Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Ladyboys and go-go bars!
The 12th of January we planned a big evening, which began with seeing the Calypso Cabaret Show at the Asia Hotel. Bangkok is famous for having some of the most beautiful transgender ‘ladyboys’ in the world, and is a Mecca for male to female plastic surgery. We have to say that there was quite a ‘variety’ in the beauty of these ladyboys – some of them looked more attractive than some of the female-born members of the audience. However, there were quite a few who wouldn’t pass any ‘femininity tests’ just yet... not by a long stretch! The ladyboys put on quite a show for us: pretty costumes, amazing make-up and hair, great chorography and show concepts. The only disappointment is that they didn’t actually sing themselves. But beauty and talent don’t always go together. :P
While most of the songs were ‘glamour songs,’ there were some acts purely for comic relief. One of the ladyboys dressed up in a kimono and targeted a male audience member in the front. She plopped down in his lap and sang to him, to his wife’s amusement. At one point, the male performers joined their ladyboy counterparts on stage and danced with them, wearing identical outfits. It was a great show, and Henk and I got some pictures with the performers afterwards – let us know which one(s) you think could fool you!
After we left the show, we planned to hit up some of Bangkok’s infamous go-go bars on Soi Cowboy and possibly Nana Plaza. We started by taking the SkyTrain to Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is an area named (according to the Lonely Planet) for a black American ex-GI who fought in the Vietnam War. He was nicknamed ‘Cowboy,’ and was among the first to open a self-named go-go bar in the area. We decided to walk down the street first to get a feel for the area, and to my surprise it actually wasn’t as large an entertainment area as I predicted – I guess I had Las Vegas in mind! However, there were still a decent amount of go-go bars there... about 25 to 30 different bars, each with girls outside attempting to lure people inside.
As we got to the end of the strip, I spotted a bar I read about online called ‘Tilac Bar.’ Once inside we found a spot along the back so we’d have the best view of the bar and ordered some drinks. Now, if you don’t know much about the go-go bars of Bangkok, let me give you a quick – and raw – understanding of how the process works. This business is the ‘adult entertainment’ industry, but to put it bluntly these girls are in a sex tourism industry – serving as ‘entertainment’ for the many sex tourists who visit Bangkok for solely this purpose.
A group of girls mostly from the countryside of Thailand (some decently attractive, many quite old or unattractive… some were quite hideous to be honest!) are simultaneously on stage displaying varying levels of nudity. The girls working in the bar are either sold by their parents into the business or choose to work in the trade to provide money for their family back home in the country. Music plays in the bar, but only one or two out of twenty or so girls even try to look like they are dancing to it. They mostly stand around on stage in short skirts and wait for their number to be chosen sometime throughout the night by a patron.
These patrons, or sex tourists, are men or women (both are equally accepted as clients) who come into the club and watch the show for a while. The tourist then decides on a girl that he or she wants to spend the night with. Each girl is pinned with a sign that displays a number on their skirt or shirt, so the tourist tells the number to the bar ‘madam’ and pays the bar-fine for that girl. Henk and I thought the numbers made them look a bit like branded cattle. Bar fines range from 500 to 700 baht per girl (that’s about 15 to 20 USD.) Then a fee is negotiated with the girl herself, ranging from 1500 to 2000 baht (45 to 60 USD.) At every bar, there is a sign on the wall with two separate columns labeled “On” and “Off.” Once a girl’s bar fine has been paid by a tourist, her number is erased from the “on” column, re-written in the “off” column, and she leaves with him or her for the evening. As Henk put it, it was quite blatantly a “meat factory,” and Bangkok doesn’t even try to masquerade it in the slightest – despite that prostitution is actually illegal!
After spending a while in Tilac, Henk wasn’t too interested in staying in the area for much longer. So, rather than going all the way to Nana Plaza for the ladyboy go-go bars, we decided to jump into one more bar on Soi Cowboy that had an Egyptian theme and quite a lot more ‘sex show’ and nudity involved than the previous Tilac, although there was still very little dancing, and frankly ‘life,’ from most of the girls on stage. I do have to say it was quite sad to see what bored expressions the majority of them had. The one or two girls who did dance or tried to have fun with it were almost a relief to see. Still, the shows became quite monotonous very quickly, and since I knew Henk already wanted to leave we decided to head back home.
But we spotted something else we had to do first! Since I had been asking Henk about some of the Dutch snacks I had yet to try, when he saw ‘The Old Dutch Corner’ restaurant it was the perfect opportunity. We went inside and ordered bitterballen – a party snack which is basically a ball of fried mince meat for all you non-Dutchies out there. It was alright, but I tend to prefer sweet snacks. After finishing our little meal, we went back home to try and get some rest for the next day. It was an early morning wake-up call to go to the floating markets – and it was already well past midnight. We would need all the rest we could get in those few hours! Henk will tell you about our long day at the markets…
Francesca
While most of the songs were ‘glamour songs,’ there were some acts purely for comic relief. One of the ladyboys dressed up in a kimono and targeted a male audience member in the front. She plopped down in his lap and sang to him, to his wife’s amusement. At one point, the male performers joined their ladyboy counterparts on stage and danced with them, wearing identical outfits. It was a great show, and Henk and I got some pictures with the performers afterwards – let us know which one(s) you think could fool you!
After we left the show, we planned to hit up some of Bangkok’s infamous go-go bars on Soi Cowboy and possibly Nana Plaza. We started by taking the SkyTrain to Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is an area named (according to the Lonely Planet) for a black American ex-GI who fought in the Vietnam War. He was nicknamed ‘Cowboy,’ and was among the first to open a self-named go-go bar in the area. We decided to walk down the street first to get a feel for the area, and to my surprise it actually wasn’t as large an entertainment area as I predicted – I guess I had Las Vegas in mind! However, there were still a decent amount of go-go bars there... about 25 to 30 different bars, each with girls outside attempting to lure people inside.
As we got to the end of the strip, I spotted a bar I read about online called ‘Tilac Bar.’ Once inside we found a spot along the back so we’d have the best view of the bar and ordered some drinks. Now, if you don’t know much about the go-go bars of Bangkok, let me give you a quick – and raw – understanding of how the process works. This business is the ‘adult entertainment’ industry, but to put it bluntly these girls are in a sex tourism industry – serving as ‘entertainment’ for the many sex tourists who visit Bangkok for solely this purpose.
A group of girls mostly from the countryside of Thailand (some decently attractive, many quite old or unattractive… some were quite hideous to be honest!) are simultaneously on stage displaying varying levels of nudity. The girls working in the bar are either sold by their parents into the business or choose to work in the trade to provide money for their family back home in the country. Music plays in the bar, but only one or two out of twenty or so girls even try to look like they are dancing to it. They mostly stand around on stage in short skirts and wait for their number to be chosen sometime throughout the night by a patron.
These patrons, or sex tourists, are men or women (both are equally accepted as clients) who come into the club and watch the show for a while. The tourist then decides on a girl that he or she wants to spend the night with. Each girl is pinned with a sign that displays a number on their skirt or shirt, so the tourist tells the number to the bar ‘madam’ and pays the bar-fine for that girl. Henk and I thought the numbers made them look a bit like branded cattle. Bar fines range from 500 to 700 baht per girl (that’s about 15 to 20 USD.) Then a fee is negotiated with the girl herself, ranging from 1500 to 2000 baht (45 to 60 USD.) At every bar, there is a sign on the wall with two separate columns labeled “On” and “Off.” Once a girl’s bar fine has been paid by a tourist, her number is erased from the “on” column, re-written in the “off” column, and she leaves with him or her for the evening. As Henk put it, it was quite blatantly a “meat factory,” and Bangkok doesn’t even try to masquerade it in the slightest – despite that prostitution is actually illegal!
After spending a while in Tilac, Henk wasn’t too interested in staying in the area for much longer. So, rather than going all the way to Nana Plaza for the ladyboy go-go bars, we decided to jump into one more bar on Soi Cowboy that had an Egyptian theme and quite a lot more ‘sex show’ and nudity involved than the previous Tilac, although there was still very little dancing, and frankly ‘life,’ from most of the girls on stage. I do have to say it was quite sad to see what bored expressions the majority of them had. The one or two girls who did dance or tried to have fun with it were almost a relief to see. Still, the shows became quite monotonous very quickly, and since I knew Henk already wanted to leave we decided to head back home.
But we spotted something else we had to do first! Since I had been asking Henk about some of the Dutch snacks I had yet to try, when he saw ‘The Old Dutch Corner’ restaurant it was the perfect opportunity. We went inside and ordered bitterballen – a party snack which is basically a ball of fried mince meat for all you non-Dutchies out there. It was alright, but I tend to prefer sweet snacks. After finishing our little meal, we went back home to try and get some rest for the next day. It was an early morning wake-up call to go to the floating markets – and it was already well past midnight. We would need all the rest we could get in those few hours! Henk will tell you about our long day at the markets…
Francesca
2 Comments:
Wat een mooie verhalen en die foto,s.Wat een maken jullie een schitterde reis. Het is toch een groot feest.Ja toch. En wat zien jullie er goed uit En wat eten jullie lekker. Iedere keer maar weer.Zelfs bitterballen. Maar jij hebt liever iets zoets he Francesca
Ik vind het allemaal prachtig om te lezen'
Liefs Oma xxx
wat weer een beeldend verhaal francesca... bijna niet te geloven, ook dat speelt zich af op onze aardbol.. en jullie.. globetrotters zijn daar ook weer getuige van..
ps
nice pink dress
gina
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