Nightmarch 15 August 2004

[PattayaPete 530]

Condolences: The owner of the Nice & Eazy ogling den (Soi Yamato), Ken Austin, passed away in hospital in Birmingham, England on 7 August. He was suffering from liver problems and was just 39 years old. Our condolences to his family and friends.

 

Try Saying This When You’re Drunk: The Chalalai Centre is a small clutch of around eight beer boozers situated diagonally across Second Road from the Tiffany’s Show in north Pattaya. From memory, the centre kicked off around five years ago and the various boozers have, perhaps not unsurprisingly, seem a plethora of owners come and go.

 

The only real attempt at attracting much trade comes via a somewhat subdued lady-boy show that kicks off around 8:30PM and continues until midnight. Thankfully, the music from this little piece of entertainment is not loud and one major plus (Soi 8 and 7 beer booze owners please note) is customers can sit and have a quiet drink without having to shout at each other or the working damsels in order to be heard.

 

The Centre has a relaxed atmosphere and sitting outside there’s usually a nice breeze to keep you cool. The working damsels might not be among the glamour dolls of the Pattaya night scene but most are friendly and not pushy, making it a nice place to chill out if you happen to be in the area.

 

Gimme Some Hot Stuff: The 26th and latest ogling den to open its doors on Walking Street is officially badged as Hot Girls but is already being colloquially called Nui’s 3. Liver wasters and lady drinks are 95 baht, with lolly water at 85 baht. The den is up some narrow and steep stairs, daunting if you happen to have had a few too many inside the place and are attempting to descend. The place is narrow, but nicely appointed and well-lit; red upholstery and paint must have been on special when they were planning the colour scheme. There are three small stages with chrome poles around which two or three dancers strut their stuff. It has a friendly atmosphere and is worth a look if you haven’t been before.

 

Around and About: Down in Soi Yamato, The Clinic beer boozer and sports auditorium has purchased extra tables and stools for those times when the numbers of couch athletes exceeds the available seating. Deadly Derek, one of the operators of the joint, is selling off a huge number of used paperbacks (one for 100 baht or six for 500 baht) in an attempt to prevent the Clinic resembling a used book-shop. The money raised will go to charity, so if you’re in the market for a book or three, check out the Clinic.

 

Also down in Soi Yamato, one of Fun Town’s highly-rated French nosheries, Le Petrus, celebrated its sixth birthday during July. The frog-leg fanciers munching palace moved to its new premises, in the same soi, only a year or so ago and has continued to do deservedly well.

 

After not much more than a year since they opened, the Elephant Man and his trouble and strife have flogged the Old Speckled Hen (Soi 9, Jomtien Beach Road) to a buyer who, so I believe, emanated from the wilds of Chiang Mai. A former founding partner in the Spicy Girls ogling den (Pattayaland Soi 1), the Elephant Man is now kicking back his heels while he decides his next move.

 

One of Walking Street’s longest-established beer boozers, Black and White, is no more. It appears the Adidas store next door wanted to extend its premises and with the Black and White not doing the kind of trade it was doing back in the mid-1990s it was simply a matter of time before the place folded.

 

The New Palladium late night boogie barn (Second Road) has shut up shop. The operators of the Palladium were also in control of the well-patronised Polo showtime ogling den in Walking Street and my spies tell me the profits from that operation were being diverted to try and keep the boogie barn afloat.

 

Clear and Present Danger: As anybody who reads this column would realise, I loathe political correctness (PC). Taki, a 67-year-old wealthy Greek-born writer, recently made the following statement regarding PC in a Spectator column, ‘PC is humbug personified…PC is a persistent form of untruthfulness, which suits most politicians trained to lie and obfuscate. It is about pretending that things are different from what they are.’ Professor Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia’s most interesting- and controversial- historians sees PC as rank hypocrisy: “the people who say it’s sinful to discriminate themselves discriminate.”

 

Sadly the world of the PC-ites seems to be inexorably encroaching upon Pattaya soil. According to a variety of sources, at least one, and possibly two, of Pattaya’s foreign businessmen, both former Europeans, have struck a Faustian bargain with the local plod and are engaged in stings against bars offering short-term in-house horizontal folk dancing services. One of their first targets was the Jade House in Jomtien Nivate.

 

What’s worse is the Jade House sting was instigated by a Belgian pillow-biter (to borrow Sir Les Patterson’s phrase) who has taken up the cudgels and become the self-appointed moral guardian of the heterosexual community. He has a flourishing business baking bread that he supplies to outlets all over town and I couldn’t give a mincing walk if he fancies boys instead of girls; his sexual proclivities are none of my business.

 

So why was he involved in a sting in a Sierra Tango (S/T) boozer? Unconfirmed reports suggest part of the reason he is ingratiating himself with the plod is to help beef up efforts to flog a new product that, surprise, surprise, would go well in bars. There’s no moral dilemma being dealt with here. This is all about enhancing his business, in which I understand he is partnered with another long-time Pattaya operator. How long will it be before we see extortion attempts or some kind of protection racket evolve? ‘You take our product and we can guarantee you won’t be raided.’

 

So, what would happen if the owner of an establishment offering upstairs facilities for customers who’d like a bit of a lie down accompanied by a lady of easy virtue contacted the Belgian piles-driver in order to stock his product? Would he, maintaining his haloed principles decline the new business? I’ll give you one guess.

 

These raids are a mere cover for a monetary shakedown. I’d almost be willing to forgive them if the boozers they were raiding fell into the category of the pair in Pattayaland Soi 1 that are locally-owned, in one case by a former peeler, and have for years had ‘bonded’ girls working in a short-time capacity, or the sleazy little joints in the back sois off Thepprasit Road. The bars being targeted at present are employing girls who know exactly what kind of work they’re getting into and choose to be employed by these places. No one puts a gun to their head and compels them to go with customers they don’t like; no one demands a cut of the money they receive from customers; in short, they’re free agents who happen to prefer operating from the confines of a bar rather than wander the streets and Beach Road.

 

A real Pandora’s box has been opened here. This system is wide open to abuse, given the hidden agendas of some of the foreigners who are ‘volunteers’ with the police. Once somebody thinks they have power, not matter how moderate or inconsequential it may be, it’s not too long before they want to flex their perceived muscle. Once they’ve established a position with the peelers what’s to stop them using their perceived power and influence to intimidate bar owners they don’t like or have had problems with in the past? Remember, the intimidation won’t necessarily be confined to people in the bar business; restaurateurs and even individuals will have to be on their guard. The only way to reduce the chances of extortion or coercion would be to insist all volunteers are people with absolutely no business interests in Pattaya or Thailand.

 

All bar owners should be on their guard and maybe spend half an hour or so one evening near the van parked inside the entrance to Walking Street so you can familiarise yourselves with the faces of your enemy. A couple will already be familiar. Take your mamasan. They have a great memory for faces and if one of these hypocrites does trying sneaking into your establishment she’ll be able to warn the working damsels to stay clear.

[rhino 1]

Agree so true some people are power hungers sad but true awesome post Pete