A combined police taskforce of 150 officers has been setup to raid bars over the New Year festival. Pattaya, the 29th of December 2009.

Police Major General Thanet Pinmuanggnarm (Chon-Buri Police Commissioner) and Colonel Sarayut Sanguanphokhai (Superintendent if Pattaya Police Station) along with numerous other officials and an undercover team from the Organisation of Narcotic Control Board has gathered in Pattaya to deter and arrest anyone who is involved with illegal drugs, crime or violence over the New Year celebrations.

Police Major General Pinmuanggnarm has instructed the joint taskforce to specifically inspect 5 key venues in the Pattaya area, these include; Differ Nightclub, Star Dice Discotheque and Fashion Club in North Pattaya as well as Mixx Discotheque and Lucifer Nightclub in Walking Street, South Pattaya.

What's Up Imagine opened on 23rd December. It is the name given to the upper floor at What's Up. The original ground floor of What's Up is now named What's Up Playgirls. The stairs up to Imagine are inside Playgirls.

There is a main stage in the center. Four sub stages are around the main stage. 2 of them are Jacuzzis.

The basic color is white. The dancers are dressed as angels or fairies. They dance slowly even to fast music.

The drinks prices are different on each floor and customers have to settle the bill before moving floors. The prices in Imagine are a little more expensive than those of Play Girls. Eg coke is 125 Baht upstairs compared with 115 Baht downstairs.

There are now 81 bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less.

Teazers coyote bar opened on 23rd December.

It is located on Walking Street at the corner of the corridor down to Living Dolls One.

Baccara 15th December

Baccara 16th December

Baccara A-GoGo had a soft opening on 17th December with an opening party to be held on 18th December.

The stage of the 1st floor is almost the same as Happy in Pattaya. But the dancers put on bikinis.

And the 2nd floor is almost the same as Baccara in Bangkok. The dancers are topless with short white shirts and mini skirts. And most of them don't put on under pants.

The stage of the 2nd floor is made of glass, so it's possible to see the dancers from the 1st floor. There are a lot of sofas for the customers like Bangkok.

The number of the dancers are much less than those of Bangkok. 1st floor:11, 2nd floor:7.

All prices (including Happy Hour, Bar Fine and so on) are the same as Happy Group.

There are currently 80 Pattaya area bars with girls dancing in bikinis or less

Update: Showtime

19th December 2009, thanks to Ishi

Baccarat began shows on 18 Dec. The show girls are from Beach Club. I watched 2 shows  one is naked dancers and the other is topless dancers.

The bikinis of the 1st floor dancers are changed everyday. And some are topless now.

Illusion is located at junction of Soi 14 7 Soi 15

After a brief break Illusion is again open as usual.

They now longer have dancers just the usual darts and whistles shows to please the Asian tour parties. Bottled Beer is now B150, Cola, B85, and the draft beer has been discontinued.

The upper floor of What's Up, ie What's Up Imagine is now set  to open on 22 December.

Next door the Asian tour party show venue Illusion is reported to be dark.

The Snowice coyote bar is now set to re-open as a GoGo bar. New signage has now  appeared at the Nok Beer Bar Complex.

Passion Dance Club on Soi 6 is still closed pending staff recruitment, which is not an easy task at the moment.

Late on Thursday Night various Police Divisions combined and undertook a raid of Catz Go-Go Bar located just off Walking Street.

The raid which followed an undercover operation, whereby an operative handed over 2,000 Baht in marked bank notes in exchange for sexual services from one of the employees of the bar.

Inside the Catz Go-Go Bar, located in Soi 16 off Walking Street, female performers were detained and checked. It was determined that 5 of them were under the age of 18. They were detained along with the rest of the performers and Khun Sunee, the Manager of the Bar along with Khun Wanna, the License Holder were arrested and taken to Pattaya Police Station.

The performers aged over 18 were later released with no charge while further investigations into the underage girls are currently taking place. The owner and manager of the bar are assisting Police with their investigation and may face charges at a later date.

The latest high priced lap dancing joint with East European girls will be the Lady Shadows Club located at the old Polo Entertainment venue. It is set to open on 20th December.

Baccara is a new GoGo set to open on 16th December at the location of the old Walking Street Molly Malone's. The GoGo is related to Happy, Peppermint and Beach Club and is expected to operate similarly.

A new Walking Street nightclub has appeared over Kings Cafe just opposite Soi Diamond. It is named Hospital Club. A brief Google search suggests that they may have been inspired by a notable Russian Club with a similar name

Meanwhile off Walking Street Dicey Reilly's is the new guise for Moore's Bar on 2nd road at the Marriott Hotel. The Irish theme returns to the venue that was once popular as Shenaningans.

Police Major General Tanaert, the Commander of Chonburi Provincial Police, has chaired a meeting of over 200 bar owners from around the Pattaya area.

The General went through all the laws regarding operating such venues, including opening and closing times, minimum age of employees and patrons and registration papers to be completed for employees by the bar owner.

One interesting point coming from the meeting was a statement by the General who warned any bars found to be paying off Police Officers in exchange for any form of protection would be prosecuted and the officers themselves would be removed from the Police.

A special task force has now been set up to ensure that rules are adhered to and bar owners now fear a bar crackdown is imminent.

Similarly in Phuket

Based on article from phuketgazette.net

Phuket businesses selling and promoting alcohol and tobacco will face stricter enforcement of the Alcohol Control Act in the New Year.

Operators of bars, pubs, restaurants and advertising agencies face fines up to 500,000 baht and prison sentences of up to two years for infringements of the laws.

The imminent crackdown follows a Ministry of Public Health report claiming that despite the introduction of the Alcohol Control Act in February 2008, many businesses are still selling alcohol outside of the regulated hours.

Director of the Phuket Public Health Office Dr Pongsawat Rattanasaeng and Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Rathasima, announced stricter enforcement of the 2008 Alcohol Control Act in the New Year with tougher monitoring of bars, restaurants and other places selling alcohol.

The 2008 Alcohol Control Act states that alcohol cannot be sold at places of worship, health centers and hospitals, government offices, education institutions, and gas stations. Alcohol can only be sold between 11am and 2pm and from 5pm until midnight.

Dr Pongsawat said that alcohol advertising would come under closer scrutiny and that violators could face fines of up to 500,000 baht and/or one-year jail sentences. He recommended sponsorship of big events as a way for alcohol manufacturers to promote their products.

Passion Dance Club is located opposite to sister bar Betty Boup Dance Club on Soi 6.

It is set to re-open on Thursday 10th December with new smart rooms.

The B.52 in Soho Square off Walking Street, was raided by police on 9 December, 2009, after tip-offs that the club has been employing Russian hostesses and Coyote dancers, allegedly working illegally.

11 glamorous Russian ladies, mostly in their late teens and early twenties, were taken away for questioning, and are likely to be charged with working without work-permits and if guilty will be prosecuted and deported.

The management will also be held liable under Thai law and will almost certainly have to pay a substantial fine for contravening labour laws.

The B.52 was reopened under new management in October 2009 and largely caters to a well-off, Russian and East European target audience. The Dining and Dance club consists of three floors; the ground floor is a restaurant serving of Thai, Chinese and European cuisine, with a discotheque on the First Floor, whereas the select Top Floor is reserved for VIP guests, who are entertained by glamorous Russian and other kindred Coyote dancers/hostesses.

It is the Chonburi police's intention to crack down on the many establishments which they strongly suspect are employing both illegal immigrants and foreigners working without work permits.

Hottie's A-GoGo is located at the back of the 2nd Road beer bar complex opposite the large Mike's Mall. The bar complex has recently been revamped and now boasts the name Smiles Avenue

Almost 10 days have been passed since they became a gogo bar.

Draft Beer:B45, Bottled Beer:B105, Cola:B75, Lady Drink:B120

Bar Fine dancers:B600, showgirls:B800

They have a billiards table.

Some dancers are Coyote style, but other dancers wear bikinis. And one Show Girl became naked. After show time staff walk around to collect B20 because of Show Tips.

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

Bar owners have received letters asking them to observe Saturday 5th December as a dry day for the King's birthday.

last year was similar and the request was widely ignored.

Police were called on Thursday Night to attend Kanya's Romantic Garden Bar and Restaurant located in Soi Chayapreuk in Jomtien to investigate the apparent murder of the German Owner.

Rescue Services soon arrived, but were too late to assist  Peter Alfons Schroth aged 48 from Germany. He was lying on the ground at the front of the main bar located at the rear of the building. He had been stabbed 5 times, in his back, his left side, his stomach and in his chest and was pronounced dead-at-the-scene.

The alleged attacker is Timo Bloch who is also a German National. The two Germans had been seen entering into a verbal altercation, during which Bloch produced a knife from his bag and attacked Schroth. Bloch was a drug addict and had asked for money from the victim on many occasions, presumably to purchase drugs.

Bloch aged 30 was arrested and found to be carrying a single Yabba Tablet and appeared to be under the influence of narcotics.

What's Up is located on Soi 15

What's Up (Officially What's Up Play Girls) is set to open its upstairs floor.

It will be called What's Up Imagine and will open on 15th December 2009.

Imagine and Play Girl have the same entrance and to enter the Imagine we have to use upstairs. One of the staff said that the concept of Imagine is different from Play Girl. I can't guess.

The once popular Kinnaree Palace has been closed on Pratamnak Soi 4/5 since the summer.

Kinnaree Palace is now set to re-open in soi 1, 100 metres from the beach in the grounds of the Koreana restaurant that used to be there.

The sign is already up, but it looks like there is still a great deal of work to be done on the building.

BJ Club promised the re-opening of the Soi BJ GoGo but this doesn't seem to be happening. The staff of the Jasmine Hotel said: Closed Forever, and the website www.agogo-pattaya.com previously linking to BJ Club info now links to Titty Twisters Bar.

With regards to Fantasy and Snowice:
Somebody said, Finished.
Somebody said, Re-Open soon.
Very Thai, nobody knows!

And a similar story at Blue Lagoon;
A piece of paper on the door 10 days ago said, will re-open in a couple of days. After 10 days, it still says, will re-open in a couple of days.

Meanwhile The Pleasure Dome is reported to be opening on 10th of December. However the owners have had some drastic rethinks. Previously the plans were to open on 1st November with the biggest GoGo in Pattaya with cast of 200 girls, a Jacuzzi and a water slide that ran all around the bar.

The delay is down to rethink by the owners on realisation of the difficulties in employing the necessary girls. In a radical change of direction the bar will now open with just coyote dancers. The place will still be huge, but now no water slide, no Jacuzzi, and no tits.

Perhaps the owners haven't studied the recent history of Walking Street where bars with coyote dancing as the primary entertainment have got a track record of 100% failure. Remember Snowice, Taboo, VIP, Tiger Lounge and the Roof. Not enough customers want to watch fully clothed girls dance when there is so much naughtier entertainment next door.