Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

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Bangkokian
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by Bangkokian »

Gaybutton wrote:If I were a Bangkok bar owner about to be forced out of my venue and I want to relocate, I'd certainly be taking a serious look at Pattaya.
Well I would NOT.
Why would a Bangkok bar owner imagine that his customers would follow him to Pattaya? People want local bars.
Do you think that the existing customers of soi Twilight would just stay at home at nights?
If you came to Bangkok, you could see the hundreds of customers in Silom soi 4 or in some bars in Twilight nightly.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by Gaybutton »

Bangkokian wrote:Do you think that the existing customers of soi Twilight would just stay at home at nights?
I have no idea what the locals would do. I'm sure some of the bars, maybe all of them, will find places in Bangkok to relocate, but where? In Bangkok, where can they relocate to that would have all the attributes I listed? If they can find a suitable area, I expect them to remain in Bangkok. But what if they can't find a suitable area? Then what?

I also believe if enough established go-go bars with preexisting names and reputations moved to Pattaya, and Bangkok ends up with no more go-go bars to offer than Pattaya currently has, the holiday makers would be flocking to Pattaya.

By the way, I do come to Bangkok - quite often - but I'm not among those who look to the bars for my entertainment. I don't go to the Bangkok go-go bars and haven't for years. I'm not about to pay those prices. You also rarely find me in go-go bars in Pattaya anymore either. I probably would go if the gay hook-up apps didn't exist, but they do and that's how I prefer to find all the willing young gents I want.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by SP55 »

Bangkokian wrote:Why would a Bangkok bar owner imagine that his customers would follow him to Pattaya? People want local bars.
Soi Twilight as "local bars"? Are you kidding? 90%+ of the customers are from China or other Asians visiting briefly. That's the whole business model of the soi. Squeeze every satang you can from the tourist. I doubt many locals see it as their regular local hang-out.
thaiworthy

Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by thaiworthy »

SP55 wrote:
Bangkokian wrote:Why would a Bangkok bar owner imagine that his customers would follow him to Pattaya? People want local bars.
Soi Twilight as "local bars"? Are you kidding? 90%+ of the customers are from China or other Asians visiting briefly. That's the whole business model of the soi. Squeeze every satang you can from the tourist. I doubt many locals see it as their regular local hang-out.
Not necessarily Soi Twilight. The way I read it, Bangkokian meant Silom Soi 4 as local bars, and some other bars scattered about. But just because a local farang does visit a go-go now and then, that doesn't make it his regular hang-out.

When I was a tourist I went to go-go bars a lot. Now that I'm a resident I will visit a go-go maybe twice a year in Bangkok, and maybe 6 times in Pattaya.

I am starting to favor host bars. And strangely of all, when I visit farang friends upcountry, these young gentlemen find me, I don't find them. I think everybody has different experiences however it may be, including the apps, and most go-gos will survive wherever they happen to be.

It looks impossible to me for anyone to try and predict what bars will move where. These are only possibilities, after all.
fountainhall

Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by fountainhall »

Like thaiworthy, I was a regular in the bars when visiting as a tourist. From Apollo in 1980 through Twilight and Barbiery, they were great fun, each had its own character and the boys for the most part were obviously enjoying themselves. At some point around the turn of the century, the individuality of the bars changed. A blandness crept in, a sameness in the offerings, and it gradually became difficult to distinguish one from the other. My friends and I found ourselves gravitating to those which did try to break that mould. Extreme Bar on a first floor of Twilight with its troupe of young professional dancers who were fun to interact with. Solid near Soi Tarntawan was far from a classic go-go bar but we enjoyed it, largely because of cheaper drink prices and again the easy interaction with the boys. In Twilight, only Classic seemed to stick to the same successful model with its concentration on twinks. But even that began to change.

Apollo, Barbiery, the original Twilight, Extreme, Rome Club, My Way, Super Lek, Solid - all died for a variety of reasons. But it's inevitable that times change, costs rise and if bars don't adapt they too will surely die. The economics of the bar go-go business in the 80s and 90s depended on a certain model - largely oriented towards western tourists, some expats but also with a fair sprinkling of Thais. Where have all those Thais gone? On Saturdays, there used to be more Thais in Barbiery than westerners!

The Thaksin government’s social order campaigns no doubt freaked owners who had operated largely by ensuring the BIB received their tea money up till then. Yet the increasing flood of youngish gay western tourists should surely have been an encouragement for the owners to adapt to keep their businesses more than profitable. Or was it perhaps the knowledge that tourists would either be one-offs or merely very occasional visitors a disincentive to change? Did the owners assume that out of the increasing visitor numbers there would always be some group wanting to try the Thai go-go bar experience? Was this why the bars became almost museums?

Now with Asian tourists who mostly have a different agenda for visiting the bars, the result has again been no change – apart from ridiculously high drinks prices that are putting off the locals and many tourists.

In fairness, the apps will have had an effect on bar business, improved economic conditions in the countryside and HIV now make it more difficult to find Thais prepared to strut their stuff in the bars. I guess too that many former regulars are finding their way to places like Cuba and Brazil which are now no more expensive than Thailand.

Even though I have predicted the go-go bars in Bangkok will soon die out, I do believe there is a niche there for adventurous owners prepared to adapt the model and bring back the enjoyment and enthusiasm of the 1980s and 90s. Could there be anyone prepared to try that? Would government agencies and the BIB permit it? Sadly. I doubt it.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by bobsaigon3 »

Just to cloud the issue a bit: I asked a long-time Dreamboys capitan about the shut down of the soi, and got this reply last night: “Yes, I heard the same things you heard, but I think it will not happen soon. Maybe one year from now. Now my boss looking for some place to open new bar”.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by Trongpai »

I made the rounds last night on Soi Twilight and the pending demolition/redevelopment of the Soi is certainly the talk of the soi. Everyone has different information and some of it conflicts. The one thing I took away is that there's a lot of effort to continue the scene at various locations on the other side of Suriwong at scattered locations rather than an exclusive single soi or plaza.

Classic is going to Soi Silom soi 6. Hot male taking over the old Jupiter and X-Boys is looking on that same soi along with some of the beer bars. Soi Wall Street is ideal but the rent prices are too high. Some are looking at Silom soi 4. Patpong 2 is still an option, second floor above Screw Boys and on the soi adjacent to the covered walking path.

As for Dream Boys who jacked prices to 600 for Chinese New Years and just reduced it to 550 nothing is being said. The owner (?) when asked just laughs and says joking (I think) we're all moving to Cambodia!

Nothing is finalized and in some circles it's still wait and see and some still hold the opinion that nothing is going to happen.

As a side note Classic every Saturday are performing street dancing shows adding some lively life to a soi in it's death rattle. I was told it's a message that we're not down for the count yet. We will survive!

The current regime (army) is still around and making their presence known. They made a recent visit to Babylon and made them take out condoms/lube in the lockers and have only one towel per locker. Two towels must suggest sex? I was told the condoms, lube and the second towel will be back in around a month. The no towel zone continues on a night by night bases after 1900. The sign for the zone was removed.
There are no reports of any recent army or police visits to soi Twilight.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by aussie »

There are empty buildings at the end of Soi 4 Silom that might suit redevelopment into go go bars. With the large amount of customers in that soi it would seem a good solution instead of being isolated in another location.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by Bangkokian »

aussie wrote:There are empty buildings at the end of Soi 4 Silom that might suit redevelopment into go go bars. With the large amount of customers in that soi it would seem a good solution instead of being isolated in another location.
Yes the old Bobbie's Arms and Noriega's have been derelict for years.
I heard of someone who was interested in turning Bobbie's into a gay boutique hotel but dismissed the idea when they inspected the premises. It would need complete gutting.

It would be nice to see that end of Soi 4 come to life again. The front half is bustling.
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Re: Soi Twilight to be Demolished in June/July for Redevelopment?

Post by Dodger »

Trongpai wrote:As for Dream Boys who jacked prices to 600 for Chinese New Years and just reduced it to 550 nothing is being said. The owner (?) when asked just laughs and says joking (I think) we're all moving to Cambodia!
At 550-600 THB for a drink I'm surprised he's not moving to Paris.
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