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Published: August 12th 2011
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Well, my first visit to a red light district was interesting to say the least. No matter how much you read or how many stories people tell you nothing can really prepare you for that sort of experience. Soi cowboy has it all, from bright lights, to alcohol, to live music to sex and it really doesn't disappoint in any area.
The group I went with were a bunch of co-workers and all of their wives and girlfriends, and we started off with dinner at an Irish pub called The Dubliner and had a fabulous burger. Then we went for drinks at a sports bar called Penalty Stop and then to a nightclub called Titanium. Most of the bars and nightclubs have live bands comprised mostly of Filipinos and they're unbelievable. Last night I heard Bryan Adams, Michael Jackson and a little Tupac "California Love" to round out the night. The band at the Penalty Stop was a little cheesy, but the band at Titanium was awesome and all of the musicians were girls except for the drummer, which is something you don't see that often. After Titanium we hit Soi Cowboy and that's when the adventure began.
There are three main red light districts in Bangkok - Soi cowboy, Patpong and Nana. Soi is the Thai word for a side street off of a main road, and Soi Cowboy is maybe a couple hundred meters long with approximately 40 bars and nightclubs. There are other red light districts in Bangkok but these three cater mostly to foreigners. Soi Cowboy is the tamest of the three and the most you'll see there is a naked girl. Nana and Patpong get pretty raunch apparently and if you can imagine it you can see it there - live sex, sado massochism, ping pong shows - you name it.
As you walk down soi cowboy you'll see a variety of bars that usually have a bunch of girls standing out front, trying to convince you to come in. A co-worker who's been here for about a year explained to me how the whole system worked, so let's see how much of it I remember after about 10 Tiger beer. In most of the bars in Thailand you'll see girls, either freelancers or bar girls. The freelancers have no affiliation to the bar, they just hang out and strike up conversations
with potential clients. If you're interested you negotiate a price and away you go. This is very similar to North America and you can find these types of girls in places like Las Vegas as well. The bar girls, which account for most of the prostitutes in Thailand, "belong" to the bar and here's how they work. If you're interested in a particular girl they'll either come up to you or you tell the bar manager, or mamasan, and they'll bring them over. For every drink you buy them they get a cut of the money. If you're interested in sex you have to pay a bar fine to basically buy her for the night, and that allows you to leave with her. Once you're back at the hotel you then negotiate a price and pay them directly. Most of the bars are owned by foreigners, but in Thailand a foreigner can't own more than 49% of anything so they're always in business with a Thai local, which in the case of the bars usually means a policeman. Prostitution is actually illegal in Thailand and closing time for the bars is supposed to be 2AM. If you see naked girls or prostitutes in bars - which every single one has - then the police have been paid off. If a bar is open past 2AM - which every single one is - then the police have been properly paid off that night. We went to one bar and the lights and music all shut off right after 2, but then came on a few minutes later, so I guess the cops got their money a little late.
Not everyone that goes to the red light districts are looking for sex, some people are just out for some drinks and a good time. None of the girls came up to us because they saw everyone with their spouses, and if they do you just say you're meeting your wife or something and they'll move along. Some of the couples we were with actually become really good friends with some of the girls if they're regulars to certain bars, and they'll come by to chat for a bit during the night. You can just imagine, however, the types of guys you do see in the bars, that ARE there for sex. There were younger guys in their 20s chatting to the bar girls, and of course you see the stereotypical 50 year old, fat white guy groping some 25 year old Thai girl. I didn't see many lady boys last night but when I go to the other areas I'm sure I'll find more there. One of the guys told me the best way to tell them apart - if it's a guy they will stare more, because Thai women are very shy and normally won't stare that much. I saw my first bug street meat food cart but I wasn't brave enough to try any - maybe next time.
There you have my first red light district encounter, I hope I did it justice. I didn't get as many photos as I wanted but next time I'm there I'll make sure to snap more so you get a better idea what it looks like. Have a great weekend and until next time...
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