The FARANG Speaks 2 Much

One of the things I love about Thailand is the attitude of the locals.

Sit in a bar in England, and ask a member of staff whether they sell cigarettes (assuming you’re in one that still allows their customers to smoke). They will either grunt and nod their head towards a vending machine, where you can buy 16 cigarettes for £5.50 (about ฿385), or they’ll say “no”, with a charming scowl.

Here in Thailand, they’ll either sell you a pack of 20 for ฿60-100 or so, or they’ll run to the nearest shop and buy a pack for you. And the smile on their face won’t drop once.

But depending on where you go, things can be very different indeed. Everyone I meet here tells me how much better things were in the old days - is this just nostalgia, or are things really going to pot?

As an example, Nana Plaza. The best bars here, in terms of beautiful girls, are the Rainbow bars. But these girls have been allowed to develop a ridiculously bad attitude. Japanese ex-pats will often pay them several times the going rate - think ฿6-10,000 just for short-time - so why should they bother with mere farangs?

And we residents are looked down upon far more than our vacationing countrymen - in that we know how much things are supposed to cost, and we can tell when a girl is just after the money. The truth is, as most of us eventually realise, that as long as a girl is reasonably attractive, it’s far better to be with a girl who likes you, than to be with a girl who just likes your money.

And you’d be hard pushed to find one of those in a Rainbow bar, no matter how hunky you are.

Meanwhile at Erotica bar, home of ฿65 draft beer and bottles of fantastic Hoegaarden, direct from Belgium, the girls have been cultivating a similar attitude. Angelwitch may be going through a ropey time in terms of attractive girls, but at least they’ve still got time for their customers.

And so my revised top 5 at Nana Plaza reads like this:

1. Angelwitch

   Best shows in Nana, and getting saucier by the week. The showgirls are generally gorgeous, and there are some very tasty regular dancers here too if you arrive early enough - too many are making up the numbers these days though, and drinks are the most expensive in the whole of Nana Plaza.

2. Rainbow 4

   A simple formula - gather 150-200 gorgeous girls, and pack your bar with them. The Rainbow group know exactly how to run a bar full of eyecandy, and this is probably the best.

   Japanese men will be treated preferentially though, and expect to be quoted prices to match.

3. Rainbow 2

   More of the same from the Rainbow group - slightly fewer girls here than in Rainbow 4, and always seems too dark to me, but there are a lot of hot girls here. See above if you’re not Japanese though.

4. Playskool

   The only bar where you’re guaranteed to see truly topless dancing, Playskool has some very cute girls but again, too many making up the numbers for my liking.

   Also, their “only bar showing topless” status may not last much longer with many bars relaxing their rules recently…

5. Erotica

   Hidden between the 2nd and 3rd floors, this bar’s come on in leaps and bounds recently. The best glass ceiling bar this side of Soi Cowboy, with cheap (฿65) draft beer available to boot, and now imported Belgian beers too!

   The girls though, whilst nowhere near Rainbow quality, have been developing Rainbow attitudes. Maybe they’ve been reading my top 5…