Bacarra (Soi Cowboy) - face lift or full renovation?

[SooKee]

Cut through Soi Cowboy couple of days ago to get from Soi 23 to Terminal via the MRT underpass.  Noticed that Bacarra was in the process of having it's frontage totally ripped out.  Not sure if it is a total renovation including the interior or whether it's just the outside but it sure looked to be in a state.  Couldn't really see inside.

 

Tend to avoid Cowboy unless I have visitors desperate to go, not much appeal to the place at all what with moody (& mostly) dog-rough waitresses / mamasans pestering folks for drinks (with the resultant long faces when, shock-horror, customer declines as he'd rather buy drinks for the company he went there to keep), zero leg-room bus / grandstand style seating (too tight to accommodate anything like any fun), exorbitant prices in many places and the almost total dominance of agency coyote dancers, mostly I try to talk people out of going.  When they insist, Bacarra is normally always on their list of places to go so it'll be interesting to see what they are actually doing to it.  Tend to like Bacarra even less, quite often packed and very popular with Japanese / Koreans who, judging from the 'rabbit caught in the headlights' stare, you'd think had never seen a scantily clad female before.  I'm guessing they tip well, cos fun they certainly don't seem to me. Still, I guess they're enjoying it in their own way.

 

One thing that is noticeable these days with Cowboy, most folks I've taken over there tend to come back with feelings ranging through 'crap', 'meh' to "hmmmm.  OK.  But won't bother again", stark contrast to 10 years plus ago when it was quite a fun Soi to visit.  Even more so 20 years ago.

Edited July 12, 2017 by SooKee

[bkk6060]

Very good and accurate post about the place.

About a year ago I was in Bacarra and ordered a beer.  I was slow drinking it I will admit, but so were many of the Asian dudes around me.

After about 30 minutes, the MMS comes up to me and tells me I am drinking to slowly, I need to order another drink. I mistakenly got into a verbal argument as she was very aggressive.  Then, she grabbed my arm and pulled me from my seat yelling at me to get out of the place.  Of course I did not want a fight, so I left.  I talked to a cop down the street and he said this happens all the time in Bacarra the police get complaints about the place, but will do nothing as they are the #1 GOGO on cowboy.   Have not been back to cowboy since.

With this, there are enough Asian tourists and business men going there to keep it afloat.  Same in Pattaya many guys (95% asian) drinking and BF girls all night.

Edited July 12, 2017 by bkk6060

[Destiny1990]

Its not only the shop front that needs a face lift in Soi Cowboy.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

SooKee        

 

Agree, good report, thanks.

 

FYI, 30 and 40 years back even better, but circa 1976  only three bars:  Cowwboy's, Lorettas, and the one I forget the name of.

[saakura]

Internet, social media, the influx of pensioners willing to live with poorly educated local girls without any common interests, criminals from western countries hiding here, thousands of visa runners and teachers on subsistence level wages etc have shattered the aura and esteem in which farangs were held a few decades ago. The rapid economic and infrastructure development of Thailand coupled with the growing purchasing power of other asian countries such as Singapore, Korea, China, Taiwan etc have further tilted the balance. Farangs will have to learn to accept and live with these changes instead of pining for the past glory and writing derisive comments about everyone else.

Edited July 12, 2017 by saakura

[bkk6060]

31 minutes ago, saakura said:

Internet, social media, the influx of pensioners willing to live with poorly educated local girls without any common interests, criminals from western countries hiding here, thousands of visa runners and teachers on subsistence level wages etc have shattered the aura and esteem in which farangs were held a few decades ago. The rapid economic and infrastructure development of Thailand coupled with the growing purchasing power of other asian countries such as Singapore, Korea, China, Taiwan etc have further tilted the balance. Farangs will have to learn to accept and live with these changes instead of pining for the past glory and writing derisive comments about everyone else.

You are right.  We (the Falang) are the minority.  I see it now in Pattaya.  So it should be very interesting, very very...

[Chou Anou]

Not my cup of tea at all, Baccara--there are much more fun and hospitable bars on Cowboy--but what I've heard about it is, you're forced to have two drinks outside before they even let you go in (and buy more drinks).  Truly absurd policy, but the place always seems to be packed...

[sandrew33]

45 minutes ago, Chou Anou said:

Not my cup of tea at all, Baccara--there are much more fun and hospitable bars on Cowboy--but what I've heard about it is, you're forced to have two drinks outside before they even let you go in (and buy more drinks).  Truly absurd policy, but the place always seems to be packed...

 

That's <deleted>. I go into Baccara pretty regularly and most of the stories in this thread are just crap. 

 

I'm not much for taking girls out of bars and tend to just drink in their with mates. 

 

The "buy a drink outside"  or "wait outside" occasionally happens for less desirable punters when it's packed inside. As for the mamasans actively manhandling customers and chucking them out - well that's just ridiculous. 

 

Happy to answer and discuss any sensible questions about the place but the nonsense in this thread to date just smacks of folk with either an agenda or no idea. 

 

There's no doubt it's popular with Japanese guys (and various other Asian nationalities) and it's also true the yipoon are the number 1 target for most of the girls in there (not all) but that's simply economics. Too many tight ass farangs over the years have poisoned the pot to some extent. 

 

But it's a decent place to have a drink and a chat with some pretty cute girls if one can get past their "good old days" issues :) 

[Chou Anou]

14 minutes ago, sandrew33 said:

 

The "buy a drink outside"  or "wait outside" occasionally happens for less desirable punters when it's packed inside.

"Less desirable" in Thailand is code for black and Indian men, we all know that.  So I wouldn't exactly call this a ringing endorsement of the bar.

[bkk6060]

Some here I think have not gone to Bacarra.  You have to buy a drink before you enter every person is directed to do so.  Buy at the bar outside and go in.

But in reality, anyone who frequents these places are in the rip off zone.  The Gogo's are fun to watch and have some laughs, but to take a girl it is a Asian business man tourist rip off.  Several other venues to meet a nice girl and have a much better time are available. The Gogo's are last on the list.  But many people have no idea so they hit up these tourist rip off spots.

Like they say: Up to you...

Edited July 12, 2017 by bkk6060

[brewsterbudgen]

Baccara is by far the most successful gogo on Cowboy and most likely in Bangkok. In recent years they've expanded upwards and outwards. The longtime mamasans, especially Cherry, are legendary! The buy your drink first rule is not applied to everyone or all the time, but is understandable as it gets packed in there and some guys just stroll around gawking without buying anything. Pretty much a model gogo although not for 'happy hour' expats.

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[HerbalEd]

4 hours ago, Chou Anou said:

Not my cup of tea at all, Baccara--there are much more fun and hospitable bars on Cowboy--but what I've heard about it is, you're forced to have two drinks outside before they even let you go in (and buy more drinks).  Truly absurd policy, but the place always seems to be packed...

What you "heard" is absolutely not true. Why talk about what you don't know?

[HerbalEd]

Most of the posts here are totally BS, written by those who obviously don't know what they're talking about. I've been to Baccara hundreds of times over the past 10-plus years and I've always had a very good, well-respected time there.

 

BTW, I was a frequent visitor to Thailand for 29 years and have been living here full-time for 6 years. I am very experienced with many different bars and clubs, and so I don't get fooled easily in these places. Baccara is very popular and does a booming business for good reasons. Bars that treat customers badly do not stay in business for as long as Baccara, nor make so much money.

 

Many BKK expats don't like Baccara because it has higher prices and the girls are looking for a higher caliber man instead of mal-mannered, Cheap Charlies.

[Chou Anou]

19 minutes ago, HerbalEd said:

What you "heard" is absolutely not true. Why talk about what you don't know?

I "heard" it from trusted friends who've been there, during the 17 years I've been visiting Thailand and the 6 that I lived in Bangkok.  And yes, I've been to Baccara, twice about ten years ago, that's how I know it's not for me.  The consensus of responses to this thread also seem to call your spirited defense of the place into question.  So I guess you could say I've "heard" those too.

[johnmcc6]

Not being a user of bars and the girls who work them the crackdowns by the authorities on various places in several cities in Thailand have no effect on me. It seems to me the decline in places like Soy Cowboy , having turned into third rate bars is reason enough for some of the harsh  measures being used to clean it up. I recall Sydney's Kings Cross with live sex shows. People bonking on stage. Crims having a field day ripping off tourists and gullible youth looking for cheap thrills. The Donkey shows in Tijuana. All gone now. Soy cowboy with it's ping pong ball experts and seedy reputation seems headed in the same direction. The scene in Chiangmai is now very boring compared to a few years ago. It may be a shame many girls find it harder to support the family back home but all up the seedy underworld types that made these places function don't really have a place any more in a country trying to improve it's image as a nice place to visit.

[Flustered]

7 hours ago, Thanyaburi Mac said:

SooKee        

 

Agree, good report, thanks.

 

FYI, 30 and 40 years back even better, but circa 1976  only three bars:  Cowwboy's, Lorettas, and the one I forget the name of.

Could not agree more. It was a great no hassle place with enthusiastic amateurs rather than Patpong dogs.. And if you just wanted a good meal and no hassle, just around the corner was the Britannia Pub.

[MyFriend You]

7 hours ago, Thanyaburi Mac said:

SooKee        

 

Agree, good report, thanks.

 

FYI, 30 and 40 years back even better, but circa 1976  only three bars:  Cowwboy's, Lorettas, and the one I forget the name of.

When I was in the Army, I used to play poker with "The Cowboy"  pretty tall black American guy, we had some very good games back then...........expat only, no locals.  He died of Cancer in Oklahoma some years back.

Edited July 12, 2017 by TunnelRat69

[zaZa9]

Didnt this place have a glass ceiling?

I went there a fair few times for a couple of drinks  up to about 3 years back.

I thought it was good fun.

[mstevens]

7 hours ago, HerbalEd said:

Most of the posts here are totally BS, written by those who obviously don't know what they're talking about. I've been to Baccara hundreds of times over the past 10-plus years and I've always had a very good, well-respected time there.

 

BTW, I was a frequent visitor to Thailand for 29 years and have been living here full-time for 6 years. I am very experienced with many different bars and clubs, and so I don't get fooled easily in these places. Baccara is very popular and does a booming business for good reasons. Bars that treat customers badly do not stay in business for as long as Baccara, nor make so much money.

 

Many BKK expats don't like Baccara because it has higher prices and the girls are looking for a higher caliber man instead of mal-mannered, Cheap Charlies.

35 years in Thailand and still a regular in gogo bars?

 

So A-list actors, Premier League players and rock stars all make a beeline to Bacarra, eh?

[brewsterbudgen]

Didnt this place have a glass ceiling?
I went there a fair few times for a couple of drinks  up to about 3 years back.
I thought it was good fun.

It still has!

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[brewsterbudgen]

Not being a user of bars and the girls who work them the crackdowns by the authorities on various places in several cities in Thailand have no effect on me. It seems to me the decline in places like Soy Cowboy , having turned into third rate bars is reason enough for some of the harsh  measures being used to clean it up. I recall Sydney's Kings Cross with live sex shows. People bonking on stage. Crims having a field day ripping off tourists and gullible youth looking for cheap thrills. The Donkey shows in Tijuana. All gone now. Soy cowboy with it's ping pong ball experts and seedy reputation seems headed in the same direction. The scene in Chiangmai is now very boring compared to a few years ago. It may be a shame many girls find it harder to support the family back home but all up the seedy underworld types that made these places function don't really have a place any more in a country trying to improve it's image as a nice place to visit.

On the contrary Soi Cowboy is booming! It might be slightly sanitised from its seedy past and is certainly more of a drinking street than sex shows, with an increase in tourists and females, but that doesn't represent a "decline".

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[sandrew33]

11 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Some here I think have not gone to Bacarra.  You have to buy a drink before you enter every person is directed to do so.  Buy at the bar outside and go in.

But in reality, anyone who frequents these places are in the rip off zone.  The Gogo's are fun to watch and have some laughs, but to take a girl it is a Asian business man tourist rip off.  Several other venues to meet a nice girl and have a much better time are available. The Gogo's are last on the list.  But many people have no idea so they hit up these tourist rip off spots.

Like they say: Up to you...

You don't have to buy a drink before you enter. 

 

Some might when its busy or if they see you as less desirable ... a solo cheap charlie, a group of farang teenagers etc etc ... but its not a strict policy. For clarity, I've never been requested to buy a drink outside. 

 

The rest of your post just goes to personal preference. I've lived in Bangkok for over 10 years, I get whats "expensive" and what is less so. Up to you as you say, - although the usual sly dig from long termers over their special knowledge which allows them to meet hot girls at a fraction of the cost is tiresome. And based on my own visual evidence most of them have a pretty low bar for "good looking"  

[Thai Ron]

13 hours ago, saakura said:

Internet, social media, the influx of pensioners willing to live with poorly educated local girls without any common interests, criminals from western countries hiding here, thousands of visa runners and teachers on subsistence level wages etc have shattered the aura and esteem in which farangs were held a few decades ago. The rapid economic and infrastructure development of Thailand coupled with the growing purchasing power of other asian countries such as Singapore, Korea, China, Taiwan etc have further tilted the balance. Farangs will have to learn to accept and live with these changes instead of pining for the past glory and writing derisive comments about everyone else.

Yes indeed. Much of the whining we do about tourists from China, India and Africa is based on our realization that Thailand has finally seen through us.

 

[zaZa9]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

It still has!

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Ok , never had to buy a drink first there. 

Plenty of tidy girls to.

I look fwd to dropping in next Bkk visit...and hope they put in new non scratch glass while they do the renos !

Actually , some squares of magnifying glass would be good !

[NoshowJones]

12 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Baccara is by far the most successful gogo on Cowboy and most likely in Bangkok. In recent years they've expanded upwards and outwards. The longtime mamasans, especially Cherry, are legendary! The buy your drink first rule is not applied to everyone or all the time, but is understandable as it gets packed in there and some guys just stroll around gawking without buying anything. Pretty much a model gogo although not for 'happy hour' expats.

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I'm not a monger at all, I don't even drink, but if what I have heard is true, then some of these bars are cutting their own throats my hounding the customer for drinks the second they sit down with a girl, if it was me, and I was looking for a girl to barfine, I would want to see if I thought we would get on OK.

The first thing is I would want to sit with the girl for at least five mins to see if she was worth barfining without getting pestered right away to buy drinks. Some guys might sit down and then walk out without buying a drink. but IMO, it does not matter what your job is, or what business you are running, you have to accept the good with the bad, and have the common sense to try and make most things good, and the first thing is to not be greedy and always try and satisfy the customer.

Yes I know, I would not make a good businessman, I would not have the capitalistic mind.

[bkk6060]

8 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I'm not a monger at all, I don't even drink, but if what I have heard is true, then some of these bars are cutting their own throats my hounding the customer for drinks the second they sit down with a girl, if it was me, and I was looking for a girl to barfine, I would want to see if I thought we would get on OK.

The first thing is I would want to sit with the girl for at least five mins to see if she was worth barfining without getting pestered right away to buy drinks. Some guys might sit down and then walk out without buying a drink. but IMO, it does not matter what your job is, or what business you are running, you have to accept the good with the bad, and have the common sense to try and make most things good, and the first thing is to not be greedy and always try and satisfy the customer.

Yes I know, I would not make a good businessman, I would not have the capitalistic mind.

I agree but that makes too much sense.

 

If you watch the Asian customers it seems odd to me.  They will call a girl down, buy her a drink or 2 and maybe say 2 words.  The girl will sit on the edge of the chair or away from them, rarely much physical interaction.  Then the next thing you know they are walking out BF. I guess this is a Karaoke thing?

But, if they are truly the 333 then I guess they do not care much.  This is probably why the girls love them so much.  Easy peasy.

Edited July 13, 2017 by bkk6060

[brewsterbudgen]

I'm not a monger at all, I don't even drink, but if what I have heard is true, then some of these bars are cutting their own throats my hounding the customer for drinks the second they sit down with a girl, if it was me, and I was looking for a girl to barfine, I would want to see if I thought we would get on OK.
The first thing is I would want to sit with the girl for at least five mins to see if she was worth barfining without getting pestered right away to buy drinks. Some guys might sit down and then walk out without buying a drink. but IMO, it does not matter what your job is, or what business you are running, you have to accept the good with the bad, and have the common sense to try and make most things good, and the first thing is to not be greedy and always try and satisfy the customer.
Yes I know, I would not make a good businessman, I would not have the capitalistic mind.

I can't think of any bars that would let a customer just sit there and not buy anything, unless they charge for admission. Certainly not good business sense!

[NoshowJones]

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I can't think of any bars that would let a customer just sit there and not buy anything, unless they charge for admission. Certainly not good business sense!

I see where you are coming from, but five mins?

[brewsterbudgen]

I see where you are coming from, but five mins?

The way I see it is the first drink is effectively the price of admission to the bar. Most gogos will allow punters to take a quick wander around but if they sit down they have to buy a drink. Baccara is so successful (and big) that gawkers can disappear!

[Baerboxer]

18 hours ago, saakura said:

Internet, social media, the influx of pensioners willing to live with poorly educated local girls without any common interests, criminals from western countries hiding here, thousands of visa runners and teachers on subsistence level wages etc have shattered the aura and esteem in which farangs were held a few decades ago. The rapid economic and infrastructure development of Thailand coupled with the growing purchasing power of other asian countries such as Singapore, Korea, China, Taiwan etc have further tilted the balance. Farangs will have to learn to accept and live with these changes instead of pining for the past glory and writing derisive comments about everyone else.

 

Are you one of the "slow drinking, rabbit eyed no fun" Japanese or Korean 'businessmen" the OP refers to by any chance?