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Bangkok is one of
those places where at the moment the day slowly progresses to the night you
still have enough to see as long as you are not tired. The scenic spots, the
palaces and temples, are best visited during the day, but at night, Bangkok takes
on a whole different face. Parties, night markets, nightclubs, street food and unique
shows come to life luring the visitors to experience the night in the city.
Street shopping by day
is exciting despite the heat of the sun in this city, but as the day cools down
in the evening, the night markets opened up like blooming night flowers
offering so much more than the day markets, clothes, shoes, handicrafts, fake
designer goods, accessories, beachwear, souvenirs and of course snack and
drink. In the narrow alleyway brightly lighted with portable neon, you can see
row upon row of stalls lining the street markets. Colorful goods are displayed
on the stalls as attractive as possible, and energic vendors raise their voices
to promote their goods. When buying, don’t forget to bargain, generally you can
get a merchandise somewhere between 25% and 50% cheaper than the first price offered
by the vendor. So don’t hesitate to bargain and bring home some memorable
souvenirs from here.
Many of busiest night
markets are located alongside the popular red-light district, such as the Silom
Night market. It is in the middle of the Patpong district, a famous red light featured
in the movie The Deer Hunter and in James Bond Goldfinger movie. Patpong is two
parallel side streets, between Silom and Surawongse Roads, occupied with shady strip
bars offering adult shows and pole dancing. As the evening turns into night
those bars come alive with the start of loud dancing music. You can see through
the open doors the girls started gyrating at the poles and dancing, under
violet neon lights. The loud voices of the street vendors are replaced with the
whispering touts offering everything from “ping pong show” to “massage”.
Undoubtedly the face
of this Patpong contributes to the name of Bangkok as the Sin City. Prostitution
may take place in many places in Bangkok, massage parlours, restaurants,
saunas, karaoke, go-go bars or beer bars. The names to the bars are so bold,
such as Pussy Collection, Super Pussy, Pink Pussy… hard to miss. The original “discreet”
or “underground” nightlife in Patpong doesn’t seem to exists anymore. The go-go
bars at the backdrop of the night market even became a tourist attraction.
So what happened to
the face of Bangkok which name means City of Angels, where orange robed monks
wander the streets in the early mornings with a bowl in their
hands, where mothers since more
than 2,500 years ago have been cooking meals to give to the monks, where there are thousands of temples inside the
city, and there are altars in every crowded corner of the city to placate the
spirits….?
Does Thai Buddhism tolerate
such widely spread prostitution by not correcting the attitudes toward women
whom are regarded as inferior and even dangerous to men, or does the religion
contribute to the view that women are viewed as inherently impure and therefore
not eligible for enlightenment, and are thus locked into degraded positions
ranging from sex trade laborers to nuns as a means to generate merit for
themselves and their family?
Although Buddhism has
played a significant role in shaping law, cultural frameworks and social life
in the kingdom of Thailand, I think many factors contribute to the wide spread
prostitution, let’s say the World War 2, the Vietnam War, the poverty in the
country where prostitutes can get 10 times more than the minimum wage, and not
to mention the corruptions, the lack of law enforcement, and the Mafia that is also involved in the political parties.
Despite the wide
spread prostitution here, it is actually prohibited under Thai law. But karaoke
bars, go-go bars and massage parlours can be registered as normal, legal
businesses. Police usually treat the prostitution at such premises as an
exchange between the prostitute and the client, an exchange to which the owner
of the business was not a party. So in
practice it is tolerated, sometimes because local officials have financial
interests in the prostitution. Some corrupt Thai authorities may turn a blind
eye on this USD 6 billion industry, involving some 2 million women in Thailand.
THE END
Sources:
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2474&context=etd
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