Although sex-change operations are common in the United States, they are unfortunately far from being accepted by the general public. Not so in Thailand. While I was with Suzanne in Railay we got onto the subject. As it turns out, one of her boyfriend’s classmates from school is now a woman. When she asked him how he felt about it (you know us Americans…all about “feelings”) he just shrugged his shoulders and said “He was a boy, now he’s a girl.” It was like that all over the village – no one gave it a second thought.
Being good travelers and trying to see every “side” of the country we went for a stroll around the red light district in Bangkok – after learning more about lady boys I was interested to see the other side…prostitution. We first went to Cowboy Soi (soi referring to a city block). It was a rather small street lined with go-go bars. The girls working would stand outside in matching outfits (bikinis or short skirts) and beckon the passerby inside. Some even had themes, i.e. the girls working at the bar ‘Skool’ sported schoolgirl outfits reminiscent of the early career of Britney Spears. One of the bars is owned by an American who comes up with his own slogans…
We then headed to Nana Plaza, where we found ourselves in a go-go mall - three levels of bars with flashing lights and scantily clad employees. We decided to go inside a bar and check it out. We walked through a dark curtain and were immediately met by the hostess who made it very clear that we had to buy at least one drink. There were two stages in the room with seating all around and tables skirting the walls. We sat at the stage. The stages had 15-20 poles and to each was attached a Thai woman. They weren’t dancing like strippers but were merely swaying side to side. They wore matching bikinis and knee-high boots, although some chose to wear their birthday suits. Most importantly, they all had numbered buttons.
How it works: 1. Tell the waitress the number of the girl you like 2. Buy the girl a drink and talk to her 3. Either continue buying drinks, pick another girl or leave the bar 4. If you stayed, negotiate terms with the girl. Sorry to take the romance out of it…but that’s the way it is.
This was going on all around us as we left the bar and it finally clicked. Over my time in Thailand, I had noticed a number of couples made up of an older Caucasian male and much younger Thai woman. And I realized that they weren’t really couples at all – men, either on vacation or a business trip, could buy themselves a girlfriend for their time in Bangkok. It is believed the popular saying “me love you long time” refers to the girls of the red light district. With a “short time” being a few hours or less, a “long time” would be considered overnight – giving the girls a chance to sneak out and make more money. I don’t know if it’s true, but it makes sense…broken English and all.
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