Big Mango Bar
drink and blog

Disgruntled men…

Posted by sideshowBOB | Reader Submissions | Posted on September 5th, 2006

There is a downside to every scene and the Thailand “pay for play” scene has one obvious issue that tends to really bug me from time to time. The other night was no exception. We have talked about it before many times on the blog – the tuk-tuk drivers, the massage touts and the people on the fringe(generally men) of the “service” industry and how they are such a pain in the ass and at times a complete nuisance. This was the first time I actually felt threatened by them.

Over and over we have people come to the Big Mango Bar or email us to say thanks for the all the “411″ on Thailand. I think people would be suprised to know how many people come to Thailand for their first time and need some good solid candid information about how to enjoy Thailand without getting took – without any major issues. I enjoy handing out this information and we have some ideas for some new internet content to assist in just that – the continually updated “101″ on Thailand.

So the other night I was cruising outside Nana Plaza and heading home, yes – truly heading home, when I noticed to English guys getting the sales job from one of the asshole tuk-tuk drivers. Typical line. Hello friend. Bar open all night. I show u. Well – that whole line is so full of shit I can hardly think straight. They are not your friends. They want to take your money and screw u in the process. Let’s be very clear about that. Second. There are many bars open that one can just go to without the help of these crooks. We try to cover the after-hours scene quite well. Check it here.

Usually the guys outside Nana after hours will try to take u to Boss Club or Stardust Lounge. Boss club is a hit or miss thing for me but I have friends who rave about it. If u want to go to Boss Club just get in a normal metered cab and ask to go to Boss Club by the Big C in Pratunam. No drama. No fees. No hassle. No freaking tuk-tuk driver. Stardust. Well we have written about it before. It sucks. Super sucks and don’t waste your time. These crooks get a kickback for taking u there so u know it must be lame to need a system like that to reach customers.

I told the 2 guys not to go with that dude and told them about Soi Tunnel and Soi 7/1 which they could walk to. They were stoked and headed in the direction of Soi 5 as soon as I pointed them the right way. I told the Tuk-Tuk driver I was sorry but that I was not going to let him take these guys to Stardust. Then I started walking home. About a minute later I had that same Tuk-Tuk and one of his crooked friends walk behind me and told me to stop. I said no way and kept walking. Then the one Tuk-Tuk driver got in front of me and told me in Thai that I talked to much. I told him I was tired of how they treated tourists and if he wanted to discuss it further that we could walk to the corner of Soi 4 and Sukhumvit and deal with it at the Police box. He held my arm and then I jerked it out and pushed him away. I was alone but ready to rumble for some weird reason cause these guys are really getting on my nerves. I guess I just looked mean enough and they backed off but acted like they wanted to walk me home. I started to call my buddy at that time and told them to fuck off. I hate being threatened in Thailand for nothing and especially by these twits.

This is my summation of the issue I guess u could say. Most of these guys are pissed off and I think one reason is this. They get paid like no money for trying to do a regular job but resort to low handed tactics to get by. I think the attitude partially stems from the mind set of dealing with the fact that the girls working in the industry make a ton more money in comparison for going with customers and in some cases just going out and actually having a good time while enjoying meals, clubs and so on. The rage is probably also directed at the Farang who enjoys this lifestyle and is the money source for the entire system. The girls, the partying and so on. Maybe it sounds weird but it is how I see it and in some ways can understand it but not the behavoir. Back to some fun stuff. Shebas on Cowboy was super naked the other night. Thanks.