Buy One, Get One Free

[The_Traveler]

Sukhumvit (an avenue) is a mixed area, lots of very nice hotels, a couple of real upscale shopping plazas, but in the lower areas around Soi (side street or alley) 3 to 8 or 10, any single female on the street or sitting in a bar is almost certainly a prostitute. The side streets have lots of massage parlors and bars and, if you are in a bar and the tall, attractive female in the corner gives you a come-hither look, the odds are about 50:50 that person didn't start life as a female.

It is a particularly ironic stroke of geography that the most heavily Muslim section of Bangkok, where many woman are wearing burkas, is directly across the avenue from Soi Nana, an area that bills itself as the 'largest sex complex in the world.' Thus, very religious men and women share the sidewalks and stores fronts with aggressively marketing prostitutes and massage workers.

We were staying at a nice hotel on Soi 11 and walked down to the Arab section to have supper and the picture below seemed pretty indicative of the situation.

Lowland Thai are a beautiful ethnic group and it is common to see women on the street who are just drop-dead beautiful with an almost elfin grace that makes most Western women look large and clumsy.

 

[Rick50]

Wishing I was younger now!

 

[vintagesnaps]

I looked at the pictures before I went back and read the text. The first one had me wondering what the sign in the second one told me. Well done telling the story.

Of course the text fills in details about where this was etc. but I knew from the pictures more or less what the situation was. Kind of dismal to me, not the photos so much as they make me think of what their lives might be like; seems like women drawn into prostitution at least here are usually using drugs and in poor health and don't have much of a life.

 

[The_Traveler]

It seems in casual observation of the women on the street and bars in this area that moist of them are from Isaan province which is historically part of Laos or Cambodia but has been incorporated into Thailand in the last century. They are clearly physically different from non-Isaan Thai who are mainly from China; they are much darker and stockier than Chinese Thai and even have a different language, which is mostly understandable by the Lao on the other side of the Mekong.
In discussion, it is assumed by the Thai that it is the women of Isaan who come to Bangkok to earn money as bar-girls and prostitutes to send back to their families.
Thailand is an enormous mix of peoples who seem to maintain their ethnic origins.

For some enlightenment on how Thailand got populated read Peopling of Thailand - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[mmaria]

#1 it looks like you oversharpened/overbrightened her, noise
#2 I'd prefer if women were in focus and atms were oof
jmo

 

[The_Traveler]

#1 it looks like you oversharpened/overbrightened her, noise

She was oof and really almost disappeared into the brightness of the background.
What you may be seeing is not oversharpening but an indefinite edge where I needed to trace the fuzzy outline of her face and darken the background so she stood out against it.
Not ideal but she turned away from the camera in the next instant and I couldn't repeat a shot.
So, it must be what it ended up as.
I can't think of any way to get her more in focus so I could mask her more easily and still hold focus on the sign in the foreground.
Thanks for looking and commenting.

Lew

 

[sashbar]

Was that woman in the first image working as a prostitute in that cafe?

 

[The_Traveler]

Was that woman in the first image working as a prostitute in that cafe?

Without actually approaching her, paying for her time, going to a short-time hotel and actually engaging in some manner of sexual intercourse, my answer must be only speculation but, based on all the obvious signs, I would say yes.

 

[sashbar]

Was that woman in the first image working as a prostitute in that cafe?

Without actually approaching her, paying for her time, going to a short-time hotel and actually engaging in some manner of sexual intercourse, my answer must be only speculation but, based on all the obvious signs, I would say yes.

I guess they do not like being photographed. I once took a picture of a prostitute in Paris and was immediately approached by two nasty looking pimps. Probably it is more relaxed in Bangcock

 

[The_Traveler]

I guess they do not like being photographed. I once took a picture of a prostitute in Paris and was immediately approached by two nasty looking pimps. Probably it is more relaxed in Bangcock

I can't know if that was a Freudian error but the spelling is Bangkok.

The etymology of the name Bangkok (??????, pronounced in Thai as [ba-?? k???k] ( listen)) is unclear. Bang is a Thai word meaning "a village situated on a stream",[9] and the name may have been derived from Bang Ko (???????), ko meaning "island", a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals

Bangkok - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and the largest city in the country. But it is typically only called Bangkok in English. In Thai, it is often called Krung Thep Maka Nakhon, or just Krung Thep. Its full name is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit."

What it means is “The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (unlike Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”

The real name of Bangkok is the longest city name on Earth. - OMG Facts - The World s 1 Fact Source

This long name and abbreviation is also found in individual's names which are quite long and complex but who go by very short nicknames for convenience and for 'religious' reasons.

Thai nicknames - Thai Language

Just about every Thai person has a nickname by which they are known informally, given to them by their parents at birth. The pervasive use of nicknames in this way apparently comes from the old belief that evil spirits are constantly on the lookout for newborn children to snatch away and control, but using a nickname instead of a normal Thai name confuses the spirits and helps to keep the child safe. This is not a widespread belief nowadays of course, but nonetheless the use of nicknames remains so widespread in Thailand that it's not uncommon for friends to know each other for years and yet not know each other's real name and surname.

The nicknames given may be a contraction of their real name, but most often Thai parents take inspiration for the nickname from a wide variety of other sources instead. Names based on someone's appearance at birth are common.

 

[sashbar]

I can't know if that was a Freudian error but the spelling is Bangkok.

The etymology of the name Bangkok (??????, pronounced in Thai as [ba-?? k???k] ( listen)) is unclear. Bang is a Thai word meaning "a village situated on a stream",[9] and the name may have been derived from Bang Ko (???????), ko meaning "island", a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals

Bangkok - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and the largest city in the country. But it is typically only called Bangkok in English. In Thai, it is often called Krung Thep Maka Nakhon, or just Krung Thep. Its full name is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit."

What it means is “The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (unlike Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”

The real name of Bangkok is the longest city name on Earth. - OMG Facts - The World s 1 Fact Source

This long name and abbreviation is also found in individual's names which are quite long and complex but who go by very short nicknames for convenience and for 'religious' reasons.

Thai nicknames - Thai Language

Just about every Thai person has a nickname by which they are known informally, given to them by their parents at birth. The pervasive use of nicknames in this way apparently comes from the old belief that evil spirits are constantly on the lookout for newborn children to snatch away and control, but using a nickname instead of a normal Thai name confuses the spirits and helps to keep the child safe. This is not a widespread belief nowadays of course, but nonetheless the use of nicknames remains so widespread in Thailand that it's not uncommon for friends to know each other for years and yet not know each other's real name and surname.

The nicknames given may be a contraction of their real name, but most often Thai parents take inspiration for the nickname from a wide variety of other sources instead. Names based on someone's appearance at birth are common.

Thanks. That was a joke, referring to the "largest sex complex in the world"

 

[DarkShadow]

She looks High class all the way.How do I get the second one free when I probably can't afford the first one.Oh wait,thats the drinks ha. The second women wearing purple looks uptight.She is a cutie though.If I had the money to travel,I would certainly want to go the places you do.Someday maybe before I croak.