First of all, the 1984 song One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head was actually composed for a musical called Chess about a T.V. commentator who was in Bangkok to announce a chess tournament. The video is interesting as it does not appear to actually feature any Thai people or any scenes in Thailand. Then again is was the mid 1980s. This blog entry has nothing to do with chess, or the 1980s. It's about a walk I took through the Sukhumvit Area of Bangkok around midnight one night this week.
Sukhumvit Road is one of the main drags through Bangkok and actually runs over 200 miles from the city along the coast almost to the Cambodian border. In Bangkok, Sukhumvit Road is a business and tourist center, a residential area, borders several red light districts and night markets, and features five star hotels and some of the seediest hotels in Asia. The interesting thing is that all of these features can be found within 10 blocks of each other making this a prime spot for people watching and a nice midnight walk.
Sukhumvit Road around midnight on a Wednesday
Even at midnight, the traffic on Sukhumvit Road is very heavy. The raised structure above the road is the BTS Skytrain which is an elevated train system that runs throughout the city. One the far side of the road, you can see the canvas backs of the street vendor stalls and some upscale hotels in the distance. Along the sides of Sukhumvit Road are small Sois (Thai word for sidestreets). The sois are full of hotels, restaurants, apartment buildings, massage parlors, and more street vendors.
Tailor shop selling custom made suits and shirts
One of the most ubiquitous sights you see on Sukhumvit Road are dozens of tailor shops staffed by South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, etc). The shops sell custom-made suits and shirts of varying quality. You can get a couple of suits and shirts for less than a $200. If you know a good place to go, you can get some great deals (or you can end up with a total piece of junk).
A street vendor selling durian fruit on Soi 4
Street vendors sell all manners of food along Sukhumvit Road and the sois. Durians are huge prickly fruits about the same size as a medium watermelon. They have a pungent odor and are banned from many hotels, airports, and other establishments in Thailand. Here, a lady is buying sliced durian along Soi 4 after midnight.
A small restaurant on Soi 8
Down the sois on either side of Sukhumvit Road are hundreds of "hole in the wall" type places where you can get outstanding freshly cooked Thai food. Many have tables and chairs out front (sometimes in the actual street) where you can eat.
Ronald McDonald giving a Wai or traditional Thai greeting
For more modern cuisine, there are two McDonalds on Sukhumvit Road along a two-block stretch between Soi 2 and Soi 4 on either side of the J.W. Marriott Hotel. One of Bangkok's most notorious red light areas, Nana Plaza, is just behind the Marriott on Soi 4.
Street vendor selling fresh fish
One of my favorite sights are insect vendors which can be found along the sois, especially in the red light areas. Locals and tourists alike seem to enjoy eating the insects. These vendors sell fried crickets and many other types of cooked and raw insects which people generally eat with soy sauce. As I was snapping some pictures of one such vendor, an American guy and his sister walked up and he asked her if she dared him to eat one very large green bug. I didn't wait for a response and instead I dared him. He at the bug with some soy sauce. Very impressive.
Cart full of insects. Notice bottle of soy sauce in the center!
The large green bug that the American guy ate! The vendor took its back off first...
Prepping the green bug for consumption! He ate it too!!
In addition to being a heavily trafficked street, Sukhumvit Road is also home to many beggars and homeless people including numerous women with young children. It is actually very sad, especially to see woman sleeping with babies on pieces of cardboard box on the sidewalk.
A man with leprosy begging on the sidewalk (I gave him 20 Baht)
Adjacent to the red light areas (Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy) you can find street vendors selling a rich variety of sex toys as well as counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills as well as oral jellies that apparently do the same thing. Other than Cuban cigars, male performance enhancers are one of the most counterfeited items in the world. I don't know about you, but I certainly would not want to take fake or altered drugs that affect my circulation and heart!
Table of sex toys and counterfeit male enhancement drugs!
Located on Soi 4, the Nana Entertainment Plaza is one of the three major red light areas in Bangkok. The Plaza is a horseshoe shaped building with three floors of go go bars. Four or five of the bars are dedicated to Khatoeys (ladyboys) and their fans. There are outdoor bars on the ground floor and even a small Buddhist stupa.
The entry to Nana Plaza on Soi 4
Three floors of go go bars in Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza is exclusively frequented by tourists (mostly male) from the U.S., Europe, and Australia. The dancers in the go go bars can all be taken out for the night by paying a fine to the manager of their bar. Whatever else happens between the customers and dancers is between them. I was not quite confident enough with my camera to get any good pictures of the typical sex tourists that frequent these areas but may try to do so on a future trip. The red light areas are also tourist attractions and it is not unusual to see Western couples, and even families, walking through and taking pictures. Very interesting.
Believe it or not there is a Buddhist shrine in the middle of the Plaza!
Some of the go go bars in Nana Plaza
In Thailand, transsexuals (or transgendered people) are more commonly accepted than in the West and can be seen on T.V. shows, modeling competitions, and in everyday life. While they are more readily accepted, they by no means live an easy life and are almost certainly treated poorly by many including their own families. In Thailand, they are referred to (mostly affectionately) as ladyboys. Nana Plaza has several go go bars with ladyboy shows and there are also numerous bars and restaurants along Sukhumvit Road that are fully staffed by these individuals.
A very friendly Nana Plaza regular gladly posed for this picture
There must be thousands of massage parlors in Bangkok and traditional Thai massage is an important part of the culture. Unlike soothing massages with oil, Thai massages are given to customers wearing clothes and consist of heavy stretching and manipulating of the legs, arms, neck and back. Basically, during the course of the massage, every joint in your body is cracked. Massage parlors are located on every street and in all hotels. The vast majority of these establishments are legitimate with a smaller number providing "extra services".
Massage technicians eating a huge pot of clams!
Traffic in Bangkok is so heavy that a motor scooter is the most efficient way of getting around most of the time. It is not unusual to see several people on one scooter or to see a scooter being used to haul large amounts of materials.
A couple sharing a motor scooter with all of their purchases!
