Party's Over As Troops Descend On Bangkok Red-Light District

[yoshiwara]

You probably didn't notice, but it's less and less about Thaksin.

This misunderstanding may very well turn out to be the establishment's downfall.

What he is trying to say is Taskins money is getting less and less

Funny the amount of protestors is falling in an equal degree

wonder if that means something

It is one of the prime objectives of the red apologists to push Thaksin off the front page.

That is why they push their class war nonsense.

Unfortunately they do not have any class economic demands.

So the Thaksin agends slips right on back.

Some of them then mount a rear-guard action to rehabilitate Thaksin as a good guy.

Poor David fighting Goliath.

At least they are making some use of their primary school English textbooks.

[grandpops]

Bears out what we say about the Bangkok yellow loving expats.

I checked two threads on here, one about the Red shirts announcements and this one. Views for the red shirt so far is 1390 and views for this one is 3035.

Shows where the priorities lay when 3000 people jump in to have check if there lifestyle will be affected.

[jayjayjayjay]

This article will probably do more positive for Thailand tourism than any other campaign in the last 5 years. huMAN natURE !!

[bkkjames]

Bears out what we say about the Bangkok yellow loving expats.

I checked two threads on here, one about the Red shirts announcements and this one. Views for the red shirt so far is 1390 and views for this one is 3035.

Shows where the priorities lay when 3000 people jump in to have check if there lifestyle will be affected.

Not exactly, this one has a catchier headline. Let's face it, all the other threads after the first few lines essentially just follow the same pattern..

PM should dissolve house, Taskin is this or that, ....

At least this one has legs, and thighs, and long hair and ooohhhh baby....

[davethesailor]

Bears out what we say about the Bangkok yellow loving expats.

I checked two threads on here, one about the Red shirts announcements and this one. Views for the red shirt so far is 1390 and views for this one is 3035.

Shows where the priorities lay when 3000 people jump in to have check if there lifestyle will be affected.

So what's your reason for reading it? Checking if your lifestyle will be changed or "research"?

Myself, I was disheartened with the endless rhetoric on the other threads and needed a change.

I've never been to Patpong, but after the end of the current crisis (it will end, but I don't know which way) I might have to visit with the wife to discuss this areas women over a few beers as we have already done with "Cowboy".

[grandpops]

Bears out what we say about the Bangkok yellow loving expats.

I checked two threads on here, one about the Red shirts announcements and this one. Views for the red shirt so far is 1390 and views for this one is 3035.

Shows where the priorities lay when 3000 people jump in to have check if there lifestyle will be affected.

So what's your reason for reading it? Checking if your lifestyle will be changed or "research"?

Myself, I was disheartened with the endless rhetoric on the other threads and needed a change.

I've never been to Patpong, but after the end of the current crisis (it will end, but I don't know which way) I might have to visit with the wife to discuss this areas women over a few beers as we have already done with "Cowboy".

Sorry I didn't explain clearly enough.

I checked the stats on the clippings page and noticed how het up you were all getting and commented on it. It's an observation often made down the years.

For example, all the posts regarding prostitute round ups, Visa on Arrivals, alcohol free days, Illegal companies etc. are the biggest pull. When I see any of these posts now, I automatically look at the number of reads it is getting.

Look now on the list. There is one about prostitues being cleared off pattaya beach. 21,000 hits!! Thats more than any of the posts on the page apart from the locked post about rally updates, which obviously, most of us look at everytime it is updates.

I rest my case.

[hjvdhoef]

"Because of the Red Shirts, many foreigners don't come here. Business is no good," .

Ahh, diddums. I'm sure you have a bit put aside after years of fleecing those very foreigners.

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

It's totally logical and actually clever thinking; that they have claimed the top tourist draw in the area, which will thus have the effect of keeping innocent Thais and foreigners out of harms way. At the end of the day, a tacky market and a bunch of go-go bars is neither here nor there. Plenty more elsewhere in the city.

As for illogical; how's tens of thousand of paid protesters holding a country hostage?

Ask Abishit..

[steveromagnino]

This article will probably do more positive for Thailand tourism than any other campaign in the last 5 years. huMAN natURE !!

'nuff said right JayX4?

Now if we can just insert a Burma Shave ad.....and on an unrelated matter perhaps the army can address the night market stalls which are a fire hazard.

BUT I DON"T GIVE A HOOT!

Serously, Patpong is a dangerous place. A few months ago I went there, and a very very attractive young lady and her friend asked if they could get a ride with me to Onnut. We jumped in a cab, I paid the driver 200b as he asked, and then while driving there, one girl started molesting me in the cab, while the other undid my pantiloonies and started giving me 'attentions' right there in the cab!

Well, eventually we got to Onnut, and I discovered that I had been had! They had taken my wallet with about 500b in it!!!!

I then had the same thing occur to me another 2 times. There must be a gang there.

If someone can refer to me to a cheap place to buy wallets, I would be much obliged.

Ok ok, now back to the usual programming of 'all non red shirters are yellow shirts' 'all red shirts are paid thugs' 'all red shirts are pro democracy' 'all red shirts are Thaksin's henchmen' 'all army are tangmo' 'all tangmo is sillyclone' etc etc.

Seriously, any cheap wallets?

[givenall]

You probably didn't notice, but it's less and less about Thaksin.

This misunderstanding may very well turn out to be the establishment's downfall.

What he is trying to say is Taskins money is getting less and less

Funny the amount of protestors is falling in an equal degree

wonder if that means something

If it is not about Thaksin, why do I see 1000 and 1000 of his picture all over the area?

I also see they have moved equipment, car, into the area. What is surprising is that the government does not announce that they will confiscate all the stuff they brought into the area including cars, truck and motor bike, etc. and action them away and the money goes to restore the area to the original condition

[Tanaka]

Slightly off topic, but, whilst the Red Shirts have protested and shut down the business district and caused the deployment of the Army and Police, on mass, has anyone considered the cost, to the current Government, of "fighting this domestic battle?" The Red Shirts can live on a cup of boiled rice a day, and we all know Mr.T is "chipping in" a few baht for them, but, economically, it's possible, the Government will not be able to sustain the prolonged cost of Army, Police and emergency services deployment.

All of these personel have to be paid, fed, housed etc. The logistics for all of this is very costly to Thailand. To some degree, as far as the defence forces of Thailand are concerned, Thailand is at war. Wars cost a lot of money and they are in this one alone, not with any "richer" allied countries. Add to the cost of the defence force, the local Police, Fire Brigade and Ambulance involvement, all staff at 24/7, and this mounts up to a HUGE bill, for the Government. The day may come when they can't afford to pay their Army, Police and other emergency services, plus, all the support staff for them.

Further compounding this cost is, which is on topic, the economic cost, in real terms, to the country. Not much money is "coming in." So, tourism, imports, exports etc etc are not generating their normal income. However, tourisms is the talk on TV and we know for a fact this is down.

The current Government must have a "cut off point" for funding all of this. After all, Thailand is not America, The UK or The EU.

I'm not sure The World Bank would be interested in loaning money to Thailand for this "project."

We all know the Red Shirts are "hitting" the Government, economically, but has anyone considered the economic cost of this "domestic war?" It's this cost that could bring down the Government, not the loss of tourism etc.

The Army, Police etc all have families and bills to pay. If you can't pay these people, there will have to be another coup.

I think the courts should rule to confiscate the red leaders bank accounts (after all they are wanted criminals) and divert the money to compensate shop owners who have lost millions, this will also hopefully help to stop the flow of cash transfers from Taksin

This is a sound and logical way to kill two birds. But logic was never a main issue in Thailand, unfortunately.

[Tanaka]

good to ear patpong no customer its the worst place i remember 7 years a go there 1 bars trye to ripp me off for 4 heineken 4500 baht so i never go there when i go Bangkok allways go on Khao San Road no bars there trye to rip me off lol

It is good to see that you have your perspectives and priorities in order!

[hardy1943]

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

I always thaught the red light district was owned by the same people that try to shut it down now.

Edited April 20, 2010 by hardy1943

[Ayutthaya69]

good to ear patpong no customer its the worst place i remember 7 years a go there 1 bars trye to ripp me off for 4 heineken 4500 baht so i never go there when i go Bangkok allways go on Khao San Road no bars there trye to rip me off lol

It is good to see that you have your perspectives and priorities in order!

no just this is my story an happen to manny peoples2

[whistleblower]

I've owned this bar for five years and this is the worst business ever," said Pungpoyn Thambun, 40, at Kiss bar where only a handful of clients were watching women writhe on stage in bikinis.

Writhe on stage???

ive only ever seen them chew gum and hold onto a chrome pole!!!!

[TAWP]

I've owned this bar for five years and this is the worst business ever," said Pungpoyn Thambun, 40, at Kiss bar where only a handful of clients were watching women writhe on stage in bikinis.

Writhe on stage???

ive only ever seen them chew gum and hold onto a chrome pole!!!!

Then you are not going to the right places.

[steveromagnino]

I've owned this bar for five years and this is the worst business ever," said Pungpoyn Thambun, 40, at Kiss bar where only a handful of clients were watching women writhe on stage in bikinis.

Writhe on stage???

ive only ever seen them chew gum and hold onto a chrome pole!!!!

RUBBISH.

not all of them chew gum.

[OzMick]

Slightly off topic, but, whilst the Red Shirts have protested and shut down the business district and caused the deployment of the Army and Police, on mass, has anyone considered the cost, to the current Government, of "fighting this domestic battle?" The Red Shirts can live on a cup of boiled rice a day, and we all know Mr.T is "chipping in" a few baht for them, but, economically, it's possible, the Government will not be able to sustain the prolonged cost of Army, Police and emergency services deployment.

All of these personel have to be paid, fed, housed etc. The logistics for all of this is very costly to Thailand. To some degree, as far as the defence forces of Thailand are concerned, Thailand is at war. Wars cost a lot of money and they are in this one alone, not with any "richer" allied countries. Add to the cost of the defence force, the local Police, Fire Brigade and Ambulance involvement, all staff at 24/7, and this mounts up to a HUGE bill, for the Government. The day may come when they can't afford to pay their Army, Police and other emergency services, plus, all the support staff for them.

Further compounding this cost is, which is on topic, the economic cost, in real terms, to the country. Not much money is "coming in." So, tourism, imports, exports etc etc are not generating their normal income. However, tourisms is the talk on TV and we know for a fact this is down.

The current Government must have a "cut off point" for funding all of this. After all, Thailand is not America, The UK or The EU.

I'm not sure The World Bank would be interested in loaning money to Thailand for this "project."

We all know the Red Shirts are "hitting" the Government, economically, but has anyone considered the economic cost of this "domestic war?" It's this cost that could bring down the Government, not the loss of tourism etc.

The Army, Police etc all have families and bills to pay. If you can't pay these people, there will have to be another coup.

I believe that the troops are fed and housed regardless of what is happening, so it is just another day in that respect.

Yep, no OT in the green machine. As for housing, didn't you see the nice comfy verandahs they get to sleep on? Nearly as cushy as arisman.

seriously, if they run short of money, they can just print some more and worry about inflation later. It's called running a deficit.

[hardy1943]

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

Dude are you kidding me ? You criticize the army for obstructing the public yet you overlook the fact the for WEEKS, Reds have taken up the street where the biggest hotels and shopping hotels are located, causing huge loss of revenue. They were planning to take the Bangkok's financial district as their next move, until the army came in and prevented that from happening.

So what,take over the finicial district who does it bother the rich Elite, 99% of the population could care less included me.

[hardy1943]

Slightly off topic, but, whilst the Red Shirts have protested and shut down the business district and caused the deployment of the Army and Police, on mass, has anyone considered the cost, to the current Government, of "fighting this domestic battle?" The Red Shirts can live on a cup of boiled rice a day, and we all know Mr.T is "chipping in" a few baht for them, but, economically, it's possible, the Government will not be able to sustain the prolonged cost of Army, Police and emergency services deployment.

All of these personel have to be paid, fed, housed etc. The logistics for all of this is very costly to Thailand. To some degree, as far as the defence forces of Thailand are concerned, Thailand is at war. Wars cost a lot of money and they are in this one alone, not with any "richer" allied countries. Add to the cost of the defence force, the local Police, Fire Brigade and Ambulance involvement, all staff at 24/7, and this mounts up to a HUGE bill, for the Government. The day may come when they can't afford to pay their Army, Police and other emergency services, plus, all the support staff for them.

Further compounding this cost is, which is on topic, the economic cost, in real terms, to the country. Not much money is "coming in." So, tourism, imports, exports etc etc are not generating their normal income. However, tourisms is the talk on TV and we know for a fact this is down.

The current Government must have a "cut off point" for funding all of this. After all, Thailand is not America, The UK or The EU.

I'm not sure The World Bank would be interested in loaning money to Thailand for this "project."

We all know the Red Shirts are "hitting" the Government, economically, but has anyone considered the economic cost of this "domestic war?" It's this cost that could bring down the Government, not the loss of tourism etc.

The Army, Police etc all have families and bills to pay. If you can't pay these people, there will have to be another coup.

I believe that the troops are fed and housed regardless of what is happening, so it is just another day in that respect.

Yep, no OT in the green machine. As for housing, didn't you see the nice comfy verandahs they get to sleep on? Nearly as cushy as arisman.

seriously, if they run short of money, they can just print some more and worry about inflation later. It's called running a deficit.

Do not worry.We have this elite genius from Oxford to fix all the problem.

[geriatrickid]

Jerome Allaim, a 34-year-old expatriate Frenchman, still reckons Patpong is "certainly the nicest place to find girls in Bangkok" even though troop deployment "doesn't impress".

Imagine putting your name to that call .

Seriously, it takes all types

As opposed to the foreigners that scurry like cockroaches when the foreign camera crews approach the bars where males and females of questionable ages work? I suppose we can laugh at the guy for his selection of fornication partners, but I respect the man for being honest.

Yea, yea, I get your point, put I couldn't resist expressing my view that one of the reasons some people might be concerned about the Red uprising is that their darkest fear of that hairless boy or waif like girl they meet on the street might feel empowered enough to slit the customer's throat while he sleeps. Nightmare for some I reckon.

[Cheops]

TrooPs in stead of BooBs now in Patpong

[TAWP]

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

Dude are you kidding me ? You criticize the army for obstructing the public yet you overlook the fact the for WEEKS, Reds have taken up the street where the biggest hotels and shopping hotels are located, causing huge loss of revenue. They were planning to take the Bangkok's financial district as their next move, until the army came in and prevented that from happening.

So what,take over the finicial district who does it bother the rich Elite, 99% of the population could care less included me.

99%? Dear Comrade, you have clearly no understanding about what kind of business that reside around Silom or what their impact to the local economy is.

[yoshiwara]

Jerome Allaim, a 34-year-old expatriate Frenchman, still reckons Patpong is "certainly the nicest place to find girls in Bangkok" even though troop deployment "doesn't impress".

Imagine putting your name to that call .

Seriously, it takes all types

As opposed to the foreigners that scurry like cockroaches when the foreign camera crews approach the bars where males and females of questionable ages work? I suppose we can laugh at the guy for his selection of fornication partners, but I respect the man for being honest.

Yea, yea, I get your point, put I couldn't resist expressing my view that one of the reasons some people might be concerned about the Red uprising is that their darkest fear of that hairless boy or waif like girl they meet on the street might feel empowered enough to slit the customer's throat while he sleeps. Nightmare for some I reckon.

Reads like a carefully crafted fantasy of yours more like.

Talking of sexual matters, I wonder why the red apologists have run away from expressing any opinion re Thaksin's bigoted attack on gays when he accused the PM of being guided by mentally disturbed homosexuals.

One of the entry criteria for being a forum red cheerleader is support for their master in all matters.

So what about it chaps? Red attack on the gay areas in the pipeline tonight?

[animatic]

Dude are you kidding me ? You criticize the army for obstructing the public yet you overlook the fact the for WEEKS, Reds have taken up the street where the biggest hotels and shopping hotels are located, causing huge loss of revenue. They were planning to take the Bangkok's financial district as their next move, until the army came in and prevented that from happening.

So what,take over the finicial district who does it bother the rich Elite, 99% of the population could care less included me.

99%? Dear Comrade, you have clearly no understanding about what kind of business that reside around Silom or what their impact to the local economy is.

Precisely.

If you want to spend money on Issan.. you are NOT going to find it in Issan,

but more likely coming from Silom. Holding those people hostage is

not likely to motivate sharing....

[PhilHarries]

Look now on the list. There is one about prostitues being cleared off pattaya beach. 21,000 hits!! Thats more than any of the posts on the page apart from the locked post about rally updates, which obviously, most of us look at everytime it is updates.

I rest my case.

Okay Mr Goody Two Shoes, you made your point but did mummy manage to read that bit over your shoulder? I'm sure she's proud of her clean little boy.

Not that it matters, this is the internet, you can be whatever you say you are nobody cares.

btw don't give us any more of that BS about where you get your stats from, just fess up and admit you read all the prostitute threads. It doesn't matter to you anonymous cyber entities, you don't exist except as a figment of your own imagination.

[IMA_FARANG]

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

In case you don't know the Army is blocking access to Silom road....which just happens to be very close to Patpong.

I didn't see anyone 'blaming the reds" as you say it in the article.

Keeping the boozers/losers away from Patpong for one night is a form of "city cleanup" as far as I'm concerned.

[TAWP]

patpong is far away from prathunam, where the protesters are.

why soldiers have decided to park on this very street and close the night market is beyond me - there are many other roads and places where they can be positioned (if they really have to be on the streets and not in the barracks) without obstructing the public.

blaming the reds, instead of blaiming the army, is illogical

In case you don't know the Army is blocking access to Silom road....which just happens to be very close to Patpong.

I didn't see anyone 'blaming the reds" as you say it in the article.

Keeping the boozers/losers away from Patpong for one night is a form of "city cleanup" as far as I'm concerned.

How is it a city cleanup to get them to walk somewhere else, where it is still open?

Besides, if you think only boozers and losers go there, well...

[haroldc]

I have a number of friends (yes, FRIENDS) who are bar girls in Patpong. They don't gamble, don't use drugs - just work to support their families as best they can. Two have called in me in the past few days. They are desperate. They were told not to come back after Songkran. They don't know how they're going to pay their rent or send money home at the end of they month. One asked me if I could send her 500 baht to buy powdered milk for her children. I've been to her home in Kalasin; it's not a scam. Just to point out that this mess is truly hurting people in ways that most of us can't imagine.

[TAWP]

When none of the girls can send money home to their parents and grandparents, who is there to blame?

[kuffki]

A question

so do the troops get a discount or a free quicky?

also would there be any special deals once soldiers leave or would all the girl be too tired to work?