Stickman on "Changes in Bangkok Nightlife"

[Wallenda]

Why? Yes that is the question. Do you have the answer or just more questions?

 

I do.

 

Why?

 

 

[Wallenda]

To me it seems like a lot of these changes couold be due to the scene growing (more girls, more customers)... can old-timers guesstimate by what % it's grown since, say, 1990-1995? And with growth comes development, and part of that being development of a subculture with accumulated knowledge and rules. It's a business, and it's becoming more efficient.

[Drronin]

"can old-timers guesstimate by what % it's grown since, say, 1990-1995? "

 

It's really hard to say - I tend to think that it may have shrunk since then by quite a bit. Trouble is there are so many types of venues now and I am really only knowledgable of the freelancer and go-go scene. I think lots of girls - esp. the better looking ones have moved into high-end/coyotee clubs that I can't afford. And I don't go to massage parlors so no idea about those.

 

The freelancer scene for sure is probably 1/5 what it used to be when the Grace Hotel, Thermae, Nana Disco, Beer Garden were overflowing with girls - many of them young and very pretty. As to the go-go bars - not sure - there are the same main 3 areas - Patpong used to have many many more girls than it does now, Nana probably fewer now, same with Soi Cowboy. There used to a number of other small areas of girls but those were all shut down over the years.

 

But the main reason why I think there are probably a lot fewer girls now is a simple one. My experience now is that of the girls I talk to 95% of them are from Issan. Back in the early 90s girls came from all over Thailand - lots from Chiang Mai and from the south, from Bangkok. I just think there is a much smaller pool to draw from and when the day comes when Issan's economy reaches the level of the rest of the country - due mainly to tourist dollars to girls - then I wonder if this supply will dry up as well.

[Gadfly]

You know the question already, but I will spell it out anyway: why are some defensive when almost anything negative is said about any aspect of Thailand?

 

There are pros and cons to everything in life, and Thailand is no exception. Stickman got a great deal of crap for writing about some of the negatives of Thailand. It was mistaken for "Thai bashing", whatever that is. (I also don't like the term "Thai apologists" - it's all really much more interesting to talk about and question the specifics, which Stickman is doing now.)

 

My guess is that Stickman started to talk more about the negatives for the simple reason that they are more interesting. Pick up any newspaper and you will see that good news hardly makes news. How much can you really say about the bars and BGs here without getting into subjects that don't exactly cast Thailand in a perfect light?

 

We've seen phony attempts at this, but I am always curious to hear genuine BG comments about Farangs. They don't post on the internet (if they do, let me know where?), but I sometimes read and explain posts on this board to BGs. They don't seem to find any of the more extreme posts unbelievable. They don't like negative posts about their bar (bad for business), but they are pretty generally reasonable and level headed when it comes to some of the criticism you seen on Stick's and this site about parts of Thai bar culture.

[cavanami]

IMO, Stick does OK.

He walks the line and reports it as it is.

 

ey, we all have a bias and look at things subjectively, so Stick doesn't walk on water any more then "you" do.

[chuckwoww]

"Why are some defensive when almost anything negative is said about any aspect of Thailand?"

 

I think you know why. There are 'some' who identify strongly with Thai culture for some reason. They may even think they belong in Thailand. Obviously there are 'some' who are so deluded they see themselves as honorary Thais. They take any negative comments about Thailand personally.

 

As for Stick's comments about the deteriorating nightlife I tend to agree with most of them. I'd actually date the decline somewhat earlier. His own site may have contributed.

 

The 70s and 80s were the best time IMO. It sounds silly but Thai nightlife then actually had a kind of innocence. Still I'm sure there are people who've just discovered Thai nightlife and think they've died and gone to heaven.

[Flashermac]

Yup. In the 1970s most BGs sort of got into the trade by accident and there were far fewer of them. It wasn't unusual for a "friend of the evening" to stay with you until she had to go to work the next day - and not expect any money for staying. It is much more business-like nowadays. Then again Bangkok had only about 2 million people in the 1970s, and the entire country numbered only 38 million. It is a very different country in almost every way, and one cannot turn back the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

[chuckwoww]

Not so many nutters either. It was more the gentleman adventurer type in those days.

[kamui]

Not so many nutters either. It was more the gentleman adventurer type in those days.

 

But you were there, right?

:content:

[Flashermac]

No football hooligans anyway ... plus nobody much died in Pattaya!

 

First gal I picked up from the Thermae (May 1973) took me to her home. Ekamai was an area of wooden houses and was an Isaan neighbourhood. Her neighbours waved and welcomed me.

 

Wonder what happened to her. She was a waitress from Ubon and new to Bangkok. Her friends talked her into going to the Thermae. I went home with her four times. Good God, she must be in her 50s now. Time to stop thinking about the past.