PHUKET: It was a night of rain and roses, a night for Patong to farewell the victims of the Tiger Disco inferno in the inimitable style of Soi Bangla.
About 2.25am, a drunken female tourist collapsed in the street and her boyfriend discovered, probably to his horror, that she was too heavy to carry.
Another woman, dressed in an American flag, left a bar and danced in the rain. Wet police moved in to close venues that should have been shut by 2am.
And a group of statuesque katoey ladyboys, dressed in feathers and finery, carried long banners of condolences into place outside the Tiger, which was ravaged by an after-hours blaze that is still being investigated.
In the rain, hundreds of people, a motley crosssection of all that Soi Bangla has to offer, gathered under umbrellas to mourn four people whose names we still do not know.
Behind the barriers, tourists streamed towards the tuk-tuks after another big Bangla night. There were muscled-up young men wearing no shirts, umbrella vendors doing a good trade, and drinkers and bar girls wearing each other.
At the propitiously chosen time of 2.39am, the memorial ceremony began.
In the hour that followed, hundreds of roses were placed on the ground outside the disco and an equal number of prayers were sent up for the nameless departed and the future of Patong.
When the formal speeches by the Patong Entertainment Association's Prab Keesin, other officials and senior police were over, the street gathering transformed into a gospel-style prayer meeting.
'Amazing Grace' lilted over the speakers and was followed by 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.' The microphone was passed from hand to hand, with tears being shed and stories being told.
One woman, the owner of a nearby bar, said that she'd reserved a table on the dance balcony at Tiger every Thursday night for years but last week she felt sick and went home after a few minutes.
She hugged an organiser and shed a tear.
An Australian tourist waving a bottle of Singha took his turn with the mike, offering a wide brown land profundity: ''They died having fun. Shit happens.''
Already there's talk of the ghost of a woman being seen around the blackened building, but perhaps when the four bodies are named later today, the ghost will be satisfied and leave.
Life will go on in Soi Bangla, regardless.
The minute of silence was as solemn as Phuket's most famous street ever gets. And who knows? Perhaps the Aussie was right.
As daylight breaks today, many will be hoping that the memorial remains a one-of-a-kind event, and that it will never have to be repeated.
About 2.25am, a drunken female tourist collapsed in the street and her boyfriend discovered, probably to his horror, that she was too heavy to carry.
Another woman, dressed in an American flag, left a bar and danced in the rain. Wet police moved in to close venues that should have been shut by 2am.
And a group of statuesque katoey ladyboys, dressed in feathers and finery, carried long banners of condolences into place outside the Tiger, which was ravaged by an after-hours blaze that is still being investigated.
In the rain, hundreds of people, a motley crosssection of all that Soi Bangla has to offer, gathered under umbrellas to mourn four people whose names we still do not know.
Behind the barriers, tourists streamed towards the tuk-tuks after another big Bangla night. There were muscled-up young men wearing no shirts, umbrella vendors doing a good trade, and drinkers and bar girls wearing each other.
At the propitiously chosen time of 2.39am, the memorial ceremony began.
In the hour that followed, hundreds of roses were placed on the ground outside the disco and an equal number of prayers were sent up for the nameless departed and the future of Patong.
When the formal speeches by the Patong Entertainment Association's Prab Keesin, other officials and senior police were over, the street gathering transformed into a gospel-style prayer meeting.
'Amazing Grace' lilted over the speakers and was followed by 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.' The microphone was passed from hand to hand, with tears being shed and stories being told.
One woman, the owner of a nearby bar, said that she'd reserved a table on the dance balcony at Tiger every Thursday night for years but last week she felt sick and went home after a few minutes.
She hugged an organiser and shed a tear.
An Australian tourist waving a bottle of Singha took his turn with the mike, offering a wide brown land profundity: ''They died having fun. Shit happens.''
Already there's talk of the ghost of a woman being seen around the blackened building, but perhaps when the four bodies are named later today, the ghost will be satisfied and leave.
Life will go on in Soi Bangla, regardless.
The minute of silence was as solemn as Phuket's most famous street ever gets. And who knows? Perhaps the Aussie was right.
As daylight breaks today, many will be hoping that the memorial remains a one-of-a-kind event, and that it will never have to be repeated.
Not everything was closed it was charade for the media. Soi Eric still open at 4am.
Posted by LJ on August 21, 2012 12:22