboring venues disappeared or reinvented themselves.
The Peep Delayed Amid Worst Low Season in Years
Dave Rave News reported on July 1 that The Peep by Dundee was sold and would reopen under new management is a couple days. Not so fast.
It was already known that the former Thai owner was a year behind on rent. What wasn’t known was he had not renewed his music and entertainment licenses … for two years!
Licenses are not expensive. Especially compared with 180,000 baht a month rent payments. But they are a hassle. It seems the old boss couldn’t be bothered.
Opening without a music license can get you a 10,000-baht-a-day fine, so the new owners chose to wait until it came through. Then, when they discovered the entertainment license also needed redone, they had to wait more.
Police told Dundee the bar could open during this worst low season in years as long as owners could provide proof the licenses had been applied for, they could open. But the British-led group chose to be prudent, especially during Thailand’s worst low season in years.
Nana Plaza’s Excellent Security Gets Upgrade
Nana Plaza already is the safest place to party in all of Thailand, but a recent unofficial addition to the security force has made it even more so during this worst low season.
Late at night – once all the alcohol sets in – things can get a bit unpredictable, even in a place with a large security force. So the nearby Lumpini Police District has started placing one or two officers inside the plaza around 2 a.m.
How much of a difference does it make? One ground-floor go-go manager said “a lot”.
In one recent case, a drunk westerner decided he wasn’t happy with the total on his bill and decided he wasn’t going to pay. Bar staff tried their best, as did the manager. To no avail. Nana security were called in, but the drunkard was not convinced.
Until the cops showed up.
Suddenly, faced with the immediate relocation to a jail cell, the bill was paid and the foreigner was put in a cab and sent to his hotel.
World Cup Hangover
Bars across Thailand and Pattaya this worst low season are putting their staff in World Cup-themed uniforms. For the dancing dollies, it’s flag-themed bikinis. For service staff, it’s often (copy) football jerseys.
But just because your waitress is wearing the kit of one country, don’t assume she’s a fan.
Hours before Spain was set to face off against Portugal, one Nana Plaza go-go waitress in a Spain uniform was asked if she had her money on the Spaniards.
“No!” she cried. “I want Portugal. Don’t care at all about Spain!”
