nana plaza back in the day

[bandito]

9 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

 

No it wasn't.

The Grace hotel was mainly used during the Vietnam era by GI's on R&R. By the mid-eighties, when there was only Patpong and Cowboy, the Grace was a relic; the only people staying there were Arabs.

 

I arrived at the Grace Hotel from Don Muang  november 05 1976 at 1700 hrs.

There were no Arab tourists as yet and this hotel was mainly used by sex tourgroups from Europe, Neckermann and a Dutch tour (forgot the name).

These groups booked all the rooms there and I could have a room for 3 days at a cost of Baht 150- a night because than a new batch of sex tourists would arrive, so I went with one of the girls home and stayed with her for 5 months, she had a room in the Lad Phrao slums which did'nt bother me at the least.

Back to the Grace Hotel, the coffeeshop downstairs kept open all night and had about 200 girls hanging around there, a real candy store.

At the foot of the stairs, to the rooms, stood a table with a Thai guy and if you took a girl upstairs you had to pay Baht 40- as a fee for room cleaning.

There was Martial Law in Bangkok and you had to stay indoors from 2400 til 0400 am but all or most bars were open all night so there was no problem with this.

The later Arab tourists were all staying in the Nana Hotel not Grace Hotel.

Aah, the good times, all gone now.

[GBK]

37 minutes ago, bandito said:

 

I arrived at the Grace Hotel from Don Muang  november 05 1976 at 1700 hrs.

There were no Arab tourists as yet and this hotel was mainly used by sex tourgroups from Europe, Neckermann and a Dutch tour (forgot the name).

These groups booked all the rooms there and I could have a room for 3 days at a cost of Baht 150- a night because than a new batch of sex tourists would arrive, so I went with one of the girls home and stayed with her for 5 months, she had a room in the Lad Phrao slums which did'nt bother me at the least.

Back to the Grace Hotel, the coffeeshop downstairs kept open all night and had about 200 girls hanging around there, a real candy store.

At the foot of the stairs, to the rooms, stood a table with a Thai guy and if you took a girl upstairs you had to pay Baht 40- as a fee for room cleaning.

There was Martial Law in Bangkok and you had to stay indoors from 2400 til 0400 am but all or most bars were open all night so there was no problem with this.

The later Arab tourists were all staying in the Nana Hotel not Grace Hotel.

Aah, the good times, all gone now.

 

I've never seen an Arab in the Nana Hotel. 

 

In Soi 4, yes, but not in the hotel. 

[charmonman]

2 hours ago, Saastrajaa said:

 

No, he's correct.  Sure, the hotel clientele may have become primarily Arab that long ago, but when I was first "on the scene" in the EARLY 2000s, Grace Hotel Cafe was still a place we would go after Nana Disco closed, where there were freelancers a-plenty, and where one could sit and drink all night.  In the early 2000s, there were middle easterners among the late-night cafe crowd, but they did not yet dominate...I'd say that by 2005, though, that's when it really changed, and nobody I knew went there anymore.

I remember going there every once in a while through the nineties, but it wasn't all that popular with farangs compared with the Thermae for example. I do recall it having a bit of a resurgence around the early 2000s when it became popular among farangs again. I think it was basically closed sometime around 2005 and turned into an actual coffee shop whose actual purpose was actually serving coffee during the day and not open at night.

[gemguy]

10 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

 

No it wasn't.

The Grace hotel was mainly used during the Vietnam era by GI's on R&R. By the mid-eighties, when there was only Patpong and Cowboy, the Grace was a relic; the only people staying there were Arabs.

Not specifically True like that or what you are implying.

Like I was saying, whether YOU  liked it or not it was one more place to go at any time and find girls and drink all you want.

It was open 24 hours ...

At 8 PM to 6 AM in the morning the place was full of girls and you could drink all you want and was part of the circuit, so to speak.

Besides all the other places I went there for 20 years and pulled out some really pretty girls from that place.

Yes there were more and more Arabs as the years went by ...but still, to this day you can go there and there are girls just waiting for you to befriend them...lol

You can still go there in the afternoon and in the lobby there are girls waiting for you and no need to ask "Why" they are just sitting around like that and what for...lol

Cheers

Edited January 14, 2017 by gemguy

[KarenBravo]

In the early to mid eighties, the Grace was filled with Arabs and the girls there were the ones that catered to Arabs. As they were all plug-ugly, most Westerners didn't bother with the place and usually went to the Thermae after the bars closed.

I know this is true as I spent a lot of my youth mongering in Bangkok.

[gemguy]

3 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

In the early to mid eighties, the Grace was filled with Arabs and the girls there were the ones that catered to Arabs. As they were all plug-ugly, most Westerners didn't bother with the place and usually went to the Thermae after the bars closed.

I know this is true as I spent a lot of my youth mongering in Bangkok.

Well now...Myself, on the other hand, went to the Grace hotel as part of my regular routine while the making my rounds of the circuit, so to speak.

I found many , as in many, really cute and or pretty girls in the Grace Hotel coffee shop and really no different than many other places where the majority of the girls were not attractive and some stated as ugly but there was always more than enough attractive looking girls to choose from while mingling with the Arabs was not a problem...not at all, while they tended to team up with the fat girls and the ugly girls and the homely looking ones and all the older ones  while I was there to find the one that suited me and if not...then off to the other places like Thermae that all too often did not have any girls ( at the time ) that were all that attractive also.

Cheers

[Saastrajaa]

57 minutes ago, gemguy said:

Well now...Myself, on the other hand, went to the Grace hotel as part of my regular routine while the making my rounds of the circuit, so to speak.

I found many , as in many, really cute and or pretty girls in the Grace Hotel coffee shop and really no different than many other places where the majority of the girls were not attractive and some stated as ugly but there was always more than enough attractive looking girls to choose from while mingling with the Arabs was not a problem...not at all, while they tended to team up with the fat girls and the ugly girls and the homely looking ones and all the older ones  while I was there to find the one that suited me and if not...then off to the other places like Thermae that all too often did not have any girls ( at the time ) that were all that attractive also.

Cheers

 

Yes, that mirrors my experience with the Grace Hotel coffee shop in 2002-2003.  

 

Speaking of girls who would go with Arabs: before the Sukhumvit end of Soi 3/1 got "developed," there was a guy who would set up a cart there and sell yaa dong, plus beer and basic cocktails...it was a very basic affair, before the trend of decked-out VW van rolling bars started.  His clientele was almost all freelancers getting themselves chemically fortified for the night of work ahead...shudder.  Bless their hearts.  

 

I used to hang out there and drink yaa dong with a freelancer friend.  She was great; she would insist we took turns, on successive meetings, paying for the two fifths of yaa dong the two of us would consume (at 60 baht a bottle)--if it wasn't my turn, she would not let me pay.  My friend only worked the Biergarten on soi 7 and sometimes Nana Disco, but through her, I got to meet a bunch of girls who worked soi 3 and the Arab clientele.  One thing they told me that you had to be willing to do if you were going to work that clientele: take it in the rear.  Otherwise, there was no point in even talking to those guys, that's the number one thing they wanted.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Saastrajaa

[Cats4ever]

Nana was a laid back alternative to Patpong which was beginning to lose the magic by the mid 80's (it took a while). There was a good hotel nearby in Soi 1 or 3 (Golden ????) which you could access quickly if you suddenly got sleepy. I remember a first floor (1 floor upstairs) which had a good vibe and was really for drinking, but also had a few nice girls to talk to. Not many details, sorry, should have kept a diary.

[Saastrajaa]

3 minutes ago, Cats4ever said:

Nana was a laid back alternative to Patpong which was beginning to lose the magic by the mid 80's (it took a while). There was a good hotel nearby in Soi 1 or 3 (Golden ????) which you could access quickly if you suddenly got sleepy. I remember a first floor (1 floor upstairs) which had a good vibe and was really for drinking, but also had a few nice girls to talk to. Not many details, sorry, should have kept a diary.

 

Golden Palace, on soi 1!  I loved that place, one of the few Vietnam-era classics still going strong in the early 2000s; I stayed there often, velvet paintings, cockroaches and all.  Until they renovated it around 2004, it was 500 baht a night.  Not sure if it's still open, but in 2005 or so it jumped to 1,000+ a night.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Saastrajaa

[Ricardo Galbis]

Remembering some great times during the late 80's in Bangkok, such as:

The 'Thermaye' was a blast!! When everywhere else was closing, the Thermaye was the place to go! Tuk-tuks all lined outside the Miami Hotel (11 Sukamvit); you entered from the kitchen door around back from an alley, through the kitchen as workers were cleaning, passed through a doorway and then opened up to (2) large lounge areas, then you buddy-up to the bar to find your bottle of Mekong (with your name on it from last night), after a few drinks you either found a stall/couch/standing-room and danced to the jukebox music. Girls would come up to you for conversation and a meet-drink: these girls were party wolves; they would come from Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patong after closing; they didn't want money, they were more interested in 'more fun!' Never saw the sunrise, but with an 6am closing, then, myself and friends would lounge around the pool at the Miami (this is the hotel the GI's used to frequent during their R&R days), and order more Mekong & coke and bet on the Muay-Thai fights on TV (Sun or Wed). Being ch-oung and stupid at the time (1980's) it was heaven within paradise. 

[Fabricus]

5 hours ago, chiang mai said:

 

Soi Zero was a great escape when nana became just too much .... great character buildings.

 

Great character buildings?

 

Yeah, right. I once did a girl in the bogs. Can't remember any character, though.

 

Soi Zero was NOT about architecture -- it was about freedom and an escape from the relative commercialization of Nana and Cowboy. 

 

[NickJ]

This goes back a few years.....

[freebyrd]

4 hours ago, GBK said:

 

I've never seen an Arab in the Nana Hotel. 

 

In Soi 4, yes, but not in the hotel. 

 

Circa 1994 the place was chocca with them?

[dbrenn]

On 11/01/2017 at 6:55 PM, teakman said:

I was living beside the klong at rail tracks when Nana plaza first opened. rents started at 4000baht/month and the first gogo bar was called Woodstock run by an American.after a few months he moved it to the corner of the plaza where he had a restaurant downstairs with the bar upstairs.i had my breakfast there everyday and John(the owner)and I were hockey fans so we used to watch taped games on his wall screen. after a few months,more bars started up and was giving patpong a run for it's money while soi cowboy with its few bars was ever so quiet. a bunch of us along with a bevy of bar girls used to hang out at the Nana hotel pool and one of the guys(a Belgian mercenary)decided to open the first beer bar at the entrance called Lucky Luke's.it was the only bar open during the day and remained there for years. John at Woodstock arranged the first dance contest and was won by my favorite girl at the time. too bad I still don't have the promo t-shirt which had aow(the eventual winner) in sillouette on it. beers were still relatively cheap then at 20baht at the beginning(exchange then @25b/$1) and bar fines @200b and the dancer was 200-300baht with no time restraints then like they are now. most of the time they would even wash your clothes for you and clean your place.real gf experiences then unlike now. different times indeed!

Ah yes, the girlfriend experience. I remember when they used to sweep the floor and wash and repair your clothes the next morning. They were darlings. 

[chiang mai]

4 hours ago, Fabricus said:

 

Great character buildings?

 

Yeah, right. I once did a girl in the bogs. Can't remember any character, though.

 

Soi Zero was NOT about architecture -- it was about freedom and an escape from the relative commercialization of Nana and Cowboy. 

 

 

Before the last set of newer bar buildings were erected there was a series of old Thai style clapped out rickety wood buildings that looked like they'd been there since time began, conversation would stop as the train rolled by about three metres away and with no real wall to deaden the sound, it was often deafening.

[upside]

I've heard the Nana family who are Indian still have a teak style house in the Nana area is this true? 

[upside]

Does anyone remember the 2 farang brothers who acted like thugs and drove around town in a Rolls Royce? 

[chiang mai]

9 minutes ago, upside said:

I've heard the Nana family who are Indian still have a teak style house in the Nana area is this true? 

 

The Nana family own a lot of land in Thailand and they are Thai. albeit ownership of Nana Plaza itself has changed hands since the original ownership, the sisters of the Nana family wanting to have nothing to do with the sex trade.

Edited January 14, 2017 by chiang mai

[upside]

5 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

The Nana family own a lot of land in Thailand and they are Thai.

 

No they are of Indian decent 

http://www.rsvpuknanahospital.com/nana-family/

Edited January 14, 2017 by upside
add

[chiang mai]

3 minutes ago, upside said:

Does anyone remember the 2 farang brothers who acted like thugs and drove around town in a Rolls Royce? 

 

I remember Mr Walls of ice cream fame, a grandson or similar and his family house near mine in OXON in the 1990's. His best advice was to go to the buffet on the top floor of the Landmark, eat all the smoked salmon and then make them bring more! An odd fellow.

[chiang mai]

6 minutes ago, upside said:

 

No they are of Indian decent 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lek_Nana

 

Lek Nana (Thai: เล็ก นานา; 1924 – April 1, 2010[1]) was a Thai businessman and politician. One of the founders of Thailand's Democrat Party at the end of World War II, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister as well as Minister of Science, Technology, and Energy.[2] A Muslim of Gujarati[3] ancestry, he was a senior member of the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand. The Nana area on Sukhumvit Road derives its name from him.

Nana became Deputy Foreign Minister in 1975 under Prime Minister Seni Pramoj, losing his office in the military coup that followed the October 1976 massacre of leftist protesters at Thammasat University.

He served as an honorary consul-general for Iraq in Thailand until 1981. In December 1982, a powerful bomb exploded in his office building in Bangkok's Chinatown, killing a police bomb disposal expert, injuring 20 other people, and causing a fire that damaged five buildings. Nana was not in the office at the time.[4] His office had formerly been the Iraqi consulate, and a connection to the Iran-Iraq War was suspected to have been the reason.[5]

Edited January 14, 2017 by chiang mai

[NickJ]

The Nana family are Thai Muslims. The head of the family was Lek Nana. A prominent Thai politician. He died. His family sold the Plaza to a group of investors.they sub lease it out.

That's what I was told years ago.

Edited January 14, 2017 by NickJ

[upside]

5 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lek_Nana

 

Quote from my link 

 

 

While Ali Bhai ( 1st generation of Nana family ) was busy with the Thai government his two sons ( 2nd Generation Nana ) continued with the fathers business

 

He was Indian decent 

 

How many Thais do you know have the name Ali Bhai? 

 

 

[upside]

Does he look Thai to you 

[upside]

Arab sorry not Indian descent 

[chiang mai]

2 minutes ago, upside said:

 

Quote from my link 

 

 

While Ali Bhai ( 1st generation of Nana family ) was busy with the Thai government his two sons ( 2nd Generation Nana ) continued with the fathers business

 

He was Indian decent 

 

How many Thais do you know have the name Ali Bhai? 

 

 

 

Sorry but I don't immediately see a reference to your first generation quote but perhaps that's academic anyway. If you are trying to suggest that the ancestry of the Nana family is Indian then I'm OK with that and you may well be right (it's a bit like me being refered to as Celtic or Saxon so who really cares). The fact is however  that Lek Nana was Thai and his death was referenced by the royal court: "Lek Nana died of a heart attack in a Bangkok hospital in 2010 at the age of 85. He was buried at Ban Somdej Mosque in Thonburi, with royal representation from HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. ", ergo, there's not much left to debate on this tangent!

[chiang mai]

5 minutes ago, upside said:

Arab sorry not Indian descent 

 

Arab, Indian, Welsh, is relevant to what in the context of the current discussion and the data presented!

[upside]

2 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Arab, Indian, Welsh, is relevant to what in the context of the current discussion and the data presented!

 

Data presented is the family isn't originally Thai which is what I said before you said they are Thai 

 

But that's ok 

 

A surname as short as Nana would mean they're probably not Thai anyway 

[chiang mai]

10 minutes ago, upside said:

 

Data presented is the family isn't originally Thai which is what I said before you said they are Thai 

 

But that's ok 

 

A surname as short as Nana would mean they're probably not Thai anyway 

 

Again I'm OK with, " In 1985, Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda appointed Nana as Minister for Science and Technology" and the man wasn't Thai, meaning a foreigner was appointed to a ministerial position in the Thai governement!

 

Can we perhaps move back now to the spirit of this thread, which involved at one point a poster having carnal knowledge of a local in the toilet, far more interesting I think.

Edited January 14, 2017 by chiang mai

[jonwilly]

No Nana Plaza in 79-80 when I was a Cowboy player. Nana came along before mid 80's. Land owned by Khun Nana an elderly Indian gent who had an old wooden House laid back, on Sukhumvit between where the 'Super Highway' would cross and soi 3.

To the best of my knowledge the Nana Tailors where related, first located on Sukhumvit then on the entrance to the Plaza. Bough many a suit off them.

Woodstock was HQ for the NanPong group of Drinkers and as mentioned their first Dance Contests where in that area along with a bar on Patpong 2, name slips my mind..

I got to like 'Playschool' in later years also I chatted up the Best looking girl in Casanova and as also been said Kings Castle down Patpong had probably the best girls, sum ''Stunners" as the lads said back then.

Nana has always been suspect on the 'Fire' front, many say a death trap waiting to happen.

Had many a pleasant evening in their, although Cowboy was my main playground.

 

john

Youth is wasted on the Young. Onest.