All of Me and All of Me Too bars close permanently as of August 30

[thewayhelooks]

Also, Take Care - you're going to have to find another venue where you can hold your fund raising quiz nights.

That's for sure. First the Bondi, then the Colonial and now this. Maybe we are cursed?

[neddy3]

This is very disappointing news. It is understandable; how long can you go on losing money?

The owner, Gary, deserves credit for providing two well run venues, and for his efforts to make the bars a success.

Two more dark places in the plaza will make it look very gloomy.

[Gaybutton]

There was a topic on Sawadtee Forum entitled "is this the beginning of the end" I fear it is the end at least for Sunee Plaza

I truly believe the 'beginning of the end' began the day Crabby and Thomas left Corner Bar and returned to the USA. From that day on, the downward spiral began and obviously continues even now.

I believe many factors influenced what has been happening to Sunee Plaza. It used to be that police raids were rare - as long as some of the bars paid for tip-offs and certain members of the BIB to look the other way. Then, for several years police raids became frequent. That scared off customers.

Then there were the years when many considered Sunee Plaza to be a pedophile haven, and for a long time unfortunately there was truth to that. That stopped a long time ago now, but for many Sunee Plaza has never lived down that reputation.

Things like disease scares such as SARS, Bird Flu, and Swine Flu scared people off.

Forced bar closing hours of 1:00am were never appreciated by the bars or customers. To this day I don't know who that is supposed to be good for.

Seeing the baht go from an average of 45 baht to the US dollar to below 29 baht to the US dollar didn't help matters. Many thought by now the US dollar would yield at least 42 baht. Didn't happen. At the moment the TT rate is 34.46 baht to the US dollar, and that's the strongest the baht has been for more than a year.

Boy numbers working in the bars started taking a dramatic drop when the gay hook-up sites became popular among the boys. Customers no longer always had to pay off fees to the bars when they could find all the boys they want on those sites. To this day many of those boys are also bar boys and I don't blame them when they're making a lot more money from their presence on the hook-up sites than they're making by working in the bars. It's a little difficult to make money by being a bar boy when the bar has no customers.

Many farang say they prefer the bars to the hook-up sites because they want to see what they're getting. That's fine, but these days there are far fewer boys in the bars to choose from. And it's not the world's greatest omen when the numbers of boys in the bars keep getting fewer. Many have given up and have gone back to the rice farm.

As far as I can tell, boys working in the bars with a realistic expectation of finding a sugar daddy and/or being taken off enough times to send plenty of money home to Mama has morphed to many boys working in the bars merely because they have nothing better to do.

The disappearance of "farang hunting" boys on the beach is also a factor.

In my opinion, bad bar owners have been part of the problem. Too many thought simply opening for business and displaying a few boys was all that was needed to keep the customers coming. Worked great, didn't it? And there has been scandals in which some bar owners borrowed huge amounts of money to run their bars, but never paid it back. Next thing we knew, those bars had closed and the owners disappeared from Thailand, sometimes without paying the boys.

I'm still convinced that if the bar owners would just get together and jointly plan events and activities that would really attract customers, Sunee Plaza could make a comeback. But as far as I can tell, nothing of the kind has been done and so far there are no plans from among the bar owners to make a joint effort. I hope they'll do it, but in all honesty I see no evidence that they will.

A lot of problems have to be dealt with if the bar scene is to survive. But ignoring the problems, making no changes, and merely hoping for better days is, to my way of thinking, a road leading directly to eventual doom.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong - but if what you're doing isn't working, then it's time to change what you're doing.

[Undaunted]

I'm still convinced that if the bar owners would just get together and jointly plan events and activities that would really attract customers, Sunee Plaza could make a comeback. But as far as I can tell, nothing of the kind has been done and so far there are no plans from among the bar owners to make a joint effort. I hope they'll do it, but in all honesty I see no evidence that they will.

They certainly could use an extra small room for such a meeting. Perhaps it's time to take this puppy off life support and let nature have its way.

[Gaybutton]

They certainly could use an extra small room for such a meeting.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with that part. I think it's premature to just write off Sunee Plaza. There is still a chance for a comeback. It's up to the bar owners whether there really is a good chance.

Last night when we found out All of Me is closing we were discussing where to go next. We lost Corner Bar. Now we're losing All of Me. We really didn't come up with alternatives last night, but the number of choices is a lot narrower than it used to be. I'll be happy with any decision as long as it's not a venue where the music volume is blasting out my eardrums.

[Up2u]

A friend told me last week that Ducs would be closing (if it hadn't closed already). Some of the staff there already moved to Ting Tong Red. I simply don't go to the bars any more but it still saddens me to see the demise of the Sunee and the gay scene in general. I witnessed the same thing happen in San Francisco.

[neddy3]

A friend told me last week that Ducs would be closing (if it hadn't closed already). Some of the staff there already moved to Ting Tong Red.

Yes, Ducs bar has been closed for some weeks already.

There is only about 15 gay venues left in the Sunee region.

[Dale1]

On behalf of all the guys that make TAKE CARE!! work and the guys who work at the various venues to which we provide Safer Sex Packs, I would like to thank Gary and the All Of ME crowd for their long-term support and for hosting Quiz Night. It has been a real effort for Gary to adopt this affair from Bondi Beach Bar and Colonial Bar, but one that was very valuable to the efforts of TAKE CARE!! We wish him all success in his future endeavors and are hopeful that he remains a vibrant member of our community.

[Oliver]

GB has identified the many reasons for the decline in Pattaya's gay scene and Sunee's in particular- except one; there are not enough gay falangs in Pattaya, nor, I suspect, anywhere else in Thailand to accommodate so many similar bars. And it's not just the bars that are empty but the hotels, too. Does anyone know the residency rate in the BT hotels? And what about Baan Suuy, which Jim told me years ago was planned to appeal to straight visitors as much as to gays? and the Jomten ones? If the number of gay venues in Pattaya was cut by 50% , there may be just enough punters to make them viable....just.
My guess is that the next soi to respond to the drop in visitor numbers will be Pattayaland Soi 1, where there are too many go go bars. I could name six which have already closed over the past few years.
By the way, fifteen years ago, Pattayaland Soi 2 was THE straight area in Pattaya; it even ran its own tuk-tuk service. I recall it being packed...which leads me to my final question; is the commercial straight scene facing similar problems?

[a447]

OMG! I'm shocked!

What a shame. All of Me 2 was one of the main reasons I went to Sunee every night. So many fun nights were had there, sitting and chatting to both Tons and racing over to Goodboys during the evening for some fun times. And then of course, there was the obligatory visit to Eros and also stopping into All of Me to chat with Boss.

What will happen to the lovely guys now? Will they stay on in Sunee and find work elsewhere??

I think if Eros goes, then that will be the final nail in the coffin.

And I agree with Oliver - there just not enough foreigners visiting Pattaya.

Thanks,Gary, for all your efforts over the years. I, for one, am very appreciative.