Recently reports started circulating that the the infamous Eden Club in Bangkok was shut down by police. The place which was a sort of landmark for randy foreign guys in the Thai capital city operated for decades more or less openly.
Legitimate information is always difficult to gather about this kind of thing for any number of reasons. One is that the rumor mill loves to churn. Another is closed door practices that don’t necessarily bring things out into the open for the public to mull over. Sometimes that seems to be the intention as things that can be handled with a gentlemen’s agreement don’t ever need to the see the light of day. For most people involved that exactly the goal.
Even after doing some limited digging I am left with more questions than answers. But I have spoken directly to someone with intimate knowledge who says that the Eden Club was visited by law enforcement and shuttered. From what I hear it was a “big problem”. I can neither confirm or deny that. I can only report what I have heard though I do consider my source in this case to be very reliable.
I first reported on the Eden Club on this website was back in the beginning of 2013. At the time I noted that the place seemed to be in a sort of decline from its most popular days but that was based purely on my subjective view. A lot of regulars seem to think that the place has — or had — its ups and downs.
As stated the Eden Club was been open for many years and it developed a real customer base. Although it apparently went through some ownership changes over time the place more or less stayed the same and continued to operate as it had from the onset. I don’t know if the current closure of Eden will be permanent or not. All I know is that the doors are closed, the lights are off and the website is down.
Bangkok observers will remember that some other businesses on the same street as Eden such as Dr BJ’s and Dr BJ’s Nuru Massage were suddenly closed in the past. Little news was released of those events either but as I reported here.
Perhaps Sukhumvit Soi 7/1 is a bad place to run an adult oriented business. Then again maybe it isn’t. There are now new shops located in the places that were once called Dr BJ’s and Dr BJ’s Nuru Massage. They have different names but run on the same business models and even have the same people on staff! Maybe Eden will reappear too.
In other somewhat related news the National Police have announced that they will inspect five soapy massage parlors in Bangkok on January 27. During their visits to Long Beach, The Secret Forever, The Lott, Embassy, and Copacabana they will be checking for things like ground water violations and licenses.
This was apparently prompted by the aftermath of the recent Victoria’s raid where police allege they found illegal activity. Warrants were issued for the official owners of the place but they have still not been found.
Not long after the Victoria’s raid some evidence of ranking visitors receiving special services at the place for free emerged.
A lot of people have weighed in on the case including former soapy massage parlor kingping Chuwit Kamolvisit who has stated that the real owner of Victoria’s remains free as a bird.
After leaving the soapy industry behind Chuwit moved on to other things like a political career. He also lectured students at a university in southern Thailand on the ways police make money from massage parlors. As the Bangkok Post noted at the time, it was “a subject not normally taught in university courses.”
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