There was an interesting article in the NY Times two days ago lamenting the fact that the infamous Bangkok nightlife has been under attack from the government. The title of the article sums it up nicely: 'Social Order' Takes the Life Out of Night Life.
I haven't been going out on the town much lately, for various reasons. But I occasionally hear stories from my club-going friends that the police raids described in the article are common. As the article says
But nothing deflates a thriving club scene like repeated unheralded visits by a local constabulary intent on upholding "social order." And that is exactly what has been happening over the last four years. Sometimes the raiding police are accompanied by local TV crews. Exits are barred, music grinds to sudden silence, lights flash on. Confused and scared patrons who a moment before were partying down are suddenly confronted by brown-uniformed police officers who demand to see their ID's, frisk them or occasionally force them to urinate in a cup to test for drug use. The raids often last far beyond the 1 or 2 a.m. closing hours. They have rarely netted any violators.
I have mixed feelings about this. There are many things in Thailand that I wish a conservative government like the current one would clean up. The air and water would be a great place to start. Lack of mass transportation would be another good ill to cure. As far as the nightlife goes, though, I think that discos like DJ Station or a bar/lounges like Q Bar (both mentioned in the Times article) are much lower on the list of social ills than the many ping-pong shows on Patpong.
But even those shows are lower on the list than corruption and changing the country's laws to benefit you and your family...
