Enjoying the nightlife has just become a bit more expensive

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Baccara has upped its prices recently. Beers and standard short drinks cost 140 baht, the highest price level you will see in Soi Cowboy, and actually also more expensive than beers at any Nana Plaza bar (or Patpong bar for that matter). Even more 'impressive' is the price you need to pay for a lady drink, a whopping 150 baht. So just sitting down at Baccara and ordering a drink (provided one of the girls gives you any attention) will set you back about 300 baht. Not that long ago (we reckon about 2 years) your expenses would be around 200 baht. Inflation (but more surely greed) is hitting hard, especially since the Thai baht is strenghtening ever more in the currency market. [the sliding baht was often quoted in the past as the reason behind price hikes]

It had to happen one day and it did. Drink prices seem to have increased overnight by 10-20 % in quite a few bars at Nana Plaza. Price increases have occurred at a time when the Thai baht has appreciated a lot (and foreign bar owners as a result have more revenue in their 'home' currency) and in time for the so-called high season (december-januari).
We first noticed this when having our regular drink at G-Spot. The price of a beer now is 135 baht, while a lady drink astonishingly costs 130 baht. Please bear in mind that the girl you pay the drink for, is likely to leave you in just a few minutes to go dancing again.
We assume that similar price rises have occurred at the other bars belonging to the Crown Group (Voodoo bar, Carnival, Fantasia, Hollywood Rock, Lollipop....).
There are some bars we rarely visit. But once or twice in a year we feel like we have to go to our less preferred bars, just to check how things are, and to see whether anything changed for the better. So the other night we climbed up the (rather dangerous) stairs to Mandarin bar. We noticed the place was almost empty and this was a friday night. Before sitting down we had a look at the price list, and saw that almost all drinks now cost 150 baht. This for a rather second class bar with few customers. We managed to get out gracefully before ordering a drink.
To be fair, the first bar at Nana Plaza to increase drink prices was After Witch. Drinks there now are at 140 baht. Not quite sure that this price level is fair, but in honesty After Witch has more to offer than most other bars at Nana Plaza.
Prices at the Rainbow bars seem to hold steady for the moment at 135 baht. Traditionally the very successful Rainbow bars at Nana Plaza have not been the first to raise prices, but they did at the beginning of 2008.

This round of price rises at Nana Plaza has been preceded by increases at the other important nightlife entertainment area of Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy these last two years has had more to offer than Nana Plaza. A lot of the bars offer topless dancing, and quite a few have girls dance in the nude. Nana Plaza does offer only bikini clad dancers.
So over the last few months prices at some bars have gone up. Baccara, Midnite bar, Sheba's, Suzie Wong, now all charge 135-140 baht for a drink. Long Gun (Lucky Star) and Rawhide, bars that have more to offer since they feature entertaining shows, still keep charging 120 baht.

One has to realize that the prices charged nowadays are objectively high. A drink in a bar costs more than a ticket for movie viewing in a luxurious theatre. And you can a decent meal for the same amount of money in a 2-star hotel. You may think this is worth the money if you can be entertained by mostly naked women. But realize that you may have entered a bar with few attractive ladies that just shuffle a bit on stage flaunting their oversized backsides and stretch marks.

See our present recommendations.

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More Articles :

• Which bars to go to in 2008?
• The Rise of Soi Cowboy
• Thugs and the Entrance to the Bars
• What about the Show Girls at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• Where to see the Shows?
• A review of the competition : Other Websites covering the Nightlife in Bangkok
• Common Rip Offs and Minor Dangers
• Happy Hours at Soi Cowboy
• About Lady Boys (Katoeys)
• More : The Return of the Lady Boys (Katoeys)
• Sukhumvit : Museum of Horrors
• Sukhumvit : Street Prostitution
• Cost of living in Thailand
• Is there a need for Nudity (and where can you see the girls?)
• Expensive Drinks at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• About getting some Water, and about the Noise Levels in the Bars
• The Invasion of the Arabs and Indians along Sukhumvit Road
• Our preferred Bars at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• The Japanese and the Bars
• Rapid and slow Turnover Bars - What is that?
• Stephen Leather : The Private Dancer, the ultimate Novel about the Bar Scene
• Escort Services in Bangkok and Thailand
• List of Escort Services (websites)

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