SURVEY: Will Go-Go Bars survive Covid-19?

[Scott]

There was a recent thread concerning the long-term fate of go-go bars.   Which of the options best describes your prediction for the long-term outlook for the go-go bar industry?

 

Please feel free to leave a comment.  

 

For further reading:

 

 

[JCP108]

As long as they send that task force that they sent to Pattaya to look for prostitution when they shut them down, everybody wins!

[CGW]

I don't think it has ever been a big secret that quite a few bars in the popular areas have a dual purpose, cleaning & laundry work just another byproduct so these bars will always open back up, they have probably never made money since the day they opened, the few that made good money & were well run will open back up, those that were surviving week by week most likely won't make it, Ago go very niche market now, whereas years back was more acceptable as there were few other choices.

[madmen]

This conservative govt has always wanted a cleaner image. What better time to force them shut than now? 

I think soi cowboy and walking st should be allowed survive 

[allanos]

whereas years back was more acceptable as there were few other choices.

 

What are the "other" choices now, which were not available a few years ago?  A go-go bar, massage, soapy massage, etc are pretty unique propositions.

[Guderian]

For years the trend has been away from finding "company for the night" in a bar to using online apps like Thai Friendly. This has already led to the bar beers being mostly staffed by mothers and aunts while the attractive young daughters peddle their wares online. I think there'll always be a demand for high quality birds in a Gogo-style setting, but the range of pachyderms and hippos in the average Gogo bar over the last few years will be culled by the combined effects of C19 and the apps.

[Tingnongnoi]

43 minutes ago, allanos said:

whereas years back was more acceptable as there were few other choices.

 

What are the "other" choices now, which were not available a few years ago?  A go-go bar, massage, soapy massage, etc are pretty unique propositions.

online connecting, tinder etc..

[natway09]

Many of them as we speak are at the mercy of their landlords.

The rents are not cheap & without considerable discounts many will have no opion but to walk away'

The ones used for other reasons will continue

[murraynz]

29 minutes ago, Tingnongnoi said:

online connecting, tinder etc..

Online dating,or meeting for sex,is is not comparable to having sexy fun with girl/s in a gogo bar.

There are many advantages,to the gogo option.

[garygooner]

As long as Shadow Bar, Butterfly Bar and Our Place are still in Soi Cowboy I'm fine!

 

 

[Oldie]

They will all disappear. Madame Tussauds will buy the last bars and will put them on show with bargirls and customers made out of wax.

[CGW]

38 minutes ago, garygooner said:

As long as Shadow Bar, Butterfly Bar and Our Place are still in Soi Cowboy I'm fine!

Was never the same after "Tony's" closed!

[CanadaSam]

If we look at history, there have been epidemics, pandemics, and very serious concerns before, most recently SARS, MERS, etc., (which, by the way, had much a higher death ratio than COVID).

 

Even if you look at exactly where these very serious viral illnesses occurred, and people in those countries were literally scared to death at the time, look at those same countries now, and there is no sign of any lasting changes to social interaction, nightlife, etc.

 

One can reasonably assume that things will be back to normal in time.

 

"This too, shall pass".

[PatOngo]

Will Go-Go Bars survive Covid-19?  

Does it really matter?    

[tribalfusion001]

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

For years the trend has been away from finding "company for the night" in a bar to using online apps like Thai Friendly. This has already led to the bar beers being mostly staffed by mothers and aunts while the attractive young daughters peddle their wares online. I think there'll always be a demand for high quality birds in a Gogo-style setting, but the range of pachyderms and hippos in the average Gogo bar over the last few years will be culled by the combined effects of C19 and the apps.

The beer bars in Nana are staffed in the daytime by absolute horrors and sometimes in the evening it's hard seeing any decent quality bar girls. The lower end go go bars are the same in Cowboy and Nana Plaza. Stand out go go bars to look at pretty eye candy, Baccara, Tilac, Billboard, Butterfly and Rainbow 4 in BKK. I haven't been to a go go bar in Pattaya since 2014 so cannot comment.

 

I've only paid a bar fine once in the last 9 years and that was in Chiang Mai last year. I did meet a bar girl from Nana after the bar closed last September, we swapped LINE in the bar and she gave me a lift in her car back to my apartment 555.

Edited May 31, 2020 by tribalfusion001

[newnative]

I voted for the fewer in the future choice but they could all disappear as far as I'm concerned.  

[ChipButty]

They were going downhill before the virus arrived I cant see many surviving with the stupid rents but I guess another one gets off that plane everyday

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, newnative said:

I voted for the fewer in the future choice but they could all disappear as far as I'm concerned.  

Love them or Hate them it's all about survival in Thailand so I guess needs must!

[holy cow cm]

They will be back same as the girls will flock to work in them. The only way they will not return is if the government becomes more retentive. So every so so often I will support them by taking visitors coming in from the US, doing my job to preserve the adult Disneyland of Thailand. .

[Brunolem]

Officially these places don't exist, so it would be easy to keep them shut. 

 

Most of the tourists like to see them from outside, but certainly not from the inside... they enjoy danger but only up to a certain point... and now with the virus on top of it, they will take their pictures from the other side of the street. 

 

Go go bars have two main functions:

 

- separate foreigner fools from their money

 

- transfer that money in the pockets of those who are supposed to keep them shut

 

There is a need for a constant flow of greater foreigner fools, to replace those who have lost everything while trying to operate these money pits. 

 

Considering the global economic situation, such fools will probably not be available for a long time. 

 

So, the go go bars will probably follow in the steps of shops and restaurants. 

 

First, most of them will tentatively reopen. 

 

Then, after a few months with barely any customer, they will give up and start closing down one after the other. 

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

Many of them as we speak are at the mercy of their landlords.

The rents are not cheap & without considerable discounts many will have no opion but to walk away'

The ones used for other reasons will continue

"The ones used for other reasons will continue". What other reasons are there apart from prostitution and alcohol?

[Henryford]

Without the red light areas Pattaya is finished.

[tribalfusion001]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

"The ones used for other reasons will continue". What other reasons are there apart from prostitution and alcohol?

Money laundering is another reason. Have you seen the dodgy foreigner types who own beer bars, go go bars, sports bar and clubs in BKK. I've heard a few stories from a friend who manages a sports bar in BKK and I know one guy who is in BKK with connections to a terrorist group.

Edited May 31, 2020 by tribalfusion001

[Olmate]

6 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

Money laundering is another reason. Have you seen the dodgy foreigner types who own beer bars, go go bars, sports bar and clubs in BKK. I've heard a few stories from a friend who manages a sports bar in BKK and I know one guy who is in BKK with connections to a terrorist group.

You think they may kidnap you?

[tribalfusion001]

1 minute ago, Olmate said:

You think they may kidnap you?

No, it's money laundering and it's one of the reasons he is here.

[DrJack54]

19 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Without the red light areas Pattaya is finished.

Please explain where are the red light areas....are. 

Please don't say soi 6 and walking street.

[bkk6060]

The Gogo bars are rip off tourist spots in my opinion.

The locals who know better rarely go, unless they have a friend visiting who has probably never been.

Or, just to watch for the special 50 b draft night.

1000 to 1500 b fines to take a girl for an hour.  Then plus plus for drinks, time with lady..

But, when they open up soon and the international tourists come back there will be demand.

Whether these places can follow the government Covid rules, seems almost impossible.

I bet they will try though.  Limit customers, girls distanced from each other wearing masks, no sitting next to customers, etc.

I would say the same for the DIsco´s and clubs.  Cannot see a way in the near future they can survive the jammed, packed crowds drinking, dancing and partying are what people are attracted too.

 

[Zikomat]

3 hours ago, CGW said:

I don't think it has ever been a big secret that quite a few bars in the popular areas have a dual purpose, cleaning & laundry work just another byproduct so these bars will always open back up, they have probably never made money since the day they opened, the few that made good money & were well run will open back up, those that were surviving week by week most likely won't make it, Ago go very niche market now, whereas years back was more acceptable as there were few other choices.

So whoever opens the bar this year is definitely a criminal.

[tribalfusion001]

11 minutes ago, Zikomat said:

So whoever opens the bar this year is definitely a criminal.

Plenty of info on Google if you search.

 

There are a couple of big chains in BKK who will take over some the fallers and convert them into stylish sports bars, trendy bars and clubs, more upmarket go go bars. Some of the older players in Cowboy were shutting down pre covid-19, Rawhide went this year and the Iranian guy's go go bars are mostly empty inside, but with loads of girls outside. I noticed some of his go go bars were not open every night earlier this year.

Edited May 31, 2020 by tribalfusion001

[cyril sneer]

should be a thread about girly bars in general not just go-go bars

 

there was clearly a problem before covid started, now you'll have less tourists for a variety of reasons

 

then you have bar owners that can't afford to re-open or have sold the business

 

not sure it'll be the same again. hopefully more prostitution apps get released