CaBaReT In Bangkok
"Did you go for a Cabaret in Bangkok?" My tourist guide caught me
off guard. "No." was my reply.
I had enrolled for half a day city Tour in Bangkok city, and to my
surprise, I was the only guest for that tour. Initially, I was a bit
embarrassed, then my tour guide assured me, this mini bus is all
yours for a day and it will be your private tour. Luckily she was
speaking good English, something that is uncommon in Bangkok,
so we immediately striked a chord. We discussed
about many things...
"You are in Bangkok for one month now and not gone for a Cabaret yet,
no good."
" Yeah! But my colleagues have gone back to their home countries
and they will not be back until another 15 days, may be I will think then.
I don't have any company with me right now."
"But you have been staying here from last 1 month and you did not go there
still? You have gone to so many places alone all the while. Are you afraid
of going alone there?"
I was impressed with her intelligence to read my mind correctly. But, I
continued with my excuses. "I am not afraid. See, it's not a place where you
go alone." She was not someone who would take no for an answer. She
persisted, "M'dam you are missing something. See, it's a lady boy concept.
Everyone who comes to Bangkok goes there. It's an event to watch for,
nothing wrong in it." Now even I am curious to know what is it? "Sorry? I am not
going to tell you anything, otherwise its no fun." "Its not fair." I was
trying to get all the sympathy I can. "Ok I will take you to the cabaret."
My Tourist guide declared. "Alright! I will buy your ticket too." I replied.
I could not believe it, she managed to sell it to me. "Done! then lets
meet at 8. But, you have to pay now." She wanted to make sure, I wont back
out and she genuinely wanted me to watch the show. "Alright, give me your
tour guide no., and agency number." We both made sure that none of us back
out at the last moment. I had 2 hours in my hand.
I went back home to relax. I was wondering, "Was it a right decision? I
mean, going for a Cabaret at all? That too with a stranger whom I had just
met? Am I getting over smart by making these kind of off the floor deals?
Will it be a good place for me to go like that? Oopps! What have I done? Its
8 o'clock!" May be that I was too curious to explore the concept or that I
had paid a bulky sum in advance, or I had made up my mind so there was no
way I am going to back out. "I gotta go."
I entered a big hall. I glanced at the audiences; they were mainly tourist
from Japan, Europe and Australia. To my surprise, they all had come with
"Family", few of them with kids too. "Alright, not all that bad place after
all... ;-)" I had a sense of relief for the first time in the last 2 hours.
" Now, all the ladies who will come on the stage are actually guys who have
converted themselves in ladies. They have altered their genders. Its very
common in Thailand." I was amazed to see the ease with which she was
explaining me the concept. Altering gender for her was as simple as
converting my foreign exchange. She continued, "Some of my friends
have also altered their gender. Some of my male friends were even married
and had kids and they realized, that they have a woman in them and they
altered their gender." "Really! kid will be so confused to have 2 mothers."
We both laughed at my silly joke, me
wholeheartedly to ease myself. I was holding my breath to see what is in
store to see on the stage.
Suddenly, the music was loud and they started serving drinks, which is
complimentary with the ticket. "Do they put some hypnotizing substance in
drinks so that we get mesmerized and assume that the guys on the stage as
girls? "You wait and watch." She said matter of factly looking at my
impatience.
The show began, ladies started coming on the stage and started displaying
sometimes-good, at times provocative dancing skills. Their outfits,
lighting, sound system was glittering. Their moves were in tune with the
music and the entire set up was breathtaking. "Are they guys? I can't
believe it?" Yes" she said with a victory. The ladies on the stage were well
toned and wore dress to kill. It was all costume drama, with some dance
displays including, adult themes, kiddish themes and some Thai cultural
promotional themes.
One and half hours of stage extravaganza, was an experience to remember.
After the show was over, my tour guide asked me to hurry outside. "Lets go
out and you can click photographs with them or talk to them." "Really!" I
said with excitement. I came out and I saw all the gorgeous ladies (?) are
standing in row wearing the most stunning gowns in Miss Universe style to
greet us. I went near to them and asked one lady, who I thought had a good
dancing skills, to click a photograph with me. I thanked her for letting me
click the snap.
"40 Baht?" The lady asked. "What?" I asked in disbelief. "You have to pay
her 40 baht(Thai Currency) for clicking snap with her." My tour guide
advised me. Then other ladies started to point at me to come and click
snaps with them. The voice was that of a guy now and I was horrified. All of
them started to shout at tourists and provoking them to click
photographs. They were dressed like the most beautiful girls on the earth
but the voice was contradicting the whole set up. Awesome evening turned
into awful evening. I started getting a giddy feeling. My sharp tourist
guide took hold of the situation and took me to the other side. Soon other
tourist started coming to the entrance. "Lets watch some fun now." My
tourist guide said enthusiastically. We saw that excited tourist would
click snaps with 2-3 ladies and in return ladies would ask for money. The
surprised tourist would have no choice but to pay. He would be embarrassed
to think what a fool I am and he would move forward. Now, it was a Kodak
Moment for me to click snaps of the embarrassed tourist and not ladies.... :-)
I was still figuring out whether it was a good day or a bad day? Hundreds of
questions in my mind about the whole concept were still unanswered. On a
positive note, it was a relief to know that in some part of the world, this
human race is respected for what they are and not for what they should be.
At the end, It's a 2 hours of pure entertainment. Enjoy it and forget it,
probably no other logic would help.
off guard. "No." was my reply.
I had enrolled for half a day city Tour in Bangkok city, and to my
surprise, I was the only guest for that tour. Initially, I was a bit
embarrassed, then my tour guide assured me, this mini bus is all
yours for a day and it will be your private tour. Luckily she was
speaking good English, something that is uncommon in Bangkok,
so we immediately striked a chord. We discussed
about many things...
"You are in Bangkok for one month now and not gone for a Cabaret yet,
no good."
" Yeah! But my colleagues have gone back to their home countries
and they will not be back until another 15 days, may be I will think then.
I don't have any company with me right now."
"But you have been staying here from last 1 month and you did not go there
still? You have gone to so many places alone all the while. Are you afraid
of going alone there?"
I was impressed with her intelligence to read my mind correctly. But, I
continued with my excuses. "I am not afraid. See, it's not a place where you
go alone." She was not someone who would take no for an answer. She
persisted, "M'dam you are missing something. See, it's a lady boy concept.
Everyone who comes to Bangkok goes there. It's an event to watch for,
nothing wrong in it." Now even I am curious to know what is it? "Sorry? I am not
going to tell you anything, otherwise its no fun." "Its not fair." I was
trying to get all the sympathy I can. "Ok I will take you to the cabaret."
My Tourist guide declared. "Alright! I will buy your ticket too." I replied.
I could not believe it, she managed to sell it to me. "Done! then lets
meet at 8. But, you have to pay now." She wanted to make sure, I wont back
out and she genuinely wanted me to watch the show. "Alright, give me your
tour guide no., and agency number." We both made sure that none of us back
out at the last moment. I had 2 hours in my hand.
I went back home to relax. I was wondering, "Was it a right decision? I
mean, going for a Cabaret at all? That too with a stranger whom I had just
met? Am I getting over smart by making these kind of off the floor deals?
Will it be a good place for me to go like that? Oopps! What have I done? Its
8 o'clock!" May be that I was too curious to explore the concept or that I
had paid a bulky sum in advance, or I had made up my mind so there was no
way I am going to back out. "I gotta go."
I entered a big hall. I glanced at the audiences; they were mainly tourist
from Japan, Europe and Australia. To my surprise, they all had come with
"Family", few of them with kids too. "Alright, not all that bad place after
all... ;-)" I had a sense of relief for the first time in the last 2 hours.
" Now, all the ladies who will come on the stage are actually guys who have
converted themselves in ladies. They have altered their genders. Its very
common in Thailand." I was amazed to see the ease with which she was
explaining me the concept. Altering gender for her was as simple as
converting my foreign exchange. She continued, "Some of my friends
have also altered their gender. Some of my male friends were even married
and had kids and they realized, that they have a woman in them and they
altered their gender." "Really! kid will be so confused to have 2 mothers."
We both laughed at my silly joke, me
wholeheartedly to ease myself. I was holding my breath to see what is in
store to see on the stage.
Suddenly, the music was loud and they started serving drinks, which is
complimentary with the ticket. "Do they put some hypnotizing substance in
drinks so that we get mesmerized and assume that the guys on the stage as
girls? "You wait and watch." She said matter of factly looking at my
impatience.
The show began, ladies started coming on the stage and started displaying
sometimes-good, at times provocative dancing skills. Their outfits,
lighting, sound system was glittering. Their moves were in tune with the
music and the entire set up was breathtaking. "Are they guys? I can't
believe it?" Yes" she said with a victory. The ladies on the stage were well
toned and wore dress to kill. It was all costume drama, with some dance
displays including, adult themes, kiddish themes and some Thai cultural
promotional themes.
One and half hours of stage extravaganza, was an experience to remember.
After the show was over, my tour guide asked me to hurry outside. "Lets go
out and you can click photographs with them or talk to them." "Really!" I
said with excitement. I came out and I saw all the gorgeous ladies (?) are
standing in row wearing the most stunning gowns in Miss Universe style to
greet us. I went near to them and asked one lady, who I thought had a good
dancing skills, to click a photograph with me. I thanked her for letting me
click the snap.
"40 Baht?" The lady asked. "What?" I asked in disbelief. "You have to pay
her 40 baht(Thai Currency) for clicking snap with her." My tour guide
advised me. Then other ladies started to point at me to come and click
snaps with them. The voice was that of a guy now and I was horrified. All of
them started to shout at tourists and provoking them to click
photographs. They were dressed like the most beautiful girls on the earth
but the voice was contradicting the whole set up. Awesome evening turned
into awful evening. I started getting a giddy feeling. My sharp tourist
guide took hold of the situation and took me to the other side. Soon other
tourist started coming to the entrance. "Lets watch some fun now." My
tourist guide said enthusiastically. We saw that excited tourist would
click snaps with 2-3 ladies and in return ladies would ask for money. The
surprised tourist would have no choice but to pay. He would be embarrassed
to think what a fool I am and he would move forward. Now, it was a Kodak
Moment for me to click snaps of the embarrassed tourist and not ladies.... :-)
I was still figuring out whether it was a good day or a bad day? Hundreds of
questions in my mind about the whole concept were still unanswered. On a
positive note, it was a relief to know that in some part of the world, this
human race is respected for what they are and not for what they should be.
At the end, It's a 2 hours of pure entertainment. Enjoy it and forget it,
probably no other logic would help.
posted by angel eyes at 8:07 AM
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