Old photos of Pattaya show beach resort of a bygone era

[Kerryd]

Yeah, on my first trip to Pattaya, when I walked down to "Walking Street" there was a big beer bar complex on the right side (just before Beach Road curved towards South Pattaya road) that had a Muay Thai ring in it. I watched it for a couple of minutes before wandering further down where I came across the Marine Bar which also had a ring.

Didn't take long to figure out the fights were staged, especially when the guys you'd just seen at one spot turn up at the other one. Some of the women around the place knew who the fighters were and who was "supposed" to win each match.

And of course, every so often some foreigner who'd taken a Muay Thai lesson or two back home would want to get in the ring and test his skills against  a Thai fighter (who was usually much smaller).

You could see the foreigners would be fighting for "real" while the Thai guys would be playing like it was an exhibition match for fun. Until the foreigner did something stupid (like grab the Thai guy in a corner and throw him to the mat). Then it would be "bap bap whack smack and thump" as the foreigner hit the canvas.

Back then, between the matches they'd have a "traditional dance" show (half a dozen women dressed in traditional costumes and doing traditional style dances) for 10 minutes or so and then maybe a "snake" show.

Years later they dropped the dance and snake acts and I swear the Muay Thai guys were the same ones that had been there years earlier.

Loved looking at the "Disco" clothing the girls were wearing - and the one guy's afro. 

 

[sharecropper]

Inspired by this great thread I just looked out a couple of photos I took over Jomtien from the Metro condo in 2005. No Second Road, just mostly wetlands, grazing cattle and marsh birds.

[2009]

On 7/25/2021 at 3:30 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Didn't look like that in 1993, but it was as good as it gets back then. Not too busy and fun, fun, fun.

What was more fun compared with revent years?

[balo]

Clean beaches and no plastic in the ocean. That was 1950's for you. 

[impulse]

On 7/30/2021 at 2:05 AM, johng said:

2003    25th anniversary bash.

 

 

 

Anyone else notice that there isn't a smile in the whole crowd?

 

[Kennycrossfit]

On 7/29/2021 at 12:52 PM, Kerryd said:

OK.
Apparently Happy started "over 20 years ago" so 2000/2001 ? I thought it was much older than that.

Happy was open in 97 when I started going to pattaya,Happy first then onto marine then on to marine 2,and finishing at the boom bar. 

[kynikoi]

On 7/25/2021 at 11:05 AM, Ireland32 said:

Just go down the Coast Miles of beach after Trat 

But it's not very nice.

 

Loads of box jellyfish now.

[jacko45k]

9 hours ago, 2009 said:

What was more fun compared with revent years?

Better attitudes from  the girls, no lady drink rip-off in the beer bars, no 2 hour bar-fines...pre aids was also more 'fun'.....much lower prices. 

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, 2009 said:

What was more fun compared with revent years?

Place was full with happy people having a good time. Greed wasn't a big thing. No mobile phones for the girls to spend their time on. It was like a big party 24/7.

 

Changed when Purachai came to town to destroy the farang nite scene. IMO the sanuk of the nite scene departed and never returned.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, impulse said:

Anyone else notice that there isn't a smile in the whole crowd?

 

They are all looking at something. If it's some self important officials doing their "I can talk for hours routine" it's no wonder they ain't smiling.

Every opening or celebration I ever attended in LOS had people wobbling on interminably- extreme boredom ensued.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Yeah, on my first trip to Pattaya, when I walked down to "Walking Street" there was a big beer bar complex on the right side (just before Beach Road curved towards South Pattaya road) that had a Muay Thai ring in it. I watched it for a couple of minutes before wandering further down where I came across the Marine Bar which also had a ring.

I think you mean "on the left" if going towards Walking Street.

I knew that complex well, as I found a couple of GFs in the first bar on the left when looking inland. One was called Chicken and she had the worst and most volatile temper I ever experienced- scared me a bit. Very cute though.

The other went to Germany with a customer and was never heard of again- I feared the worst for her.

[MyFriend You]

On 7/24/2021 at 11:18 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

One important picture was obviously missing.

I am sure some of you will have some older picture of that place.

 

I think they Opened in 1978, then in '84 they opened TQ2 on Soi BJ, (Disco Bar)that was a flop so sold it and stuck with the Rock n Roll.   Sign says Discobar, but was never anything Disco about it.   They closed in Dec 2020 but I understand they re-opened somewhere.  My least favorite ex-wife threw away all my TQ T-Shirts, they came out with new designs every couple of weeks...........aaah the memories of that place.

[Hanuman2547]

On 7/29/2021 at 3:07 PM, bangkok19 said:

I used to do the Hash Runs in the mid-80's. 

I still have a 2 hour VHS tape here somewhere with a video recording of the after-run highlights... the drink truck and all the singing, drinking (in the circle) afterwards until it got dark and the beer went dry. Jessie was the Hash Master at the time (may he Rest In Peace).

We'd later kick-on back to a Pattaya bar for more drinks.  Got some video in one of the bars with DOORS music in the background.

In those days I had a BIG Panasonic Video camera that recorded on the actual VHS Video Cassette...   so, straight out of the camera and into the Video Player to watch on TV.

I can remember one night returning to the Tahitian Queen and we played part of my video on their TV.

We were all telling the dancing darlings to get out of the way so we could see the TV.

Crikey...  the guys and gals in that video would all be 36 years older if they're still around.

Scarey!

Still around mate!

[gk10012001]

On 7/29/2021 at 11:34 PM, Pattaya Spotter said:

I rather like having air-con malls, a plethora of dining and hotel options, AND a nice beach...especially as I'm not in the military. To each their own.

too bad the beach water is filthy and not safe to swim in.  It looks nice.

[bangkok19]

I still have (somewhere in my junk) a full 2 hour VHS Videotape of continuous footage in the BABY GO GO BAR which (in 1989) was at the end of Soi BJ.

Back then there wasn't a problem having a video camera in a go go bar, in fact it was quite a novelty. Some girls dancing topless, a 5 minute pause in the music for a blow-dart demo.. and no (older) chubby girls either.  They'd all smile and 'flash'  and do poses for the camera.

There were certain songs played whilst I was recording the action that, when I hear today, remind me certain faces that appeared in the video. 

I had a good corner stool at the bar so was really close to the action...   problem was, because I didn't want to give up that stool, I sat there under an A/C chilly blast for 2 hours...   next day I had a stiff neck!  

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, bangkok19 said:

problem was, because I didn't want to give up that stool, I sat there under an A/C chilly blast for 2 hours...   next day I had a stiff neck!  

That is many hours of looking up..... don't expect it was the AC. The Baby group was a class act, always a good collection of pretty girls and no unattractive ones. 

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, jacko45k said:

That is many hours of looking up..... don't expect it was the AC. The Baby group was a class act, always a good collection of pretty girls and no unattractive ones. 

Super Baby was my favourite Gogo. All DDG girls, and no chubbies. Very popular with Asian customers. I never did find out why it closed.

[jacko45k]

5 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Super Baby was my favourite Gogo. All DDG girls, and no chubbies. Very popular with Asian customers. I never did find out why it closed.

They just weren't getting the customers in the latter days.... of course the standard had dropped  a bit too. Used to go in with a USA pal...that pal had groups of workers coming to Thailand to work on turbines and would take these groups of wild big spenders in there. (Like USA guys do...). Got quite a few drinks sent over by the guy who parked the Merc out in front.

[spidermike007]

I remember the good old days. My first visit to Thailand was in the mid 1970's. Bangkok was all low level buildings, and alot of swamps. Don Muang was the main airport, and it was about as funky as it got. 

 

Phuket had only a few bungalow resorts, at $3 a nite. I remember asking and beachfront land was selling for 1,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away. The families with alot of land were giving the beachfront land to the (less valuable) daughters, as it was too saline for good coconut farming, and the (more valuable) sons were getting the hillside land with a view. Who is the joke on now? 

 

Went to Samui in the mid 1980s. Even Chaweng Beach was sparsely developed. I hear ten years earlier there was barely anything there. The Ring Road was unpaved in some areas, electric was occasional, no airport yet, and very, very cheap. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by spidermike007

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I remember the good old days. My first visit to Thailand was in the mid 1970's. Bangkok was all low level buildings, and alot of swamps. Don Muang was the main airport, and it was about as funky as it got. 

 

Phuket had only a few bungalow resorts, at $3 a nite. I remember asking and beachfront land was selling for 1,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away. The families with alot of land were giving the beachfront land to the (less valuable) daughters, as it was too saline for good coconut farming, and the (more valuable) sons were getting the hillside land with a view. Who is the joke on now? 

 

Went to Samui in the mid 1980s. Even Chaweng Beach was sparsely developed. I hear ten years earlier there was barely anything there. The Ring Road was unpaved in some areas, electric was occasional, no airport yet, and very, very cheap. 

We might have been in the same place at the same time then. I went on a two week bus tour from Singapore in 1974.

Yes, Bkk was pretty low level, and we went up the Golden Mount where we had an excellent view.

Plenty of US GIs around and the guys on the tour were taken to a GI bar, which was quite sleazy. I much prefer the light life in the 90s to back then.

 

Traffic was just as bad back then, and it was quicker for me to walk around than take a taxi or tuk tuk.

[pattayadude]

On 7/24/2021 at 11:31 PM, Mickeymaus said:

Yes, the coast line is so long with endless sand beaches. Pattaya is only special because it is famous for its huge red light districts. Hello sexy man... Everywhere - in bars, in shopping malls, on the Beach Road... But not everything is bad since there is no prostitution. 

maybe "not bad" since bar scene ended with covid but this isn't really turquoise waters and white sandy beach paradise..take the ho's, crowds and music out and there's not much to do

[pattayadude]

On 8/28/2021 at 4:47 AM, spidermike007 said:

I remember the good old days. My first visit to Thailand was in the mid 1970's

geeez, that's a long time mike!

[pattayadude]

On 8/15/2021 at 4:28 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Super Baby was my favourite Gogo. All DDG girls, and no chubbies. Very popular with Asian customers. I never did find out why it closed.

and the original "baby go-go" in the 1990, my very first visit in Pattaya during my early 20s.i hope I am not wrong with the name.

[Espanol]

How green was my valley!

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, pattayadude said:

and the original "baby go-go" in the 1990, my very first visit in Pattaya during my early 20s.i hope I am not wrong with the name.

There was more than one gogo with "baby" in the name off Walking Street.

[Kerryd]

40 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

There was more than one gogo with "baby" in the name off Walking Street.

Probably not back in 1990 though. Wasn't a lot of go-gos in Pattaya then. Even in 2000 I think there were maybe a dozen all told ? By 2004/06 though, it was more like 4 dozen (+).
Over the years there has been clubs called Sugar Baby, Baby Dolls. Super Baby and probably a few more. 
(Baby Boom and Pink Baby too but not on Walking and "Boom" is/was an LB bar and "Pink" apparently a Japanese only club.)

(Somewhere between '04/'06 I had worked it out that if I spent 1 hour per go-go (on Walking St only) from opening to closing (8pm to 3 am for the most part) I could visit 7 bars a night and it would take me 1 week to visit each on on Walking St. (At the time, from the Beach Rd start to the ones at the soi 16 junction as there wasn't any more past that.)

(I think I included the ones at the beginning of Soi Diamond, soi Happy and Soi Lucky Bar, but back then there weren't any on the other little soi until Angel Witch and a few others started popping up.)

I thought about getting "crawl" shirts made up with the names of each club on them but never got around to actually trying to visit every club.

Last I recall (pre-covid) I think it was something like 75 go-gos now ? But that might be for all of Pattaya (including LK Metro, Soi Buakhao and the ones between Soi 6 and Walking Street). 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Probably not back in 1990 though. Wasn't a lot of go-gos in Pattaya then. Even in 2000 I think there were maybe a dozen all told ? By 2004/06 though, it was more like 4 dozen (+).
Over the years there has been clubs called Sugar Baby, Baby Dolls. Super Baby and probably a few more. 
(Baby Boom and Pink Baby too but not on Walking and "Boom" is/was an LB bar and "Pink" apparently a Japanese only club.)

(Somewhere between '04/'06 I had worked it out that if I spent 1 hour per go-go (on Walking St only) from opening to closing (8pm to 3 am for the most part) I could visit 7 bars a night and it would take me 1 week to visit each on on Walking St. (At the time, from the Beach Rd start to the ones at the soi 16 junction as there wasn't any more past that.)

(I think I included the ones at the beginning of Soi Diamond, soi Happy and Soi Lucky Bar, but back then there weren't any on the other little soi until Angel Witch and a few others started popping up.)

I thought about getting "crawl" shirts made up with the names of each club on them but never got around to actually trying to visit every club.

Last I recall (pre-covid) I think it was something like 75 go-gos now ? But that might be for all of Pattaya (including LK Metro, Soi Buakhao and the ones between Soi 6 and Walking Street). 

Let's remember that there wasn't a Walking Street till about 1996.

 

[Kerryd]

My first trip was in 1993 and I spent most of it on what is now known as "Walking Street" though in truth I have no idea if it was called that back then, or even if traffic was banned from the area in the evenings.

I do remember that on my first night, I was staying in a hotel in North Pattaya and I went for a walk all the way down to where the Big Buddha tree is. As there didn't seem to be much past that point worth looking at, I went back to the Marine Bar.

After a couple nights hanging out at the bar in front of the boxing ring, I moved across the street to the Lucky Stars bars as there were fewer "greedy hands" and vendors on that side of the street. That's where I used to hang out a lot on subsequent trips. Good music, not too far from a public toilet, not too many annoying hawkers.  

(I had also moved from the hotel in North Pattaya to the brand new DayNight 2 Hotel. 300 baht a night, restaurant on the 2nd floor, very quiet and only a 15 minute walk to the bars. Too bad they didn't maintain the place. Went back in 1998 and it was already falling apart. They did redo it when Tukcom was built, expecting lots of business for some reason. By 2008 it was getting pretty shabby again but I had stopped staying there in 2004 as I decided to rent an apartment instead.)

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

My first trip was in 1993 and I spent most of it on what is now known as "Walking Street" though in truth I have no idea if it was called that back then, or even if traffic was banned from the area in the evenings.

It was just a normal road and no, the traffic wasn't banned at night.

IMO Walking Street was the last decent project in Pattaya that actually succeeded.

[dabhand]

Some interesting videos of Pattaya in the 80's and 90's from this youtuber (Thailand1881):

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC52cr_qxx66Pt1oxqWNw1TA/videos