On 7/22/2020 at 1:56 AM, scammed said:

on the bright side there is no scantily clad girls

shouting welcome hansum man,

on the downside i note there is a no parking sign,

c'est la vie 

You have it reversed? 555

Daniel Thaiger serves up a nice burger

 

On 7/22/2020 at 9:56 AM, scammed said:

on the bright side there is no scantily clad girls

shouting welcome hansum man,

on the downside i note there is a no parking sign,

c'est la vie 

So a scantily dressed bar girl in a no parking t-shirt would be your worst nightmare ?

18 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

Yeah Above 11 has always been good.   

Havana Social Club which you can find down a small alley sort of opposite Above 11 is also very cool, there is no signage or front door. Instead, there is just a mock-retro phone booth with a 'Telefono' sign. You'll need to call Havana Social for the entry code. Step inside the phone booth, dial the secret code, and a false door in the back of the phone booth swings open.

 

 

Except now a grumpy door person does it for you and then you get to enjoy paying 300 thb to stand in an overpacked bar. On the plus side, the live music on Saturdays is some of the best salsa (and I used to live in South America) when it's not being stolen over to another club.

On 7/23/2020 at 1:53 AM, GoldCoastFarang said:

I stayed mostly at The Federal Hotel ( now demolished) when in BKK and enjoyed the restaurant at the front. The area had lots of character which we loved....6 times back to Bangkok.

 

Great little hotel with a lot of history.  Had an ok pool for what you are paying.  Plus if you had a car you had a place to park it.  Lot's of cheap eats right around the area too for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

On 7/23/2020 at 3:53 PM, GoldCoastFarang said:

I stayed mostly at The Federal Hotel ( now demolished) when in BKK and enjoyed the restaurant at the front. The area had lots of character which we loved....6 times back to Bangkok.

 

Agreed, been to that restaurant at night a number of times, loved it, now it's gone forever. 

Never stayed at the hotel, but my office was located opposite it. All my lunches where consumed there. Delicious food.

The gentrification of Soi 11 is utterly depressing. 

 

17 hours ago, AndrewMciver said:

The gentrification of Soi 11 is utterly depressing. 

 

Agreed!

On 3 years it will be this soi and after that, that soi, but your already out the loop so hold onto to your memories and move on pal.

I walk up and down Soi 11 everyday, and I mostly appreciate the improvements. I hated the sidewalks blocked by the street food gang, and I must walk in the street risking my life with oncoming traffic. Or the minivan sidewalk bars (who's prices were the same as an air-conditioned discotheque). Or the taxis that ALL refused to use the meter.

 

On the other hand, I also don't like the corporate america restaurants moving in to take over a unique Thailand experience. I love Taco Bell, but please get out of soi 11. 

On 7/23/2020 at 6:53 PM, hellohello123 said:

I have been going to soi 11 yearly for about 8 years now.

And it has/had its charm,

The overhanging power lines, the unkept side walks, the farang targeted bars, the stalls , the kombivan bars,

 

And yes daytime is pretty dead , but night time is when the action is.

 

I havent been for about 18 months , however last time I went things were already changing 

 

Some of the foot paths had started being repaired, all the kombivan bars had gone, there were a fewer newer and trendier bars and American style take aways

The huge abandoned hotel on the right (can't remeber its name) had started work on.

 

But what surprised me was that entire cheap Charlie section had been demolised and the hole left (I presume for development) was absolutely enormous, I didn't even know the street went that deep

 

I admit it has a lost a bit of its dirty charm but I also noticed decreased numbers of tourists,

 

So who knows what will.become of soi 11 and its surrounds even if covid had not come

So you have just basically repeated what the OP said??