Adam's Apple in Chiang Mai

[Maple]

A friend who was in Chiang Mai recently reported that Adam's Apple Bar was closed down by police action. Can anyone confirm this or add more information?

[Guest catawampuscat]

I also heard it was closed a few weeks back..Maybe someone in Chiang Mai can offer more info..

[bkkguy]

last I heard, a few weeks ago from a CM local, the place is closed for good, management decision, not a police order

 

bkkguy

 

 

[Gaybutton]

last I heard, a few weeks ago from a CM local, the place is closed for good, management decision, not a police order

 

bkkguy

 

I'm not surprised, although I'm saddened to know that. I've been saying for quite some time that a great many of the bars in Pattaya have been virtually empty of customers and many have already failed as a result. Most likely the same is the situation in Chiang Mai. Several months ago my boyfriend and I were in Chiang Mai. We went to Adam's Apple and Coffee Boy. Every time I had been in both of those bars in the past there were plenty of customers and plenty of boys. Both were thriving. This time, when we were in Adam's Apple there were only two customers besides the two of us. In Coffee Boy we were the only ones in there at all.

 

In Pattaya, it seems that customers do come into many of the bars when it's show time. But before the show they are empty and as soon as the show is over the bars empty out.

 

To tell the truth, I don't know how many the bars have managed to stay open at all, but most are continuing to "hang in there," at least for now.

 

I hope the upcoming high season will turn things around, but based on the last three high seasons, I wouldn't bet on it.

[Guest mauRICE]

Word out on the street is that Adam's has closed for good and that the business, including the karaoke bar and minimart downstairs, is for sale. I hear the leaseholder couldn't keep up with the rent and police pay-offs for their raunchy sex shows and employment of Burmese guest workers as go-go boys.

 

Coffee Boy reopened last month after yet another ownership and management change.

[Gaybutton]

It's really sad to see this happening. I remember the very first go-go bar I ever went to in Thailand. It was called Superman, in Bangkok. It's long gone, along with others. I remember a bar (can't remember the name though) that was just across the street from the original Utopia on Soi 23 in Bangkok. Also long gone.

 

In Pattaya, those who have been around for awhile may remember go-go bars such as Moonlight, Playboy, Boys Studio, Tai Boys Boys, Charlie Boys, Lek's Boys, and a few others whose names I don't recall. All gone now. Several of the remaining bars have changed hands and changed names several times.

 

I remember when it was far more likely to see a new bar open than see an existing bar close. Now it's the other way around.

 

The latest apparently is Adam's Apple in Chiang Mai. That's the first long-existing bar in Chiang Mai that has closed, as far as I know.

[Bob]

I'll check it out when I'm there in October.

 

AA has most definitely been the most-closed bar in Chiangmai, averaging 1-2 times a year by the boys in brown due to the shows. I was told it was closed permanently a couple of those times but it was open again a month later. Maybe not this time.

[Gaybutton]

I didn't know that, Bob. I hope it works out that way again and that they will reopen. We'll see.

 

[Guest A Rose By Any Other Name]

I remember when it was far more likely to see a new bar open than see an existing bar close. Now it's the other way around.

 

This is sad. And it brings up a very good point which is relevant to a great many posters on the old Sawatdee forum. Whether we choose to admit it or not, those of us who live here or visit here are a community. As such, the gay businesses who provide us with a multitude of outlets are also part of this community. On so many posts, I have seen people belittle businesses, even try to damage them to the point of getting them to close. Believe me, I am not talking about a fair review, positive or negative. I am talking about the nasty, personal driven messages that serve only to try and make businesses fail. Why would we choose to make our community smaller and weaker? Shouldn't we encourage new businesses and help them to grow?

 

Before we know it, there won't be many left to say anything about at all.

 

Food for thought.

 

The Rose

[Guest ToyFan]

Could it be supply and demand?

There's am old saying, (Twisted Chinese idea) 'We lose money on every sale. But we make it up on the volume.'

I went to Thaiboys Pattaya listings & counted 48 gay bars (Gay bars only, no mixed places, coffee shops, saunas, disco's, Issan dance show bars, massage parlors, etc.) in Pattaya.

I live in a city of over 8

[Guest stef]

Perhaps Thailand bar owners should consider offering something different; other than beer-bars, go-go & drag.

 

 

I agree here. Look at Krazy Dragon.. they came up with something different and they are keeping busy.

[Guest A Rose By Any Other Name]

Whatever the reason, it is a shame. Adam's was by far the best go-go in Chiang Mai. I also worry that this will have an adverse effect on Mohommed's other venture, The Lotus Hotel.

 

The Rose

[Guest JD]

Adams has been closed down many times over the past years and has always bounced back.

The apple and the garden bar at the Lotus are two of my favourite gay venues in CM lets hope this is only another temporary situation for Adams.

[Guest mauRICE]

As I understand it, Adam's closed for financial reasons. The business was leased from the Lotus Hotel Group - the people who own the Lotus Hotel, the Garden Bar and Relax Karaoke (out on the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Superhighway). Adam's could well reopen if a buyer is found for the business and premises, both of which are all up for sale, I hear.

 

The problems with the police were more or less sorted out months ago. The bars agreed to scale down their sex shows; nudity and simulated sex acts are 'permitted', subject to the mood swings of the sub-district police chief and how thickly his coffers are lined. The boys in brown still conduct raids to collect 'bonuses' and to prey on the helpless Burmese boys who are a ready source of cash as well as to remind the bar owners that they exist only on the good graces of the police. Circle and New My Way, two other popular Chiang Mars with risque shows, are still open.

 

Adam's just wasn't making the kind of money it used to. It hadn't changed its show routine since 1999 and appeared to be hiring the dregs of bar-boy society. The bar would fill up with mainly low-end Thai customers just before showtime, who would sit there for two hours nursing their 150Bt drink, and then immediately leave after the show. It didn't have proper ventilation - which was terrible for non-smokers as most Thai customers puffed away during the show - and the seating was uncomfortable. And anybody familiar with the place would know it was a fire trap.

 

The bar wasn't doing so well in 'offs' either. Their Thai and local farang customers would arrange to meet the boys after closing time to avoid paying the off fees. And there was no mamasan to assist out-of-town farang who were usually the only genuine punters.

 

Circle and New My Way seem to be doing OK. They revamp their shows from time to time and are quite selective of the boys they hire - management keeps a close eye on them. While I don't particularly care for the mamasan at Circle, customers' needs are generally attended to and the seating is quite comfortable at both these venues.

[Guest pete1969]

I was just in CM, and according to the BS who chatted up all the bar staff everywhere we went, Adam's Apple did indeed close for financial reasons.