While getting a bit too expensive for old hands like ourselves, the Bangkok nightlife scene at Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza still offers some good entertainment opportunities. Below are our recommendations for 2008, actually the bars were we most hang out.
At Soi Cowboy, close to the entrance from Asoke Road is were you will find Long Gun (Lucky Star), Rawhide bar, and Tilac bar. These three bars have been around for many years, and for a long time under the same management.
The most famous of them is the always crowded Long Gun bar. It still features shows every night (which did not really change in format for years). The bar has a good atmosphere, is old fashioned, not fancy, actually some parts like the lavatories look dreadful. But we all need a bit of squalor now and then, don't we.
It sister bar Rawhide is the first bar on the right when you enter Soi Cowboy for Asoke Road. Nowadays it is more busy than it used to be, though never as crowded as Long Gun. The same type of shows feature at Rawhide. The difference is that nowadays the girls at Rawhide do seem to be prettier and younger than the girls at Long Gun. Both Long Gun and Rawhide have drinks priced at 120 baht, water is available cheaply, and ladies drinks are reasonably priced.
Kebab Vendor in front of Tilac Bar, Soi Cowboy, Bangkok
On the other side of the soi you will see the flashy neon lights of Tilac Bar. Both inside and outside the bar has undergone major renovations, has clearly been upgraded with an original new dancing stage and table top dancing around the place. One drawback is that there are simply too many barstools and tables scattered around the place, making it difficult in this time of obesity to manoeuver around the place. You can now even continue watching the girls while visiting the lavatories. On New Year's eve, we noticed some original thinking at Tilac Bar. The bar apparently hired some non-bargirl dancers, for all we know, they could have been university students, wanting to earn some extra cash. However, all four of them were good looking, dance well for a long time, and had a pleasant demeanor, making eye contact and smiling at customers. It definitively brought a bit of class to the place, interesting how a bit of fancy clothing, pleasant demeanor, and likely more intelligence, can upgrade a place. Prices at Tilac bar are still under control, and you can get the cheapest water bottles here.
Further down Soi Cowboy, a visit to the Dollhouse bar is in order. There is always a good atmosphere there, the girls are more often cheerful than in most other places. Hand down, this bar has also the most attractive girls in Soi Cowboy, though they may not be all there at all times. Beers are still available at 120 baht at Dollhouse bar.
Dollhouse bar in Soi Cowboy, Bangkok
The other bars at Soi Cowboy, while not clearly offering anything out of the ordinary, are more expensive, with lady drinks often at 150 baht. Taking this into account, the only other bar worth visiting may Baccara bar at the end of the soi (Soi 23 entrance). This bar has the best outlay of them all, is expensive, but offers a pleasant environment. Unfortunately, the girls upstairs (there are two floors, with a transparent ceiling in between), are not as good looking nowadays as they used to be, and sometimes the bar is really overcrowded.
Nana Plaza is still worth a visit (from time to time). An interesting place to hang out is Pretty Lady bar on the ground floor left. The bar has not been upgraded in years, and the lavatories are one of those places you want to avoid. A few attractive girls there, but not many. However, the atmosphere is like in no other bar at Nana Plaza. The girls are almost all 'naturally raunchy' and are bound to interact while on stage with any willing customer sitting around the stage. Furthermore, Pretty Lady is one of the bars that originated the glass covered counter. It the girls in front of you do not flash their wares openly, you can always get a preview by looking into the mirror, next to your beer. Prices have now become the cheapest at Nana Plaza, 120 baht for a beer. Beware however for the Tequila ladies' drinks, which are a blatant rip-off.
Another bar worth visiting at Nana Plaza (though seldom mentioned) is Rainbow 3 bar on the second floor. Just walk up the stairs to the left, the bar is at your left side on top of the stairs. Rainbow 3 is a small bar, but has hands down the most attractive little crowd on girls on stage. Most of the dancing is clean and decent (not at all like what you see at Pretty Lady), but most of the girls are easy on the eye. Unfortunately, they raised their drink prices lately (to 135 baht a beer).
Note : Apparently some of the bars at Nana Plaza have started 'showing' again. All nudity was banned (or so we thought) since a few years. This was due to a crack-down initiated by supervising authorities. However, at present, we are not so sure anymore about the exact reason for the 'not showing'. Possibly, the bars initiated this themselves, to reduce overheads, and since Nana Plaza was booming anyway. Maybe now some bars decided to go back to the old ways, with more and more websites (including this one) promoting Soi Cowboy.
