Action in Soi Croc/Katoey Phuket

[Guest]

Gooday

Just wanted to know what type of action there was in soi Croc/Katoey on Bangla road. How many LB bars are there or are most of the LB's freelancers. I am aware of cocktails and dreams how many LB'are there in this bar?

I understand it will be a lot different from Nana and Pattaya, I hope the action is good and not too hard to find.

P/S just heard of another LB opening soon in BKK in soi 1 Suk. about the end of November it will be open in the afternoon by all reports, if so it should do really well looking at many of the post on this forum trying to locate action in the afternoon.

cheers for now

[koykaeng]

Short of time this morning, so here is a snippet from a trip report from March 06. Should answer a few questions I hope !

Flew into Phuket last night, and after a quick dinner on the beach, headed out to see what this place is all about.

Despite travelling to Thailand regularly for over 13 years, I had deliberately avoided heading to Phuket.
However, owing to my interest in Ladyboys, it was inevitable I would have to make it here eventually !

Started with a walk down Soi Bangla, the main strip where all the nightlife is situated. First stop for a beer was Soi Crocodile where the ladyboys dance on a podium at the entrance, with beer bars with stools either side & additional seating down the centre of this area.
Soi Crocodile had some real beautiful LB's working, however the place is more like a "Freak Show" owing to all the hundreds of tourists that crowd the entrance and snap away with there cameras. I'm sure many of the LB's here could make a healthy living from tips alone even if they didn't get barfined. Personally, I found the atmosphere pretty horrible with all these gawking tourists gathered around.

Next stop was Cocktails & Dreams which has changed location. I'd heard fantastic things about this bar, but when I visited last night, I only rated it as "average". There were a few cute LB's around, and an entertaining cabaret show in progress.
Will check it out further over the next few nights !

Had another wander along Soi Bangla, and spotted plenty of freelancers, generally in small groups up & down the entire length of the street.

After spending most of the day in taxis, planes & airport lounges, decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel to sleep alone. Still didn't get to the Royal Paradise Complex, but will put that on tomorrows list of "Things To Do".

Cheers
Koykaeng

[justbob]

Where has C&D moved to? Is it still in the Tiger complex? I liked it better than Soi kathoey because there was less gawkers. Don't mind a show just don't want to be the show.

[Groundhog]

C&D is off on a side street now that seems to be dedicated to katoeys. I agree that it is now so-so.

As for Phuket, it used to be a nice place, but after the Tsunami, people changed. They are now, I have to say, greedy, belligerent, and more dishonest than anywhere else in Thailand. It's not bad in comparison to say Indonesia, but it's just a continual annoyance being in Phuket, and with BKK, Pattaya and other Thai cities availble, I can see no reason to ever visit Phuket.

[kahuna]

I'm not a big fan of Patong Beach, but I'm sure there are some nicer areas in Phuket...and I hope to visit some day...

C & D is a nice relaxed bar...The new location (never visited the old location in the Tiger Complex) is a bit hard to find...unless you are looking for it...you won't just stumble on it...

The ladies that were there when I visited in May were cute and friendly...it's a very laid-back bar..unfortunately I had a lady with me and I couldn't sample...but there were some tasty looking samples to be had...

I'll post a couple pics....

[kahuna]

another...

[kahuna]

one more...

[kahuna]

and finally...

[kahuna]

Sorry one more of Bee...

[Snick]

I'm not sure I would agree that ALL people in phuket are greedy and dishonest, but some certainly are, especially the tout on the beach road who tried to sell me a set of 3 briefs for 1500 Baht -- and got angry when I told him he was nuts. ( Eventually paid 250 baht elsewhere - still over priced )

The big problem in Phuket is everything is expensive, and this affects the Thais working their too. Their cost of living is much higher than elsewhere, and they have to work harder to make a buck,

More reason to skip the place.

If you want the island life, grab a girl in Bangkok or Pattaya, and then take her to Samui,Phangna,Krabi, Samet....

[Torurot]

<>

Soi Croc/Katoey has EVERY kind of action you can imagine, the first bar on the right facing in (Tequela) is LB/PO and a pretty reasonable place to see what is happening. Security is always present at the front so it's quite a "safe" place to hang if your new in town, plus EVERYONE goes past there sooner or later. Bar staff are way cool & laid back. First two center bars are also LB/PO/GG and the two bars RIGHT at the back by DJ desk & Muelin Rose Caberet are mixture LB, & mostly PO. There are a LOT of PO in Patong. Is it the water or something? Majority of the girls in the LB bars in that Soi are "freelance"/loosely affiliated with one or more of these bars. Most of the bars in between are GG of varing quality. You already know that Cocktails is not in Soi Croc/Katoey but in Bangla lane (off Bangla Rd), opposite end from Beach Rd.

The beach is OK during the day but ROUGH as guts at night with groups of LB who can't cut the muster to work in bars. Recommendation: Avoid unless you like the rough trade or there is two or more of you! It's NOT like Pattaya Beach at night.

There is an interesting group of Scooter babes freelancing in the middle of Bangla. Mixture of PO, LB, Femboys in training, There are a couple of Diamonds that hang there, mostly trawling for the 444 & 555 boys so you may have to engage them rather than they chase you and ANYWHERE in Bangla you may bump into a working Freelancer if you keep your eyes and options wide open.

Later >2am you might find a number of Cocktail ladies wandering around the Crocodile end of town. Must all be looking for something to eat , as there a number of late night food vendors and the Taxi Mafia hanging out.

[stogie bear]

Good information - Moved to the Travel Information forum.

[Guest]

Hey Torurot: Is "PO" for "Post-Op" or "Pre-Op"?

[jet712]

I was in Patong in June and found it to be pretty relaxed and good fun with LBs and GGs.

C&D was very quiet but I found what I was looking for and there's a a short time hotel just across the street.

Soi Croc was very enetertaining....you can ignore the big sell if you want but I was already in lust so I did indulge.

Lots of LBs on the beach end of Soi Bangla.

I didn't notice any attitide and prices were reasonable.

[Torurot]

PO = Post Op. I prefer Crocodiles over all atmosphere to Cocktails, especially it's new location. There is just more going on generally in Croc, and if your into people watching there is a lot to watch. BTW next lane over (same side) from Croc toward the beach has some interesting GG bars, and there are always the odd LB hanging/visiting in there. Worth a trawl thru for a look. If you go down the very back to the right there is a link alley that goes to the toilets which for both lanes is at the back (east end) of Crocodile. There are a few food stalls out the back as well in the Scooter carpark. "Hundreds" of Scooters parked out there. You can also meet some freelancers that are "around" the carpark as well. Lots of commings and goings. It's reasonably well lit. You might be amazed at how many tourists drink at the front few bars not even realising that most of the girls toward the front are LB. Priceless! :-))