Stickman Weekly, November 9, 2025

 

 

Mystery Photo

Last week’s photo was taken from the Asoke BTS station platform, looking down at the Suda Restaurant on Sukhumvit soi 14. It’s one of the few Thai street food restaurants between Nana and Asoke that is popular with foreigners. I heard a lot about this restaurant for many years but never made it there until 2017. When I finally stopped by, I have to say that I was disappointed. It wasn’t bad per se, but neither was it anything special.

This week’s photo is – you know the drill – in the usual zone! It was taken this past Monday night, the last night Bangkok had rain. Woohoo, 5 days without rain! And I think this week’s photo might even challenge those of you who cheat by using Google Reverse Image Search.

 

 

Stick’s Inbox – The Best Emails From The Past Week

It was a different time.

I first went on holiday to Thailand in the early ’80s and moved there to work in 1996, staying until 2014. In the early years I followed Nite Owl, Bernard Trink in the Bangkok Post until you arrived on scene with this brand-new internet thing and changed the game with what was to become your iconic Stickman website. I was a regular reader and a contributor during the days of Dana, Korski et al. Your website was an integral part of the expat Thailand experience for many of us. What great days they were, when a certain demographic of mainly western men converged into Thailand during a specific stage of its economic and social development. What great characters there were, and you were chronicling and collating it all. It is almost to talk to others who were not there about these times, because today, in our authoritarian times, they simply would not believe that we lived through such free and crazy times. I do hope you are able to hang on to the site in an archived form, if it ever goes offline. I know you no longer own the site, but your weekly columns plus the readers’ submission are a historical document to a time and place that is disappearing and soon will be gone. It is a treasure trove of a time and place. It would be terrible to see it disappear. As much as I have enjoyed and been a part of this website, I think you are right to bring the curtain down on the Stickman era. That was a brilliant time and place, but the world moves on and changes, and we all change along with it. The Stickman website is a record of something that is fading and will be replaced by the next thing.

A world full of sadness.

I completely understand why you want to say goodbye to writing about the gogo scene in Bangkok and Pattaya. It’s just not the same anymore. And when you’re not here, it becomes even harder to write about it. I’ll really miss your articles, but I totally understand your decision. From the outside it might look glamorous, but it’s also a world full of sadness. I still don’t understand how the girls can accept the almost slavery-like rules that some gogo bars have.

Don’t call me “Bro”!

I can almost accept being called Farang, I won’t make a fuss. But don’t ever call me Boss, or Bro. If you do I’ll let you know that I’m offended!

Demographics.

I don’t know why people are so surprised to see the streets of Bangkok and Pattaya full of Indians, Chinese and Russians. That’s 36% of the world’s population in just those 3 countries. And the youngest, smartest Russians are fleeing the draft.

Tip at the start, not the end.

Due to my F&B career, I over-tip, deliberately. I can’t afford the reputation of being stingy. Most of my friends are in the same business, so I want their staff to be happy when I visit (and they return the favour in my place). I ride most places myself. But otherwise a Grab Bike or Taxi is always rounded up to the next 100 baht. In gogo bars, I tip for a decent pair of shoes. Or an enthusiastic dancer. Or serving staff who remember my usual order. But my most ridiculous tipping philosophy is in nightclubs. I tip as soon as I arrive and get a table. Then I’ll tip servers and security staff within the first 30 minutes. It’s usually more than 1,000 baht. My reasoning is that tipping at the end of the night doesn’t improve the service I receive. But tipping at the start of the night ensures my group receives preferential treatment all night. And on the very few occasions there has been any trouble, security always has my back.

More druggies than you think.

I think your numbers are way low on the girls’ drug use. Ice is as cheap as it has ever been and it is rampant in Southeast Asia. Perhaps many girls have turned to weed as it is legal.

Queuing at the house of oral relief.

You mentioned queues outside of short-time hotels. Back in the day when the venerable old Star of Light BJ bar was still with us, I heard it was not uncommon for a few customers to be waiting outside for it to open. Opening time was 10 AM, and on occasion there was already a queue. I often wonder what guys in a queue waiting for a blowjob bar to open up in the morning might chat about.

Same, same but different?

I don’t buy the doom and gloom talk. The industry will change and diversify, but there is no shortage of Thai women who will continue to provide services. And everything doesn’t have to be expensive – 1,500 baht can still get you off at gent clubs and massage venues. And the top-tier gogo bars will always provide eye candy. Same, same but different. <What you say is true *but* I think for a lot of people it was never about just getting off. It was so much more than that, and nothing like what most of us think of as prostitution. That’s what lured so many to Thailand’s naughty nightlife and kept them coming back again and again. When it reverts back to wham, bam, thank you, mam, many lose interest as it doesn’t feel all that different to what’s available elsewhere – Stick>

 

 

 

This Week’s News, Views & Gossip

There was a noticeable uptick in Sukhumvit bar trade over the second half of this past week. It almost certainly helped that it has been dry for a few days. Multiple people tell me that there are far more people around. Is the high season clicking into gear?

Bangkok’s newest gogo bar, Orbit, opened on Thursday night on Nana Plaza’s ground floor. The bar is from the team behind Geisha on Nana’s top floor, and also Virgin in Patpong. As Orbit opened, Virgin closed, reportedly for good, with the girls moving across to Orbit. Is it a case of new bar, old girls? In this case it wouldn’t be a big deal as Virgin had a reputation for lookers. Great effort has been put on the new bar’s frontage and the Greco-Romanesque exterior and interior walls, with their arched windows. Less effort has been made on the interior which has been described as basic with a central stage surrounded by bench seating. At prime time on Saturday night, Orbit had just 10 dancers and 8 customers. Drinks are at the usual levels with a Jack + Coke 190 baht. Lady drinks run 250 baht. However, my spy who stopped by noted the Jack + Coke was a big disappointment. He described it as the tiniest amount of Jack they thought they could get away with, poured over the tiniest amount of Coke, topped up by a dozen ice cubes. Let’s keep an eye on Orbit and see how it tracks.

And on Friday the renovated Shark in Soi Cowboy reopened. The little sister of the amazing bar of the same name, it was long overdue a major reno. It felt old and the stench of mould throughout the bar has long irritated sensitive punters. With a bit of luck, the renovation included thorough remediation of the mould. There had been conjecture about the outdoor patio and I am pleased to say it survived in the same size. All of the wood was ripped out, and the area underneath was cleaned out of all the crap that accumulates. An all-new wooden patio has been installed. While there were no tables on the patio on opening night, new tables are coming. The bar was packed on Friday night with 59 beauties on stage, which is up on the 45 – 50 Shark typically has on any given night. Shark was so busy on Friday that a friend I sent along for a report of how the renovated bar looked could not even get a seat.

 

 

Last night (Saturday night), the crowds on Soi Cowboy were centered around the bars with ping-pong shows. These are the bars of little interest to locals – but they appear to be awfully popular with visitors. Think Bad Beach, Suzie Wong and Long Gun. All the bars on the soi with ladies performing these awful, degrading shows were slammed. The better bars with the hot girls weren’t so busy.

On this note, will Stumble Inn rue their change of plans where they abandoned their new ladyboy cabaret project in favour of a regular gogo bar. It’s only one night, but early high season indicators are that it could be for the next few months that it’s the grotty pussy show bars which will thrive. I guess there’s no reason they can’t change their minds again and go back to the ladyboy cabaret bar idea…

Speaking of this phenomenon, I guess it reinforces the decision by a number of bars in Patpong to switch to the pussy show format, and for some of those bars to promote them so heavily with large signs in both Patpong sois advertising pussy shows.

 

 

With so many visitors around, it should be no surprise that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of Indians on Soi Cowboy. This is a recent thing. Last high season, I frequently commented about how there were so many Indians in Nana Plaza and in the Nana area generally. Some locals have nicknamed Soi Nana as “Soi Mumbai”. If the last few days are anything to go by, it seems like our Indian friends have well and truly discovered Soi Cowboy.

It hasn’t rained since Monday night which has been a boon for bar trade. While the monsoon rains kill bar trade, they did have one benefit – diluting – and effectively masking the sewage on Soi Cowboy. The photo below was taken last night on Soi Cowboy and you know the drill, that’s not rain. Contaminated water is clearly coming out of the space that was previously Stumble Inn Bangkok. Is this the point of origin? Some think so. You may recall many months ago when this first became an issue that there was conjecture that it was due to a fatberg which had formed in the sewage system, from discarded cooking oil and fats. As it happens, Stumble Inn Soi Cowboy has a commercial kitchen on the premises.

 

 

Up the road in Soi Nana, there was a longer queue to get into the plaza on Saturday night than there has been in some time, another indicator that things are ramping up. Anyone who was speculating that this high season might not set the nightlife areas alight might like to think again.

On the middle floor of Nana Plaza, it’s good to hear some people talking about Angelwitch again. A great bar in the past, it went off the boil for many years but people keep mentioning it these days. If you’re in the plaza, do stop by.

And next door to Angelwitch, it’s very much business as usual at Spanky’s which is consistently busy night after night.

Late at night along prime Sukhumvit Road can be rough. As mentioned in previous columns, the African ladies come out to play after most bars have closed. This week, there was a long stream of African ladies scattered out along the odd-numbered side of Sukhumvit, from outside the steps leading down to the Sukhumvit MRT station, beside Soi Cowboy, all the way up to Soi Nana. And as has always been the case at that time of night, you can find plenty of ladyboys about too. What about local ladies of the night? As a friend said to me, you would need to be very drunk to take one of them home with you.

 

 

Over the past couple of months there has been a bit of a pattern where bars can be quieter than usual early in the evening – as in extremely quiet – and then around 9:30 or 10:00 PM, things pick up. This has always been the pattern, you might say. Yes, it has – but not to this extent. It seems like plenty choose to relax early evening in their condo, order in some food, monitor the weather apps and if it looks like it will be a dry night, they head out. If rain is on the horizon, they stay in. Probably things will start to get busier early evening with the high season looking like it’s arrived and the rains (touch wood) over.

It’s the second week of November, and some hotels have moved on to high season room rates. Sunday and Monday night of this past week saw torrential downpours and while rain had been forecast, the rest of the week was dry. The last rain at night in Bangkok was Monday. Is that the end of the rains in Bangkok for the year? Maybe. Weather apps indicate rain is likely for a few days more but from Friday, clear skies are forecast.

On Monday night the rain was so heavy that staff in open-fronted bars scurried to move items deep inside the bar. In some bars, shutters had to be pulled down half-way. At The Kicking Donkey on Sukhumvit soi 6, staff hurriedly applied duct tape and plastic bags over speakers and other fixtures near the front of the bar that couldn’t be moved.

 

 

Legendary bar boss Big Andy, who has been running bars, having fun and generally causing chaos for more than 25 years, will celebrate his 70th birthday at 66 Tavern in Pattaya on Friday, November 21st. Do note that 66 Tavern is not downtown, but on the dark side i.e. the other side of Sukhumvit Road. Andy’s parties are quite the event and it will be anything but dull!

While I mentioned that it looks like the low season is well and truly behind Bangkok, the same can’t be said in Pattaya. In each of 2023 and 2024, things had picked up markedly by the middle of October. Not this year. It’s still rather quiet during weekdays while weekends are ok *if* the Bangkok Thais make the trip down the motorway. They don’t go to the bars, of course, so expect some Sin City bar owners to complain for a while yet.

With the high season upon us, bars are keen to fill the premises with staff. Many have signs outside advertising for new girls. The sign in the photo below is from Hookup Corner, at the top of soi 7 in Pattaya. It’s a large beer bar, and a lot flasher than the old-style, smaller beer bars at the beach end of that soi. If you’ve wondered why prices in so many bars have been steadily increasing, it can be at least partially explained by the salaries girls command today. The salary is listed as 40,000 ++ baht / month although it’s not entirely clear what this means with the word inclusive used, as well as ++. The bar is looking for ladies aged 18 – 35. They earn a 50 baht commission on every lady drink and the commissions are paid at the end of the shift. The job comes with accommodation and uniforms are provided. Staff get 3 days off per month. I guess there must be demand with salaries like this offered in a bar which is, in fairness, middle of the road for Pattaya.

 

 

In last week’s column I wrote that some bars in the new Maggie May’s beer bar complex should be just about open. This was based on the press release from Maggie May’s. Silly me, I took that info to be correct. It turns out that it wasn’t and as of yesterday, I am told that no bars have opened yet. This is just another example of why I am not always confident when I get info directly from bar owners / operators. You’d think they’d be the best source but over the years I have found that not to be the case. Apologies if I led you astray.

You never know what’s around the corner in Bangkok and what you might come across next. Take the laminated page in the photo below, which is posted on the fence next to the canal at the end of Sukhumvit soi 15. A lady has been photographed leaving rice for birds to eat. It would appear that has not gone down well with someone who has printed a couple of photos of the lady and placed a gun on one of the images. The message is clear: something bad’s going to happen to you if you continue to feed the birds! I guess a nearby property owner got annoyed at food being left which attracted lots of birds which in turn became a nuisance, pooping everywhere.

 

 

Special festive season menus are popping up online with many restaurants already taking bookings for Christmas. Flash hotel restaurants can charge thousands for a fancy Christmas-themed buffet. Alternatively, many British pubs offer a traditional Christmas spread for around 1,000 baht. These places tend to fill up so don’t wait too long to make your reservation.

Service in Thai banks used to always be pretty good – at least that was my experience – but I hear more and more stories where it’s anything but. A friend was in a bank branch in Pattaya recently and overheard a conversation between a male teller and a foreigner. The foreigner had questions about opening an account but was given a hard time by the teller. What stood out to my friend was not just the manner of the teller, but asking the foreigner if he had come from Bangkok Bank! Could it be that other banks may be aware that Bangkok Bank had opened accounts to people who used dodgy means and they now don’t want those people to become customers at their bank? With all of these KYC rules, who knows? Apparently it was quite a scene with everyone in the branch watching. Needless to say, my friend who witnessed it was relieved that he was served by a different teller.

 

 

I’ve never seen any cannabis stores busy. Not one. In fact most of the time when I have walked past any of these many stores, there’s not a customer in sight. Despite this, some on the industry claimed (note the “ed” i.e. in the past) that business was good. That has all changed. From those close to some of the bigwigs in the retail cannabis industry I hear that trade is worse than poor – and it has been this way for some time. Like I say, this is from people close to major players. It’s hardly a surprise given cannabis shops are everywhere and it’s a hot commodity to buy online with prices very competitive.

I guess many readers of this column think of Sukhumvit Road as Bangkok’s nightlife / entertainment area but that really is just a very small part of the road, concentrated in a very small area. Sukhumvit Road is full of history, and some of the shops along the road have been there not just for years, or even decades, they have been operated largely unchanged for generations. One such shop was “the button shop”, which is – correction, *was* – located just around the corner from Sukhumvit Road from the Asoke intersection, in the direction of Rama 4 Road. I wonder if a Stickman reader has ever stepped foot inside? Quite possibly not. The classic old button shop is no longer and is going to become an Indian tailor’s store which is just what the area needs…not! The shop it replaces sold only buttons and lace. I understand the store had been there for more than 40 years. Business wasn’t great for a while, largely due to a drop off in their main customer base who were, funnily enough, Japanese.

 

 

Thailand-Related Links & News Articles

From The Stickman Archives comes one of my all-time favourite columns, Throwing Away The Winning Lottery Ticket.

Virgin Atlantic will launch a new non-stop service between London Heathrow and Phuket starting in October, 2026.

Georgia frees the pregnant British girl who smuggled drugs into the country from Thailand.

British expat Barry Kenyon was farewelled last week in Pattaya.

In Phuket, a young Australian may be facing jail time after being caught shoplifting multiple times.

A British woman is arrested on Ko Phangnan where she had been conducting lessons in what the Thais called “sex yoga”.

If you missed Loy Krathong this year, here’s a lovely photo essay of what is many people’s favourite Thai festival.

The strong Thai baht isn’t helping Thailand’s tourism industry.

A Frenchman is a hero, jumping into the Chao Praya River to rescue a Thai woman who had jumped in.

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Closing Comments

The future of this column and for that matter, the whole site, remains up in the air. It will be business as usual until the end of the year, but nothing has been decided about what will happen beyond that point. At least 4 people have expressed interest in writing this column when I step aside at the end of the year, 3 of whom are current or former journalists. I’ve been talking with the owner’s representative and while no decisions have been made, the impression I get is that they are not keen on getting someone else to write it. Read into that what you will. When I hear more, I’ll let you know.

Your Bangkok commentator,

Stick

Stick can be contacted at : stickmanbangkok@gmail.com