Baronbonk.com News and views on nightlife, bars, gogos in Bangkok and Thailand

I always regarded Cha Am as a kind of poor cousin to Hua Hin. After my recent over night I am not so sure that the rich, even discreet, cousin may not be the better description. The two towns are twenty five kilometres apart, a fact that is belittled by the fast road between them. Cha Am beach side reminds me of Jomtien, without the trash. But there the similarities end, this is genteel resort which contains some seriously expensive property that host many leading lights form Thai society most week ends.

The centre of Cha Am is active, without being lively, there are things happening but nobody is in a hurry. The beach is pleasant and charging around on a bucking inflated dragon seems to be the main preoccupation. We found a table in front of the Scandy Resort and watched that little bit of the world go by. The beer was cold, and the service hap hazard at best. But having just escaped the grind of Bangkok, the gentle sea breeze, with the cold substance in hand, was paradise indeed.

As the sun set behind us we set about finding the action in Cha Am. We were just around the corner from Soi Cattareya where some enterprising sole had built a cluster of small bars, decorated them and then tried to sell the new bars at a healthy (read excessive) profit. Inevitably the scheme has gone tits up. The bars slowly got taken over, but not at the original asking price, inevitably some are once again dormant. The Jeep bar was well advertised, but has now gone the way of so many aspirations in Thailand tricky bar business, out of business. However we did find The Lodge Bar with Brit governor Phil. This is an attractive space with an all wood interior and a little mezzanine supporting a sole pool table. We discussed the activities in Cha Am and I got the impression that this sleepy little resort is a good place to live with just enough going on make life interesting. My companion fell in love with the girl behind the bar.

We had a very average meal in the nearby Cha Am Steak House. Meat band sawn whilst heavily frozen and then fast defrosted on the way to being murdered on the grill. If the microwave got into the act somewhere I would not be surprised. However this gave us substance for the major push on Cha Am’s throbbing night plaza.

Well not exactly palpitating to be fair, unless you refer to my companions heart which seemed to go out to anything short, brown, dark haired and female. This plaza is called the Intira Plaza, Cha Am. A name that defiantly did not say it all. Cha Am Night Bazaar seemed to have a better ring about it. Here there is a collection of bars, karaoke emporiums and very strange looking dives, but the most important, by far, is the Chicken Coop. The Coop comprises of three operations: a Tex Mex diner, which I am assured would never have micro waved our steak, a small hotel, with rooms available for those, like my companion, with a throbbing problem and the all important star of the plaza: The Chicken Coop gogo. As gogos go this was far down the pecking order, The girls were not to bad, except they ignored us, excellent I thought, but my companion was less impressed, the music was well ….not good, the lighting did not work very well and the general ambiance was like the girls dancing: virtually non existent. However this is Cha Am and only last year the girls had to wear jeans and shirts to dance in, now it has got to bikinis. Then, of course lady drinks are only 50 Baht and the bar fine 300 Baht, that should attract those pissed off with 600 Baht in the Crown Group bars. The Chicken Coop operation is run by Jit, a charming Thai lady, whom my companion fell in love with. She freely admits that she needs help with the gogo operation so a tour of Nana and environs was promised when she next comes to Bangkok.

Of the other bars in Intira Plaza: Lotus and Ongs seemed to be have a healthy sprinkling of customers, at the weekend I guess the place starts gently dilating if not exactly throbbing. We now headed back towards our hotel and finals in Soi Cattareya. This time we trundled into the Butterfly bar. Another of the little themed bars created by the original entrepreneur. This had an amazing collection of glass bottles and cruets and thee very lonely ladies. I had a couple of drinks before caterpillering off to my bed in preparation for an early start the next day. I left my companion behind falling in love. I am not sure what happened after that but the next day my co-driver slept all the way to Koh Samui. The throbbing seemed to have gone down!

It was good we had a car because getting around is either drive, or walk, I saw no taxis at all. I am told there are motor bikes which will whisk one to Intira Plaza, which was a good fifteen minute walk from Soi Cattareya.

Cha Am may yet become a night life centre as Hua Hin is now being shut down at midnight. That fast road could soon see thrill seekers blasting up it for the extra two drinking hours offered just twenty minutes away. But what ever I enjoyed my night in Cha Am.

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