Did Boyztown get totally new buildings since 1999 and why a new sign every few years?

[abidismaili]

In the photo below a still of a video on YouTube which shows Boyztown in 1999

If I compare this with the current buildings most current buildings don't appear to be there. Look at the building where now Boyz Boyz Boyz is and the Ambiance hotel, these appear to be different buildings now. Also at the front far left side you see a brown/black building but I don't recognize its shape at all (compare for example with Google street view). Also if you look good the building where now Panorama bar is, looked totally different and there is a big building at the far end (we only see its top floor) that isn't there anymore at all.

Anyone knows that indeed after 1999 a lot of demolition and construction happened in Boyztown?

It also appears the Copa hotel is relatively new. I think it came into being only after 2005? I don't mean the building itself, but the hotel.

Another strange thing. The Boyztown sign changes every few years. I wonder why. I first arrived in 2014 and I am already at my third sign. But before there were at least 2 others (if I search google for older photos). I assume the local hotel and bar owners pay for this sign, but why replace it with a new one every few years? They make so much money that they don't know what to do with it and just decide to make a new sign again?

Here the photo from 1999:https://drive.google.com/open?id=13SS426fWEmZE7f0mV24wubFLCUNOqU6S&usp=drive_fs

Edit: From a Japanese website I have this:
In 1980, Suttham Phanthusak, a successful foreign exchange entrepreneur in Pattaya, invested in Wichai’s transgender show. The show gradually developed into the internationally renowned Tiffany’s Show. Meanwhile, Michael Burchall bought the Cockpit Bar, a go-go bar and restaurant for gay men, and reopened it in 1985. Other bars and restaurants were subsequently added to the same street where the Cockpit Bar was located, and around 1989, the bar owners decided to name the street Boyztown - the first gay town in Pattaya

[abidismaili]

Link doesn't appear to work. This is working: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13SS426fWEmZE7f0mV24wubFLCUNOqU6S&usp=drive_fs

[vinapu]

fascinating and thank you for bringing it up.

On another hand  is noting unusual as urban landscapes tend to be constantly evolving. My first visit in Boyztown was in Nov 2013 and it did not change since then other than different occupants in some places though.

For me both links worked.

as for sign, since it's in the open , subject to elements ,  rust, paint peeling off , venues being opened and closed , not unusual there was need to change it periodically.

[floridarob]

It was originally named Boystown....but changed to a Z to eliminate the perception of underage,

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, floridarob said:

It was originally named Boystown....but changed to a Z to eliminate the perception of underage,

That's Interesting.  Sensible.

[Keithambrose]

3 hours ago, vinapu said:

fascinating and thank you for bringing it up.

On another hand  is noting unusual as urban landscapes tend to be constantly evolving. My first visit in Boyztown was in Nov 2013 and it did not change since then other than different occupants in some places though.

For me both links worked.

as for sign, since it's in the open , subject to elements ,  rust, paint peeling off , venues being opened and closed , not unusual there was need to change it periodically.

Original link also worked for me. 

[gayinpattaya]

3 hours ago, floridarob said:

It was originally named Boystown....but changed to a Z to eliminate the perception of underage,

But the Thai's call it "BOY TOW"

[daydreamer]

The buildings have not changed.  They have remained the same for decades.  What you are looking at is a view of the Boyztown other entrance on Soi 13/4.  Both views below were taken from in front of the Penthouse Hotel. 

The building on the right with the ornate wrought iron railings used to be the New Orleans Restaurant.  The tall building in the background is still there.

 

 

 

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, daydreamer said:

The buildings have not changed.  They have remained the same for decades.  What you are looking at is a view of the Boyztown other entrance on Soi 13/4.  Both views below were taken from in front of the Penthouse Hotel. 

 

genius !!!

[Londoner]

Correct.  And as far as the change to Boyztown is concerned, this was  also when the BoysBoysBoys  bar became BoyzBoyzBoyz. Not unconnected to lurid tabloid accounts of goings-on in Sunee.

The Thais do indeed refer to it as "Boy Town"..... they cannot pronounce an "s" at the end of a word, can they? A Thai language specialist can correct me if I'm wrong.

By the way, I am pretty sure I remember  some signs  erected at that time referring specifically to  the absence of underage guys in Boyztown. i can't remember exactly but i think it also mentioned drugs being banned. 

[abidismaili]

4 hours ago, daydreamer said:

The buildings have not changed.  They have remained the same for decades.  What you are looking at is a view of the Boyztown other entrance on Soi 13/4.  Both views below were taken from in front of the Penthouse Hotel. 

The building on the right with the ornate wrought iron railings used to be the New Orleans Restaurant.  The tall building in the background is still there.

 

 

 

Thanks

[abidismaili]

Anyone knows when the Copa hotel came there ?

[floridarob]

57 minutes ago, abidismaili said:

Anyone knows when the Copa hotel came there ?

Was part of Ambiance hotel when Jim & Gordon were running it....their website is copyright @2016...... does this sound right???

[kokopelli3]

Copa has  been open since  September 2008 according to their page on Facebook.

 

 

[abidismaili]

2 minutes ago, kokopelli3 said:

Copa has  been open since  September 2008 according to their page on Facebook.

 

 

Thanks. So it was only 6 years old when I first came there