Shut Down by the Boys in Brown

Soi Cowboy on Friday night

If you’ve ever spent much time at all in Bangkok go go bars or other nightlife venues then you know how it happens. One minute the music is blaring, the girls are dancing and whiskey and beer are being served. Then, without warning, the fluorescent bulb flickers to life, the music stops and all the girls scurry off the stage. Within a minute or two the waitress comes up with your bill, mumbling “Sorry, police come… have to close now.”

I’ve been reading on the internet for the past week that the police have been strictly enforcing 1 a.m. closing times, but I’ve been working early every day so I hadn’t really experienced it.

For the past year or more (it seems to have happened after the coup got rid of Thaksin) closing times had been allowed to creep later and later. In recent months it wasn’t unusual to stay out until 2:30 or 3 a.m. in a ‘regular’ bar, and the after-hours venues were staying open until sunrise and beyond.

It may just be coincidental that the police crackdown on closing times has come two months after the PPP has taken control of the government, but when I was in Midnite Bar on Soi Cowboy last night, the close order came on the stroke of 1:00 a.m. After the past year — in spite of the warnings I’d been reading on the internet — it came as quite a shock.

The Police made their presence felt last night

When I was on holiday in 2005, and when I first moved here in that year, the 1 a.m. closing time was pretty strictly enforced. I often felt lucky if the boys in brown didn’t show up until 1:30 or later and the bar was able to continue serving. I guess I accepted it without complaint because I knew it was the law.

But for those who remembered Thailand as the land of the 24-hour party in years past, it seems to have the feeling of betrayal. Now that I’ve had a year of sampling the 3 a.m./sunrise closes it feels constraining to me as well.

The constant theme among internet commenters has been the confusion about what the government aims to accomplish. The goal of the earlier closing time may be to simply make Thailand a less attractive place for the pay-for-play tourist. If so, it’s probably a good move, as those men will simply opt for the Philippines, or other places where the party can go on and on.

Many people argue that Thailand doesn’t want to lose the income from the P4P tourists. I’m not as convinced. The approach on offer seems to discourage the P4P scene, while not banning it completely. It’s arguable that those in power are trying to wean Thailand off of the P4P tourists somewhat painlessly when looked at as a macroeconomic event.

I have no idea as to the actual motivations or forces at work. I’ve said before, I’m no Bangkok insider; I’m just a guy who lives here. I leave the real speculation and explanations to those who really know things. I’m just an interested observer sharing observations on daily life in the Big Mango.

My observation today is this: the boys in brown were serious last night… a lot more serious than I’ve seen them in months and years past. It looks like someone, somewhere who has a lot of grunt is sending a message.

Soi Cowboy at 1:15 a.m. on Friday night

Okay, so here are some other observations on this earlier closing time. First of all, I was reminded of why there’s an element of fun in it. I saw the scene that I remembered from 05/06 where punters, dancers, mamasans and servers all pour into one small street at an early hour. The food vendors are set up for the mad rush, as the girls start grabbing some food to take home. Mobile phones are everywhere as people start finding a way to make a different kind of connection. Desperate punters are anxiously eying the girls in hopes of making a last minute connection, but the girls, for the most part, have their minds somewhere else.

A lot of the girls will simply move to an after-hours bar if they can find one that hasn’t been closed. Many will go work the street somewhere. In that respect, the early closing policy probably backfires in the short term, as it moves prostitution from it’s controlled environment into less controlled spaces.

Personally, I decided to see if things had changed on the corner of Asok and Sukhumvit Road… if the illegal outdoor bars had been forced to close as well. I can reliably report that they haven’t. Forty meters away from Soi Cowboy and it’s small army of policemen, stretched along the road in front the MRT station and around the corner there are several small open air bars with tables, chairs, stools and service girls open and operating in flagrant violation of the law. (I tried to get a photo, but my batteries had given up and wouldn’t give me a flash… I have four photos of a black night).

I got ‘tackled’ by one girl as I tried to walk past, and she convinced me to sit down and drink a beer. Quickly getting bored, I finished my beer in just a few minutes, paid the 80 baht bill and started walking back towards Cowboy thinking that I’d grab some food and then a taxi.

I never made it. For a reason I can’t remember, I sat down at the outdoor bar immediately in front of the MRT station. I opened one more bottle of beer, and made friendly with the girls. I finally became attached to one of them named Lek, and we decided to go home together.

As it turned out, she and I live in the same building. We started to head to the taxi and ran full on into the boring girl who had tackled me earlier. She gave me a dirty look, but it turned out that the two girls were friends so all was quickly forgiven.

Lek doesn’t have a very pretty face, and seeing her in the harsh morning light this morning I would estimate her age to be early thirties, but she had a hot little spinner’s body. She was about 149 cm and 39 kilos. She had a great ass, perky tits with tiny pointed nipples and smooth skin. She also had a great attitude.

We got back to my place and I got her legs pried open in spite of her protest that she wanted me to take a shower first. Given that I’d left for work about 20 hours earlier and that I’d been sweating like a pig for the better part of the day this was a more than reasonable request, but I was in the mood to plow some field and not patient enough for a shower, so I dived in stinky.

I did take a shower after that, then had my way with her one more time before going to sleep. Around 7 a.m. she started cuddling up next to me… she seemed keen to have me fill her up again, so I obliged. Number three went quickly, which is unusual, and Lek cuddled and chatted with me for ten or fifteen minutes, then suggested that since it was 8 a.m. she thought that she’d go up to her room to sleep. That sounded good to me too.

After she left I turned off my mobile phone to avoid interruptions, and went back to sleep. I managed to snooze until half past one… probably the first time I’ve ever slept past noon in Thailand. I woke up feeling good.

My night started early on Friday, with the first stop being Finnegan’s Irish Pub on Soi 4 to meet the Dude. It was my first time in the place. It’s fairly small, and the beer was priced above market in my opinion. The main bartender was a loud and annoying girl who seemed popular with the regulars who were fairly well packed into the place. I had one pint and was anxious to leave. I paid my check, and got my first good look at the service girl, who was tall, slender and pretty. I almost changed my mind about leaving, but I’d been bitching to the Dude for 20 minutes about getting out of the place and he had complied, so there was no way I could reverse field now. I may go back another day to this small smoky bar just to get another run at the nameless waitress.

We moved all the way over to Patpong to check out the happy hour at Club Electric Blue. For the first time I can remember there wasn’t a single girl in the lineup that appealed to me. Scot, an acquaintance of mine and a friend of the Dude’s, joined us. We had a couple of beers and lots of free popcorn before relocating to the next go go.

That was the Thigh Bar. The 60 baht bottles of beer are an appealing attraction at the Thigh Bar, and I’ve had two memorable bar fines from there, so I usually check it out whenever I’m in Patpong. Last night I didn’t see anyone who appealed to me, but the Dude, just coming off a heart-rending breakup with his girlfriend of two years, had his eye on the talent. There was a girl dancing onstage who looked very young and had a bum that was so substantial you could build a condo on it. The Dude was smitten, but no amount of encouragement from me could get him to buy her a drink or talk to her; he said he was happy just to watch her dance.

When she left the stage we paid our bill and went over to the Kiss Bar. I’d had a big night there last time I was in Patpong, and I remembered both the bar and a girl in it quite fondly, so I offered to shout one round there for the boys. We got inside and I remembered why I like the go go so much. The DJ there plays an interesting mix of music that is more rock & roll than dance music, and is perfectly in tune with my musical tastes. The first song he played when we walked in was from the Rolling Stones.

My girl was onstage, and when she finished dancing she came over and sat with me. She remembered me. I bought her a drink and was again captivated by her playful eyes and mischievous smile whch I recognized from my previous visit. I offered to barfine her and take her out dancing. She seemed interested and asked where we would go. I was keen to see all the clubs on Rachada Soi 8, so I offered to take her there. She wasn’t interested, so when she went back dancing onstage I turned my attention back to my friends.

We moved across Silom Road to Molly Malone’s Irish Pub (my second Irish Pub of the night) where the boys had another beer, but I stuck to water. The Dude and I shared a basket of Fish Fingers which were hot, fresh, delicious and generously portioned. We discussed whether to battle on or go home.

The decision was to battle on for a bit longer. We went to the Pent Club, where we stationed ourselves in the front room to watch the Thai entertainment. I’d been in the on Thursday night last week, and I’d met a new girl who had just started working there. I spotted her last night, said hello and called her by name. She seemed genuinely surprised and pleased that I remembered her name. We chatted for a moment but she said she had a customer and had to move on.

The front room wasn’t really holding anyone’s interest, and neither of the boys wanted to go to the disco so after two drinks we packed up and left. I took a taxi with the Dude, hopping out at Soi Cowboy as he continued on for home. My first stop was Rawhide.

I had one beer, but I was starting to get weary and it seemed like all the beautiful and sexy girls had already been barfined. I paid for my beer and decided to go to Midnite Bar. I know a girl who works there, and I thought I was in the mood to taste her delights tonight. I sat down, and a waitress who knows me well came over to say hello and take my order. She said that the girl I was looking for doesn’t work at the bar anymore, but was vague when I asked where she’d gone.

I ordered a beer and was just settling in to find out if any of the girls on stage appealed to me when without warning, the fluorescent bulb flickered to life, the music stopped and all the girls scurried off the stage. Within a minute or two the waitress came up with my bill, mumbling “Sorry, police come… have to close now.”