Stick Calls It A Day
Writing a weekly column about what’s happening in Thailand while living on the other side of the world means Thailand can never be far from my mind. And when my mind is on Thailand, it’s not on things at home. This has been an issue for a long time and I’ve reached the point where it’s no longer something I’m comfortable with. It’s time for a change.
It’s 10 years since I returned to New Zealand. The plan was to make a clean break from Thailand, leaving the country behind and this website in the past. But just one week before I was to leave, I was approached by someone who wanted to buy the site. An offer was made that was too good to turn down. A majority share of the site was sold, but there was a catch. I had to stay on.
I had planned to fully immerse myself back in New Zealand. I’d said my goodbyes and told friends I’d be out of touch for a while. The last-minute change came with a financial windfall, but it messed up a good plan. I may have moved back to New Zealand but it didn’t feel like I had left Thailand entirely.
Before Covid, I visited Thailand 3 times per year. Post Covid, I have been visiting just once per year. I no longer feel like I have a foot in both countries and with that, writing the column has become much harder. Time away from Thailand has accelerated the inevitable and today I find it hard to write about life in a country I have very much moved on from. The column has become a burden, and it’s reached the point where it feels like it’s infringing on my real life. I’d really like to just forget about Thailand for a while.
To do that, I need to move on from this site.
There are many reasons why now is the time for me to stand down, but primarily it’s so I can focus on life here in New Zealand.
But there are plenty of other reasons for calling it a day. Pretty much every metric is heading in the wrong direction.
Fewer Western men (who make up the vast majority of readers) visit the bars these days. For some years now, middle-aged white guys are being replaced by young East Asians, and young / middle-aged Indians. Neither of these groups have much interest in a column like this.
Site traffic has been slowly trending down for years.
Most of the people I was friendly with in the bar industry have moved on. Getting up-to-date information and gossip from Bangkok is difficult when the people who used to provide it are back in their own corner of Farangland, or 6 feet under.
I came very close to calling it a day at the end of last year. The other half convinced me to stick with it for another year. In retrospect, that was a mistake.
I have informed the owners of the site that I will fulfil my commitment and write the column until the end of the year. When the calendar ticks over to 2026, my involvement with Stickman will end. There won’t be any last-minute deals this time. This is the end of the road for me. 10 more columns to go, and I am done.
Mystery Photo
Where is it?
Last week’s photo was taken of the Sportsman’s Pub in Soi 13, Pattaya Beach. Close to 50 of you got it right which goes to show what I already knew: there are heaps of Stickman readers in Sin City.
This week’s photo is back in downtown Bangkok.
Stick’s Inbox – The Best Emails From The Past Week
Some girls do, some girls don’t.
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Why Asian visitor numbers are down.
Asian visitor numbers down on Soi Nana? It was the golden week holiday in China for the founding of the country, in the first week of October. Visitor numbers were probably down due to that – and it will be the same for the following week. People go back to their hometown for the week-long holidays. My guess is that’s the reason why numbers were down, and they will rebound later in the month.
Thumbs up for Hua Hin.
I will shortly be back to Hua Hin and my 4-star studio apartment near the beach which is only 12,500 baht / month including cleaning, with no price increase in 3 years. My favourite dish: pork and noodles at Market Village restaurant has increased from 50 baht to 60 baht over the past 3 years – big deal. A large San Miguel Light at a comfortable, well-known, nearby pool bar is 105 baht with friendly hostesses in attendance. Local transport cost is a pittance and it’s a mystery to me how Bolt taxi drivers can make any profit by charging 80 baht for a 2-mile journey. I can’t account for Bangkok or the islands but in Hua Hin, day to day living expenses are tiny compared to back in the west. I would go as far as to suggest that comfortable living in Hua Hin is possible on just the UK state pension, although it would take some financial discipline and a need to keep a watch on the pennies.
No thanks, fusion food.
I’m glad I’m not alone in eschewing “fusion” food. I like fusion music, but detest fusion food. Unfortunately, fusion food is metastasizing in Thailand as fast as in the USA. My last few trips I ate at several multi-star Michelin “Thai” restaurants. Without exception, they were overpriced and provided sequences and “pairings” of fussy, barely-a-mouthful food-like substances. To be sure, the decorative knife-work was skilful and the service was long on self-satisfied tutorials and exhibits, but the food was, well, edible. It seems that each establishment aims to outdo the competition with ever more strained melanges of ingredients. My Thai dinner companions agreed that there was little-to-nothing recognizably Thai in taste or style. “Fusion” also pollutes many non-Thai offerings, e.g. “Japanese sushi” with bastardized (Americanized) rolls of incompatible fishes and ne’er-seen-in-Japan ingredients. Good luck to the traditionalist / purist seeking a nigiri recognizable to a Japanese. I have sworn-off all patronage of fusion cuisine (ptui!).
Bada Bing is being repaired and will reopen in November.
This Week’s News, Views & Gossip
Following on from what was written in last week’s column about Bada Bing being shuttered and looking like just another of the many Covid casualties in the area, word is that a revamped Bada Bing will open the first week of November. Dating back to 2009, Bada Bing has long been in need of a refresh. The original plan was a thorough cleaning, a few upgrades and the idea was the bar would be closed for a week, maybe two. The rainy season came, the roof failed and a couple of weeks would become a couple of months. Bada Bing will reopen in November.
Just across from Bada Bing, can you believe it’s 2½ years since the Patpong soi 2 gogo bar, XXX, closed? Yep, March, 2023, to be precise. There was good news this week for Patpong with Anna from Kinky Girls (previously known as The Strip) securing the lease for XXX. She hopes to reopen the gogo bar next month although whether it will be under the XXX name or a new name is not clear.
In last week’s column I included a comment from an expat who claimed that the most attractive ladies in the Soi 7 beer bar complex in Soi 7 don’t go with customers. The first email published this week was in response to that. The fellow who emailed last week needs to consider something else. The younger / slimmer girls tend to be more choosy about who they go with these days. The days when every lady would go with whoever wished to barfine them are long gone. Today, many ladies prefer to go with or perhaps only go with younger customers, Asian customers or particularly generous customers. The girls have choices today, and they are exercising them.
While it might be tempting to put some money into a bar, think again. I mention this because an unnamed Soi Cowboy bar is selling shares – see this online ad. There is a risk investing in a bar where you are merely a shareholder, especially if you’re new to the industry. Sometimes it works out, oftentimes it doesn’t. Many times over the years I’ve seen people lured in by smooth talkers with the promise of millions. It still happens today. If you really want to invest in the bar industry, buy a business outright. Or start a new bar from scratch. Buying shares in a bar is fraught with risk.
Which bar on Soi Cowboy is selling shares?
Bangkok has a new venue that purports to offer Japanese ladies. Not ladies for the Japanese men in Bangkok who look Japanese, nor ladies dollied up to look Japanese, but actual Japanese nationals. And I think they probably really are Japanese nationals. Why? Because in all of the photos I don’t see a single tattoo. Thai women in this line of work are increasingly likely to have tats. And if they’re advertising Japanese sex workers in the Japanese language to Japanese men, word would quickly spread amongst the Japanese expat community if they’re not what they say they are.
Many years ago I suggested that the way things were going, Bangkok might be better off with 2 major gogo bar areas rather than 3. Those comments are even more prescient today. Patpong struggles for much of the year with only a small number of bars doing well. In fairness, there are a few gogo bars in Patpong which are decent and compare well with bars elsewhere. With all of its neon, Soi Cowboy has become a tourist attraction although – just like Patpong – there remain a number of empty spaces and the soi has a number of bars which are best avoided. Nana Plaza looks good, has the best bars, is well run, and is head and shoulders above the rest. The closure of one of Patpong or Soi Cowboy, and the consolidation of the bars from one area into the other could work. Logistically, the best thing to happen would be for Soi Cowboy to be levelled and that prime real estate redeveloped into something new. A bar – as in regular bars – and restaurant soi would be a winner. And with so many empty spaces throughout Patpong, the area could accommodate all of the Soi Cowboy bars. Of course the closure of Cowboy would mean the loss of a large chunk of bar history but I really do think that, sooner rather than later, one of the major bar areas will fall.
It’s party time at Katoeys R Us, on Monday night.
Down in Pattaya, Katoeys Are Us on Soi Buakhao will host a double birthday party for Nuy and Pim, tomorrow, Monday, October 20. If ladyboys are your thing, you might like to stop by.
The former manager of Walking Street bar Fahrenheit, Nils, has been working for the Mandarin Group in Bangkok the last few months. He will celebrate his birthday on Friday, October 24th, at Red Dragon in Nana Plaza. Expect bar industry figures from Bangkok and Pattaya to stop by in what I am told will be a wild night.
On this note, I have to say that one of the many things I do not miss about the bar industry is bar owners’ birthday parties. There would always be a lot of drinking and oftentimes things got ugly. Not ugly as in terribly drunk, ugly as in tensions simmering between bar bosses spilling over into violence. Not fun.
On Walking Street, The Hive is officially still called Tantra, but the bar has put up its new sign, heralding a coming name change. Legal reasons prevent a full rebranding before the licenses, permits and other paperwork is signed, but when a towering sign gets delivered to your door early, you can hardly stick it in the storage room, can you?
The Hive, Walking Street.
It’s no longer a problem to say in polite company that you visit Thailand regularly. The idea that the only reason people go to Thailand is to be a naughty boy has largely been left in the past. But I still tend to keep it quiet that I go back to Thailand every year so I can avoid the dumb advice that inevitably comes from people who have visited Thailand and think they know it all. This week I was getting some work done on my car and got talking to the service manager. Thailand came up and this genius imparted his wisdom. “They love US dollars up there”, he told me. “Make sure you convert your money into US dollars here before you go, and then when you’re up there you convert the US dollars into Thai baht. It works out much better that way. Just watch their eyes light up when you show them your US dollars.” I didn’t want to point out the obvious that every time you exchange foreign currency you lose as I just don’t think this genius would have believed me so I just smiled and thanked him for the advice.
Some of the gigantic digital screens on the side of buildings all over Bangkok are very impressive. I was fascinated by the one outside Exchange Tower. The clarity of the picture and the colours were amazing for such a large screen.
There’s some amazing, huge signs around Bangkok.
Many thanks for your responses to my question in last week’s column about a hotel with specific facilities. One spot was recommended by several of you – Stable Lodge on Sukhumvit soi 8. I’m not actually a big fan of old hotels, but that was far and away the most recommended hotel. I received some great recommendations and have narrowed down where I will stay next time to 4 places.
The cost of labour in Thailand has increased – and I don’t mean just the minimum wage which recently increased to ฿400 per day in Bangkok. When I was in town I was amazed at how many businesses had signs up looking for staff. I noticed one chain of cannabis stores offered a starting monthly salary of ฿25,000 plus tips (is tipping a thing in cannabis stores?), and other benefits. ฿25,000+ is a reasonable starting salary. The sign outside one store stated that applicants do not need to have a university education which made me laugh.
Music can be intertwined with past events, and emotions, and certain songs can be a powerful trigger of memories. “You Can Do Magic” by America always makes me think of Spanky’s where it was always (perhaps still is?) the first song played every evening. Ditto The Whisper’s “And The Beat Goes On” which takes me back to the good old days at Secrets, in Pattaya. It was played when the day shift changed over to the night shift at 8:00 PM. There are plenty of other songs which take me back to Thailand, some of which you hear all the time in bars – and I never hear in this part of the world. A friend mentioned that Sade’s “Never As Good As The First Time” makes him think about Thailand and how he never managed to recapture the joy of that first ever trip. What songs trigger memories of Thailand for you?
Is there a song that makes you think of Thailand? Or a song that describes your first trip to Thailand?
Thailand-Related Links & News Articles
Quote of the week comes from a friend, “Soi Cowboy’s The Arab is a bit like an STD that just keeps on giving.”
Reader’s story of the week comes from Hunch, Sustainable Trips To Bangkok, A Trip Report.
From The Stickman Archives The Flawed Lady Drink System published in 2015, shows this is hardly a new problem.
An elderly American falls to his death from a condo in Pattaya.
A Pattaya bargirl hands in a punter’s bag containing almost $AUD 10,000 to police.
An Indian threatens people with a lighter-gun in Siam Square.
In Pattaya, a moto taxi rider observes a couple indulging in some afternoon delight on a condominium balcony.
In Kanchanaburi, bullies tattoo vile slurs on a 10-year-old’s forehead.
A blind retired German who couldn’t find his wife was unaware she was dead inside their home.
A Belarusian woman was tricked into travelling to Thailand, forced to work as a slave, killed and her organs harvested.
Tom Tuohy asks whether expats still get a fair shake in Thailand.
Soon it will be time for me to relax and spend some time at the beach.
Closing Comments
I’ve been thinking about ending my involvement with this site for a few years so it’s a relief to have finally made the decision. At the same time, it’s a little difficult writing this week without knowing if it’s my last column or not.
When someone resigns from a position, it’s not unusual for a company to pay them out and let them go there and then. They could potentially cause harm to the company, and it might just be best to let them go right away. I don’t anticipate that will happen to me, but I’m not ruling it out either. As such, given there’s a chance I might be shown the door, so to speak / be locked out of the site / not allowed to write any more columns lest I tell some uncomfortable truths, there is a possibility this could be my last column. With that in mind, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people.
First of all, a special thanks goes out to Mister Nana (previously known as Dave The Rave). Dave was there when this column first started, and he has been there all the way through. No-one has provided more news, gossip and insight about the bar industry. Many people have contributed to this column over the years but no-one has contributed as much or been as supportive as Dave.
I’d also like to thank 3 people who have helped behind the scenes. Grasshopper, Bangkok Barry and Chiang Mai Bob have all helped at various times over the years to pick up the many errors and typos I consistently produce week in, week out. The reason the column is generally tidy and, hopefully, error-free by the time you read it is due to the kind efforts of these three.
To everyone who has tuned in over the years, whether you just skimmed over a column once or you have been tuning in since the beginning, I am very grateful for all of your support. And to those of you with whom I have shared a few cross words, I appreciate you taking the time to reach out, even if we may not have seen eye to eye.
When I sold this site, the stickmanbangkok@gmail.com email address was not part of the deal. If you wish to contact me, that’s the email address to use. If any other email address appears, it’s not me.
I imagine that I will be here each week until the end of the year and with a bit of luck it will be business as usual until then. There won’t be any kiss and tell columns. And there are no plans to do anything Thailand-related once I finish up there. I have zero plans for another website, a book, podcasts or a YouTube channel.
I will write more over the coming weeks about what this means for the site going forward. There will no doubt be discussions about what happens next although I don’t expect to be part of those. When things become clear about what will happen next, I’ll let you know.
Again, just in case the owners pull the plug / cut me off, and this is the last time you hear from me, a heartfelt thanks to every one of you for tuning in, and for all of your support and encouragement over the past 25 years. You have truly been the most wonderful readership.
Your Bangkok commentator,
Stick
Stick can be contacted at : stickmanbangkok@gmail.com
