Bangkok's Disappearing Nightlife

One of the advantages of being away from home on either business or holiday is the ability to stay out late either at a club or restaurant. While my partying days seem far over I always enjoyed the varied, interesting, and sometimes sordid nightlife that Bangkok had to offer. With people working late and going out later it makes some sense to allow people to have fun until late, people do deserve and want to have fun. Unfortunately in Bangkok it is in fashion with the current government to not only limit the type of entertainment people occupy themselves with (some regulation of the rampant sex scene does seem prudent) but for how long they do it. Thaksin's government wants the people home and in bed early. The New York Times Jennifer Gampell writes "'Social Order' Takes the Life Out of Night Life" of which I quote liberally below (it will disappear to the inaccessible NYT archives).

"Increasingly, going out on the town in Bangkok has become more of a hassle than checking in for an international flight. At least after clearing airport security and passport control, passengers can look forward to a smooth trip. But once inside the dwindling number of international-standard Bangkok night spots, patrons still face a potentially bumpy ride.

In early 2001 the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra began a "social order" campaign to clean up the country's risqué image and also to halt the supposed moral decay of its youth. ... The two local English-language publications — The Nation and The Bangkok Post — periodically posit that the crackdown was inspired by unnamed prominent politicians who couldn't control their own pampered offspring.

Even Kurt Wachtveitl, general manager of the Oriental Hotel for 38 years, weighed in on local night life in a Jan. 13 interview in The Bangkok Post: "Wealthy people like to spend their money on things they enjoy, and they spend a lot of money. But they don't want to go to bed early! If Bangkok continues to be the kind of city that begins to look sleepy after midnight, it will be wasting all its advantages to the upscale foreign visitors. They'll go to Beijing, Shanghai and now Singapore.

Far from cleaning up the city's image, the social order campaign has spawned a sordid — and unregulated — after-hours scene that unfolds on steamy sidewalks and dark alleys behind second-story black-curtained windows. ... Not ready to call it a night, however, I decamp to Rain Tree Pub & Restauant, a tiny bar near Victory Monument where Thai folksingers croon 1970's melodies known as "songs for life." I adore these rapidly vanishing examples of traditional Thai life and am having a fabulous time. Nonetheless, promptly at 1 a.m. the lights come on, the band packs up, and I'm out on the streets of Bangkok, all dressed up with no place to go."

This is part of a new section of Pop Wuping detailing the places that our mobile lifestyle takes us.

Bangkok's Disappearing Nightlife

One of the advantages of being away from home on either business or holiday is the ability to stay out late either at a club or restaurant. While my partying days seem far over I always enjoyed the varied, interesting, and sometimes sordid nightlife that Bangkok had to offer. With people working late and going out later it makes some sense to allow people to have fun until late, people do deserve and want to have fun. Unfortunately in Bangkok it is in fashion with the current government to not only limit the type of entertainment people occupy themselves with (some regulation of the rampant sex scene does seem prudent) but for how long they do it. Thaksin's government wants the people home and in bed early. The New York Times Jennifer Gampell writes "'Social Order' Takes the Life Out of Night Life" of which I quote liberally below (it will disappear to the inaccessible NYT archives). "Increasingly, going out on the town in Bangkok has become more of a hassle than checking in for an international flight. At least after clearing airport security and passport control, passengers can look forward to a smooth trip. But once inside the dwindling number of international-standard Bangkok night spots, patrons still face a potentially bumpy ride. In early 2001 the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra began a "social order" campaign to clean up the country's risqué image and also to halt the supposed moral decay of its youth. ... The two local English-language publications — The Nation and The Bangkok Post — periodically posit that the crackdown was inspired by unnamed prominent politicians who couldn't control their own pampered offspring. Even Kurt Wachtveitl, general manager of the Oriental Hotel for 38 years, weighed in on local night life in a Jan. 13 interview in The Bangkok Post: "Wealthy people like to spend their money on things they enjoy, and they spend a lot of money. But they don't want to go to bed early! If Bangkok continues to be the kind of city that begins to look sleepy after midnight, it will be wasting all its advantages to the upscale foreign visitors. They'll go to Beijing, Shanghai and now Singapore. Far from cleaning up the city's image, the social order campaign has spawned a sordid — and unregulated — after-hours scene that unfolds on steamy sidewalks and dark alleys behind second-story black-curtained windows. ... Not ready to call it a night, however, I decamp to Rain Tree Pub & Restauant, a tiny bar near Victory Monument where Thai folksingers croon 1970's melodies known as "songs for life." I adore these rapidly vanishing examples of traditional Thai life and am having a fabulous time. Nonetheless, promptly at 1 a.m. the lights come on, the band packs up, and I'm out on the streets of Bangkok, all dressed up with no place to go." This is part of a new section of Pop Wuping detailing the places that our mobile lifestyle takes us.