With the party scene pretty much dead, Goan nightlife has come to resemble the kind of crass nightlife found anywhere on the planet that has large scale tourism. With the police demanding higher and higher baksheesh, only establishments that charged entry and sold drinks at extortionate prices could afford to be in the market.

Part of the reason for the rise of discos and night clubs in Goa might be in part due to the boom in Russian tourism, as visitors from Moscow wanted to get dressed up and go somewhere at night, but it was probably inevitable. It's amazing that it took as long as it did for the local gangsters to cash in on the party scene.

The first club to really try to muscle in on the trance party movement was the Paradiso, run by some rich guy from Bombay. It was a weird place to dance with a wooden dance floor and overlooking balconies but at times it was the only party going - i.e. the owner had paid the cops to not let any other parties happen that night.

Then a few years later, the Dulce Vita opened up, run by real hardcore goondas who would beat up or stab anyone that they thought might be selling a bit of charas at their parties.

They still stage parties (again, they pay the police to pretty much have a monopoly on music at night) and, along with the Paradiso, charge up to 1000 rupees (12 quid or $20) to enter. It's okay to dance a bit at night but in the morning you can see in what kind of place you've been and run out screaming.

Other discos like the Club Cubana or the West End attract people at night but almost no freaks go. The party scene was appropriated, corrupted and effectively crushed by the mafia and the police and now the freaks who want to dance have to go elsewhere.