Things hit an all-time low at Nana Plaza this week and from Thursday night it has been clothed dancing. When I say clothed, I mean clothed with not even bikinis allowed. In every bar, those on stage were in shorts and fully covered tops. It all looked like some sort of B-grade YouTube music video with confused girls who quickly became disheartened and ultimately disinterested as customers stuck their head in the door, didn't like what they saw and tried the next bar (where it was exactly the same). The rain lingered from late afternoon and was still falling late in to the night making this past Thursday the worst night I've ever seen in the plaza. Come 10 PM, and some gogo bars had yet to have their first customer. Hopefully the covered look is very temporary.
Things are grim in Nana for those who depend on business in the plaza to pay the bills. First was the initial bemusement of a major police raid, more than a month ago. This was followed by annoyance as word spread that random checks would take place in the plaza most nights. Then there was frustration as word reached managers and owners that some girls who were told to stay away until things settled down had found new bars to dance in. Fewer girls means fewer customers. A month on and now everyone is angry - bar bosses, investors, bar managers, mamasans, the girls and even customers. Takings are down, girls have flocked to Cowboy and customers don't know where to go. Some girls have been spooked and are unlikely to return to Nana when things eventually blow over...whenever that may be. There's a feeling that much of the hard work of the last year restoring Nana as Bangkok's best and most popular farang bar district has been undone. What owners in Nana are rightfully angry about is the way that Nana Plaza - and only Nana Plaza - has been targeted, while it's business as usual elsewhere.
