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Bangkok bar girls
The pretty girls of Bangkok’s bars draw many a male tourist
Welcome to the ‘city of Angels’ – not quite the angels that King Rama I had in mind when he named it ‘Krung thep….’ but Bangkok is certainly one of the naughtiest cities in the world, with thousands of Bangkok bar girls who work in the city’s various ‘red light’ districts. Yes, it is an unquestionable fact that many men pencil in a stop to Bangkok on their calendars specifically so that they can have some fun and you needn’t look to far or empty your wallet too much to enjoy a steamy night out (or in). Bangkok bar girls are famous for their sex appeal, friendly and fun nature and easy approach. Unlike other red light districts in the world, Bangkok is very relaxed and it’s bar girls very welcoming. This is an introductory guide
Bangkok bar girls — who are they?
There are always plenty of girls for you to buy a drink
The overwhelming majority of Bangkok bar girls come from Isaan, the Northeast region of Thailand, they come from poor rural areas where job opportunities are low paying, they move to Bangkok and join the bar girls scene as a way of earning more money. With their dark complexion, sultry looks and sexy bodies they are almost certainly a hit with the foreign men and whole generations of girls from Isaan and other working class areas have been following a well worn path here for financial improvement.
The bar scene holds an added appeal for these women as most do not have an education beyond the sixth grade level. Some of these bar girls also have fatherless children and extended families to support – others might have a layabout boyfriend at home who they support financially.
Some do this out of a feeling that they are saving these girls from a hard life, regardless bar girls are often looking for a foreign boyfriend, so the two ends meet. Even as a visitor, don’t ever imagine that your girl thinks of you as special. She might be attracted to you and find you far more fun and generous and caring than the rest, but the moment you leave she’ll be back in the bar working, even if you send her money and she promises to spend her time at language school.
The opportunities for them are just too good to pass up, besides the bar scene is often the only place in Bangkok that they feel comfortable. Of course there exceptions to the rule and you may meet a sweet girl who has just started or really doesn’t want to be there, and was just waiting for someone, anyone, to come along and take her out of there. But these are few and as a newcomer you are unlikely to see through any deception.
While the vast majority of Bangkok bar girls fall under this category, the bar girl scene is so vast and densely populated that it includes women from all parts of the country as women of different educational and economic backgrounds. In fact as Bangkok becomes increasingly modernised, it is far from unheard of for female university students to work in the bar scene in order to have the funds required to purchase the latest in mobile phone technology and brand name clothes.
Lady drinks
Sit down at a bar and begin chatting up Bangkok bar girls and soon the request will come for you to buy a drink. This is the infamous Bangkok bar girl ‘lady drink’, and it is one way to pay the rent if you insist on just chatting without taking one of them home. Lady drinks are usually a set price (more expensive than your drink but not unreasonable – about 120 baht) and they are often watered down to prevent the girls getting too drunk. Remember, Thais have a lower alcohol tolerance, but if you want to get her ‘softened up’ then order her a beer. The girls are pretty forward and suggestive from the start and you may end up being immediately talked into buying a drink right away for a girl other than the one you might have your eye on. For sure, they wont allow you to sit more than 10 minutes without buying a drink. Buy one for yourself and not a girl then they will think you are ‘kii nieow’ (stingy) and leave you alone.
Bar fines
Now for the bar fines! When you’ve decided to take a girl out the bar with you, you will have to pay a ‘bar fine’. These vary from 200 to 500 baht and can be quite a rip off. It’s useful to know what the bar fine is before you start spending money on drinks. The more commercial and obvious the place the more the bar fine. Up market places tend to charge more. This fee is separate from anything you later agree with girl, though you can usually bash her down in price if the bar fine has been excessive (she gets some of it anyway). The ‘fine’ is added to your bill and you usually pay the girl. All of this is controlled by the ‘mamasan’ – who is vaguely equivalent to a pimp but serves a bigger function of taking care of the girls (often they all live together on the premises), acting like a bigger sister and wearing the big boots in the place. Mamasans are often ladyboys or retired bar girls.
The bangkok bar girl scene is nothing more than a huge financial osmosis which draws vast amounts of money out of the wallets of us flush farangs and into the needy pockets of thousands of sweet, deceptive players who can often be ruthless and without conscience. If you want to play, then keep this in the back of your mind the whole time.
Travellers footage: The gauntlet of girlie bars
It’s not surprising that the bar girl scene in Bangkok is popular among expats and tourists with its ready supply of beautiful women Thai girls. The scene is loose, unrestricted and at times a wild party atmosphere. Most bangkok bar girls speak enough English to get by. Of course, many ‘farang’ men living in Bangkok have a great time with this and some are even stupid enough to fall in love with a bar girl. Some do this out of a feeling that they are saving these girls from a hard life, regardless bar girls are often looking for a foreign boyfriend, so the two ends meet. Even as a visitor, don’t ever imagine that your girl thinks of you as special. She might be attracted to you and find you far more fun and generous and caring than the rest, but the moment you leave she’ll be back in the bar working, even if you send her money and she promises to spend her time at language school. The opportunities for them are just too good to pass up, besides the bar scene is often the only place in Bangkok that they feel comfortable. Of course there exceptions to the rule and you may meet a sweet girl who has just started or really doesn’t want to be there, and was just waiting for someone, anyone, to come along and take her out of there. But these are few and as a newcomer you are unlikely to see through any deception.
While there have been cases of foreigners wedding a bar girl and the relationship actually being a success over the long-term, this is generally not the case. Most relationships between foreigners and bar girls fail for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the massive gulf in terms of culture, economic status, and earning power.
Choosing to enter the bar girl scene for a Thai women represents a choice that clearly breaks from what is accepted in Thai society and as such, women in this scene, in some but not all cases, may not hold too high a standard in terms of honesty etc. Add to this the fact that the girls’ friends are likely all in the bar circle, and the odds thin out even further when it comes to dating success with a bar girl. Enjoy their company, have a laugh, pay them money, but in most cases it is inadvisable to start a relationship with Bangkok bar girls. As the popular saying goes; ‘you can take the girl out of the bar but you can never take the bar out of the girl’.
Bangkok Go-Go Bars
Bikini-clad dancing girls, over-the-top ladyboys and lewd, eye-popping shows...
Yes, the Go-Go bars that earned Bangkok its worldwide notoriety are still alive and letting it all hang out. For better or worse, Bangkok's illustrious 'After Dark' reputation owes much to these shady fleshpots.
The first area that springs to mind is Patpong - virtually an international byword for sleaze, sex and sordid night-time escapades. Nowadays, having become part of a wider entertainment scene that includes the popular Patpong Night Market, bars, nightclubs and a gay area, it isn't the aggressive red-light district it once was. Open-minded visitors, lured in by hard-selling touts and their curiosity, treat the infamous upstairs shows like a circus freak-show, coming in for a quick look at the inventive performances, a giggle and a couple of vastly overpriced drinks before heading off to continue their shopping or hit a nearby club (these performances are also dubbed 'ping-pong shows', and a lot of imagination isn't needed to guess the origins of this phrase.)
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Don't be fooled though. For flesh-seeking aficionados, seedier locales still abound in Bangkok. These are found predominantly at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, red light districts both situated on lower Sukhumvit Road. Depending on the current level of police interference, both offer explicit shows featuring girls in various stages of undress; usually uniforms, bikinis or pretty much nothing bar a coy smile and a dash of Burberry Weekend. Nana even has its own on-site 'guesthouse' for clients.
Patpong, Bangkok
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These girls are not dressed the same way as most of the girls that you will see in the bars or go-gos. They are in nice evening dresses and the great majority of them look as if they've had their make up applied by a professional beautician.