Nana really needs to wake up because punters now have four reasons to go to Soi Cowboy - friendlier atmosphere, more on display, cheaper prices and smokefree bars!
It's gone! Pattaya's most famous landmark has been removed. The Walking Street sign that has greeted visitors for years to the heart of the world's most famous adult playground has disappeared forever, soon to be replaced with a new high tech LCD replacement which, from the looks of things, should be up and running shortly.
I turned up at the Kangaroo Club in Patpong one morning at about 10.00 a.m. and wandered through the street level door - all was quiet so I called out something inane like “anyone there?” 
We are now heading into the end of the cool season so I am heading into Cambodia for a bit and you should also be on the road traveling. Because this is the season to travel without too much perspiration. So get out the map and go! 
One very good reason to start your evening in Soi Cowboy is to take advantage of the excellent drinks deals on offer. Unlike Nana Plaza, almost every single bar in Soi Cowboy has a Happy Hour. 
With all on the neon, the food vendors selling fried insects, and the elephants, Soi Cowboy in Bangkok, Thailand, takes on a circus-like atmosphere at night.
Rawhide because of the shows & perfect showgirls, 
"I wouldn't recommend sex, 
(photo by Randy Magnus)
It was all very tastefully done and the act was accompanied by the rock song "It’s been a long time" perfectly underscoring the significance of the event. Punters could see that a fair number of sponsors have paid for the girls to have boob jobs. If they defy gravity, they probably aren't real! And what makes it even better is that the girls are topless in many of the shows. I can tell you that the Thai classical dancing routine performed topless is now not just a show, it's now the stuff of pure fantasy! Yeah, with Hollywood also on top form, Nana is on the comeback path.
What’s the difference between coyote dancing and gogo dancing?
About the member club lottery. 
Sam’s tormentor climbed on stage and started dancing next to an absolute stunner. 
Got to Shark bar around 9 this time. Got a seat and admired the lineup. 
A friend visited Bangkok recently, and was astounded to receive a text message from a gogo girl, admonishing him for visiting Nana Disco, when he’d only been in there for two minutes.
Hollywood 2, that's the smaller of the Hollywood bars, is very much lacking in numbers of girls, but surprisingly the girls they do have are pleasant on the eye. 
(sample)
Then there are the relative demands of the ladies. Most Pattaya bargirls will stay overnight with punters for 1,000 baht in addition to a barfine of 300 baht. You can at least double both those prices in Bangkok, assuming you aren't negotiating with those Rainbow gogo girls who now value their services at 4,000 baht. The mercenary attitude of the capital's entertainment providers has persuaded many farangs to head east for their pleasures.
The Cowboy Bar was opened by another then-recently retired US military veteran. Everyone knew him, unsurprisingly, as “Cowboy”. This upsurge in numbers of entertainment venues on the Soi and the resultant increase in popularity were not lost on Bernard Trink , then with the Bangkok World. The Soi was often mentioned in his weekly entertainment page. He dubbed the soi, “Soi Cowboy” and the name immediately ‘stuck’ - today you won’t find a taxi driver who doesn’t know where Soi “C’boi” is. 
Then I went into Bus Stop. As I entered through the gateway, two lovely Thai girls greeted me with a traditional “wai.” (The wai is the prayer-like gesture). I like the way the Bus Stop Cheerleaders still don traditional Thai dresses. The Bus Stop girls also greet you with that inimitable Thai smile. 
The neon lights of Soi Cowboy, it's looking more like Vegas all the time. Check out the rest of the photo essay of the Soi at night thru 
Rumor has it that the upscale ladyboys bar, Guess, is closing its doors on November 1st after being open for 1 year. May be worth a stop on Halloween for a feel of the place before it closes, its right down the street from Nana Plaza, located at the end of the first floor (upstairs) corridor in the dreary building known as Sukhumvit 1 Plaza. It has been mentioned as the best katoey bar in Bangkok.
Following is our experience with getting a simple food license.
The inspector came and the lawyer gave him a tour. He proceeded to check out all the floors and spent very little time if any in the kitchen. We assumed he was looking at everything so he could figure out how much we spent and therefore decide how much to charge us for something that we deserved to receive anyway. The funniest thing was him asking to test the stereo and asking us to turn it up loud. He then deduced that we had a stereo with a capacity over and above what we needed and calculated that the stereo could output more decibels than needed. I did not know the average food inspector was a sound expert. God knows all the gogo bars don’t have any high capacity sound systems.
We handed over our money and the lawyer said we would get the license soon and to disregard the list. We watched as the food inspector walked around the plaza, lit a cigarette and waited in front of Cassanova. So telling to have the shakedown go down in ladyboy corner. Our laywer met him - handed over the envelope and the meeting was adjourned. License arrived days later. We have never seen the guy since but we always make sure we don’t turn our sound up too much. The joys of Thailand.
This Friday will be the last day of The Big Mango in Nana Plaza. So go have a burger, a Lao Dark, and barfine one of the girls for me.
"I want my 30 day closure order. Close me!", he bellowed, his voice ringing out over the plaza. The unmistakeable American accent with a hint of alcohol had zero effect on the girls scurrying out of Nana to soi 4. Someone yelling out at the top of his lungs rates almost zero interest, unless the number "5,000" and the words "time" and "short" are said together in the right order. The few Westerners still in attendance found it rather amusing, although most didn't have a clue what was going on.
Dave The Rave has informed me about the special Halloween shows to be held at Angelwitch. Someone go check it out and send me some photos.
photo by Eric Sten
...I took my first bottle and headed for the hip hop room. By this time it was about midnight, and the club closes at 2 am.
On the stage, things got more enthusiastic as we approached closing time. The girls started pouring water on each other and shedding clothes. They were drinking Chivas straight from the bottle. The dancing got more energetic, with water flying. It was like a high-energy go go bar.
Comments made to me inside the bars of Bangkok:
temple photo by Jerry Burchard
In Patong, which once saw almost no-one but single men, 
A lot of what goes on at King's Garden goes on outside at the sidewalk tables. These dek promote are part of the scenery each weekend.
