15 August
Re-arranging the deckchairs: Although to the casual observer not much has really changed to the UV-light parade that is Walking Street and its environs, behind the scenes quite a bit has happened in recent weeks in terms of closures, re-openings, and a couple of major places changing hands.
The strangely-named K ogling den (Soho Square) closed down in late July. It began life in March with an equally strange cognomen: Counter Soho. I don’t think it is any great loss to the pantheon of ogling dens. One that is a bit of a sad failure is the Mirage chrome pole palace at the Pratumnak Road entrance to Soi Diamond. It looked to have some real potential but the doors were closed in the first week of August.
A really weird one is the Fun Room broom closet, masquerading as an ogling den (Soi 15), which was closed in mid July only to re-open again a few weeks later. It may be as a response to the fact the Sakura Club 69 has also be revitalised, thus adding more reasons for punters to linger in and around Soi 15. Overall, there are still 76 dens of the chrome pole in Fun Town, despite the economic malaise.
Two of Fun Town’s more prominent and popular dens, both in Walking Street) changed hands within a few days of each other during July. The Sisterz chrome pole palace has been purchased by the same team that run the Living Dolls Showcase and The Dollhouse dens (think Captain Picard). Early indications are that the regime familiar to regular patrons of Sisterz will continue, at least for the time being.
The New Living Dolls 1 den, which has been the subject of much sale speculation in recent times, finally changed hands at the end of July. Former owner Shane (aka Alan Ladd) is apparently returning to the Land Down Under. Can I respectfully suggest to the new owners they change the name of the den as soon as possible if nothing more than to prevent constant confusion. I cannot count the number of times people who have lived here for years as well as regular visitors who get confused between New Living Dolls 1, The Dollhouse, and Living Dolls Showcase. Since New Living Dolls 1 is not remotely ‘new’ and is therefore not referred to by that name, you are left with punters simply calling it Living Dolls: the same as Showcase and far too similar in name to Dollhouse. My suggestion to the new owners would be to stamp your own identity on the place.