Backed-up sewage pipes continue to turn Soi Cowboy into “Sewer Cowboy”, with fingers up and down the Neon Alley pointed at the new Hot Lips go-go bar.
Management at the newly opened bar – which previously was the Oasis and Stumble Inn pubs (before the failed attempt at becoming the Showtime ladyboy cabaret) – deny the wastewater stinking up Cowboy on a near-nightly basis is coming from their building. They claim the water starts at the Cowboy 2 bar and runs to their steps after a few hours.
Water, however, does not run uphill and turn right. As this recent video of a river of floodwater on Soi Cowboy shows, water runs downhill from Soi 23 to Asok Montri Road.
Photos taken this past week also show the water seemingly emanating from under the Hot Lips steps and then extending the Moonshine Joint and Jungle Jim bars … and then stopping, with Cowboy 2 dry.
Fatberg to Blame for Sewer Cowboy?
Earlier this year, Stickman Bangkok noted there was widespread speculation that that pipe backups were caused by a “fatberg” created by kitchen staff at the then Stumble Inn Soi Cowboy.
“Kitchen staff may pour oil down the sink, thinking it’ll be washed away. But that discarded oil doesn’t stay fluid for long. Once it cools, it congeals and when it combines with all the other crap that goes down the sink, it solidifies inside the pipes, creating a thick, greasy blockage,” Stickman explained.
“Over time, more grease and food particles stick to it and a fatberg is formed. Eventually, the whole system backs up leading to the sort of problems Soi Cowboy is experiencing with sewage overflowing in the street.”
Sewer Cowboy bar owners are well aware of plumbing problems in their ancient shophouses. Only some, however, have done anything about it.
When the new owners of Vicky’s Secret go-go bar took over their single-shophouse venue – which previously was a short-lived soapy massage parlor and, before that, a weed shop and then a number of go-go bars before that dating back 30 years – they discovered their own pipes were plugged with fatbergs.
What did they do? They took out all the old plumbing and put in new. It was an expensive, but responsible thing to do. Perhaps that’s why you see only dry pavement outside Vicky’s.
The Buck Stops Where?
Not all bar owners are going to be so responsible. In that case, the blame falls on Thonglor District officials for permitting this problem – which has plagued Soi Cowboy for nearly a year – to continue on.
What should be happening is that district, or Bangkok, health inspectors should come out and check every bar on Sewer Cowboy and determine exactly where the problem originates and then order repairs with firm deadlines and fines for noncompliance.
Let’s be clear: The wastewater flowing into the street is not just a Sewer Cowboy PR disaster that already is having a negative impact on footfall and trade on Soi Cowboy, it’s a clear health risk.
One only need stand outside Hot Lips, Moonshine Joint, Jungle Jim’s, Dollhouse and Suzie Wong – and occasionally Cowboy 2 – to smell how bad it is. The entire street reeks of urine and who knows what else.
Tourists are walking through the water with sandals, not realizing at first it’s sewage, not rainfall. You can guess what they’ll tell their friends back home and neither they or their pals will visit Sewer Cowboy again.
Health Hazard Affecting High Season Business
Is it any wonder then that Soi Cowboy, one month into the high season, is lagging far behind Nana Plaza when it comes to customer and revenue? (Oh, and this sort of thing would never be tolerated in Nana.)
Standing on the patio of her bar, one go-go manager and shook her head.
“High Season really hasn’t started on Soi Cowboy yet,” she said, waving her hand at the large pools of wastewater just up the road. “Maybe this is why.”
If they haven’t already, one wonders how long it will be before Sewer Cowboy’s affected bars come knocking on Hot Lips’ door, demanding action.
