Kazy Kozy goes from go go to bar

Kazy Kozy was a go go bar on Soi Cowboy in Bangkok that entered the scene with much fanfare. The place was purported to be the next coming of Crazy House complete with fully nude dancers. Their grand opening ceremonies even included a sort of parade down Soi Cowboy lead by a team of scantly clad coyotes holding signs.

I reviewed Kazy Kozy not long after it opened in early 2020. As the one-and-a-half star rating I gave would indicate I was not very impressed. I guess the motorcycle parked on stage was something to see. But I prefer to interact with engaging women in a go go bar. Call me crazy. Or kazy if you’d prefer.

In any event the pandemic began not long after. That of course changed everything and eventually resulted in Kazy Kozy and all other bars on Soi Cowboy being closed for some time. When the dust settled many of the bars reopened. Kazy Kozy got back into gear. But it has made a significant change in course.

Major changes

Originally Kazy Kozy had a fairly standard stage setup with poles. Women worked the stage — albeit rather poorly — while punters watched on from the seat. There were at least some nude and semi nude bodies on display.

Today Kazy Kozy is totally different. The downstairs area has been turned into a sort of regular bar albeit with a stage for live music. Anyone who has been regaled by the crooners of Pattaya’s open beer bars belting out the hits of the late 1960’s will have an idea of what that can be like.

When Kazy Kozy first reopened the upper floor was still operating in go go style. It was perhaps even a little more entertaining than the original incarnation of the place since it almost had the flavor of a prohibition era speakeasy. Of course Kazy Kozy was no Krazy Kat Klub but you get the idea.

Now that too has come to an end. At this point the upstairs portion of Kazy Kozy is nothing more than a poorly used pool hall replete with a single billiards table.

Why does it matter?

So there are no more naked women dancing at Kazy Kozy. And the women who do remain on premises are just service staff there to provide punters with their draft beers. The agogo has gone and its now just another bar.

You might wonder why the story of a single go go would matter much. After all there are dozens of agogos in Thailand. But I do think the story of this bar in particular has at least some relevance to the larger local industry in general.

Kazy Kozy was arguably the last big go go bar launch before the pandemic. Although some bar owners were already complaining of a fall in customers this place was launched with a serious push. It never did seem to really catch on however. Then things quickly took a turn for a worse with the near total global shut down.

After the reopening it looked like the go go would return in some form. But changes were evident. When Kazy Kozy first started to transform there were widespread rumors that it was a temporary thing. The story went that the owners were simply making some changes to adapt to the passing conditions. Once the conditions changed again, some argued, the bar would revert to its original state. Remember that not long ago many bars were posing as restaurants to get around certain restrictions.

Now we see that the changes at Kazy Kozy appear to be permanent. This doesn’t surprise me much. As early as May 2020 I was writing about the permanent changes that could come to be in the adult entertainment industry.

But this is indicative of some larger trends we have seen. Even as regulations around Covid-19 have largely faded into the background in most of the world things are not necessarily “back to normal.” Quite a few go go bars have disappeared and it appears they will not return. Especially on Soi Cowboy in Bangkok and Walking Street in Pattaya.

Things look a little brighter over on Soi Nana. A few new bars have opened up. Others have returned. A couple have simply relocated to other parts of the plaza. Time will tell what will ultimately come of all of this. Yet no matter the final result I think that the story of Kazy Kozy and its change is worth telling.