Yesterday saw one of the most earth shattering events to hit Chiang Mai’s Gay scene in a very long time. An event many long timers here never thought they’d get to see, even with mumblings of a gay protest movement being started to campaign about this issue, none believed such a momentous event would ever occur. By comparison, other major event’s in Chiang Mai’s gay history, such as the opening of Mandalay, the closure of Simon Cabaret, or even the homophobic attacks on Chiang Mai’s Gay Pride by the Rak Chiang Mai 51 Red shirts will all be long forgotten when this piece of proactive thinking is still being admired.
Friday 7th October 2011 is the date when local personality Mohamad, esteemed owner of the Lotus Hotel and Garden Bar, embarked on probably his most memorable piece of work since creating the Boy Scout’s show. Having recently done an impeccable job of refurbishing the stools around the Garden bar, Mohamad’s team have now set about destroying one of the bars most endearing features. No longer will visitors have to spend their first five minutes sitting at the bar, trying to eliminate that fairground ride experience, or try to keep their balance when Chippendale moves in with the killer Cheshire Cat smile and “Hello, how are you today” line. Even drunks will now be able to sit at the bar felling relatively sober (do they mean us 🙂 ), and old sea dogs won’t feel they have to reminisce about their times going round Cape Horn.
Yes, the pick axes have been swinging and the concrete pouring as work commenced to replace the old uneven sandstone block flooring, around the bar. That’s right, THAT floor, the one where it was totally impossible to ever find a location flat enough to keep your stool from wobbling like a weeble. All credit to Khun Mo, he’s not doing it by half measures, the old blocks are being replaced by elegant granite slabs which not only look great and give the bar an upmarket feel, but should last well beyond the life expectancy of most of the customers. As he said himself, “it’s expensive, but it’s worth doing the job properly”. We are now wondering how long the inspiration will last; new toilets perhaps 😉 ?
If you were an aficionado of the old rocking stools, don’t despair, the work is being done in stages so the bar can remain open. If you get down there in the next day or too you can probably get one last wobble in before the passage of progress wipes out this Gay Chiang Mai tradition for ever.
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