Bangkok - Nana

WARNINGS

First of all, the nightlife scene at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy is all quite safe. People looking for trouble however, can also easily find it at these places.

                    
  
Is being ripped off in the bars common? In our experience it occurs rarely if you take a few precautions. Many years ago, when we tended to sometimes being a little bit drunk, the bars tried to make us pay for extra drinks. But attempts like this did not happen for the last 7 or 8 years, though we are frequent customers of the bars. The waitress bringing your drink, will put the bill into a small container in front of you. Maybe it is useful to check it when the bill arrives, to check for any mistakes. It certainly helps to be aware of what it all costs, and to be able to make simple calculations. On a few occasions we observed customers discussing their bill, where the fault was with them, and not with the waitress or the bar, simply due to the fact they were a bit paranoid about being ripped off and not aware at the same time of the costs they incurred while getting drunk.

What does happen is that some waitress, cashiers do not bother about bringing back small change at times. Let's say a drink costs 90 baht and you pay with a 100 baht bill, you may not get the change back (that is, you will get it back 95% of the time, but on occasion it will be forgotten). If you object to this kind of forced tipping, make sure to take some measures. Nowadays drinks are priced just above 100 baht. So if a drink costs 115 baht, pay with 2 bills of 100 baht and the waitress will be forced to bring you back your change.

More common, and I guess certainly this affects the 'tourists' is that a girl gets herself a lady drink, without properly asking for one, or making use of some language confusion. If you remotely here the word 'drink' or 'cola', and you do not want to pay one, make sure to say no, or use body language to make things clear. If you are 'ripped off' this way, be a good sports, and do not start arguing. It most likely will get you nowhere.

If something happens to your drink, beware!!! Girls dancing in front of you may kick your beer off the bar counter. You may get a stale tasting beer etc. Beer bottles being kicked and broken seems to happen fairly common. Strangely enough, you will not simply get a replacement of the drink. Sometimes the girl responsible will be 'punished' somehow financially. More common, though you could not do anything about it, you just lost your drink without any compensation. So be aware of this, and keep your drinks out of 'reach'. This happened to us a few times at Erotica bar, in between the second and third floor at Nana Plaza. The last time it happened just after the waitress put the drink in front of us on the small counter round the dancing stage. Even before we could touch our drink, the beer went flying all over the place. That was it, instead of getting a new drink, we were supposed to pay for any replacement.

We have been ridiculed for stating this many years ago, but when you take out a girl, make financial arrangements beforehand. It feel a bit uncomfortable, since most of us do not exactly like do discuss this kind of financial matter. However, it is fair to both the customer and the girl in question. You get your price quoted beforehand, can negociate it, and decline the offer. Surely, quite a few customers try to pay little money to the girls, and impose somewhat aggressive behaviour on the girls to get their way cheaply. At least, having agreed on a fee beforehand, will possibly reduce this occurring.

We can not repeat it enough! Do not pick up girls or katoeys on the street, or in front of the Nana Plaza entrance. They have no connection with any bar and are freelancers. At least when something untowards happens to you with a bargirls, you can go back to the bar, and complain about it. Freelancers can rip you off big time, and what will you do about it, once they have disappeared? Do not expect them to stand on the same corner waiting for you the day after.

Katoeys (lady boys) are a danger! They are located at the entrance to Nana Plaza, and on Sukhumvit between sois 3 and 5. They surely are more interested in getting your money by any means, than in sexual encounters with you. If you do not manage to recognize them, well, we can not really help you out here.

 

Getting into fights
 

Please refrain. Unless you are part of a large group that is experienced and knows how to handle itself (and we mean a large group), avoid getting physical at all times. You may be twice the size and have twice the power of Mike Tyson in his heyday, but believe us, you do not stand a chance. Thai males are notoriously violent (just read any Thai newspaper to find out about it). There will be no due assessment of who is to blame or not. When you start out being physical (or got forbid strike out to one of the girls) expect to be surrounded by an incredible number of thugs taking turns beating you to a pulp. You may end up being incapacitated for the rest of your life.

So always keep it cool. For minor things, like being overcharged, just pay up. Try to ask for the manager. Sometimes something can be worked out or things cleared up. If you have a mobile phone, you can call the tourist police. (This is the recommended action, and bar managers have been advised to do likewise, when having problems with customers. However, we do not know how it works out in practice in the middle of the night)

What about fire danger?

Well, a lot could be done about fire safety. It looks like the majority of bars have only a single entrance, which on top of that, can be rather narrow. Some bars are really huge, and one can expect pandemonium when a fire breaks out. Fortunately, girls do not seem to perform shows anymore, involving candles, or using fire otherwise. Most of the Soi Cowboy bars for sure have exits leading up to the roofs (and from there you possibly could get to adjoining roofs), and who will know where to go, except some of the girls working there. Nana Plaza does not really seem to have this possiblility of getting higher up and away.

Fire trucks can get into Soi Cowboy easily at this time. So if a fire breaks out there (we actually saw it once a few years ago), the place will be filled with fire trucks in no time. Nana Plaza is another matter. The plaza itself was filled up a few years ago (who ever allowed this to happen?) with beer bars. There is NO place for fire trucks to get inside. Fire extinguishers will simple have to use long extensions to get to the places. All in all, Soi Cowboy is the safer bet. We could also mention that a fire at Patpong would create major logistic problems for the fire brigade, with all the vendor stalls and people crowding the streets.

We do not want to get into assessing other major possible dangers.. After all, why should we be that unlucky. There is more danger while being taken by taxi to any nightlife venue. ( Especially if you use a    tuk tuk )

That said, at least we would expect to have visible police surveillance at all times. Despite the fact that both Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy attract a few thousand visitors each day, consistent surveillance does not seem to be a priority for the authorities.