Bangkok Blogs

Some of you may be familiar with the evening entertainment area around soi 8 on Ratchada. We’re talking about Hollywood, Dance Fever, Bali, Zeed and so on. Some of these joints are fairly rough around the edges and some are downright filthy.

Bali, in particular, is known as a hotbed of trouble. As farang, we don’t tend to get targetted - muscular mafia types will happily come up and shout “ROONEY! BECK-HAM!” at you with a grin and a toast. It’s reassuring. Unfortunately, they will then turn around and pull a gun on some Thai chap who is making eyes at their girlfriend.

According to some reports, there are as many as three shootings a month in Bali alone. It stays open until 5am most nights but the police turn up to stamp their authority on it every now and then. Usually a monday, of course.

The bouncers with black shirts and trousers who stand outside Bali along the road are actually local mafia, “hired” to “protect” the club. Last week, I was walking down the road past Bali having enjoyed a night at Hollywood trying to guess whether or not the sweet little thing chatting me up did or did not own a penis. The usual drunken calm of 4am was interrupted rather ubruptly by the screams of several Thai girls pointing at a circle of these “bouncers”.

One of them was putting a silver Katana-style sword into its sheath. I had to check with my friend - “Um, is that a sword?”. It was confirmed. Then we noticed who was in the middle of this circle of bad boys - a young thai guy with a bloodied arm half hanging off his bone. He ran and ran for the taxis out in the main road.

Two policemen stood by, arms folded.

Only the week before I had been punched through a taxi window by a drunk Thai teenager who thought I had stolen his taxi from him. I probably deserved it. It’s getting alot worse down in Ratchada.