Clinton Plaza

Clinton Plaza was a thriving but short-lived nightlife district in Bangkok, Thailand, located on Sukhumvit Road between Soi 13 and Soi 15. Its location was excellent, being midway between the Nana Entertainment Plaza to the west and the Soi Cowboy nightlife area to the east.

The plaza, the brainchild of a Dutchman and an American, began as a collection of beer bars in 1998. The following year it was named after then U.S. president Bill Clinton, and a number of lively go-go bars appeared in 2000. Many of the names were tongue in cheek jabs at the president, including Monica Beer Bar, Bill's Coffee House and the White House.^[1]

In 2001 the Interior Minister of Thailand, Purachai Piumsombun, began a campaign to enforce his somewhat puritanical ideas of social order. Closing hours for all bars and nightclubs were cut back to 1 am and nude dancers were definitely frowned on. The shortened hours, combined with contractual disputes related to redevelopment plans, led to the complete shut down of the bar area by May 2003. The existing structures were razed and a hotel has since been built on the location.

The Clinton Plaza bars Checkpoint Charlie and Hollywood-a-Go-Go appear in Jordan Clark's 2005 documentary Falang: Behind Bangkok's Smile which takes a rather critical view of sex tourism in Thailand.

References

1. ^ "Bangkok nightlife centre hopes to cash in on Clinton cachet", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, September 3, 1999

External links

• Photos and information on Clinton Plaza
• A history of Clinton Plaza

Coordinates: 13°44′21″N 100°33′28″E / 13.7392°N 100.5577°E / 13.7392; 100.5577