These Days In Bangkok & Pattaya
For whatever it is worth, here are my thoughts on the present situation of the sex scene of Thailand. I write as someone who has been visiting the country regularly since 1993. These are my notes from my last visit in October 2022.
There used to be 3 reasons to go to Thailand as a single man: 1) The low prices. 2) The natural beauty of the women. 3) The charm and sense of diplomacy of the Thai people.
The prices are still low, just not so much. Thailand is no longer a bargain, just less expensive.
The natural beauty of the women is under attack by surgical means, and their skin (which used to be sweetly olive) is now artificially pale and bombed with tattoos.
The Thai charm is being replaced by hard core cunning and rip-off mentality.
And there goes the three primary reasons to go to Thailand as a sex tourist.
To my mind, all of these plastic surgery twisted faces reveal a deep crisis in the soul of the Thai people, a desperate feeling of being wrong, imperfect, ugly, failed and disposable. Not good enough. It is a national and general crisis concerning more than the individual. The great number of surgically modified faces and the scope of the modifications – from chin to eyebrow and everything in between – expose a disturbance in society’s sense of what it means to be human. It lays bare a deep pain in the heart of the Thai people.
Blondie gogo bar in Nana Plaza has red-golden light on 5 dancers, quite beautiful but all of them with horribly operated faces. The reddish light inadvertently revealed the incision scars by the corners of eyes and mouths. They were (almost) tattoo-free and wore black lingerie. The style of the establishment is ‘luxury brothel’ but there is no charm, no life. The dancers seem to be between 30 and 40 years of age, and they move like machines.
At Spanky’s the dancers were topless, something I haven’t seen in Bangkok for many years. Boobs however are made of plastic in this place, some of them quite grotesque. The whole show was stiff and pretentious. Where are the teenage amateur charmers of old? Sex robots are not needed here. The humans have replaced them.
Tahitian Queen claims to be the oldest gogo bar in Pattaya. It opened in 1978. And yes, it has the same feel as in the days of old, narrow space, seats close to the podium with dancers. But the business model is very much 2022. I found myself between two women, ageing fat Soda with far too many tattoos on her back, and somewhat younger Nun with the sweet smile and no tattoos. We kissed while both of them touched my genitals, like the good old days. Modern times revealed themselves when I enquired about the conditions of a barfine. 300 baht for the barfine itself, 2000 for lady and only short time in the room there in the bar. In other words: short time has become a quickie at Copenhagen prices. Sorry, Nun, I shall not meet you in a hasty session with no warmth, no charm and no soul in spite of your unspoiled face, fine skin and your friendly nature. Not under conditions as laid down by you in my ear under thunderous rock music from the loudspeakers.
An hour spent in an easy chair at the corner of New Star bar with a view to Walking Street gave me time to ponder the merciless parade of souls passing by. Yes, you do see the occasional classic couple, young Thai girl with tall Western man (or Indian or Korean) but they are the rare exception. Men walk by alone in the flickering neon light and noisy rock music, groups of Thai girls move by in uniforms of the gogo bars, a few married couples, small groups of male friends walk together talking to each other, but loneliness and isolation is the norm. It is tragic to see all those single elderly men walking though bar lined streets, unescorted, searching for the human touch, which they are being cheated of after having spent far too much money, ghosts seeking what used to be, the girlfriend experience that Thai women delivered to outlived and damaged men from Western lands in the near past. The dream is over, boys. It is irreversibly over, no matter how beautiful it was.
At least I dare say: if this trend in the direction of rip-off and cold, facially operated women continues, it will be the death of the legendary sex scene of Thailand. Sooner or later, sex tourists will prefer to stay away for the simple reason that they may as well stay away.
The author of this article cannot be contacted.
