A few days ago the Daily Mirror published an article calling Pattaya “the world’s sex capital” and likening it to Sodom and Gomorrah. The article went out of its way to say that things are exactly as they have been, even though a minister pledged to eliminate sex tourism in the seaside city nearly a year ago.
These sorts of sensationalist headlines pop up all the time. A few years ago papers proclaimed that Germany was “Europe’s biggest brothel”. Before that, Sonagachi was marked as Asia’s “largest red light district”.
Although a lot of Thai people brushed off the recent Daily Mirror article, one could make a fortune wagering that some sort of crackdown would result from it. It took three days for the response to come.
Go Go bar raids
Last night swarms of police headed through Pattaya. Walking down Beach Road in a search for prostitutes or drug dealers produced nothing. Walks down Soi 7 and Soi 8 on the other hand allowed police to arrest two Thai women for the crime of dancing nude.
The arrests took place at the Silver Star 1 on Soi 8 where police say they found two women doing a nude show in a bath tub. Customers were ordered to pay their bills and disperse and the nude women were detained. Other women in the bar had their identification checked and the place was closed down.
After visiting the Silver Star 1 police headed over to the Silver Star 2 on Soi 7 which has been previously covered here. The police did not find any nude women at the Silver Star 2. Apparently they didn’t find any dancers at all which has been chalked up to women from the first go go warning women in the second. A few toys of some sort were apparently discovered however which led to the Silver Star 1 also being closed down.
The owner of the Silver Star go go bars was apparently called in for questioning. I don’t know what the results of that questioning session were or if it has even occurred. We may learn more in the future but if past events are any indication we also may not.
Walking Street and LK Metro
The city’s world famous Walking Street which is home to many go go bars was apparently not visited. LK Metro which is home to many go go bars of its own was also left alone.
This could all lead to a number of questions. One that sticks out is why customers were told to pay bills at a place that was apparently conducting illegal business. It is unimaginable that customers in a shop selling illegal ivory would be told to pay their bills during a raid.
Known unknowns
Maybe some things are not meant to be known. While I recognize that there is value in discovering facts and underlying truths this website is meant for entertainment only. I can report what I see or learn but nothing more.
I had planned to do a review on the Silver Star 1 at some point in the future. Considering the events of last night I may publish it soon just to get it out of the way so that it won’t end up being a post on a place that no longer exists. The Silver Star 1 will probably reopen but I can’t be sure. The nearby Clinic go go bar which was extremely popular at one point in time is no more after all.
The Silver Star bars are not the only go go bars to have problems recently. On Valentine’s Day police found a British guy bedded with a dancer in a private room at the Windmill go go bar which was mentioned in a summary of Pattaya’s go go bars posted here years ago. The dancer and the Brit were released with warnings though the bar owner was apparently cited for having lacking “the correct license”.
Rockit, sounds like the police were looking for a place where it would not upset the tourist trade as much. Also, if I read your article correctly, the swarm of police might have only raided two places that were connected by ownership ? Agree, unusual they would tell customers to pay their bar tab before leaving. Sounds like they did not want to hurt the owner of Silver Star 1 and 2. Keep up the good work sir !
Thanks for the comment. As usual there are more questions than answers. There aren’t as many go go bars with regular nudity anymore but Silver Star is hardly alone. The only thing that really sets it apart is its distance from most other go go bars though I have no idea about the ownership or anything going on behind the scenes. The most interesting thing to me is that this was billed as a clean up campaign and it came just days after the Daily Mirror article. Cheers.
While browsing guest friendly hotels in Bangkok I noticed Phachara Suites on your list. I’ve stayed there several times and although they do allow one guest per day, after that, they charge 1000 baht per additional guest. I was on a little sex bender and racked up an additional 4000 baht on my last visit, so keep that in mind if you’re using your room as a revolving door. They often make the escorts wait in the lobby until you personally go greet them, and the girls told me this makes them feel rather uncomfortable. If your on a mini budget I’d recommend the Grand Sukhumvit also on Soi 6 or JW Marriott on Soi 2 if you can afford a 5 star hotel.
PS: Have been a Rockit fan for several years now and you do an excellent job!
Thanks for the information and the kind words Danny. Cheers!
corrections:
1: the windmill raid took place on the 13th and not valentines as has been widely reported on the web. I should know since I was in the city and was walking to the windmill as the army left. On the 14th the bar was back to normal but a week later there was a second visit but this time just to remind the bar that the girls need to cover up. It was odd to see the girls doing the erotic show fully clothed but they still try hard to entertain.
Second, the J W Marriott is now Avani on 2nd road but I have never stayed there. You can get a decent place to stay in Pattaya for 30 dollars or less.
I did see lots of police presence this year and lots of training on the beach front. Check out my youtube: roy on youtube for videos about Pattaya made at the time of the raids.
Cheers.
Thanks for the comment. Cheers.
lets hope this is just a flash in the pan
Since this article was posted police have arrested a mix of more than twenty foreign and local alleged sex workers on Beach Road, inspected Soi 6 and visited at least one more go go bar. Cheers.
Hi Rockit
Been in Pattaya almost a year now, and can’t say I’ve heard of many of these raids. The few I’m aware of was when the venue was staying open too late and they hadn’t paid their er, local “tax”.
And with the exception of one go go bar in walking street, every place I’ve been to ensured their staff were dressed… however skimpily :)
So I think these raids are/were there to just remind places that there are lines and they shouldn’t cross them, and that police turning a blind eye ain’t cheap.
As for the Mirror article, I appreciate this was almost 5 years ago and therefore irrelevant now, but I think it’s worth pointing out the concept of free advertising. If I were a bar owner (and therefore far more aware of both the written and unwritten laws), I would have expected two things.
1. A knee-jerk reaction from the moral-brigade.
2. More Daily Mirror-reading customers booking the next available flights. I mean, I wonder how many guys had their eyes opened by this report. Lonely guys. Cash-rich lonely guys. Horny, cash-rich lonely guys!
It’s the sort of advertising the bar owners of Pattaya could only dream about.
And (with the exception of a few backhanders), totally free!
This report was posted back in 2017 when raids were pretty common. There haven’t been many since that I am aware of. Cheers.
What was Silver Star 2 is still up for sale, hard to se it will be a Go go again.
Silver Star on soi 7 had nude girls in the bath and it was a fun place! But no “dirty shows” like Windmill or Kink, venues which I think are derogatory to the girls (I am not prudish, I have fucked bareback in gogos, but a drunk thai women with sloppy tits who gets her anus licked by a middle-old aged incel, a disturbed truckdriver from Arkansas or Frankfurt, that makes me leave the venue. And these places are a real long time threat to his industry. If you want hardcore acction chose empowered girls in S&M places and get spanked and more.., there are good options in both Bangkok and Pattaya).
There was a Silver Star on Walking Street but it got raided and closed 2014 for an offense more common in the old days. Cheers.
I reviewed both Silver Star 1 and Silver Star 2 when they were open. Silver Star 1 was as notable for the odor inside as the nudity. I also reviewed Windmill and Kink. In my experience the ladies at Windmill seem to enjoy their jobs at least as much as the dancers in any other Pattaya go go bar. And probably significantly more. Cheers.
I have discussed the odor at Silver Star 1 with you before, and yea, really bad smell. Silver Star 1 and 2 was fun, a little bit more mature ladies but dedicated especially when one took 2 girls at the time. There was a Shorttime hotel next to Silver Star 1 with really old bathrooms, the shower was a big bucket (like in the Old Western movies). Upmarket Bar Sensation had supringsly similar simple bathrooms in the shorttime spaces over that Bar.
Windmill, agree to disagree. There are two kind of Gogo Bars I avoid. Windmill and I have explained why, in my world its a creepy atmosphere. And the likes of Sapphire, the Bar is a bit plastic (you are not a fan either if I remember correctly?).
cheers.