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Soi Cowboy to Thong Lor, Bangkok’s US$5 billion nightlife economy’s grim reality
From the racy go-gos of Soi Cowboy to Thong Lor’s mixology bars, 20 months of lost business and no government help during Covid-19 mean many establishments gone for good.
When DJ and producer Marmosets released his pounding techno track Krungthep Ratree (Bangkok nightlife) in June 2020, he had no idea how relevant his lament to the fading glory of Asia’s party city would be, and of the decimation ahead for bars and clubs as the coronavirus pandemic cut through Thailand.
Nightlife has only been allowed to operate legally for a few weeks since then, as authorities tried to beat back a months-long Covid-19 outbreak by banning alcohol sales inside licensed premises, effectively closing clubs and bars.
From the racy go-gos of Soi Cowboy to the mixology bars of upmarket Thong Lor, the rooftop hotel happy hours to the street-side pop ups that serve booze until dawn, Bangkok’s cacophonous nightlife has been muted.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3153918/once-asias-party-capital-will-bangkoks-nightlife-scene-recover