The journey to Soi Patpong took less than an hour. I met Nok at the bus stop and we walked towards the red-light district. This area was a labyrinth of bazaars, clubs, discos, pool halls and brothels. The combination of decadence and debauchery was astonishing. Bar-girls, prostitutes and ladyboys decorated every street corner. They assumed their most seductive poses, arched their eyebrows and pouted their lips the second a farang came within sight.
The ladyboys dressed far more provocatively than those I had occasionally seen in Japantown and their figures were as slender and their femininity as pronounced as some of the prettiest girls I knew.
Hustlers and mamasans loitered on the streets selling tickets to ping-pong shows and live-sex acts.
The place was teeming with farangs. I had never seen so many in the one place at the one time. Spirits were high, whether it was from alcohol or the sheer electricity of the atmosphere. The farangs descended on the area to watch the lewd shows, drink beer and, above all else, fuck Asian women.
Every colour of the rainbow shone down on the streets from the neon signs and the strobe lights of clubs. Giant screens advertised every commodity imaginable.
Whatever you were looking for, be it straight sex, gay sex, swinging or S&M clubs, you had come to the right place. No fetish was neglected and no fantasy left unfulfilled.
‘Welcome to Patpong,’ Nok said, smiling at my widened eyes.
‘You’ll get used to it,’ she assured me.
We passed a boy riding a baby elephant that stood about five feet high. The animal reached out to me with its trunk and began rummaging through my pockets. Nok handed its owner 20 baht and she was given a small bag of popcorn in return. The elephant’s trunk immediately made a grab for the treat and it vanished into the cavern of his mouth. It then raised one leg, bowed its head and followed its owner up the street where they proceeded to repeat the trick.
The go-go bar where Nok danced catered exclusively to farangs. It was situated down a side-street off the main soi.
It was like nothing I had ever seen before. For a start, it was not a bar but a club, where the girls danced on a raised platform. They wore uniforms that left nothing to the imagination: knee-high boots, thongs and bikini tops. The customers watched the performances from small tables clustered around the main stage.
Each dancer was assigned a numbered badge which helped to identify her should a farang wish to single her out and request her company.
It was not the most glamorous club that I had ever visited; it was basically a brothel in disguise. I had anticipated the provocative dancing but not the level of nudity involved. The prospect of wearing such a revealing outfit made me feel instantly self-conscious. The dancers were all slimmer than me, with perkier bottoms and breasts. They were also all noticeably younger than me.
‘This way Bua,’ Nok said, guiding me into a room at the back of the club where I was introduced to the mamasan. Her name was Nhim and she was a hustler. Rather than enquire about the pay or the working conditions, the first question that entered my head was what she thought of my bottom.
‘Turn around girl,’ she said. After an exaggerated sharp intake of breath, she exclaimed, ‘You have a lovely tush, so learn how to shake it, as you’ve got competition for the customers. Show them you’re as good as anyone else.’
I smiled not because I thought she was funny but because I was relieved.
