Baronbonk.com Nightlife, bars, gogos in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Now is the buzz word of the moment. Not the English word but the Thai word pronounced the same. My Thai vocabulary is limited, to say the least, however I have finally got to grips with “now.” It is words like this that can lead to big misunderstandings. Should the ‘lust of the moment’ enter your nicely chilled bedroom and immediately cry “now now!” The gentlemen amongst us, trying to do nothing but acquiesce to the lady’s demands, may immediately start ripping of her clothes. Wrong. Rip of your clothes and give them to her: she is cold.

As soon as I mentioned to a few Thais, in Bangkok, that I intended heading for Chiang Mai I received weird looks and much nowing; and muck muck nowing. The taxi driver taking me to the airport almost refused to take me. “You go Phuket,” he kept saying.

However for me the temperature in Chiang Mai is just about perfect. It is like a warm spring day in England, and at night there is almost a chill in the air. The Chaing Mai Thai residents are not impressed. Many are dressed up in anoraks and a girl playing cross 4 with me was wearing fingertip free gloves of the type I would use for pheasant murdering in January in England. Never thought I would see them on a Thai girl in a bar beer.

As regards the nightlife, such as it is, not a lot has changed since my last visit, just over a year ago. The epicentre, if indeed it can claim that lofty title, is still the junction of Loi Kroh and Moonmuang. Wandering up Loi Kroh I trundled across the twin carriageway of Moonmuang and turned left to find the Mad Dog pub. This was a busy little boozer with friendly staff and a clutch of locals. Catterpillering back along Moonmuang there are several bars and restaurants, none looking particularly exciting. A London Underground style sign indicates the Beat club, but when I paused for a pit stop there was not much beat just a couple of sisters and a Swiss flag. The next corner is a hive of activity with various organisations. A couple of vertical windsocks, mechanically inflated, dance around on the roadside. Cheers pub is on one side of the corner and is a popular bar to sit and watch the goings on around this area. Opposite is Cozy Corner, which is a gogo of sorts. A small group of bored girls danced in pairs. As they say; not worth the detour, which in my case was about four yards!

Up this side road I spied some flashing lights, a beacon to an old bar seeker like me, so a trundled up. This is how I found the Blue Sky bar. This was a strange hole in the wall looking bar. I was pounced on and ushered in. I then allowed my self to be settled into an impressive chair. I sat a beer in hand. In the background, gentle pop ballads oozed out of the CD. Above the full moon smiled down at me. There was no ambient traffic noise, just the odd popping as a motor bike came down the soi. It was remarkably peaceful here, away from the bustle of the main streets. Was this the Chiang Mai all those backpackers came to: to cleanse their souls. It seemed like it.

Eventually I walked out through this bar into another bar that sat on Rajamalka road (the extension of Loi Kroh). Turning left to complete my circle I found the December Bar, just before Moonmuang. Another friendly bar, with quite a few sociable lasses keen to change my single status. The owner of this bar is Neena, who had worked in a Bangkok hotel, and spoke very good English. She was keen to discuss all matters farang with me, that was until her Aussie husband appeared.

Circle completed I continued down Moonmuang. I found the Blue pub and then the True Blue pub, which turned out to be owned by another Aussie. The banana cake on offer tempted me in. It was very good too, but their speciality is pies. Behind is a small courtyard, which has a boxing ring and some pretty boring looking bars. However by now I knew I was in backpacker land. So I retreated back across the road and found the Full Monty Pub, run by Kitty, a fun Thai lady. There was a party going on for Felicity from Nottingham. The party was a bit high for me; I could not get up to it!

So, at last, I was back into familiar territory as the next port of call was the Spotlight Club. If you exclude Cozy Corner, this is the only Gogo in town. There were a few punters and some reasonably pretty girls on the stage. The girls were wearing mini skirts and small tank tops. Yes the morals police have been around: no bikinis and close at 2 am or be purachied.

I was now back to the top of Loi Kroh. Here there are half a dozen, or so, bars, some with quite large numbers of girls. I think if you are looking for a take away this has got to be the area, you may get lucky else where, but here there are enough for the word choice to be relevant.

The exception maybe the Bunny Club, which is at the other end of Loi Kroy (20 Baht by tuk tuk). Last year this was a mediocre Italian restaurant, now it is a Chiang Mai’s version of Jomtien’s Winchester club, but without Bill. The girls were pally enough and keen to get me onto a low sofa, from which I feared I would never escape. There are rooms upstairs but I suspect they are not being used (morals police again). The red haired charmer I met was certainly keen to get into my hotel room. The story here is that the German owner has recently departed this World for a better one (we hope). The girlfriend is running the place and seemingly doing it quite well. However it is a large building and I think a little positive thinking and management could make it into a really fun operation.

After my visit to the Bunny Club I dropped into the Red Lion on the way home. Landlord Matthew was just closing up but a few of us decided to keep him up. Not that he needed much encouragement. As 2 am approached we fell into the “just one more” routine. Matthew obliged but was nervously watching the clock, and the door, until he heaved us all out at 2.15 with a sigh of relief. Closing time in Thailand is as real as it is back home.

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