Pat Pong, Private Dancer and a posse of ladies with intent!

Earlier this year we stayed close to Pat Pong, one of Bangkok’s notorious red light areas along with Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy.

I know all this because our Bookclub has been recently reading Stephen Leather’s Private Dancer. It is set in 1996 when a young writer wanders into a bar and meets a pole dancer (personally I think we could all see where this was going from this moment!) she becomes the love of his life. It doesn’t end well.

The book is written from the perspective of the writer Pete, Joy the go-go girlfriend (she couldn’t be called anything else could she?) who worked at Nana Plaza and some of Pete’s male friends. It was an interesting insight into the bar girl life. It was first published in 2005 and would still be widely relevant.

#1 Best Seller in Thailand the book’s cover claims, but give me the Bangkok Post any day!

When I first was searching for somewhere to live in Bangkok, we looked in the Sukhumvit area, not at all far from Soi Cowboy. The apartment was nice and we were interested enough for a second viewing. But I knew enough about life in Bangkok, to check out the after-hours activity.

With due cause. Girls with the highest glass shoes and hair down to their bums were loitering with intent AND on a short walk to the left, was a cart which I swear was only hours ago was selling mangos and sticky rice, was now piled high with sex toys.

There is an expression that we use all the time living here when things don’t go according to plan or follow our western expectations called:

TIT: This is Thailand.

If ever there was a TIT moment this was it!

Other friends living here are not that phased by prostitutes at the end of their street, Even Mr Wren told me – just go right! There was an element of don’t be judgemental, learn to co-exist.

Private Dancer explains how often the girls come down from the North of Thailand looking for work, the money is sent back to their families in the provinces. It’s a business model that works well for those involved… But it is also part of the seeder side of Bangkok, that seems more out there than in other cities that I have lived in.

‘Anyway, I can’t spend my entire Bangkok life going right at night’ .

Call me Little Miss Boring Wren, but we started looking for apartments elsewhere and ended up in the more traditional business and Embassy centre of Bangkok. It was a beautiful place of calm in this crazy city. You can read more about our life at Embassy Place here:

That week on a Friday night we both needed to get 3000 steps in for our daily targets. It was my idea. Let’s go for a walk outside. Mistake. We managed a short distance high above the street on the Skytrain path, but once we descended firstly the pollution hit. It was particularly bad, and has been above safe levels recorded in the newspapers.

Then we went down Pat Pong night market. It is throbbing with tourists. Music blaring. We are invited into the many bars to see a show. It is not the Bangkok that I love, just call me old-fashioned.

‘Right 2,000 steps that’s me done!’ I declared, and we retreated back into the calm of our serene hotel. Bangkok is such a land of contrasts. One minute you can be sitting by a gorgeous waterfall feeling very Zen-like, the next moment you are scurrying back. Scarf covering your mouth, trying not to breath in the fumes, or look like you are at all interested in going to a ping pong show.

P is for Pat Pong, Private Dancer and a Posse of Ladies with Intent and part of

Blogging from A to Z April (2018) Challenge.

Click here to see the list of all participants!

Thanks so much to the organisers.