Summer '06 Trip Post #2

Day 2: Thursday, June 29 – Bangkok

As a stepped outside into the thick and humid smoke filled air I felt like I had arrived in the infamous Bangkok. With sweat pouring down my back and forcing myself through the hordes of Thais pushing taxi services, I got in a metered taxi and headed to the “Mandarin” hotel as instructed by Drew. The taxi driver was nice and talkative like all the Thais I would soon come across. He was so nice that he even began to show me his stacks of brochures for “massages” and other gratuitous shows that Bangkok has become so notorious for providing to foreigners, beginning with the soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War.

The taxi took me to the “Mandarin Hotel” as I instructed, only for me to figure out that I was staying instead at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a completely different and much nicer hotel. Once the confusion was cleared I arrived at the proper hotel and met up with Drew. We took to the town and walked to the largest building in Bangkok and had drinks and dinner on the top terrace overlooking the city. A few dirty martinis later and we were off in a tok tok to the infamous Patpong Road. Tok tok are three wheeled motorcycles that race through the streets at break neck speed and you hold on for dear life. The driver was persistent in not taking us to our destination but what seemed like every “massage pallor” and go-go room he could find. After finally convincing him to stop on the main road we exited the tok tok and embarked on the Patpong area. This area has the endearing superlative of being the “most famous red light district in the world” and let me tell you it was like nothing Drew and I had ever seen before. The street was lined with bars filled with scantily clad women dancing on runways with numbers pinned to them, to easily identify a woman of interest. It was unbelievable the number of women and bars along this road, where did all these women come from. Unfortunately, as it has been more publicized as of late, a lot of the women are held to these bars against their own well and are being trafficked for sex slavery and sex tourism.

The other interesting piece to note was when Drew and I sat down for a beer at one of these places to say we “did it,” I befriended a German man next to me who seemed to frequent the establishment. He gave me the low down on the place and what the women were trying to do and also informed me that at least 60% of the women on stage were actually MEN. Yes, that is right, I could not believe it and had not noticed. Of course many people warned me against the “lady men” but I had no idea how well they transformed themselves, full body part operation and all. It was quite shocking. We soon finished our beers and left for a more normal disco, if there is such thing in Bangkok. We eventually found our way back to the hotel and all was well.