The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on Bangkok nightlife today vs. 1995

Written By: herbrunbridge - Aug• 08•10

I’d like to take the time to compare Bangkok and the entertainment scene today to the reality of what it was like in 1995 when I first came here.  I stress “reality” because I am constantly hearing whining voices saying “it was soooo much better in the good old days” and such nonsense as this. I suppose it is just human nature to be nostalgic when looking to the past and one must take all the “good old days” stories with more than a little skepticism. I am here to tell you that THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!!!! Make no mistake about it, Bangkok is the most exciting city in the world and there has never been a better time or place to be a single male than Bangkok 2008.  Many thanks to my mate Geoff for reminding me of this recently. 

Here’s Khun Lee’s take on 1995 versus 2010: 

NAUGHTY NIGHTLIFE—there have been a lot of changes in the naughty nightlife industry.  Most notably go-go bars are considerably less popular today and the freelance scene has grown exponentially. Many people comment on the slow decline of the go-gos and the reasons behind it. To get a feel for the reality of the situation, one needs to look at the reason guys go to go-gos in the first place. I would break down the go-go customer base into two categories.  Guys who go to party and guys who go to find companionship for the evening.  

Guys who go to party have ten times more choices now than they did in 1995.  The first time I visited Paradise I bought one of those politically correct guide books you see in the bookstores and under nightlife the author commented that Bangkok was heaven for single guys looking to pay for a gal for the evening but for anyone else there was little or nothing to do at night.  He was spot on.  There was Hard Rock café, those little jazz clubs on soi Sarasin such as Brown Sugar, and the lounges in the expensive hotels.  That was about it.  Bangkok 2010 has comedy clubs, more British and Irish pubs than you could count, great movie theatres, incredible shopping, bowling, ice skating, dozens of tremendous places to play pool or billiards, live music places, karaoke, traditional dance and music shows, theme bars like Bully’s and Gullivers, trendy nightclubs like Twisted on soi 11 and Q Bar, outdoor beer gardens with HOT Thai hostesses, bustling night markets for shopping or people watching, river cruises, and so many other types of entertainment  and places to party and drink with mates that I could write an entire book on the subject. 

 If you go out to have fun and not for the specific purpose of finding a “pay for play” gal the choices have multiplied at least ten fold.  What about the guys who are out looking for a companion?  In 1995 many of these guys went to the go-go bars, freelance places like Thermae and Grace Hotel, or beer bars.  In 2010 there are still about the same number of go-go bars (Pattaya has a ton more but this is a whole other story) but many more freelance places.  More importantly EVERY gal in the business now has a mobile phone.  This change is often overlooked or taken for granted, but in 1995 only a select few people had mobiles but now everyone does. Gals needed to work in a bar in order to meet potential customers.   I feel that this is the single greatest factor in the EXPLOSION of gals working freelance and therefore slow decline of the popularity of go-go bars.  

Don’t get me wrong, the cream always rises to the top and places like Angel Witch, Rainbow, Long Gun and Kings Castle are still raking in the big bucks. However, most of the go-go bars have seen declines in business of more than thirty percent. For many the drop-off has been more like seventy percent!!   Many guys say that in go-go bars the prices are too high, gals too mercenary, service poor and most cannot show all the female anatomy. All these arguments have merit, but the advent of the mobile phone has turned every working gal into a sole proprietor and independent business lady.  I know guys who come here for two weeks and leave with more phone numbers of gals than they can count. Customers pay no bar fine for these gals, don’t need to buy them any drinks and don’t have to wait for them to get off work. Often the going rate is lower for the freelance gal, even though the total cost is already lower without the drinks and bar fine. For us local guys, I don’t even take most of their numbers anymore because my phone only holds five hundred and I am too lazy to delete all the numbers that I don’t want or cannot recognize!   

Freelancers are everywhere, and for the gal she no longer needs to turn up for work at a go-go bar every night in order to have a steady stream of customers.  It’s a very easy life for them.  

A side note for all you guys sending money to your “ex-bargal” girlfriend in Bangkok.  In the past 5 years I have bumped into hundreds of gals who used to work in the industry but are now being taken care of by a naive foreign guy.  I normally ask them for their new phone number, and if I can call them when I need a little romance. NOT ONE TIME in all these years have I had a gal say that she cannot meet me because she has a boyfriend.  NOT ONCE!!  Trust me when I say that I am not handsome and never pay big money to the gals. Do not be confused, once they enter ‘pay for play” there is no turning back and they are always looking for a little side money or to trade up to a better provider.  I think this is a good thing and for ninety-nine percent of the guys and gals this situation works wonderfully.  However, there are always guys who try to fool themselves into thinking they can pay a gal to love them, or that they are going to save her. Please be smart out there and protect your money and your heart!  I do not tell you this to criticize or belittle you; I just want you to know where things stand so that you can make intelligent decisions! Yes, Bangkok naughty nightlife 2010 kicks the ass of 1995, no contest! 

Please come back early in October when I will continue my 1995 versus 2010 review covering changes in costs, livability, transportation, meeting “good gals” and more.

Read Khun Lee’s other WoWasis columns for more advice on navigating the adult dating scene through the backstreets of Bangkok

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One Comment

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