As hot as tom yam
Cara Van Miriah
The Straits Times
Publication Date: 24-08-2008




Funky black floor. Shiny red bar stools. Plasma screens on the wall. It could be one of the many popular Mando and Canto nightspots around town.
But once the band starts up, the pretty, scantily clad lead singer swivels her hips as well as her lips, and a woman carrying garlands of plastic flowers wanders through the crowd, you get the sense that this is something different.
And it is--welcome to Bangkok Thai Disco, a four-month-old nightspot right in the heart of town at Ming Arcade in Cuscaden Road, opposite the Hard Rock Cafe, Singapore.
That's right, it is miles away from the usual locale of Thai discos--Golden Mile Complex aka Little Thailand.
This is just one of several Thai discos springing up in the most unlikely locations in Singapore, such as Club Nana at Central Mall and Discovery Bar at Chijmes.
They are popping up faster than you can say Sawadee (a Thai greeting), thanks to their growing popularity with 30-something, mostly Chinese-speaking, working professionals.
Regular partygoer Danny Fong, 36, an IT sales manager, says these alternative places are a refreshing change.
"I feel like I'm in Thailand when I step into the Thai discos here. They play popular Thai hits by artistes such as Loso, Potato and Bird Thongchai on top of their English, Mandarin, Cantonese and even Hokkien repertoire. Most of all, the vibe at these places is unpretentious," he says.
It is no secret that most male customers are drawn to the array of sexy performers in eye-popping outfits.
Typically at Thai discos, different singers perform in a one-hour set, with multiple costume changes.
Each time a new performer comes onstage, men gawk openly.
As Thai disco regular Alvin Tay, 34, an events manager, puts it: "There is something special about Thai women. They are soft-spoken, humble and feminine."
Indeed, Chinese nightspot Lunar at Clarke Quay has been quick to grab some tom yam wham, hiring talent not only from mainland China as it usually would, but also from Thailand, for its dance act Lunar Coyote Dolls.
Women aside, the no-cover-charge policy is also a lure, points out Sun Foo, 36, manager of month-old Resort Thai disco at East Coast Park.
Bangkok Thai Disco's operator, Singaporean Lim Kim Leong, 50, notes: "We are not a popular mainstream club that can impose a cover charge and expect people to show up. It will never work."
The outlet is his second Thai club. He was among the first to open a Thai club at Golden Mile--the now four-year-old Thailand Disco in Golden Mile Complex. He says in Mandarin: "I opened the second Thai club because the first one was doing exceptionally well, drawing a full house almost every night.
"It was time to expand somewhere else to draw younger patrons. But I also wanted a better mix of clientele, as my first outlet attracts mostly those in their 40s."
He adds that Thai discos have been associated with fights and sleaze, and he has learnt to move away from that.
"When I first opened Thailand Disco, I encountered many fights at my club. We were also slapped with demerit points by the licensing authorities because the performers interacted with customers. Now, when the club nears full capacity, we advise people to come back another day."
As for the girls, no hanky panky is allowed with patrons, he says.
After searching for new premises for nearly a year, he finally signed a two-year lease at S$30,000 (US$21,238) a month on Bangkok Thai Disco's 4,900 sq ft premises at Ming Arcade late last year. It was formerly occupied by an Indian pub.
Lim, who also owns a construction and design firm, then spent about S$300,000 to give it a sleek, modern interior.
Another Thai disco to go for a modern look is eight-month-old Club Nana disco in Central Mall. It is operated by John Lee, who used to run the now-defunct top 40s music nightspots Club Momo and Velvet Dragon at the same 15,000 sq ft premises.
He says: "Thai discos are certainly getting more popular now and we are catering to the demand."
The Thai clubs often boost a line-up of more than 10 male and female performers, comprising singers, musicians and dancers.
On average, Club Nana--open from 8.30pm to 5am daily--draws 800 patrons on weekends.
At Bangkok Thai Disco, a queue forms as early as 10pm when the band starts its first set on weekends. By midnight, such discos are usually packed like sardines. And every night, the party goes on till 5 or 6am.
As the discos draw a predominantly Chinese-speaking crowd, industry observers say they are giving Mando and Canto nightspots--where singers perform pop songs in Mandarin and Cantonese--a run for their money.
In the competitive nightclub scene, this translates to big bucks at stake. For example, places such as Bangkok Thai Disco sell more than 1,200 bottles of Martell VSOP brandy and Chivas Regal whisky each month, says Lim. A bottle of Chivas is normally S$198.
Still, Mando operators are unfazed. Dennis Foo, 55, chief executive of St James Holdings, which runs Dragonfly Mando club at St James Power Station, says the nightspot is "doing well with a S$1.2-million monthly revenue".
"Ours is a different product, where the main attraction is its stellar line-up of performers, who include well-known entertainers William Scorpion and Sylvester Sim," he says.
Bangkok Thai Disco's Lim, meanwhile, says that while business is brisk, he is bracing himself for the competition to get hotter. "When a model is successful, you will see many copycats."
Asked if Thai discos are merely a novelty, he says: "The clientele now includes those in their 20s, while in the past, they were the older set. Thai discos are here to stay. The new ones are getting bigger, better and hotter."