Silent Night

[Sunbelt Asia]

SILENT NIGHT

Temporary lull in the Patong entertainment scene focuses attention on whether it fits into future revival plans

Story by NONDHANADA INTARAKOMALYASUT

http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/10Jan2005_biz60.php

After the devastation wrought by the deadly waves, the scores of beer bars lining Patong beach are mainly silent and empty. Female staff, who make token salaries and rely on commissions from drinks sales, are feeling the pinch.

Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road, the heart of the nightlife scene, is a shadow of its former self.

It's 11 pm on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road, still relatively early by the standards of one of the main night entertainment spots on the island.

But the streets are all but empty, the sidewalks quiet, with only street hawkers and bar girls standing idly by.

Walking down the street, my friends and I are greeted with a hopeful query. ''Have you eaten yet?'' asks a young boy. He's standing in front of a seafood restaurant, a tattered laminated menu in his hands, featuring amateur photos of the specials of the day.

We shake our heads, and the boy sinks back into the recesses of the restaurant.

Not everyone favours the night detritus that can be found in tourist haunts from Koh Samui to Pattaya, Chiang Mai to Bangkok _ the beer bars, the go-go salons, the crowded souvenir stalls. Tourism authorities for years have been trying to promote the country's historical and natural attractions over its red-light districts in hopes of drawing an older, wealthier and more sophisticated clientele.

Regardless, there's no question that the red lights that glow through the night do represent an established and famous _ or infamous _ element of Thailand to the foreign tourist. These businesses that operate on the fringes of the law employ thousands of people and generate tens, if not hundreds, of billions of baht in revenues each year.

But tonight, the lights glow for naught, as the tourists are nowhere to be found, not since the tsunami struck over two weeks ago. And unless they return, thousands of workers who drive the Phuket nightlife scene face financial disaster.

Coming up on one street block, we can see clear to the other side as the sidewalk stalls are all but empty. The counterfeit Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags, the ripoff Nike hats, the aromatic candles _ all are arranged neatly with no customers in sight.

Outside one beer bar, the scantily clad girls stand bored, a sharp contrast to the flashing lights and bass-heavy disco music. Only three out of the 15-plus shophouses in this two-storey complex are open, opened by the project owner himself in hopes of encouraging the other shops to turn on their lights as well.

''There's no work here. Some of my friends have moved on to Pattaya, to Koh Samui or to Bangkok,'' says Pim, a deeply tanned bar girl from the Northeast.

Bar girls typically are paid only a token salary of a few thousand baht per month. The real wages come from commissions _ the more drinks a guest orders, the higher the pay. Many also make extra money through prostitution, typically negotiated separately with the client. With no drinking clients, the girls are basically standing around for free.

We walk on, passing a travel agency, a bank, a securities brokerage house. It's a street that offers contrasts similar to the garishness of Patpong next to the financial respectability of Silom Road. By day, the street is filled with pedestrians intent on walking from one business to the next. By night, a completely different crowd moves in, one focused on entertainment.

Both legal and grey businesses alike, however, depend on people, people who have disappeared from the island, at least for today.