Rescue Workers were called to the Kevin Beer Bar located in Soi Boekeow following the discovery of a snake.

After 1 hour, the brave workers managed to grab the 20kg, 5 meter long python which was shown off to the local media who arrived to cover the story.

Khun Jaruan is the manager of the Beer Bar and told us that she heard something on the roof which partially collapsed revealing the snake which rescue workers tell us most likely originated from a construction site behind the bar. The snake was taken to a local zoo.

BJ A-GoGo are doing a very cheap draft beer at 39 Baht (in a decent size glass)

The bar had about a dozen girls and several were well good looking

And the atmosphere was happy. The mamasang was doing a great job fixing up the customers with girls.

Strange German music though, heavy style but somehow was quite bouncy.

Very enjoyable bar.

Meanwhile Ice A-GoGo on Soi LK Metro have a introduced 55 Baht draft beer as have Betty Boum GoGo in the old Spicy Girls venue on Soi Pattayaland 1.

And as if to buck the trend Nui's Club 2 A-GoGo on Walking Street have increased their draft beer from 55 to 65 Baht. They found themselves at a prime location for the US military guys and quickly upped the price to take advantage.

The unofficial word is out. Alcohol sales are to be banned on Songkran Holidays from the 13th to the 15th of April this year.

Public Health Minister said the ban may be limited to certain areas with high risk and only during certain time frames.

The Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control Director Samarn Futrakul said that after receiving suggestions from consultants of the Public Health Ministry, the office has unofficially decided that alcohol sales, only to Thai consumers, would be banned from April 13th to 15th this year.

Meanwhile, sales to foreign consumers will be allowed as usual. Director Samarn said Public Health Minister Wittaya Kaewpradai will review the policies before making the official announcement.

Moreover, roadblocks to arrest drunk drivers were found to be effective in reducing motor accidents during the holidays. Alcohol sales in areas where the most motor vehicle accidents occur will also be banned around times of heavy traffic. Policies will be evaluated and reviewed for next year.

If the unofficial decision is approved by Minister Wittaya, it still needs to be approved by the National Alcohol Control Policy Committee, of which the Prime Minister is Chairman, before it is officially announced by the Office of the Prime Minister.

A new gogo bars has opened on Soho Square at the south end of Walking Street

Counter Soho is a traditional gogo laid out as a square with a central stage. The seating is nearly all comfortable stools with backs. One row surrounds the stage ad the other is around the walls of the bar.

There are also a couple of sofa affairs surround an unused side stage.

There were a dozen girls in the bars split into 2 shifts for dancing. The girls were average and some were dancing topless.

The driinks are reasonable with Thai spirits at 60 Baht and bottled beers at 80 Baht (no draft)

The dancing girls seemed to be totally ignoring the few customers.

Early days yet but there was very little entertainment value in watching average girls who seemed to be doing their best to avoid having to interact with customers.

Perhaps they were shy. No doubt they will have to change their ways or their job very quickly.

There are now 79 bars with girls dancing ini bikinis or less

I watch tales of recession daily on news channels throughout the world but there seems a bit of contradiction when it comes to Pattaya night life. To me there seems plenty of customers in the bars and the gogos with Soi 6 and the gogos doing particularly well.

But then there is a second contradiction, numbers seem good but clearly things aren't quite as rosy as pure numbers suggest. There is a significant move towards good promotions and cheaper drinks prices.

I would summise, without having a jot of real evidence, that although numbers are being maintained, many are looking to reducing their spending.

Anyway I thought I would focus last nights drinking on seeing how Pattaya's newest gogos are faring.

I started at First A-GoGo in the middle of Soi 8. Since opening, the bar has reduced its previously top end prices down to more realistic levels and there is also a very good 60 Baht happy hour which runs to 10pm. The bar has recruited a few more girls and they now have half a dozen that are well attractive. Unfortunately they don't seem to be very interested in circulating amongst the earlybird 9pm customers so I wasn't tempted to stay long. The dancing at the early hour was strictly bikini clad.

I then made my way down to Soi Yamato to see how Las Vegas A-GoGo is faring. And they too have reduced their drinks prices with a very reasonable 50 Baht draft (from 75 Baht). Almost opposite to First A-GoGo, Las Vegas have somewhat less than top notch bikini clad dancers but they are very friendly. Hands on and hands in as I like to say. But somehow I was being a bit picky and surely the grass would be greener in my next port of call.

Betty Boum on Soi Pattayaland was the venue. And guess what, the bar has reduced their drinks prices too. But not by quite enough to tempt me. There is no draft beer but bottled beer has been reduced by 10 Baht to 100. There is a 2 for 1 offer on Thai spirits too. There were also a few more dancers in the mid range between First and Las Vegas. The dancers were again bikini clad and seemed generally demure. The bar looks very smart but 100 Baht bottled beer is not really good value for the entertainment.

Next was the newly re-opened Popcorn on Soi Pattayaland 2. Again drinks prices have been reduced with a good priced draft beer. Now this was the first bar of my mini crawl where there has been an improvement in dress code, ie dress not encouraged at all. There was a range of girls so I selected the prettiest and was easily persuaded to stay for a fair few drinks. Amazing what a difference having Cheap drinks AND few clothes AND a pretty girl AND a friendly girl makes. A good improvement for Popcorn then. But the bar is still a little too small scale and I can imagine that if they were a lacking a pretty girl or two then it would warrant only a brief stay.

My last port of call was Utopia A-GoGo at the south end of Walking Street. I was a little worried by a blog report that one of my favourite gogos had closed. The bar was thankfully still running but clearly something is up as they have dispensed with their welcome staff. The bar was pretty much unchanged from before. It is very much modelled on the way Windmill Club works but is not quite so busy (and not quite so consistent). Surely a good place to end an evening.

Las Vegas GoGo on Soi 13/1 (Soi Yamato) has reduced its all day price for draft Heineken to 50 Baht.

Meanwhile the 45 Baht price for draft at Club Mirage is an offer every day. The bar needs a bit of strong management. at the moment though. It has loads of girls all running wild enjoying themselves in their own ways, Most seem to be totally ignoring any customers that may be interested in putting a bit of trade their way.

Illusions Club on Soi 14 & 15 is now alternating bikini clad gogo dancing with bells and whistles shows. Not a very impressive spectacle for farangs who are used to the more raunchy options available on Soi 15.

Sometimes bad times can become good times especially for customers.

There seems to be a few promotional drinks offers on at the moment.

The very expensive show bar, Living Dolls Showcase has started a 2 for 1 happy hour until 10pm

On Soi Diamond, Club Mirage were still offering 45 Baht draft beer way past happy hour. Maybe the offer is one of Beer Day specials for Friday.

On Monday Catz will start a policy of all drinks at 85 Baht (large glass of draft beer still 65 Baht)

Reports that Club Illusion was dark have proven short lived as the bar was back alive last night.

Now there are 78 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

From regular strolls on Walking Street I would that the amount of people wandering around and in the bars seems to be holding up pretty well considering the global recession.

Perhaps numbers are not the complete picture though, as I for one have cut my spending down drastically for a typical night on the town.

Anyone it seems a little sad to report that 3 bars were closed as of last night.

Sakura Club 69 is closed on Soi 15 with a prominent for sale sign on the door. This seems to have been on the cards for a few weeks so looks permanent until a sale can be negotiated.

Opposite Club Illusion was reported to be dark. This also has been for sale for a while.

And over on Soi Diamond the B4 Coyote Bar and Disco has also gone dark. Judging by the few customers there on my last visit, few people were aware that the bar had even opened, let alone closed.

Down to 77 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Popcorn on Pattayaland 2 returns back to life with few obvious changes from the previous incarnation.

It is a small gogo with a side stage. Rather bizarrely the bench seating has the worst positions in the bar for viewing the stage.

There were about 8 girls in the bar and 3 were dancing at any one time clad in bikinis. A couple were good looking.

The difficulties of running a small gogo were apparent when there were suddenly 6 customers. There were not really enough girls to go around, the group stayed not so long, and the next minute the bar was empty.

Unfortunately I was one of the ignored ones whilst the staff were trying to cope with the group.

I wasn't going to stay long any way, particularly with no draft beer and bottled beer at 90 Baht. Not overly expensive, but there wasn't really much entertainment value in staying.

It always seems a harsh reality but there are gogos with prettier, nuder girls and cheaper beer just 5 minutes walk away.

There are now 79 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Once again 10 Bangkok 'Suoer-models' will be descending on Coyotee's A-GoGo on Soi LuckyStar.

These will be a different bunch from last time - and apparently dirtier!

Dance Competitions and lots of fun to be had for sure over the 10 day party from 5th to 15th Februry.

Cobra Gold is an annual naval exercise involving several nations including Thailand and USA. Cobra Gold this year takes place between 4th and 17th February and will be the 28th time the exercise has taken place.

Thousands of military personal are expected to converge on Fun City starting from about now.

Update: False Gold

Thanks to the Pattaya Ghost

About 5500 US personnel are participating, but all but a few hundred will this year be staged in Korat, not Sattahip. Very few will see Pattaya.

Also, the exercise does not even begin until the 4th, with the first shore leave not expected until a week after.

There have been some pre-positioning ships in, but do not expect to see Pattaya get a bounce nor more than a handful of servicemen in any one place in Pattaya.

Basically, this year will be a non-event.

Spicy Girls A-GoGo had a bit of a wake on Saturday to celebrate 10 years in Pattaya only to be shuttered on Sunday.

There are now 78 local bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Popcorn A-GoGo on Soi Pattayaland maybe returning to the land of the living. It has re-illuminated its sign and there were a couple of people hanging round the door. There was no dancing going on and no-one was being invited in. I will investigate next time I pass.