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

The image of Burma, or Mynamar as it is now called internally, has been tarnished in recent years by a despotic military regime and the struggles of the lady opposing them. Around Bangkok there are many offers of tours, both grand and basic. However, most embassies will not recommend a visit. After a couple of false starts I finally managed to catch the plane to Rangoon. Our aircraft descended over Rangoon (Yangoon) early in the evening, and the first thought that occurred to me was the lack of lights in the city. This lack of light was to stay with us when driving around at night. Most major establishments have back up generators, if indeed they are not primary power generators. Eight hour electric shut downs are not uncommon. Apart from that, Rangoon itself did not seem to be any more tumbledown than Phnom Phen or Hanoi. It fact, particularly in the main residential areas, it looks a reasonably prosperous Asian town; and an attractive town at that, with wide roads and plenty of greenery. There are very few high rise buildings so the highest places are often the spires and domes of the multitude of pagodas.

We were advised to stay at the Equatorial Hotel, which is now rebranded as the Sofitel. This is a central, grand hotel that still has a classic style which could be described as “art deco meets colonial”. The reason for staying here was the activity in the basement. We found the activity all right - in the “Music Club.” After midnight it was techno a la mode, but before midnight it was another boring Philippino Show band. They get everywhere and very seldom do they have any oomph in their show. However it was not the musical offerings we were sent to see, it was the plentiful other offerings. On the first night we arrived after midnight, and the pickings were meagre. But the next night at 10 pm, ladies, that made the average Katoy seem a paragon of restraint, overwhelmed us. I know this is now a French operated hotel but I did not expect to find a Pigalle Bordello in the basement!

Much of the drinking seems to be done in the hotels, and all the night clubs are in hotels as those are the only places that can stay open after midnight.

The Traders hotel is on the central crossroads and will claim the position as leading hotel. The first floor Gallery bar has a popular early evening happy hour that is followed by (almost) live music.

Most places seem to have happy hours from 5.30 to 7.30, and this is extended by at least one hour on Fridays. By far the best atmosphere that we found was the Strand Hotel. This hotel was once described as “the finest hostelry east of Suez.” Although I do not think that when that was written they called the lavatories the rest rooms. Who rests in lavatories? Especially in an Asian loo!

The Strand is, and has been for about 100 years, owned by the same group that run Raffles in Singapore. The bar is a classic old colonial bar, long and narrow, just to one side of the main entrance. If those walls could only tell a tale! We found it fairly buzzing along on Friday evening. I suspect that much of the clientele comes from the nearby embassies. Stranded Hours (happy hours) ended at 8 pm and a jolly jazz quartet started playing. We left reluctantly.

Our next port of call was the 50th Street Bar, which we had visited earlier in the day. Now getting to it again was proving less than easy. The first taxi driver seemed to know exactly where he was going, but it soon became clear he was driving round in circles. So he just stopped at the first bar he found, a karaoke place. That is how we ended up at the Strand. We finally did get back to the 50th with a driver from the nearby Strand. Of all the places we saw, the 50th Street Bar, with the same ownership as the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Phen, looked as though it should be The Place. It is in an old warehouse that has been totally stripped out and now features to high ceilinged floors connected by a broad spiral staircase. The brick walls are exposed, and the bar is in the middle. A wooden floor and plenty of standing room at the bar complete a comfortable environment. We were convinced that in the evening it would be fairly buzzing, but coming from the hopping Strand this place was a disappointment.

A few people clustered around the pool table, but otherwise it was very quite. We then had problems escaping as it took an age to get a cab. By now we had realised, that contrary to the advice given us, a driver was essential if you wanted to go bar hopping. There are a few other bars in this general area, near the docks, including Level 10 and the Haven. However, we decided that we would return to our hotel and the Music Club.

From the Music Club we took another taxi to the Hot Shot. We had been there the night before and had not been overly impressed, however we were now realising that the Hot Shot might just be the best late night option. Located in the basement of the Bayoke, owned Kandawgyi Place hotel, the Hot Shot is a large club featuring live music, darts, lonely ladies, and a fashion show. The décor is black and flattered by the lighting, which is about as dim as it gets before miners lamps are required all round. The band, called Peacemaker, were really very good, with three singers of which the male and the lady in glasses stood out. I felt sorry for them trapped in a country with so little. There is virtually no chance of them getting out and better utilising their talent. The trouble was, once the band finished the fashion show and assorted other shows started. The fashion show was not a fashion show, but a kind of beauty parade in which the punters are supposed to buy the girls garlands. Needless to say the girls got a share of the price of the bits of tinsel that represented garlands. The fact that the foreground music was techno and rap did not help our appreciation of this strange ceremony. Looking at details of other clubs this seems to be a common type of entertainment, or should I say monotony.

During the day we looked at a few Pagodas, of which there are hundreds, and sought a good lunch. We had a reasonable late afternoon Italian lunch at the L’Opera Restaurant in the Marinar Residence near the Renaissance Inya Lake Hotel. However the best restaurant in town is the Le Planteur (16 Sawmaha St. Tel: 549389), a French restaurant with a French owner who apologised profusely for not being able to supply a 4 pm lunch! We also ate at Adorns Kitchen in The Grand Mee YaHta residence, opposite Traders. This is a popular Chinese restaurant that fed us well before the final dash to the airport.

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