Originally Posted by
DoubleDutch
When new le cafe opens, it may change the Soi, if it opens as karaoke or any kind of live music. Thais do only one kind of live music, very loud.
Even during the last year of previous le cafe, a show bar, it was difficult to sit anywhere near le cafe. The stupid drag show with volume cranked to the max, absolutely empty bar, only staff watching the "show".
Across from le cafe, at Ambiance even wearing headphones didn't help, it is impossible to listen to my own player with oversize headphones, only with ear canal IEM, in ear monitors, I managed to sit at Ambiance terrace through the show. It was difficult to even talk when show was on. It didn't help that around same time, every night similar drag show started at what used to be Copa, so sitting at Ambiance, you had unbearable noise coming from left and right. Former Copa had at least customers watching the show, le cafe was consistently dead.
It's puzzling who these drag shows are meant for. No one seems to like them, gay guys like men, we don't like women, so why would we need a show with groups of woman screaching away? I asked this from every gay friend at Soi, no one says they like it. But bars are almost on auto pilot - let's open a gay bar, and OF COURSE we shall have drag shows.
Maxis at Soi Twilight is excellent example what most people really want, but places like this are rare, there are almost none, Ambiance terrace the only place like this in Boyztown.
I bet le cafe will be noisy, and if live show, or karaoke will be zero interest for westerners. Maybe Chinese, but so far Chinese are not visiting Boyztown in large numbers, they only go to few gogo's.
But on other hand, Ian's and Robby's later years le cafe, restaurant was dead, day or night. In 2003 it was still super busy, after Panorama and gogos closed at 1am, everybody went to let cafe, with hotel, and bar was not subject to 1am law, bar was open 24hr. There were foreigners, hustlers, everybody was happy.
By 2006 it was getting quiet, bars were allowed to open after 1am, Panorama remained very popular, and there was really no point for le cafe to exist. Night after night empty tables on terrace, bored staff hanging around.
It's difficult to predict what would work for that location, a proper night club would be a guaranteed hit, but zoning doesn't allow it. Karaoke? Don't think so!