It had been a while since I had visited Vientiane…a year, in fact. Used to go 2-3 times a year when I lived in Bangkok; visa runs, work-related, to visit a close Lao friend I have there.  And actually when you consider the nature of two of my 2008 visits (I brought “sand to the beach” for two of them), I hadn’t been there alone and on the town since waaaay back in Jan. 2008, so until last week it had been a good two years since I hit the bars.

First, a disclaimer: I speak quite good Lao, so YMMV…I have no idea what the English abilities are of any of the people I interacted with there.

Vientiane has definitely changed, even in just the one year since I visited with a companion. The economy is looking up; it’s bustling, lots of tourists, lots of artsy little cafes, restaurants, galleries, and, dare I say it, “hip” little theme bars have opened recently.  It doesn’t seem to be development at the expense of the good things we all love about Vientiane (and Laos in general), though: that laid-back feeling is still there, as are the trees, and the cars still do not outnumber the motorcycles (as opposed to, say, the unchecked, smog-choked “progress” of Phnom Penh).

What really jumped out at me, though, is how the freelance Pussy For Pay (P4P) scene seems to have taken off.

Now, Communist Laos has always had a decidedly puritanical streak to it, even since it “opened to tourism” in the mid-late 1990s.  It’s still illegal for a Lao national to sleep in the same room as a foreigner, and the bars still close early (midnight, up from 11-11:30 just a few years ago).  You’ll find nothing resembling the bar beers and gogos of Thailand, which, of course, is part of the charm of its place.

But one thing I really noticed on this trip is the growing presence of P4P freelancers and “grey area girls” alike.  And the way this has been able to happen in the Lao social and political context is, it’s not “in your face”.  You generally don’t see Lao freelancers dressed extremely provocatively, nor do you seem them walking arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand down the street with foreign men. If that started, the ruling powers’ fears of Laos turning into “another Thailand” would surely kick in and the moral watchdogs would clamp down.  No, this growth in P4P has a definitely laid-back, true “Lao-ness” to it, and again, it’s kind of refreshing.

From the reports of others, I know there are brothel-type places that the tuk-tuk drivers will be happy to take you to…not my thing.  For one thing, such an enterprise violates one of my number one nightlife principles in Southeast Asia: I do not need a Lao (or Thai) MAN to find me a woman, I can do that on my own, thank you.  I’ve also done the quaint, throw-back-to-the-1950s “dance halls” mostly patronized by Lao men…a fun experience if you’ve never done it, but it gets old, and you can never be 100% sure until the end of the night if your girl actually goes with customers (one of the prime venues of this type, the nightclub attached to the Lane Xang Hotel, is no more, it’s now become a Thai-style “Tawan Daeng” music spot).  So what I’m going to talk about here are the freelancer spots.  Remember, this is Laos, not Bangkok, so you won’t find anything as blatant as the Soi 7 Biergarden…but what is there represents a marked change from what you would have found a couple years ago.

First, there’s the very unassuming and wholesome (backpacker-ish) Kop Chae Der, a part-outdoor restaurant bar (with pool tables inside).  Very good farang and Lao food to be had, and ubiquitous Beer Lao at the usual reasonable prices.  I’d seen freelancers plant themselves at the bar before, but their numbers have definitely increased since my last visit.  They’re very low key, but I did witness one of them get chatted up and taken by a customer, just like that, at about 8pm at night.  Usually they sit in pairs or threes, but not a few could be found alone, nursing their cokes or wines at the bar, as well.

As the night goes on, it’s time to move to Bor Pen Yang, a fourth-floor sprawling restaurant/bar (mostly bar), again with pool tables, on the riverfront.  Here the freelancing is a bit more out in the open; on any given night after 9pm you can easily count 15 or more freelancers around the bar.  By the way, this is also a spot for groups of young middle-class Lao to hang out, including the aforementioned “grey area girls”.  I had several beers there and a good time chatting with a group of 4-5 freelancers hanging out together, though they were much too young/small bodied for my tastes.

Bor Pen Yang closes up at midnight, and then it’s time to head to the premiere freelancer P4P joint, the Don Chan Palace hotel’s (sometimes called the “houng haem haa dao” or “5 star hotel”) 3rd floor outdoor beer terrace and small, packed disco, which is open until 3 am.  If you can’t pull there, well, you’re not trying.  You can’t miss the Don Chan; it’s about a kilometer south/southeast of the main cluster of restaurants, shops and hotels that line the river (it’s also on the river), by far the tallest building in Vientiane (meaning in all of Laos).

Myself, I ended up with a grey area girl: 26 year old beauty parlor worker (no kids) with large real tits who owns her own house and her own flashy yellow motorcycle.  Upon spotting me without a beer at about 2:30 (the girl I had been chatting up for a couple hours had just blown me off, and I was ready to call it a night alone), she and her friend called me over to their table to share their beer (a warning to those of you who, unlike me, prefer women under 30: the friend was all of 17, and looked younger….!).  After about 15 minutes of conversation, she offered “Do you wanna come home with me?” Done deal, and off we went on her bike to the outskirts of town (btw, this is not the first time I’ve been picked up by a Lao girl and whisked off on her motorcycle from the Don Chan), after stopping for noodles on the way with her friend.  She even took me back to my hotel at 11am the next morning!  Cost to me?  1,000 baht in “gas money,” discreetly placed into the loop of her keychain while she was showering, so as to keep with the “grey area” tradition.  A good time was had by all.

There has not been much posted here about the nightlife in Vientiane so here is what I did for amusement while I was there.

I started off in the late afternoon at a place called Tex Mex which is located on the road running along the river.  Quai Fa Ngum I think it is called.  This is a good place to sit outside and watch the passing parade of expats and tourists and locals.  I made the acquaintance of 2 local girls while I consumed a couple of large bottles of my favourite Beer Lao and was invited to join them at another bar nearby. The three of us motored off very unsteadily on a motorbike to a place called Red Mekong.

Red Mekong is more upmarket than Tex Mex but being early evening there was not much action there. Had some more Beer Lao with them and played a little pool with the locals who do not have the skills of the average BKK Bar girl at this game.  Maybe it heats up later. I had not eaten so left promising to return and continue with the 2 of them.

Dinner was quite reasonable and provided as part of the Visa run cost as was the accommodation in the Hotel Laos.  This is not a new place but the rooms were clean and comfortable with even a large bath and hot water to fill it.

After dinner a group of us went to another place we had all heard about independently called Bor Pennyang which is on the 4th floor of a building again on the riverfront road between Rou Chao Anou and Boulevard Khounboulom.

This place has a great view over the Mekong river and drinks are not unreasonably priced.  5 of us drank all night for about 2800 baht including quite a few shots of various liquids.

There seemed to be little there in the way of suitable companions until about 9:30 pm when it started to fill up with a good selection of locals and tourists.  Think of a place which is a cross between BKK Gullivers and Soi 7 Beer Garden and take out all the Cougars and that is what this place reminded me of.  Care needs to be taken here as there were a few katoeys there that were really very convincing and had some of our group confused until right at the end of the night. Even then I am not so sure that one of them did not slip away with one of them later.

The action was all freelance with selection of P4P and Non P4P available.  P4P seemed to be about 1500 to 2000 baht long time.  Care needs to be taken in Laos as it is greatly frowned upon to take a girl back to your hotel and pay for her services.  The hotel I stayed at seemed to turn a blind eye to this so it seems to be a visitor friendly place.

Quality wise there was a good selection ranging from ‒need beer goggles” to ‒would like to wake up next to her in the morning”.  Lots of the usual eye contact and all the girls seemed to be there looking for company either to go on to a disco in a large hotel later or for some sort of other horizontal action.

There was good easy to listen to music that was not intrusive and did not inhibit talking and listening. Food is available and the Nachos ordered were very good. Overall it is a good place to either chill out or pick up and I would rate it a 5 stars for value and enjoyment.