More than a jungle out there: Down in Soi 16 off Walking Street the Covent Garden complex of dens with dancers and beer boozers is finding the current low season truly a struggle in almost all cases. Coming up the soi from the Arab quarter it’s noticeable just how many of the beer boozers are closed while the others are lucky to have more than one punter nursing a libation. The four ogling dens, Club Boesche, Catz, X-Zone, and Sin City (originally Baywatch, then Taboo, then Black & White; and that’s all in the space of three and a half years), are all doing it tough, for varying reasons.
Catz is the smallest of the four in terms of size but it holds up well as far as having a decent- if not outstanding- line-up of chrome pole shuffle artists. They’re a friendly bunch with a mamasan who tries her best and is not pushy. Catz has a strong expat and regular visitor following with a healthy-looking Lanky Bob holding court most nights after 10:00pm. Libations are a standard 95 baht for almost everything liquid.
Club Boesche is caught betwixt and between at present. There is no shortage of exponents of the chrome pole prepared to cavort about the stage covered by not much more than a pair of stilettos and a few tattoos, and most are worth a second look. The Jacuzzi is generally occupied by a pair of young ladies who resemble a couple of felines licking each other clean in hard-to-reach parts. Many people find the music far too loud, making any kind of conversation with a chrome pole molester akin to a shouting match while libations at 120 baht tends to stop the average expat making much more than a cursory visit.