Nana Plaza, Bangkok

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Down in the fast place, shady side of Bangkok is the hilarious place that's a must for anyone in Bangkok. On one side of the bar is two rotating carosels with a go-go show that plays all night. But on the other side is a full sized mechanical bull! It's free to ride and if you last 60 seconds, you get a free drink. I actually made the 60 seconds, but you really have to hold on for dear life since the operator spins you around frantically for the last 10 seconds of your ride. An absolute laugh and a half if you head down with a group of people!

Dress Code: Don't wear a skirt or anything that will fly off of you!

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I thought that Nana Plaza was a little too sleazy. Then again, i really didn't know what to expect the first time i went there. i figured since i was here, and all the girls came with price tags, why not have a foursome??? so i did.... i think i paid like 1000 Baht to each of them (including bar fine) so it wasn't oo pricy. Though i prefer to actually hook up with a girl and not have to pay but sometimes you just have to give things a try.

Dress Code: Thailand Casual:)

Nana Plaza is a very dangerous are when clubs shut. Basically the Katoeys, Ladyboys are there just to rob, drug or mug tourists. They have no other purpose. And remember they have the strength of men and volitlity of women. Possibly one of the mast dangerous places on the planet. Especially bad if you are drunk. Take care.

Nana Plaza is a courtyard filled with small bars with hostess girls. Around the courtyard is a 3 storey building full of bars and pole dancing clubs. Most are full of girls, but I did pass one lady boy bar.

If this is your sort of thing, I would recommend heading straight to the top floor. The bars are bigger, and there is more of a show going on.

Dress Code: I don't think there is a dress code.

its 3 floors of Go-Go bars and very interesting place to visit. The evening before I left for the airport I sat at the entrance in an open air bar just watching the people going in. My first night started and ended there not needing to go anywhere else. Beware the Katooeys or lady boys or you may end up getting something you weren't expecting. Unless I suppose your intlo that sort of thing.

Dress Code: None that I was aware of.

During evening hours if you go to Nana Plaza it might be quite annoing all the tuk-tuk drivers and other that trying to take you to massage place or what ever it is.
The idea is:
1. Walk into one of the pubs at Nana Plaza.
2. Pick up a nice looking girl.
3. Tell her you want her to be your company for this evening.
4. Pay the money to the bar. I think it's ~300 THB.
5. Enjoy your evening, nobody will bother you as far as Thai girl accompanies you.
6. When you want to sleep, give her money "for the taxi" and tell her you want to sleep so she can go home and bye bye. She will take the money and go back to the pub you picked her in.

Worked very well for me.

Dress Code: Free.
Try to avoid shorts.

Stepped into Fantasia being skeptical, after being ripped off at Patpong 6 months ago. The gogo bars are a replica of Patpong, but less sleazy and pple are more genuine. the girls look better too.

Got to watch the show at ease

Dress Code: Casual. Noone really cares, seriously as long as you pay for your drinks, and the afterservice, if you require.

Nana Plaza is another experience. It is two floors of different bars full of live entertainment and hardly clothed to topless (if not less) working girls. They take their turns on stage, holding on to poles, doing mindnumbingly monotonous body palpitations, and if you think it is boring to look at, have a look at their faces - they are bored silly, but it brings them money. When they are not on stage they are trolling the bar for guys and girls who are looking like they will buy them a drink or take them home. It is pretty full contact at times for workers and their clients in the bar although management generally discourages this.
At Nana, there are lots of losers who get an ego boost by thinking these women are attracted to them physically. Hard Lesson #1 – if you have a big nose and white skin, you have money. That is the attraction.
I should mention that many of the bars-businesses in Nana are Australian owned – nice that they make money off the skin of other cultures.
Also, not all the girls are over 18, the legal age Thai women may have consensual sexual relations. Some lie to get the job.
Now, I am under no delusion that some of these women don’t take advantage of the cold-cocked bedazzled fat-walletted men that can’t believe someone so beautiful came and sat beside them out of a crowd of men, but for the most part, it is the women that are being taken advantage of in this situation. They are not there because they want to be, but they have to work somewhere. They don’t get a lot for doing this – 6000-8000 baht a month with long hours, but it is something they can do with little to no education. Plus whatever they get if they are taken out of the bar for more action in private (this might include necessary medical attention when some lout roughs her up).
To take them from the bar, you pay the manager 500 baht or so to compensate him/her for the lost income of not having her indoors swinging from the fire poles.

Dress Code: Usually coming from a poor northeastern province without a lot of opportunity, the women don’t have much choice. Often bars employ scouts to go to villages and entice the young women. So you hear stories of a girl’s cousin from her own village convincing her and her friends to come work at this great restaurant in Bangkok, and when she gets there, THIS is what she meant?
Unfortunately, another reason Thai women work here is in hopes of meeting a foreign guy that might take them back to their country, in which life is of course better than here in Thailand. We have all seen or heard of the movie “Pretty Woman”, right? Again, love has nothing to do with this – it is about survival, escape, and misconceptions of an easier life. Foreign men for some reason have the reputation of being kind husbands. This error in judgement can often lead to abusive relationships where the Thai woman is far from home and helpless.
I have seen and talked to too many of these people, before and after having arrived in Bangkok, having worked on the social development side, trying to change conditions that force women to have to go work in these exploitative jobs.
Keep in mind that at any of these bars the sweetie sidling up to you with the big smile and buxom bod might be a man. A good way to check is the Adam’s apple – prominent on males, but surgery is making it harder to see this. A scarf of some sort around the neck is a give-away.
Well, I am rambling. I don’t suggest that you go and become a purveyor of these “Thai goods”, but it is interesting to go a see what these places are like. Some argue that at least this employs people. If you do not agree with this subjugation of Thai women, don’t spend any money. If you can, sit and have a talk with one of the workers that speaks English, and listen to her story. It will leave you walking away with an empty feeling. These are some of the ill effects of tourism in Thailand.