What on earth happened to Nana Plaza?

[thaibeachlovers]

Did it get a new owner or something?

Whatever, even without the roof and trendy bar area being installed in the middle it's just not a fun place anymore.

Back in the 90s it was a great night out, but now it's just gone sophisticated and fun devoid.

The girls are just as pretty as back then ( seem taller now though ), but none seem to be enjoying themselves, and the customers certainly aren't.

I know what it's really all about, but it used to be fun while choosing a takeaway, and that's all gone.

I got the impression that it's just putting lipstick on a pig. It might look more attractive, but it's still a pig.

Biggest turn off for me was the horrid "garbage" noise ( so called music ) which every bar plays now. I think if a bar played decent music it's be full every night, but they all play that revolting head banging rubbish. Do none of the DJs have a clue what the customers like?

Saddest part for me was seeing the old Hollywood Royale ( new name now ) devoid of customers. That used to be The Place till well after dawn, but it's lost it's appeal along with the name.

Judging from the lack of customers, it can't be long before it goes the way of Washington Square. I didn't visit the Cowboy this trip, but last time I went it was way better than Nana.

[lovelomsak]

You are so right. It used to be so much fun.Not sophisticated at all in the old days. Just raw fun. Now it is like an entertainment for guys who never got out of the house till after the kids were married.It used to rock in the late 80's and early 90's. Then it went wide open in your face crazy which was fun too. Now it is like they think Hooters  is fun. the places are boring and I mean boring now.

  I always found Cowboy better and now if they can get the coyotes out it will still be better. Cowboy has always been more thai style. Just raw lets get down to it fun.

  I just skip Bangkok now got direct to Pattaya . I love the Windmill it is all the things that were fun wrapped up in one place but more pricey than it used to be but still can have old time fun.

[55Jay]

Guess I missed the boat.  Never been there, or Cowboy.

 

I did get to see Nana a few times staying in hotels in and around there, proximity to the US Embassy, which I always found amusing.     I stood there looking at the mass of people and had zero desire to join the scrum.   Not in a prudish way though.   I had my days in Pattaya and Phuket in the late 80s and 90s, and years of fun in Dubai/Gulf.  When we moved over here full-time, I ran around the Dark Side with a mate of mine several times but....meh....guess I'm past it now.  Married.  Low expectations.  A shell of my former self!  

[saakura]

Never been inside but pass by on many mornings around 0530 on my way to Lumpini park for a run. From Asoke to Nana, pathetic sight of wasted leftover hookers, ladyboys, mongers and alcoholics being fleeced by taxi mafia and early morning office goers gawking at the sight. 

[OneMoreFarang]

About the music: The problem for many bars is to get girls. And to make sure the girls stay in that place. Many customers agree they don't like the music. But the girls like it and if the bars play other music then the girls will possibly work in another place which plays the music they like.

 

The coyote situation is similar: It is difficult for many places to hire girls and make sure the girls stay. It's a lot easier for the owners and managers to hire a couple of coyote girls from a coyote supplier. The girls are more expensive for the bar and they are more expensive for the customer. But it's better to have expensive coyotes compared to no girls at all. And if coyotes quit, no problem, the supplier will get some new girls.

 

[lovelomsak]

37 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

About the music: The problem for many bars is to get girls. And to make sure the girls stay in that place. Many customers agree they don't like the music. But the girls like it and if the bars play other music then the girls will possibly work in another place which plays the music they like.

 

The coyote situation is similar: It is difficult for many places to hire girls and make sure the girls stay. It's a lot easier for the owners and managers to hire a couple of coyote girls from a coyote supplier. The girls are more expensive for the bar and they are more expensive for the customer. But it's better to have expensive coyotes compared to no girls at all. And if coyotes quit, no problem, the supplier will get some new girls.

 

Do you really believe what you posted?

  Very few girls enjoy any of our styles of music. They just get up and shuffle for the cash and to try and catch the eye of a customer to bar fine them. The music means nothing to them.

I think there is more to the coyote influence that meets the eye also. As in mafia hire our girls or get ran out of business.

  The girls by nature are free spirits who listen to their own drummer.  They like to decide if they go to work or not when  they like on their terms.The coyote bosses have simply muscled their way in. What the girls really like is to come and go as they please. They do not like bosses and as coyotes have 2.

[mstevens]

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Whatever, even without the roof and trendy bar area being installed in the middle it's just not a fun place anymore.

Back in the 90s it was a great night out, but now it's just gone sophisticated and fun devoid.

9 hours ago, saakura said:

From Asoke to Nana, pathetic sight of wasted leftover hookers, ladyboys, mongers and alcoholics being fleeced by taxi mafia and early morning office goers gawking at the sight. 

 

So true.  It did use to be a fun place to go but now it feels seedy, sad and in some ways depressing.  Cowboy started changing when they dressed it up with beautiful neon.  Sure, it looks a sight - and any first timer might be impressed but the vibe is not one of fun at all.

[poanoi]

"Back in the 90s it was a great night out, ....

I got the impression that it's just putting lipstick on a pig. It might look more attractive, but it's still a pig."

my theory: you got 25 years older since the 90's, and to the girls,

you are just lipstick on a pig these days, your money are attractive, but you aint,

and odds are they can pick up a punter half your age and still get paid & laid

[OneMoreFarang]

10 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

Do you really believe what you posted?

  Very few girls enjoy any of our styles of music. They just get up and shuffle for the cash and to try and catch the eye of a customer to bar fine them. The music means nothing to them.

I think there is more to the coyote influence that meets the eye also. As in mafia hire our girls or get ran out of business.

  The girls by nature are free spirits who listen to their own drummer.  They like to decide if they go to work or not when  they like on their terms.The coyote bosses have simply muscled their way in. What the girls really like is to come and go as they please. They do not like bosses and as coyotes have 2.

I don't only believe it. I know it's true.

 

Just recently I went with one girl from a bar with what many customers call decent music to another place where she wanted to visit her friend. And we spoke about the differences of the bars. She told me she likes the friend's bar a lot more because of the "dance" music and she would prefer to work there (one reason being the music). Now she does not work in the previous bar anymore...

 

About the coyotes: They get officially paid a lot more money than the regular girls just for dancing. And many of them are hired by the coyote supplier with fb adds like "make 800B a day for dancing". Obviously soon enough the girls find out that dancing is not the only performance they can sell. Some do that but others are relative reluctant and really only dance and make money from expensive drinks.

There might be other (criminal) reason why the girls stay with the coyote supplier. But I guess that is not much different why girls stay in certain bars which are controlled by influential people.

[elgenon]

13 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

Do you really believe what you posted?

  Very few girls enjoy any of our styles of music. They just get up and shuffle for the cash and to try and catch the eye of a customer to bar fine them. The music means nothing to them.

I think there is more to the coyote influence that meets the eye also. As in mafia hire our girls or get ran out of business.

  The girls by nature are free spirits who listen to their own drummer.  They like to decide if they go to work or not when  they like on their terms.The coyote bosses have simply muscled their way in. What the girls really like is to come and go as they please. They do not like bosses and as coyotes have 2.

Yes, The music and DJs are for the girls not the customers.IMHO  The bars would save money by having a hard drive of music. But then the girls would be even more bored.

Many times I've heard the DJ say something and the girls shriek with joy

The girls are a lot more sophisticated (yikes) than the farm girls of yore. Due to the internet and social media. On the whole they don't wear the ugly dresses like years ago. Also,the bars have had to accommodate the girls more than before. Like the bars that offer the girls time off for selling a certain number of drinks per 10 days.

These are strictly my observations and opinions, your mileage may vary. 

[quandow]

Same thing with Soi 6 Pattaya. When I first got here in 2006, calls of "Handsome man" floated dreamily through the air. Now, it's nothing but sour looking tubbies swiping their cell phones in dismal boredom.

[coxo]

I agree with the poster also, it seemed to go downhill with the English in the late 90's when there pound was strong, they threw money around and the price trebled in six months, with that the girls bad attitude started and it never recovered to the good old days.

As far as music go's I am always amazed when in a gogo, you look around and the age of punters is say 50 to 70 yet the play doff doff music, they dont seem to read the age group and play appropriate music, can't say it bothers me much as I avoid the place now and have done for years...

[berybert]

Its a sad day when someone realizes <deleted> houses aint what they used to be. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

14 minutes ago, quandow said:

Same thing with Soi 6 Pattaya. When I first got here in 2006, calls of "Handsome man" floated dreamily through the air. Now, it's nothing but sour looking tubbies swiping their cell phones in dismal boredom.

Or maybe you are not so handsome anymore...

[jamie2009]

Thai Bar Owners dont seem to realise by playing Thai music, rock or Issan very loud they won’t attract Farang customers.

Another point is in general it’s an older tourist who come too Thailand and whilst they like music they like background western music so you can have a conversation.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

Some of the comments here are funny. How many bars do you think are run by professionals who know what they are doing?

 

A good example is Angel Witch. Matt, who established it and made it a very successful bar maybe 10 years ago, knew what he was doing. And he had that place under control. He sold it a couple of years later and the standards dropped.

 

And many places seem to be "managed" by Thais who are able to bring girls from their villages but who understand often little about making customers happy. They know customers want pretty girls, but that's it. Good music? Clean toilets? Who cares? And some manager even "think" they get away with bad whisky because they get it somewhere cheap.

[Bangkok Barry]

15 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

Do you really believe what you posted?

  Very few girls enjoy any of our styles of music. They just get up and shuffle for the cash and to try and catch the eye of a customer to bar fine them. The music means nothing to them.

I think there is more to the coyote influence that meets the eye also. As in mafia hire our girls or get ran out of business.

  The girls by nature are free spirits who listen to their own drummer.  They like to decide if they go to work or not when  they like on their terms.The coyote bosses have simply muscled their way in. What the girls really like is to come and go as they please. They do not like bosses and as coyotes have 2.

 

If some enterprising bar owner decided to play only Issan music the place would be an instant goldmine, as THAT is what the girls like. And if they like it they will dance to it properly and have fun and make it a fun place to be, and that would draw in the customers. I'm sure they can come up with a sexy version of Thai dress, even something as simple and common as uni uniforms. I've been in one bar in Nana on a number of occasions when they do put that music on close to closing time and I've seen the way the girls suddenly come to life. So I know for sure it would work. I just wish I was a bar owner...... 

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, mstevens said:

 

So true.  It did use to be a fun place to go but now it feels seedy, sad and in some ways depressing.  Cowboy started changing when they dressed it up with beautiful neon.  Sure, it looks a sight - and any first timer might be impressed but the vibe is not one of fun at all.

 

What helped Cowboy in a big way was the ban on smoking, as then many of the bars put up outside seating areas. It was no longer just a street of curtained doorways but a street that was buzzing with activity. Nana has to some extent tried to copy that, intentionally or not, with a few of the ground floor bars having seating areas, but a courtyard is not the same atmosphere as a street.

[OneMoreFarang]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

 

What helped Cowboy in a big way was the ban on smoking, as then many of the bars put up outside seating areas. It was no longer just a street of curtained doorways but a street that was buzzing with activity. Nana has to some extent tried to copy that, intentionally or not, with a few of the ground floor bars having seating areas, but a courtyard is not the same atmosphere as a street.

That's a good point. I recently read an article at StickBoy. It was about a gogo bar in Patpong which had a small outside smoking area. Now they closed the gogo bar and make it to a big outside sitting area because "the small smoking area" was so much more successful than the gogo bar...

[jamie2009]

10 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

If some enterprising bar owner decided to play only Issan music the place would be an instant goldmine, as THAT is what the girls like. And if they like it they will dance to it properly and have fun and make it a fun place to be, and that would draw in the customers. I'm sure they can come up with a sexy version of Thai dress, even something as simple and common as uni uniforms. I've been in one bar in Nana on a number of occasions when they do put that music on close to closing time and I've seen the way the girls suddenly come to life. So I know for sure it would work. I just wish I was a bar owner...... 

Bars here in Pattaya have tried it, empties straight away, same as the Karaoke Bars as soon as they start singing Thai songs Farangs drink up and leave.

Walk along Soi Bukhao, Bars playing western music have customers, Bars playing Thai music empty.

[OneMoreFarang]

9 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

If some enterprising bar owner decided to play only Issan music the place would be an instant goldmine, as THAT is what the girls like. And if they like it they will dance to it properly and have fun and make it a fun place to be, and that would draw in the customers. I'm sure they can come up with a sexy version of Thai dress, even something as simple and common as uni uniforms. I've been in one bar in Nana on a number of occasions when they do put that music on close to closing time and I've seen the way the girls suddenly come to life. So I know for sure it would work. I just wish I was a bar owner...... 

I think the current music seems to be the best compromise of what the girls and the customers want. The girls don't like constantly rock music for old men. And the guys don't like Isan music all night. Both can live more of less with whatever the music is called that they play now.

Personally I am ok with 2 or 3 Isan songs, especially when I am drunk enough to enjoy almost anything. But if they would play that for more than 15 minutes in the evening I would be out of that place.

[KC 71]

Haven’t been there for 14 yrs !


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[KC 71]

I guess a lot has changed since then


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[OneMoreFarang]

1 minute ago, KC 71 said:

Haven’t been there for 14 yrs !

I guess a lot has changed since then

Yes, the girls are 14 years older. And some of them still work there...

[VocalNeal]

20 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The girls are just as pretty as back then ( seem taller now though

You were on the wrong level?

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

20 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The girls are just as pretty as back then ( seem taller now though

You were on the wrong level?

Some are taller - and they are not really girls...

[shaggy851]

I dont mind the music, all of my time in bangers had been in the naughties anyway, about 9 years total. What i have noticed is changes in that time and nearly all the places i enjoyed are gone. Now i also enjoy pattaya but not walking street bars much. Nana plaza is too crowded and the girls are overworked. Half of them are off their faces and the other half heads buried in phones. You have to be a big spender in bangkok to get their attention, but its not worth it. I did take a couple girls upstairs at nana a while ago and one had just came back into the bar scene after years spent overseas with a farang. I cant say i didnt enjoy myself but i will say most guys just need a change of scenery. Dont march straight to soi 4 the same as every other tourist, head out towards petchaburi road and find bars like napolean that moved or down the other numbered sois off sukhumvit. Recently i found a bar i liked out at ramkamheng. Even head to nonthaburi for a change of scenery places like audition bar have hundreds of fresh girls

[poanoi]

there was once a good mama-san,

she was bisexual so she knew how a sex show should be sensual,

she knew how to get pretty girls in a hurry to fill up the place,

she knew how to order the girls to be enthusiastic on stage,

and that turned the whole go-go bar into a place where you would

just warm up, smile, and think life is pretty damn good.

she started up many go-go bars, all were successful as long as she stayed,

and a few remained successful even after

[NanLaew]

Quote

What on earth happened to Nana Plaza?

 

You blinked.

 

...and in the meantime you, like all the unhappy customers you observed, got older.

 

...and the younger, pretty, "taller" girls don't like that so they're not happy.

[fvw53]

1 hour ago, berybert said:

Its a sad day when someone realizes whore houses aint what they used to be. 

 

Funny that I heard the same complaint about the Suzy Wong bars when living in Hong Kong early 1970ies...

Could it be that everything was funnier because we were young at that time?