They say that what goes round comes round. Never has that been truer than when
applied to Soi Cowboy. A few years ago Cowboy had become the faded, seldom used
nightlife area: scruffy, uninteresting and most of the go-go operations well
past their sell-by date: Nana Plaza thrived.
Then in two years the pendulum has swung. Nana Plaza, dominated by a stale and
arrogant group, has faded. Scruffy, tame, uninteresting, washed out are all
words that fit the current description of Nana Plaza. And just add over priced when
compared to anywhere else in town and you get the full picture. However, Cowboy has been
invigorated by new blood and is suddenly in, and thriving.
Cowboys transformation has come from five new operations. Cowboy was in need
of a re-vamp and it is happening. And as the new boys do well the others reluctantly
follow.
It all started at Baccara, a French owned and run go-go. The
new décor was clean, the glass floor the first, and the staff looked like they
actually wanted to be there. Serge is the manager and has the natural French
instincts when it comes to sex and sexy. His secret, he said, was his glass
floor, young girls and no knickers. I suspect his constant lurking at the bar
and his ability to greet and meet is just as important.
However it was not Baccara that got the Cowboy buzz restarted: it was Dollhouse.
Dollhouse Cowboy came as a follow up to highly successful go-gos in Clinton
Plaza and Pattaya. When Clinton Plaza became doomed, the Dollhouse managers
looked around and found the site in Cowboy. The marketing ability and hype that
had got DH going in Pattaya and Clinton was directed at Cowboy. The long forgotten
and dreary Cowboy had suddenly been re-invented by Big Andy and his little girls.
The opening was full of hype and web boards were filled with eulogies. Not only
Dollhouse had arrived but Cowboy itself was back in the hot spot.
Of course it could have all ended there as Dollhouse suffered a management change,
or several, and has lost much of its early zip. However others had seen the
opportunity.
The renaissance of Susie Wongs was spawned from the success
of Playschool in Nana Plaza, and arrived just as the Dollhouse buzz was fading,
to provide new momentum to the Cowboy vehicle.
Then came Shark, which added to the scene but has barely impressed,
as a lack of oomph in the management was apparent from day one. This is an over
fed basking Shark, not a hungry ocean shark, but still it is new and clean and
added to the theme of change at Cowboy. Cowboy 2 was created from two smaller go-gos and I have enjoyed
using it because there is a bar you can sit at. In any event another new go-go
and another new operation: the momentum was now unstoppable.
The latest new go-go on the block is Shebas. Unfortunately
for Shebas it opened just as SARS emptied the country of tourists. However I
have always liked the look of Shebas. Externally an Egyptian Sphinx stares down
from the impressive facade that covers the full front of the building. Inside
the levels have been carefully worked out, the décor is probably too much and
the music, both in sound and content, first class. Shebas is getting better
all the time and I believe will become the Sois number one go-go. In any event,
from the point of view of Soi Cowboy, Shebas has brought more invention and
more go get it to this once moribund Soi.
Needless to say there were a few successful operations in Cowboy before all
these new boys arrived. Long Gun has sustained a reputation
for shows and those shows have got better as the competition got stiffer. Black
and White has a good reputation and when I trundled in the other evening
it was doing well and I was well looked after. If I had not been in a hurry
I would have been tempted to stay longer.
One small go-go that is different is Five Star. Instead of
music they have a live band. My
gig guide colleague wrote about them recently from a music point of view
and I was intrigued. I am afraid as a go-go I did not find a great deal of go,
but is was a good spot to chill out and get away from the endless blasting of
the music machines.
The bars that kept Cowboy going, in lean times, were bars that specialized in
more personal service, at the bar. These are places that when you enter you
quickly find yourself surround by ladies and probably a hand feeling for a part
of the anatomy that you would have thought was sacrosanct prior to a formal
introduction. The best known of these is After School: where
the naughty boys corner has accommodated many naughty boys over the years. However
I am quite fond of Fannys, or was until the new video music
machine caught my eye and thus diverted my attention away from matters in hand.
However Fannys associate bar is Jungle Jims and they have no
such diversions.
Yet no review of Cowboy would be complete without mentioning Midnight
Bar. Dirty is the single word required to sum up this institution of
the Bangkok go-go scene. Just apply that word before anything in Midnight: the
floor; the deécor; the seats and, most of all, the girls. However it does not
apply to the girls clothing: simply because they dont have any. It is still
amazingly popular despite the dirt, despite the girls and despite rumours and
stories of customers being robbed and abused. It is Cowboys fatal attraction!
The single advantage Soi Nana has over Soi 23 (Cowboy) is the other operation
around it. Nana has created a glut of small guest-friendly hotels, as well as
several other bars, pubs and discos. Soi 23 has a sprinkling of those, but like
Cowboy a couple of years ago, they need to be renovated. The Ship, The Offshore
bar and the Old Dutch, as well as the International Beer House, to mention a
few, all look past their sell by date.
However at the Asoke end of Cowboy I did find a new pub called the Penny
Black. I was directed to the 2nd floor (Floor 3) where I found an interesting
restaurant. I had a look at the menu, but I had already eaten. It certainly
looked promising, but was clearly not cheap, a fact that was rammed home when
my single beer cost 139 Baht. Whilst I was there a band, which featured a fiddle
player as well as a farang female singer, started to play and they were first
rate, so I may go back and try the vittles. There also seemed to be a pool bar
area on the first floor and the Penny Black has rooms. Good rooms I am told,
but at 1,500 Baht apiece they seemed to be wrongly priced for Soi Cowboy.
Nevertheless Penny Black is a good sign. Cowboy needs hotels, pubs and restaurants
then maybe Nana Plaza will finally drift off the map to become a haven for Katoeys
and bad go-go managers!
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