Is Vassa Bar Closed? Whose Next?

[Neal]

Well it appears that the economy may have claimed it's next victim. Vassa Bar a very small bar in between sois 1 & 2 has been dark for almost a week with no sign. Will it reopen? Only time will tell.

According to talk all around Pattaya it appears that the bars are suffering a lower than low season and after a pathetic high season, it appears that Vassa will not be the last to close.

"It seems to be a matter of who has the money to hang on and/or who is willing to continue to sink their savings into their bar to hold on" said one person in the know. Because the economy has been hard hit all around the world, vacation spots are being hit and hit hard. Many of the boys have returned home to the rice fields because it seems that the customers are just dribbling in. For those who do get to Pattaya for holiday, there re bargains galore and boys waiting to pay their rent. It's a buyers market. A few bars seem to be worried or effected by the slow economy.

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[markie1]

This does not surprice me ,i went in there on there opening night, music was way too load,Drink priceswere too high,when will these bars stop charging stupid prices,I for one always travel with my boy friend and every time you go in to a bar its anything up to 400 baht plus tip, my calculation thats over 8.50 pounds for two beers, we dont pay those prices in London, and if you are bar hopping like most people want to do it works out too expencive
,Will these bars around this soi not realise that every body is in hard times .I am still surpriced half of them are still open,how they survive i will never know ,A handful of customers per night is not going to pay the bills.charge reasonable prices and thes bars will get a lot more customers.

[Thai Dyed]

Many of my friends who now visit Thailand say they are unlikely to come again. The economy is only a small issue of the much larger picture. Prior to 1995 Thailand was a lot more diverse and exotic in the eyes of a traveler. Today I hear guys say "why go half way around the world to see what I already have in any big city in the Western world?"

I remember when Pattaya was a beehive of activity as was Silom and Suriwong in Bangkok. Today its diversity is all but lost and yet so many are calling for even more "clean-ups" to further sanitize an already barren landscape. As if our huge and wide-ranging interests could possibly be satisfied by an ersatz puce or "rainbow" Siam Paragon. To a large extent we have brought this upon ourselves. Zizek has warned us that a dream come true is a nightmare.

Worse yet, many feel our desires will be satisfied with "marriage" and the right to adopt and raise families. Confidence tricksters are trying to lead me to believe that this is our glorious future, and represent the great avenues that are being prepared for us. They tell me that our "liberation" consists of this! Any of the quirky byways will be forever cut off and made illegal for trespassing. Most have already disappeared.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. Yeats

[jolyjacktar]

When i was there a couple of weeks ago Vassa bar had 3 boys one night and the next time i passed it the person outside drinking told me two boys were off so only one boy in bar, this was early too about 10pm

I'm coming to the view now that the time for bars such as Vassa setting "reasonable prices" has gone - a couple/few years ago it might have helped (maybe) but now it's too late. You can't turn the clock back!

I simply don't believe that there are hordes of queens sitting in their Pattaya hotel room or condo drinking gin from a bottle because they refuse to pay 180B for a drink in a gogo bar. I believe many of the tourist queens are going elsewhere - outside Thailand - or just staying at home. At the same time, many of the ex-pat queens are making other arrangements which don't involve gogo bars at all

I think that the market is just not there any more (or is, al least, radically reduced) - we have already discussed Ambience/Copa hotels having to advertise to the str8 market to fill their rooms (at cut-price rates), and we have already discussed the increasing number of people using Gay Romeo. The gay market generally (and the gogo bar punters in particular) diminishes year on year.
The "High" season is now basically about two months, and the rest of the time it must be an enormous struggle for these bars to pay their bills.
Now, someone is bound to post that on Saturday night, BBB or Copa was bursting at the seams @ 11pm - but my response is that if they aren't busy on a Sat night @ 11pm I'd be surprised, and I have been in both bars when there has been only a handful of customers.

What you are seing now is the number of bars steadily declining and the number of customers doing likewise. Frankly, I cannot see anything other than a continuation of this no matter if the drinks are 180B or 120B.

Markie - you say ┬г8.50 for two beers in Vassa - but come on, that includes a sizeable tip which you wouldn't give in London!
In any case I can pay ┬г9.80 for 2 Peroni beers (wi' nae tip!) in the city centre of Glasgow and presumably neither of us gets a grope included in those prices!!

arty

[joe552]

you're drinking in the wrong bars, scottie :occasion9:

but, seriously, I have to agree with your analysis. still, I'm willing to do my bit from next week to keep Neal in the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed.

[Neal]

"The manner in which I am accustomed to" .....hmmmmm. I would hate to show you pictures and tell you what I am accustomed to. I love where I am and am very comfortable living here but it is a huge step down to what I am accustomed to, but I am not complaining! :happy7:

[anonone]

I am sorry to hear about Vassa being dark for a week. I always had a good time there and they really had some beautiful staff at one point. I will not count them out yet as they have been "closed" before and managed to re-open. That was also the time that they were involved briefly with Splash, so maybe some other type of change in the works. I always thought the owner was a bit unhappy with how small Vassa is.....

I will not pretend to have the answer for energizing the gay tourist economy in Thailand. It seems plausible that world economic conditions are limiting some travel for those from the West. Are there still a ton of Russians running around? Still other Asians visiting in bus loads? Are the straight bars having the same "lowest of the low season"?

Yes, you are quite right on the opening and closings of Vassa. A few more weeks and we will see.

I have been out a few nights and have to say that the streets are just baron of customers. Rumour has it that Walking Street is still busy. The customers I have seen appear to me that the Russians have headed home and the Asians are here in some numbers.

[markie1]

I Said up to 400 baht for two beers ,i never said vassa bar, there beers were 180 baht , 360 for 2,still over priced , the other bar not far from vassa was charging 400 for two beers,add the off fees ,visiting 5/6 bars it works out expencive,and yes i think people have more a choice these days ,they can order there boys from gayromeo,or others,they can drink in beer bars which are more reasonable for drink prices.I for one spend a lot more time in walking street,you can still have the fun there , i would be happy to visit 5/6 go go bars a night if the drinks were around 120 baht ,but i hate to pay 180 to walk in to these bars with a handful of guys on stage ,i have been coming to thailand now for about 9 years ,and every time i come which is 2/3 times per year ,the bars have steadely declined to the point that i wonder how they stay open.some bars will make it because they are more customer focused, and are in the real world,the others unfortunately just live in the land of cookoo's.
People are not taking long vacations has they used to ,also there is people out there trying new places out ,
I just returned from a 5 day stay in Rome on the coast OSTIA ,fabulous nudest beech must be 2/3 miles long with ,dunes at the back for you know what ,lots of fun to be had ,half straight half gay,and a bottle peroni cost me 80 Baht