Pattaya's Volks Bars

Well, hey there! Thanks for clicking by today. As always, it's a pleasure to see you. Help yourself to a mugga and a virtual treat, why don't'cha, eh? Go ahead. Be a devil! Say...as you know, Nong and I are in Pattaya (less than a week left) and we're staying on Soi Bua Khao downtown which is an area we haven't really visited that often for a long time and one that has gone absolutely crazy. So while many things are the same as they have always been, some things are new. One of them is the Volks Bars.

What are Volks Bars? Glad you asked. All around the downtown core, in vacant lots, or off to the side of a plaza, or anywhere you can park a van with space for a few chairs, you run into these Volkswagen buses which have been converted into mobile bars. During the day, there will be a tarp pulled over them but as the sun dips and evening approaches, these Volks Bars spring to life.

Plastic tables and chairs get put out. The tarp comes off. The top pops up. A section of the side pulls down to form a bar counter. Lo and behold, a full bar awaits behind the lowered counter. Bar stools appear as if by magic. Lights strung merrily across the top and sides of the colourfully-painted vans add to the festive appearance.

As the noise of the evening and surrounding bars heats up, so do the speakers surrounding the Volks Bar. Music completes the atmosphere and all that is needed now is..customers. These folks don't mind sitting on plastic chairs in the middle of a sandy vacant lot. What the heck! Most of them are here for the fun and that's Pattaya...fun city!

See ya, eh!

Bob