Stickman Weekly, April 27, 2025
Mystery Photo
Where is it?
Last week’s photo was taken from the rooftop at the Mercury Ville with the pricey Soi Lang Suan Road in the background, which runs down to Lumpini Park. Many of you got it right – well done!
I note some readers perform a reverse image search to find out where the photo is taken. What do I make of this? It’s sort of like the shifty guy at Pub Quiz Night who accesses Google on his phone…
Stick’s Inbox – The Best Emails From The Past Week
Songkran upcountry.
It was easy for me to avoid the Songkran shenanigans, one of the benefits of living in a rural area up-country. Except that lorries would park up opposite or pass by at a snail’s pace with music from enormous speakers rattling my windows and doors. In more built-up areas, the holiday is nothing more than officially sanctioned hooliganism where anything goes in what are turned into no-go areas for many. I saw plenty of coverage that featured huge water guns. They were banned several years ago but, as usual in Thailand, something being illegal has no relevance at all.
Songkran in Pattaya.
I once saw a Thai couple at Songkran in Pattaya. Dressed up for a party, he in a Tux and she in a ball gown. Begging to just reach their car, they both got soaked. By Thais. I guess people are right, if you don’t like 10 days of water, stay away! I don’t go out to eat for a week. My girlfriend had a party with friends last night and they knew what they were getting in to. 3 of them spent hours at TukCom today to get their phones repaired.
Thumbs down for the new digital arrival card system.
This new digital arrival card system is the worst. Even with a 20-year visa, I cannot choose Thailand as my country of residence. According to the system, did you know that more than 80 countries start with the letter ‘R’? Republic of Xxxx etc. Many are under K for Kingdom, except for my home country, Denmark. The Kingdom of Denmark. So, in the case of Denmark, it starts with a ‘T’. I have never seen anything like this!
You don’t have to kick them in the head.
I’m not a regular in Soi 6 and lately, I stay away even more. There will always be drunk people, as that is kind of the idea of the street. If you work as a bouncer and have gotten a drunk out of the bar, then you did a good job. If you need to chase them down the street and beat them to a pulp, then you might be in the wrong job. I know that as Westerners we will never fully understand the Thai concept of losing face, but how about just letting a drunk idiot run his mouth and move on? If someone talks badly to me, I don’t kick them in the head.
When the manager should shut his trap.
Inspired by the Fitzgerald’s poster, I sometimes read replies to bar and restaurant reviews. An angry manager deters me more than a bad review. I can read the ratings, and if a venue has a rating of a 4.8, this is a good restaurant with great food and excellent service. If there is a 1-star review, I’m guessing that guy was angry or drunk. But if the manager replies and gets angry at everyone leaving a review with less than 4 stars, I worry about it.
More freedom of speech in Thailand than the UK?
I’ve got to say I feel a little jealous of the Thais playing the deportation card. If you tried that on a certain demographic in the UK, there’s a good chance of being arrested under the current regime.
Bollocks on her backside.
Regarding tattoos on bargirls, there was a girl who worked in my old local with a tattoo of the bar’s logo. I can’t remember where on her body it was, but I think it was her thigh. I was told by a mate last week there were actually two girls with the same stamp. The bar? The Dog’s Bollocks. Not sure she / they had the wording or just the logo. The logo was a British bulldog in front of the Union Jack flag. This bar was always in the news.
Dodgy drinks.
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Red Dragon sprawls out across Nana Plaza. What a great sign!
This Week’s News, Views & Gossip
Trade in the bars used to nose-dive following Songkran. Not these days. Word is that night after night, the bars of Sukhumvit have no shortage of customers. The mainstream media may have made a big deal out of the rapidly declining numbers of Chinese visitors, but that hasn’t translated into a noticeable downturn in bar trade. For now, it’s still very much business as usual in the bars and the low season feels like it could still be some time away.
In Nana Plaza, Red Dragon is expanding, and taking over the space next door to what was the dreadful Bunny Balcony bar. The gorgeous new signage for Red Dragon that has gone up is fitting, given Red Dragon has perhaps the nicest interior of any gogo bar in the plaza. Red Dragon is an odd bar, one I can’t make up my mind about. I’ve commented that post-Covid, it is one of the best bars. At the same time, I still receive complaints about dodgy bills and staff scamming punters in Red Dragon. In the history of this website, probably half of all complaints about dodgy bills have come from Red Dragon. So I guess Red Dragon is recommended, but keep an eye on your bill and consider paying for your drinks after each round.
The late night crowd on Soi Nana is said to have changed somewhat. Traditionally, the street has been the place those on a budget could find an eager lady whose payment expectations were much more reasonable. I’ve always frowned at the idea but plenty tell me there are diamonds in the rough. But word is the late-night crew on Soi Nana are rougher these days and it’s largely a ladyboy and African scene.
Patpong soi 2 last night, a bit after midnight and totally dead.
When I talked about trade in the bars, note I said “the bars of Sukhumvit”. It’s a different story at Patpong where it has been quiet. Even last night, Saturday night, traditionally one of the busiest nights of the week, it was quiet – and shortly after midnight it died completely. You know it’s a quiet night when even Shenanigans was slow. But with that said, my pal noted that in many ways, being quiet and slow makes it better. There are far fewer customers about and there is a much more relaxed atmosphere, almost like Soi Cowboy 20+ years ago.
What’s with all the secrecy over the name of the bar connected to the ad for a gogo bar manager’s position I ran last week? I figured out which bar it was and fired off an email to the owner who I have known forever. He denied it was his bar. So I asked a couple of other people in the industry which bar it was for. One farang bar manager said it was for the bar I thought it was. Another fellow who works in the bar industry confirmed that the owner of the bar had told him it was for his bar. From time to time I am told that I should go to bar owners if I want to know what is really going on. I’ve been running this site for 25+ years and long ago learned that bar owners and bar managers are not the most reliable source of info!
The Fire Department trained security staff in Nana Plaza this week.
A group of police, described by a friend as “looking like senior officers”, made a big show of slowly walking through Soi Cowboy on Monday night in what sounds a PR exercise and an opportunity for a photo shoot. There didn’t seem to be any clear purpose so perhaps it was a not so subtle reminder for everyone to be on their best behaviour and abide by the various laws that apply in the bar areas.
In the Sathorn area, live music venue Smalls will celebrate World Jazz Day on April 30th with three Thai bands playing live that night.
The new arrivals requirements which come in to effect this coming Thursday, May 1, are confusing people. First of all, there’s the confusing terminology. Some people refer to the new system as TDAC (Thailand Digital Arrival Card) whereas others call it an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). To be clear, they’re one and the same. Regardless of whether you have a visa or not, you need to complete this online before you arrive in Thailand. Next, people are confused about when they need to register online. My understanding is that you have to register online within 72 hours before you arrive. It appears that you can’t register, say, a week or more before you travel. I *think* I have this right but to be sure, you might want to contact your local Thai embassy and ask them. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card website goes live tomorrow.
Tuktuks love making a U-turn over the pedestrian crossing at Nana.
Down in Pattaya, I note there’s a bar on Soi 6 named Wet Pussy. Of course, you can probably go upstairs and do the sorts of things with ladies which makes this name fitting, but I still think it’s crass. Am I a prude for thinking Wet Pussy is a crass name for a bar, whereas I thought the name of the classic Patpong bar, Super Pussy, was ok?
On Walking Street, what was previously Opium is now Dragon. It’s another of the new generation of giant gogo bars with a huge, beautiful, neon frontage. Happy hour runs from 8:00 – 9:00 PM with many drinks priced at just 95 baht. Note the name of the bar is not Dragon per se, but Dragon A Gogo Club. I cringe when I see gogo bars using the word “club” in their name.
This use of the word “club” in some newer gogo clubs is deliberate. Terming the bar a “club” indicates the venue is not necessarily run in the style of gogo bars of old. Once upon a time, you went to a gogo bar, had a few drinks, chatted with a lady or two, found someone you felt a connection with, barfined her, took her away to party elsewhere and eventually ended up in your hotel room. She stayed the night, maybe longer. That’s not the way these clubs want you to party (and spend your money) today. Whether you even take the girl away from the bar club is up for debate these days. Some girls choose not to leave the premises at all. Some bars allow her to leave but insist she must be back in the bar within an hour. “Gogo clubs” are all about partying – and spending money – on the premises. The use of the word “club” might be subtle, but the way things are moving makes these bars with the word club in their name rather different from mere gogo “bars” of the past.
Note my use of the word “connection” in the previous paragraph. Feeling a connection with a lady was a big part of why so many punters were addicted to the bar scene. And the difficulty in making a connection today is a big part of the reason so many punters have moved on from the bar scene. It’s easy to talk about things like the ladies being less attractive or the prices being higher and whatnot but I think that’s largely fluff. It’s so hard to make a genuine connection with a lady in the bars these days. What the bars offer is the opportunity to party on the premises and if you want to take a lady away, it’s rushed. You don’t have to travel to Thailand for an experience like that.
Many punters are looking for a connection with the girls, but are the bars the place to find it?
Away from the bars, a friend mentioned that the Thai people he comes across at various Thai eateries in Hong Kong refuse to speak Thai with him. One Thai lady replied “Yes”, in English, when he asked her in the Thai language if she spoke Thai. At a street stall the Thai staff looked mortified when he made a polite greeting in their language. I have found similar here in New Zealand. Engaging with some Thais you don’t know in their native tongue has the surprising effect of making them rather uncomfortable. I have absolutely no idea why this is. If I was to speculate, it would be that they are suspicious of a white guy who speaks Thai and wonder what he is up to, even though there is no reason to be suspicious.
Have you noticed how so many of the new attractions in Bangkok or places many visitors rave about are in no way Thai! European fashion labels opening a new store in Bangkok. Korean pop stars performing concerts. Yet another new American hamburger restaurant. Adventure activities franchised from other countries. So often today it feels like the Thailand tourist experience is more international or to put it another way, less Thai. I know the world is becoming much more cosmopolitan, but at the same time I’m not sure what to make of that when you relate it to the tourist experience in Thailand. I remember my first trip to Thailand. I think we ate Thai food every meal. We checked out a few Thai temples, went for a traditional Thai dance dinner, had a couple of Thai massages and hit the bar areas which were full of Thai women (without any of the Africans, Eastern Europeans, Vietnamese etc you find today). It was a very Thai experience. These days it seems that visitors are more likely to stay in the Hilton, caffeinate at Starbucks, get a burger and party at a rooftop hotel with a foreign DJ and where half the customers or more are foreigners. Or if they are of another persuasion, they’ll frequently eat at Chinatown, the new Chinatown on Rachada or cuisine from their homeland in their hotel, all while being taken everywhere by a fellow countryman. Is this what the new generation wants?
A reader created a Stickman action figure. A good effort and, I have to admit, a decent likeness. That said, the Chang t-shirt is totally out of place. I’ve never been one for Chang and wouldn’t be seen dead in such a t-shirt (nor Singha, or any other Thai beer!)
An unofficial Stickman action figure.
It’s a month since the big Bangkok earthquake and many have put it behind them. Some people, however, still have very frayed nerves. Some Thais refuse to return to their condo, and have sought accommodation elsewhere, preferring a low-rise condo building or better still, a house. There seems to be a consensus – although just how accurate this is, who knows – that the damage was worse in newer buildings. One point of interest: while many expats and Thais posted photos online of damage inside their condo, did anyone see photos showing similar damage from guests staying in a hotel? I saw a gazillion images of damage inside condo units but I don’t think I saw a single image captured inside a hotel.
A member of my other half’s family has an online business in Thailand that is moderately successful. I hear about it all the time, and the many trials and tribulations of running such a business. The products sold are at the premium end of the market and the customer base is roughly 50% Thais, 50% foreigners. They sell a niche product and the customer base is people who have money. Dealing with Thai customers and foreign customers is very different. The Thai customers are easy to deal with and seldom is there a problem. If there is an issue, the Thais tend to point it out politely and seem comfortable that it will be sorted out. It’s completely different with the foreign customers, and describing them as “difficult” would be kind. At the smallest sign of a problem, foreign customers complain. They question all manner of things, including whether the product is genuine or counterfeit. One of the main challenges with foreign customers is that they are much more likely to order items and pay COD (cash on delivery). This doesn’t pose a problem per se. However, oftentimes when the delivery service knocks on the door, the foreigner is not home. Each delivery company has their own policy, and it varies from area to area, but some delivery services will telephone the recipient beforehand to check that they’re home before making the delivery. It seems like many foreigners never answer the phone if they don’t recognise the number – so the delivery isn’t made. What follows is the foreigner complaining – sometimes quite rudely – yet the non-delivery was due to their refusal to answer the phone. If after two attempts the phone isn’t answered, it is deemed unable to be delivered and the item is returned to the sender. Some of the complaints from foreigners verge on ridiculous, and many are unreasonably demanding. You frequently see foreigners complaining on Facebook or ASEANNow about their Shopee of Lazada online shopping experience but having seen the other side of the equation, often it is the customer who created the problem. In the Thai language online seller social media groups, there is a theme of vendors complaining about foreign customers.
A vendor selling fruit on Sukhumvit this week. I wonder how she finds farang customers compared to Thai?
Speaking of social media, there have been a couple of humorous posts on the local Thai Facebook page. Thais love to show off, and not so infrequently there are ever so unsubtle posts from Thais gloating or boasting about something. Recently there was a post from a Thai lady my other half used to work with. She posted photos taken inside her business premises with several thousand dollars in cash fanned out, along with a huge grin across her face. My other half couldn’t help herself and gave the lady a call “to catch up” but really because she was being ขี้เสือก (nosey). My other half is quite the entrepreneur and always looking for new ways to make money. It turns out that while this lady’s business has high cashflow, the business is not successful and has lost about $20,000 since opening this time last year – and her Kiwi husband who is financing it has threatened to pull the plug. The next post came from a lady who lives walking distance from us. Unlike most Thais locally, she’s a real flirt. She posed the question of what she should do with so many guys hitting on her. She’d really like to take them for a test drive – but she doesn’t want her boyfriend to find out. An interesting lady, she is a looker, is educated and has a very handsome Kiwi boyfriend about the same age as her. He has a good job and they always struck me as a happy couple. He has been very good to her, yet she still wishes to play around. It’s really un-Thai to post so openly about this sort of thing online. I guess she isn’t ready to settle down or perhaps the relationship has run its course. The Facebook groups of Thais living abroad make for good entertainment.
The concern – or is that the hysteria – that the Thai Revenue Department would be coming after foreign retirees to pay tax on money they transfer in to the country seems to have subsided somewhat. Fewer people seem to be talking about it. Out of sight, out of mind, perhaps?
Last year I included a mystery photo of the Dior store on Ploenchit Road which was under construction. It opened not long after that photo ran. I know the Dior store is not on most readers’ to-do lists but it’s really quite beautiful, hence I am including a photo a friend took of it this week.
The Dior store on Ploenchit Road.
Thailand-Related Links & News Articles
Quote of the week comes from Pattaya YouTuber Nick Dean who delighted at a mid-range restaurant having Himalayan Pink Salt on the tables, “If this was in Soi Buakhao, the Cheap Charlies would put it in their pocket and nick it!”
From The Stickman Archives Saphan Kwai, A Buffalo Safari, published in early 2009, took a look at Bangkok’s Thai gogo bar area.
YouTube video of the week is an evening walk along Pattaya’s Beach Road from earlier this week.
A Thai woman gives birth alone on the side of the road and once the baby pops out, leaves it and returns to the Songkran party.
An Indian tourist rages at reception staff in a Bangkok hotel, mistakenly believing that he has been charged twice for his room.
Expats are mourning the loss of Food Panda which announced this week it will cease operating in Thailand next month.
The Age rates and ranks Thailand’s best 12 islands.
The number of Chinese visiting Thailand is falling dramatically.
In Ko Samui, a Brit on a motorbike is unable to outrun the cops who stop him and discover he has cocaine on his person and is on overstay.
The amount of cannabis posted to the UK from Thailand has dropped by 90%.
An Irishman is seriously injured after being stabbed multiple times by another foreigner in Pattaya.
The Chinese man accused of the brutal murder of a ladyboy in Pattaya is caught at Suvarnabhumi Airport, trying to flee the country.
The view of Nana Plaza, from the Nana Hotel.
Closing Comments
It’s been a funny old week with not a lot of news from the bar areas. Or to put it another way, if anything major happened, I never heard about it. This week’s edition has less news and gossip from the bar industry and more of my rambling. Quite simply, I didn’t find a whole lot from the bars to write about this week. With this in mind, I hope there was still something of interest to you in this week’s edition and it was worth tuning in for.
Your Bangkok commentator,
Stick
Stick can be contacted at : stickmanbangkok@gmail.com
