On a belated honeymoon, my husband and I found ourselves in Bangkok, sweating. The only way I could survive was to braid my hair into a crown, Frida Kahlo-style, to get every strand as far as possible from the back of my neck. But alas, we were young and for once had some money, so we figured we might as well get some Thai massages, see some elephants, and hit the Red Light District to see what we could find.
When in Bangkok? Our night started with a slight stroll down what we were told were the main streets of Patpong. We attempted to get drinks anywhere, but were turned away at the door for not being Japanese businessmen.
There were steakhouses and karaoke bars, all of which told me No Entry. Do I look that American? Groups of ladies sat lazily on street corners, in plastic chairs filing their nails and engaging in gossip. As an outsider, nothing looked too out of the ordinary. We eventually settled at a gay bar, where naturally my husband was hit on more times in one hour than I was during our entire trip. After a few Red Bull vodkas to cure our jet lag, we started out again.
This time, we found the lower class bars which wanted our American dollars. The first had a Muy Thai boxing match starting in 5 minutes.
Why not? We slid into a small booth, which had a table with a stripper pole through the middle. What was I expecting? During the match, a man behind me grasped onto a giggling stripper while groping her breasts. We thought it hilarious, but all in all, was it? Muy Thai is actually very exciting, but after a 10 minute match, the place turned back into a strip club with over 30 women standing on tables throughout, in various scantily clad outfits.
