the life of a bar worker, and other things !

[timmberty]

in this weeks http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Stickman ... dyboys.htm (http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2013/Nana-Plaza-ladyboys.htm)
he talks about nana plaza being turned into a ladyboy bar area, thats the link for those interested, but at the end of his column is the first part of a story of the life of a bar girl called Na, again the link http://mobithailand.com/a-lust-for-life/part-one-na/ i read this last night and i would imagine most of it is true, tho its probably not possible to find out.
its really the story of a recovering alcoholic, tho he hasnt made mention of himself yet, just the sad story of the life of a young girl and her family. i would recomend it to read and see how much different peoples lifes can be.
there are 5 more parts of the story to come, and i look forward to reading them all.
edit number one*i have just noticed on the blog this is from there are infact another 3 parts of the story already written, so im off for a read.
edit number two * its not true life at all .. tho some of the things in it im sure may well happen somewhere in this wonderful old world of ours...
still worth a read tho.

[timmberty]

having read thru the whole of this blog plus the novel attached, i can indeed confirm it is a fantastic read about a farangs life of drink, sadly for us, women, and the good and bad of living in thailand, mainly bangkok and pattaya.
http://mobithailand.com/a-lust-for-life/part-one-na/

[cdnmatt]

I don't quite understand why some people would show up in one of the red-light districts of Thailand (ie. Pattaya or Bangkok), spend all their time with prostitutes, then not understand why a couple years later they're not happy and fulfilled? Then to rub salt in the wound, they go back to their home countries, and spread stories about how Thailand is full of crooked liars, cheats, and thieves, and if you go there you're almost guaranteed to get screwed over.

I'm sorry, but what do you expect if you live in a red-light district? If I moved to East Hastings in Vancouver with all the hookers and druggies, I probably wouldn't be very happy or fulfilled after a couple years either. Why would it be different, just because it's Thailand?

[timmberty]

i dont quite understand how people can comment on something they have not read !!
this guy still lives in thailand still loves thailand, and thai people ..
do tell me why you have felt the need to comment in the negative on this matt ??
sorry but what so you expect when you have nothing decent to say about a man whos story you have not read, probably have no want to read .. but still felt the need to slag him off ??

[Neal]

CDnmatt. Funny you mention Vancouver and the prostitute area. I used to visit there quite often and I am trying to remember the name of the gay hotel. I think it started with a D. Great fun! You remember the name? My mind is flooding with past memories that they had two decent sized bars and was one for dancing and just all around socializing and the other was downright moneyboys. Wow it was great.

PS I just Googled it and it was called the Dufferin. At that time they were super budget and very basic. Really for the short time. I cann't beieve that the Shangri-la has a hotel in the gay section.

[timmberty]

well theres nothing quite like taking a thread so off topic that you end up talking about a whore house in a totally different continent ... hey ho never mind :hello2:

[Surfcrest]

CDnmatt. Funny you mention Vancouver and the prostitute area. I used to visit there quite often and I am trying to remember the name of the gay hotel. I think it started with a D. Great fun! You remember the name? My mind is flooding with past memories that they had two decent sized bars and was one for dancing and just all around socializing and the other was downright moneyboys. Wow it was great.

PS I just Googled it and it was called the Dufferin. At that time they were super budget and very basic. Really for the short time. I cann't beieve that the Shangri-la has a hotel in the gay section.
ItтАЩs too bad I have timmberty still on my ignore list, or IтАЩd be able to read about the stickman post, the blog and the story of a bar girl named NaтАж.oh darnтАжтАж

Anyhow, The Dufferin Hotel on Seymour & Smithe in Vancouver might be a little ahead of young cdnmattтАЩs time. The Hotel was sold and changed into a Boutique Hotel called Moda in 2006. IтАЩm not sure if they renovated the hotel part, but I recall staying there a night in the mid-nineties and was more than a little freaked out by the noises coming through the paper thin walls from the other rooms.

The Duff had a three part bar, with karaoke on street level next to the hotel entrance, the main bar on the main level (cheap beer, terrible drag)тАжI think they served pub food. Then there was the downstairs bar, with two or three tiny stages for the dancers / strippers to do their thing. A lot of the dancers were street workers from a few blocks away, all available and usually several more wandering the barтАжgetting cosy upstairs with their usual clients. The strip shows could get quite raunchy and many a drunk patron would get carried away with the boys while they were on stage or would get up and start dancing themselves. I think, at the end, anyone could get up and stripтАжthe bar never seemed overly concerned with what was going on. There was a separate Smithe Street entrance for the stripper bar and the shows started up soon after the bar opened at noon and so it wasnтАЩt unusual for someone to come in on a bright sunny dayтАжfeel around or stand still by the door, until their eyes got used to the darkтАж.and then realize they were standing between two of the dancerтАЩs stages, usually with a dancer or two doing their thing. One of the last afternoons I stopped by, the boys were on stage doing something with zucchiniтАЩs.

Both the Dufferin and the Royal closed down around the same time. There just wasnтАЩt a market for low budget gay hotels in the city and the Marriott Pinnacle is about as gay as it gets now. ThereтАЩs still a little bit of street trade left outdoors, but most have gone online or put adds in the local paper as prostitution (while still technically illegal) is almost an accepted fabric of the city. As matt says, the Lower East Side is still a runaway train of a community hooked on heroin.

Surfcrest

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Goodbye_Dufferin-2488.aspx

[Impulse]

I remember I had a great time!

[Beachlover]

I don't quite understand why some people would show up in one of the red-light districts of Thailand (ie. Pattaya or Bangkok), spend all their time with prostitutes, then not understand why a couple years later they're not happy and fulfilled? Then to rub salt in the wound, they go back to their home countries, and spread stories about how Thailand is full of crooked liars, cheats, and thieves, and if you go there you're almost guaranteed to get screwed over.

I'm sorry, but what do you expect if you live in a red-light district?
Nail on the head... I never thought of it that way.

[Khor tose]

The Duff had a three part bar, with karaoke on street level next to the hotel entrance, the main bar on the main level (cheap beer, terrible drag)тАжI think they served pub food. Then there was the downstairs bar, with two or three tiny stages for the dancers / strippers to do their thing. A lot of the dancers were street workers from a few blocks away, all available and usually several more wandering the barтАжgetting cosy upstairs with their usual clients.

You are forgetting the pool table downstairs. Also with its collection of street workers. I never picked up anyone there but often went for the charity drag shows the court would occasionally put on. They were so bad they were good. They also had a regular show on Saturdays? Neal there was two other gay hotels in the old days. The Royal and the very gay friendly dump called the Listel. I always stayed at the Ramada on Grandville (not Hastings) and never had any problem with joiners.