SOI L.K. METRO (CENTRAL PATTAYA)

[mulphy 3]

Ok guys,

a couple of months ago a poster named thai bird opened a thread on soi l.k. metro in it he stated that soi l.k. metro was now the second walking st in pattaya.

 

what he was trying to put over was that ,similar to walking st, soi l.k. metro was introducing a no through traffic policy in the evenings, thus turning the place into a pedestrian area.

 

now i know this guy pretty well, hes a belgian national , and english is not his strongpoint, though he thinks it is.

 

however, as the talk of a new walking st grew, i think this guy came to believe that he had began to create a new walking st. how wrong could he have been.

 

i think his comments about it being a new walking st are well short of the mark and in fact have been damaging to the soi as many visitors to the soi expect to see WALKING STREET when they get here .

 

in fact there is only one walking st , its the only venue in pattaya with a huge array or variety of clubs , gogo bars and bars all so close together.hence it attracts most customers and most ladies.

 

well the ladies go where the customers go, coz thats where they think they ll make most money. makes sense to me.

 

but is walking st all things to all people?

 

i like a night out in walking st now and again , i couldnt and wouldnt do it every night .

 

my reasons would be , high price of drinks, inflated bar fines and self inflated short time and long time rates .

 

add on the amount of vendors, beggars, the smell from the toilets, the amount of arabs and russians, and for me at least it turns into a night out full of hassle , instead of a great night out.

 

Soi l.k. metro ,

basically, its a pretty new soi , most businesses being no more than a year old , with some into there second year . its an L shaped soi which adjoins soi diana to soi buakhou .

 

everything is new in the soi, as it should be for such a young location .

 

the soi has great accomodation , at a price to fit every budget , from small rooms at around 300 b a night through middle ranged places like the metro apartments, the thai archer and the rockhouse to the more expensive options of keerati home stay or the metropole hotel . so definately a place here for everybodys taste.

 

it also has some very good bars and gogo, s , though of course not on the scale of walking st.

 

the stereo bar, pretty busy, music based bar, with some nice hostesses, nice decor, open faced bar, big with the pool playing community.nice rooms for rent too.

 

the stags head, again pretty busy bar, music and sport based bar, pool table, nice decor, air conditioned , and decent hostesses. new rooms for rent here as well.

 

murphys bar , owned by steve from cork , claims hes the only real irish bar owner in pattaya , nice atmospheric irish bar, not really into sport , more music based , always a good fun bar. holds legendery parties every friday night , if he cant find a reason to have a party , he ll make one up. ive been to jackie chans birthday party and thaksins going away party at murphys.budget rooms for rent.

 

the metro apartments , this place constantly gets a real good write up in all of the boards ,nice , good quality rooms at a decent price. nice comfortable bar area , free pool tables, a few nice ladies on the staff and a very nice owner in dennis .

 

the drunken duck , again decent budget priced rooms , decent looking bar area , some nice ladies on tow , but for me kind of lacks a bit of atmosphere , crank up the music a wee bit more would be my advice. but it might have the atmospher your looking for.

 

storms hotel , very popular bar , particularly with the visitors and ex pats from the north east of england , storm himself is from sunderland , though some people think hes from lillypud on account of him being so small (sorry storm), busy hotel , busy bar at times, they like there pool in there too.

 

the travellers rest , again nice mid range accomodation at a decent price,makes a mean english breakfast , host to the popular travellers rest golfing section and a few pool teams , a quiet relaxing place in which to have a drink or read a newspaper, certainly not a place where you ll be hassled.

 

the british lion , popular bar , with a new owner ,has a decent crowd in most nights, no accomodation though, very much an english type bar .

 

het zottekot, fairly new bar in the soi , belgian owned , i think relocated from soi len kee , located under the thai archer guesthouse . the bar is nice, well fitted and decorated , popular with the belgian and dutch fraternity , pool table and great belgian stew on the menu. the thai archer upstairs features very nice rooms fitted out thai / bali style , good value.

 

dons blackrock bar , run by joy ,the hardest working thai ive ever met, works her arse off everyday , a real character, with great english . open fronted bar underneath her very very poular budget accomodation . big screen t v for sport , and pool table . seems to be very popular for a drink in the middle of the night .

 

champagne a gogo , into its second year now and getting better all the time , decent music, some decent girls and reasonable prices compared to most other gogo ,s in town. some good shows on in the evening. has also decent accomodation upstairs for long or short time hire.

 

bar san miguel , new bar on the soi , fronted by the well known lloydie, formerly of lloydies bar but run in conjunction with 2 other partners. bar fitted out by san miguel , hence the bright yellow colour scheme and blue bar stools , open bar, about 10 staff , including some ladyboys and a few ex soi 6 girls , no accomodation as far as im aware but of course short time pleasures available.

 

my own place the rock house , very nice accomodation , nice fitted out bar , comfortable, air conditioned , good music via a computerised system from which the customer can choose his own music .as the name suggests mostly a rock type bar. the accomodation is very big at around 70 square meters . apartments very popular , but the bar needs more regulars , come on guys , what you waiting for? have around about 10 girls on duty now. WWW.THE-ROCKHOUSE.COM .

 

lilo lils , open beer bar , quite a lot of ladies, a few good lookers, and rooms to rent.

 

the famous lolitas , i dont think i need post much on this place, already well established as one of pattayas best loved blow job bars , sister bar to lolitas in bangkok . nice inside , well decorated, but whos interested? most folk just want on to the famous dentists chairexperience .

 

memories gentlemans club , a very well presented gogo bar , formerly based on an american diner idea and converted into a gogo by the canadian owner. some nice girls too, though could do with more , decent prices on bar fines, lady drinks and has decent accomodation upstairs , under rated in my opinion , not a bad place at all .

 

mai lu si , belgian owned bar ,( thai bird) this cafe style bar is pretty popular with the belgian /dutch community and for some reason with some japanese guys. has as far as i know one apartment for rent which looks quite nice , a few girls in there too look not bad either.

 

the cock and bull , apartments for rent and bar downstairs , very nice apartments for rent , and very well fitted out open faced bar , relaxing sort of place, though i think could do better if employing a few more ladies and giving us a little musical entertainment .only one mans opinion.

 

r&p guesthouse , recently taken over , budget rooms for rent , open bar, starting to get a few ladies in now

and getting busier.

 

the scandanavian import company, rooms for rent, laundry, bar and coffee shop , also importers of scandanavian beers and food stuffs .

 

the place to be , open bar /guesthouse, owned by joe and his thai lady, decent budget priced accomodation, very cheap drink prices , only new on the soi, doing ok but still to grow a wee bit .

 

bills bar and guest house , havent seen bill around in a long while, operated by his thai lady , not always open ? basic beer bar and budget rooms for rent.

 

blue moon , very nicely fitted out air con bar , pool table, music and sport, nice rooms for rent and in house laundry.

 

f.c.u.k. inn , very well fitted out air con bar with very nice rooms for rent, pool table and music based , a few good girls too. les the owner wishes to sell the bar as he wants to return to working off shore and for other personal reasons . would make a great walk in business for anybody looking for a place . i believe the asking price is 2.2 million baht , id say a bargain, no further expense needed by any potential buyer. compare that to silly prices on open beer bars in soi 7 and 8 changing hands at 3 to 4 million baht and youll see what i mean.( les , do i get commission if i sell it) lol.

 

lloydies bar , formerly owned by lloydie before he moved on to bar san miguel , open fronted bar, pool table, big screen tv, music , and some decent ladies. budget rooms for rent. quite a busy bar generally.

 

ok , i think i covered all the bars, apologies if i missed any.

 

now in the very near future we will have the opening of the eden club, sister to the famous eden club in bangkok. isnt finished being built yet so cant comment on decor, so it only remains to be said that this place will fulfill your every fantasy.

 

also in the near future we will have the opening of the new place owned by the same people who created papagayos on soi diana , been working on it for a long time and seem to have spent a real shit load of money, remains to be seen what they will do with it, but rumour has it it will be a huge short time place.

 

the soi also contains various restaurants , the most upmarket being the little mermaid, danish owned , very good , up there with the best in town but bring your wallet. well worth the treat though.

 

the krogen next door is swedish owned specialises in scandanavia cusine and is great value.

 

a few doors along we have the newly opened speedy pizza , pizza bar but with so much more to ofer, full dining menu and decent drinking place.

 

if you need a travel agent, a laundry, a beauty salon, a massage, a hair salon, currency exchange, visa shop , family mart, 7/11, a solicitor or property shop , well they are right here on your door step.

 

if you cant get what your looking for your sure to find it within a few hundred yards on adjoining soi buakhou.

 

for me, i say the place is up and coming , ive seen it grow over the last year from nothing to what it is today, i do appreciate it has a lot of growing to do yet , but in my opinion it already outstrips places like pattayaland 2, soi 7 or soi 8, or as i call both of them, (soi attack on your ears) , if only soi 7 and 8 operators listened to what the customer say and done away with the racket my opinion would be different.

 

much more upmarket than soi 2 or soi 3 , though a fair bit to go to get as busy as selected bars in that area like the atlantic bar.

 

nicer than soi 6, though we all know why soi 6 has a special meaning to most of us , better than soi buakhou and soi diana by a mile , though if rumours are to be believed then soi diana will be going through a massive change next year, with some nice hotels being planned were the open beer bars are.

 

i must stress that these are my own views , yours may differ significantly, especially if you have a business interest in some of the sois ive mentioned . i dont detract from the decent places in these sois such as papagayos in soi diana or jasmine mansions in soi buakhou and many others.

 

obviously im trying to promote SOI L.K. METRO , , i think its well worth promoting.

 

if only the street had some more regulars then id say it could be the next best thing after walking st that pattaya has to offer.

 

so now tell me your views, will it be a HIT or will it be a MISS ?

 

 

--------------------

 

The Rockhouse, Soi L.K.Metro, Pattaya.

[MC_Ldop 40]

I love the area in general, but have only boozed a few times at the bars. Lolitas is a frequent stop and I went to Champagne once and wasn't impressed. I'm surprised to hear you say that you think it's more upmarket than Soi 2/3. From what I've seen of most of the bars there, I wouldn't have guessed that.

[upena 2]

I will be at the Place2Bee in one week

[mulphy 3]

my reference to soi 2 and soi 3 is to the bars and hotels in the 2nd road end.

 

thee are not many bars and hotels on the beach rd end of soi 2 and 3 but what is there tends to be upmarket, i do agree.

 

sorry if i gave any confusion.

[Shuggy 8]

Great write up mate. I agree that its no way like Walking Street beacuse its nowhere as in your face. Thats what I like about it.

Edited December 10, 2006 by Shuggy

[fountainhead 1]

i've been staying at the LK metro during my recent trips.

 

i didn't like the soi diana area at first, but it's growing on me (especially once i figured out soi bhukhao).

 

the laundry place on the corner of soi diana and soi LK is great.

 

i like the bars around papagayos. i like some of the food in that area too.

 

the roaming VW bus bar that parks outside LK metro is awesome.

 

even the bars along soi diana are getting better. i think the first time i stayed at LK metro was april 2005, which wasn't long ago, and my how soi diana has changed since then... same buildings, but more hotties walking around.

 

soi LK isn't a destination for me yet, but i'm sure it will improve. it'll get more customers and more women as pattaya grows... it seems like sparse areas of pattaya fill out and "improve" over time, and i can't imagine what would stop that trend from continuing (other than an effective attempt to end sex tourism by thai authorities, but i just don't see that happening).

 

good luck w/your bar. not sure if i've tried it yet (often don't pay attention to what bar i'm walking into), but i'll give it a shot next trip.

[upena 2]

the roaming VW bus bar that parks outside LK metro is awesome.

 

What is this?

[elk 1]

Personally I will stick to Walking St and the surrounding areas

[fountainhead 1]

What is this?

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72724961@N00/317631035/

Edited December 9, 2006 by fountainhead

[glynbuk 29]

Soi lk metro sounds an area for a must look see, cheers for that mulphy

[dacah 0]

Thanks for the rundown...only been to Lolitas and the bar across the street from it in Sept

 

Walking Street sure gets very crowded so LK might be just that little bit easier to get about.

 

Will visit your bar when Im over next week

[HILLY 9]

Its been a while since I walked Metro and maybe time to do it so look out for me tonight Mulphy. If we make it there then will be sure to pop in for one or two. Thanks for the heads up and long time now that I paid it a visited.

[Scumbag 0]

I have stayed on Soi LK Metro on my last two trips. I now really like the area but haven't done a lot of drinking there, yet. I will be staying there again on my next trip (10 days away.. )

 

For those who haven't been I would encourage you to go have a look. At the moment the area is quieter than others but that has its advantages. One of the things that I like is that the bars are separate so can have there own music. Also there are some very sexy ladies to be found on this soi.

[MC_Ldop 40]

What is this?

 

This is a brilliant bar outside the Metropole. It's just a converted VW van with a cool bartender. I've stayed at the Metropole a bunch this year and think it's a great place to wind down the evening or safely drink until the sun's up (I'm outside of my frickin' hotel, what could happen?).

[Scumbag 0]

This is a brilliant bar outside the Metropole. It's just a converted VW van with a cool bartender. I've stayed at the Metropole a bunch this year and think it's a great place to wind down the evening or safely drink until the sun's up (I'm outside of my frickin' hotel, what could happen?).

Here is the size of the cocktails that you can buy (200B) from the van..

 

 

...you can get smaller ones but why would you bother..

 

BTW here is Teddy making a quick get away...

 

 

I agree with stinger_sd it is a great place to finish the night. There is also a van across the road where you can buy burgers and the like.

[Tengotodo 52]

While it may never compete with Walking Street, this SOI is IMO going to be the next best thing. ONly problem is it's rather small and will be built-out quickly. It is a definite must-visit. The OP summed it all very nicely. Now, if you put an Anglewitch in there......

[bigfoot 0]

Just for blokes interested in looking for a condo the real estate manageress (forgot her name) mulphy you know the one who drives the BMW .she worked in Sydney for years and her English is perfect which is a help when your looking for a condo.

 

the foot

[bigfoot 0]

Its been a while since I walked Metro and maybe time to do it so look out for me tonight Mulphy. If we make it there then will be sure to pop in for one or two. Thanks for the heads up and long time now that I paid it a visited.

 

How arrogant can you be posting on the board you tried to bring down along with the FLB bar .

 

the foot

[gazowl 0]

Here is the size of the cocktails that you can buy (200B) from the van..

 

 

...you can get smaller ones but why would you bother..

 

BTW here is Teddy making a quick get away...

 

 

I agree with stinger_sd it is a great place to finish the night. There is also a van across the road where you can buy burgers and the like.

this place is definantly on my list for my next visit

[probe 11]

Mulphy did a good job in his post outlining the area. Don't expect Walking St. in ANY fashion. It's quieter, more laid back and not touristy.

 

Many places have at least a couple of rooms for rent.

 

Try the Drunken Duck for Kow Pad Gung or Spaghetti Boulanese for 80 Baht. Or the No Name restaurant for a quiet meal.

 

The Place2Bee has really inexpensive beer.

 

On Soi Chaiyapoon (off Soi Buakhoa) are 4 or 5 restaurants. My favorite is Neeroy's Bradford Curries. Fish and Chips 99 Baht. (See pic.) Canterbury Tales is good as well. Got a huge Cumberland Sausage dinner there.

 

Two 7-11's and 2 Family Marts within a block and a half.

 

Several pharmacies, opticians, gold merchants and clothing stores withing a block.

 

Beware of Soi Diana at night. It's a race track.

 

Buses run both directions on Soi Buakhoa. It's easy to get where you're going. Motorbike taxis at both ends of Soi LK Metro as well.

[elro 0]

this was a great post.

 

highly informative.

 

also, great photos of bucket drinks.

[Sa-teef 44]

I've stayed at Keerati Home Stay, eaten at several of the restaurants and visited several bars and both of the ago-go's on Soi LK Metro. It's an up and coming area without a doubt. I've stayed at Jasmine Mansion just around the corner and there are a wealth of good eating and drinking places in the other side streets nearby. I've stayed on or near the place for all of the 3 1/2 months I spent in Pattaya this year. It will never be a Walking Street but it can be a very enjoyable area. A lot of potential in the businesses located in the area I think.

 

Agree with you about the food in Soi Chaiyapoon. I've had the fish and chips at Canterbury Tales, Neeroys and Seaside and they were all good food at a very reasonable price.

 

 

~Sa-teef

[rockinjerry 2]

Mulphy:

 

Very Good post!

 

I have only been to Lolita's but I can assure you on my next visit I will make it a point to come and check out the Soi.

 

And, who knows, I might even stop in at The Rockhouse?

 

Rockin'

[banjo 0]

Ill be there next week, staying at the LK metropole. That is if they didnt over book and don't have my confirmed room :)

[rascall 130]

I always spend a night or too in this area. Its a good buzz and somewhere different to go from the normal haunts of walking street.

 

Having said that, BOTHING could possibly replace walking street