I Fully agree - New Mayor + Mayor Patong. Please Clean Up Bangla and the streets around.

Posted by Mj on September 19, 2014 09:17

There are way too many fanny cannons shows, tuk tuk's and time share slop to make any dent in a normal and respectable transformation to a better Patong. Somebody big controls the money. Come on army, arrest the money person, keep them locked up until their trial and clean up Patong.

Posted by Robin on September 19, 2014 09:39

Bangla is just one road and the majority of people do not go there except for a quick look, it is internationally known as a red light area, the same as they have in a lot of other countries
Plenty of other things to see and do in patong so why bother with bangla road unless you like that type of thing
Not many people do

Posted by Peter Allen on September 19, 2014 09:46

Firstly a great piece of writing and very true to the point.

Soi Bangla needs cleaning up big time. But these lewd acts are illegal already. They are allowed to operate because the police allow it.

Posted by phuket Saviour on September 19, 2014 10:19

Many of these touts drink on the job and get very rude and physical with the tourists as they pass. Not only is the constant harassment of the tourists a problem, many also fall victim to the age old ping pong tout scam whereby if a tourist enters a "go-go" escorted by a tout who often, unbeknownst to the tourist, sneaks up behind them as they enter the go-go and then claims to the staff of the go-go to have brought said tourist to the show. The price of any drink that customer buys is now 10x normal, and the tout makes a nice commission. Sometimes the tourists are not made aware of the prices, sometimes they are flashed a small print price list under dim light. When they get the bill of 1800B (55USD) for 2 beers, often a confrontation insures. The tourist is then threatened and intimidated until they pay.

Posted by Nomadjoe on September 19, 2014 10:46

The fact that Bangla continues to operate with its illegal activities on full display demonstrates that the administration still has a long way to go in its honourable fight against the endemic corruption that taints the island. Bangla represents the Phuket of the 1990's and it's time for Patong to move on. It's an embarrassment to residents and visitors alike.

Posted by Ryan on September 19, 2014 10:49

Good report. And honest.

With you 100 percent to clean up that area... Patong. I avoid day and night.... It's not my kind of place...

Posted by Robert on September 19, 2014 10:53

Police NEVER do his job in Patong.. a part stop ONLY farang driving without helmet..

Posted by dave on September 19, 2014 11:03

How many ping pong shows are there ? From the number of touts there must be heaps. Ive been down Bangla stacks of times . I love it . I love it because i love watching people and there is such a diverse range there . I love looking at the girls and the ladyboys and the people from all over. However i do not like the touts and the creeps selling photos with animals and i have never seen a ping pong show in 10 years of visits. Bangla is a bit like a circus, but they just need to remove some of the clowns and animals.

Posted by carvets on September 19, 2014 11:49

Prostitution is not inherently bad, ( nor restricted to women working in it.) It's when the third party pimping profits come into play that it gets the criminal element. Look at the Netherlands for how to regulate, and tax it in a manner beneficial to all.

Posted by The Night Mare on September 19, 2014 12:00

Why? Banglas famous for what it is, thats what people go there for, even reputable people on holiday as couples or families who may visit sin city for just 1 night of their hol in Phuket are going there because they're interested to see what its all about. Lets face it, If they want non seedy, beautiful beaches, no hookers, nature blah blah they won't be going to stay in Patong anyway. For me they should just leave it alone, concentrate on important stuff like taxi fares, tuk tuks, jet skis, enforcing building regs and the fact the place floods every time it rains.

Posted by Chalongian on September 19, 2014 12:07

I do not know what this excitement is, without Soi Bangla Patong has not become as rich as it is today. Maybe these touts a bit pushy. But it bothers no tourists, who do not like it do not go there.
Very pushy and annoying for me are all Jet Ski. I ride today on the Beach Road, I saw so many Jet Ski, I could not believe it. These are the concerns of tourists, no rest on the beach.
And the TukTuk are also in the non-parking zone. Please who do something about it, befor the cleaning is a big Joke.

Posted by steve on September 19, 2014 12:24

Also Patong is a kind of free world and nobody who doesn't want to go there, needs to. Have you ever visited red light districts around the world. Maybe Reeperbahn, Walletjes, Angeles, etc. Not much different. Agree with the sticky touts, they are terribly annoying, but all the rest is business as usual, if you are not a puritanical or bourgeois

Posted by Resident on September 19, 2014 12:25

I think most people in their life have seen a ping pong show including the editor
It does not mean we agree or disagree with them, they are a part of life in red light area's and would not exist if people did not go to them
Leave bangla road alone, no one makes you go there if you do not want to and a few wowsers posting on the Internet on a day with no new news is not going to change anything

Posted by Peter Allen on September 19, 2014 13:13

Keep the bars, several of my friends own bars in Bangla, but dump the ping pong shows and all the touts.
Sounds good to me.

Posted by Arthur on September 19, 2014 13:22

Bangkok has its share as well maybe worse, I dropped my girlfriend off at here office this morning and walked to BTS station passed the famous Patpong and got propositioned for sexy massages three times and that was at 9 in the morning

Posted by Michael on September 19, 2014 13:34

No Alan I do not a ping pong show fan, I am not a fan of people who live in a country as a guest on a visa and stick their nose in the way a country is run either and think their opinion is so important they will change the laws to suite such people
Last time in bangla rd was about 6 years ago, we walked thru it in the evening to watch the fireworks on new years eve on the beach rd
Sounds like you visit Bangla rd regularly

Posted by Peter Allen on September 19, 2014 13:51

Seems you are denying women's usage of their own vaginas. It's their business, and seems to have customers, though how much of the takings do they actually get would really be my concern along with the hope they clean the balls sufficiently.
It isn't a valid comparison with animal shows which often suffer neglectful care,and have no choice.

Posted by The Night Mare on September 19, 2014 14:02

Ed, all your comments on this case is stupid. The people saying something about ping-pong shows are NOT a fan of that kind of show's. They try to tell you something about this you can find all around the world. I have been around a little and this is something they have in hundreds of citys around the world. Wake up ED, and try to understand the readers.

Posted by Retired Roadworker on September 19, 2014 14:10

yep agree the freaks shows and the touts they start later in the evening

Posted by Michael on September 19, 2014 14:15

Animals inserted in vagina's you must be joking, sounds like the editor is a expert on ping pong shows, he certainly knows a lot about them

Posted by Peter Allen on September 19, 2014 14:24

Efforts to ban prostitution at all are waste of time, it will never work and actually it is not needed.

BangLa should be moved from the coastal area, and this should used as a chance to re-establish a night entertainment at better standard, and perhaps move it a bit upmarket and make more regulated.

(moderated)

Posted by Sue on September 19, 2014 14:29

Went to a ping pong show in 1995 and have not been to one since then unlike some people
so not stupid unlike the editor with his comments, just not up to date on these sick shows like him

Posted by Peter Allen on September 19, 2014 14:46

I actually happen to quite like exotic ping pong show's lets face it if the woman were not happy showing there amazing abilities then im sure they would find something better to do, its called free enterprise.

Posted by Andrew Ronayne on September 19, 2014 14:55

I'm a bar owner on Bangla Road and totally agree with this article. And last night was just ridiculous - i don't think i've ever seen so many touts. All trying to coerce unsuspecting tourists into the rip-off bars and claim their "commissions".

Bangla is a fun road and should be left to people who want to have nighttime fun, not used to besmirch the name of Patong or Thailand.

Come on, clean it up !

Posted by jimbo34 on September 19, 2014 15:22

Peter Allen, I am one of those exceptions. I think if the baby smiled at me, I'd go to Rio!

Posted by Manowar on September 19, 2014 15:53

The police have been tackling the touts (as well as the ladyboy freelancers) for last few months. Problem is they keep coming back the instant the police go away. They really need to have team of 4 cops (real cops, not farang volunteers) permantly patrolling bangla from 6pm to 6am with the mission to keep bangla clear and safe and be able to hand out some real penalties to anyone operating buisnese on public land (same thing as beaches). Get rid of ping pong touts, timeshares, magic shows, dance acts,bar in a box types and push tiger disco staff back inside. They have been trying to push the name 'bangla walking street' again but it's bloody hard to walk

Posted by Lashay on September 19, 2014 16:54

Phuketwan & editor for years I read your website and although I not always agree with your answers or remarks from your readers. I must and will keep admire.your news product and call it highly appreciated and well balanced and good informed in general. It seems that far most of your "criticasters" are more proud on their daily 20 lines and don't see how heavy heavy a

9 out of 10 I have no problem with your comments on your "Contributors" remarks. No many are worthwhile to be redirected to an ignorance page. To many "guys" are so time wasting and silly in their comments. I WONDER is it not possible to reduce the lettertype-size or give it a different color. Alan Your time is to limited & your task to important to let it be wasted by Empty headed comments.

Or introduce a BLOCK system (by the readers)

I prefer to keep reading good PW articles then see you reacting on to silly minds. Many readers give good & serious reactions & comments. You don't need to agree with them but they are serious. But Recently some parasites

Posted by phuketgreed on September 19, 2014 17:22

Lets not forget ourselves and get all prim and proper! Fact..Patong is known as a party sex town all over the world! If people want to come for anything else they go to different parts of Phuket! Patong earns a lot of money for (like it or not, but be honest!!) from the sex tourists! So everyone can say its sleazy etc but we are all adults, it it offends you then stay the hell away from Bangla! easy!! The sex industry here is still the major draw for tourists whether you will admit it or not. Lets just keep it regulated so that no under age etc goes on, but what does it matter what goes on between two consenting adults? And, lets not forget, that in a country where the government does not help financially to anyone, how else are these people going to earn a living? So, thinking deeper, whose fault is it that these people have no choice but to sell themselves? I respect these people a lot for doing all they can to look after their families but the exploitation is not always on the tourist side, so please think before you condemn my article, just think to yourself what would you do if you had a family and no money no job no education no money from the government! Remember, its easy to judge when you are brought up in a world with housing benefit money for food free healthcare etc so think before condemning people

Posted by Mr Wolf on September 19, 2014 18:14

I agree with many others here:

Clean away the touts, but let the rest of Bangla stay as it is.

Why is Bangla so crowded with people every night?
Because a lots of people likes it as it is! And are comming from all over the world to this spot instead of going elsewhere.

The people that dont like it, dont need to go there. There are thousands of other places to go in Phuket if you dont like Bangla, so need for those people to complain over the short street of Bangla.

Posted by Lets have fun on September 19, 2014 18:26

Ed, you say bangla is no longer crowded because of the prices and sleaze?? Get in the real world Ed, its not crowded because tourism is down because of the coup and many beaches looking like building sites! So if you want to get on your high horse and have a problem with the sleaze then do it honestly and interview some of the women involved and get their outlook on it not just yours

Posted by mr wolf on September 19, 2014 19:48

Editor: Bangla is still crowded, but by far not as crowded as it used to be.

I agree with you: The high prices for sure is one reason.
The dirty beaches probably another.

Posted by Lets have fun on September 19, 2014 20:59

I assume that it is believed the "clean up" would be good for Phuket,not sure what the immediate actual benefits would translate to in real terms.
While the freak shows etc are certainly rather crass methinks perhaps there are many other forms of "pollution" that need to be given priority...government has a very high work load at present?

Posted by David on September 20, 2014 08:25

Patong/Soi Bangla get a lot of media attention but the largest sex industry on the island of Phuket is not in Patong or even on the west side of the island or for the farang tourists. It is in Phuket Town itself, mainly catering to Thai and Asian males and involving 10,000's of prostitutes, many trafficked in from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and China, for the high income in deluxe massage palaces to the mid-level to the low-end servicing the 100's of fishing boats that come and go in the port. The most powerful and wealthiest families in Phuket have an economic interest in Phuket Town's commercial sex industry as to the police and various officials. That's where the real clean-up needs to take place, not the "for appearances sake" clean-up on Soi Bangla in Patong. But who will dare, who can dare, without being crushed.

Posted by Nathan on September 20, 2014 09:32

dunno but..if the world was purged of all that is perceived as immoral,unconscionable,unjust,corrupt,sex or cash related exploratory enterprises yada yada could put 99% of the world back to the neolithic period perhaps?..just saying..my bad..will continue to use and consume products and services of this "Sodom and Gomara" world.

Posted by David on September 20, 2014 10:34

I agree with Ed, these practice's should be removed from Bangla Rd. The problem is the police won't enforce it and even if the offenders are sent to court the fines are pathetic. Toughen up the judicial system, triple the fines or more importantly jail time for re-offenders.(might have to wait for the new jail to be built though).

Posted by darren on September 20, 2014 12:52

Ed, please allow me to be the voice of reason here.

Firstly, I agree totally that ALL touts: bangla, tailors, watches, massage etc are bloody annoying and they should be got rid of - esp those with lewd pictures on their cards

However, as far as the Ping pong shows go, and I have posted this before, the only people I know who want to see it are women. None of my male friends are interested, but I have have females from uk in their 40s, my sister, ladies from singapore in their 20s and my ex wife (thai) ALL want to see it. They are fascianated by what these show performers can do. It's not sexual pleasure - it's admiration - it's a skill that needs to be practised and no one forces the performers to do it, it's their job and they make good money

Phuket is a big place, and Bangla road is one short piece of Tarmac - the solution is very easy, if people do not want to see it, there is a huuuuge area of phuket where they can stay, just avoid one small road. My mother has been in phuket for weeks and never been anywhere near bangla so it's not difficult.

But for those that want to see it, then there is no harm for the rest of us - live and let live.

Going back to my first point though - the touts must go - and quickly ! They are a disgrace. They are also generally counterproductive - the only massage places I go do not have touts.

Posted by Amazing Thailand on September 20, 2014 13:03

Ed

That's the easy bit - remove the touts. If people want to see the shows, they will find them easily enough by asking around

Posted by Amazing Thailand on September 20, 2014 22:01

"If these lewd acts are surviving because of bribes and graft, rid Phuket of this appalling corruption, too. Sack whoever is on the take."

And that in itself is the problem. Sacking/Moving on people is WRONG. These people need to be made an example of, but Thailand is soft of corruption because everyone is in the "buddy" club.
Can Phuketwan recall anyone in history in Thailand being actually spent time in prison for being corrupt?

Posted by Tbs on September 21, 2014 07:31

Somebody suggested more than once in their comments that the Patong sex industry should go upmarket and be moved to Thalang. What exactly does this mean? High class hookers and call girls, crystal balls instead of ping pong balls, nightclubs with velvet seating and chandeliers, and customers wearing collared shirts with tattoos covered up. Did the commenter ever think of the reaction of Thalang residents should such a thoughtless idea ever materialise? Red light areas generally always remain red light areas and are not custom built on the whim of some demented person's idea.
Apologies for being late with this comment, but I'm away from home quite often and miss many comments, unless the thread is re-introduced.

Posted by Pete on September 21, 2014 09:05

@ Pete. You don't get out much or you live in Rawai. We have these in Thalang and Laguna too. Some of the "entertainers" are Russian and Ukrainian too. Fire away lasses.

Posted by Duncan B on September 21, 2014 09:29

@Duncan B: Quite right, I don't get out at all in Phuket, let alone Rawai because I no longer live in Kamala. As an ex resident I take an interest in Phuket affairs and watch the downhill slide (Thalang and Laguna would be good examples) since I left. If you think the comment section is only for Phuket residents, then you are wrong.

Posted by Pete on September 21, 2014 10:30

Ed, you ask how to get rid of touts without getting rid of shows?

That one is simple, stop the shows paying them by threating to pull their business/alcohol/liquor licences.

The whole thing is a scam anyway. Walk into one of these places on your own, semi normal drinks prices, let a tout walk you in you are looking 500 plus per drink to cover touts commission (after being made loads of false promises about cheap prices and free shows), show's defence is touts don't work for them.

Kill the touts source of money and they will go away on their own

You might have moral problems with the shows, me personally could not give a damn what others want to do, but tourists constantly getting hassled by 'ping pong' every few metres and then getting scammed if they are interested is not good for anyone who runs a tourist dependant business, regardless if what that business is

Posted by Lashay on September 21, 2014 16:16

How thick are some of you people commenting here, did you read the story or just the posted comments?
The article's saying get rid of the touts and ping-pong shows, it'NOT saying stop the bar girls trying to make a living.
I'm not saying i agree with the entire article but at least if your going to post a comment understand the articles contents first.

Posted by Chalongresident on September 21, 2014 21:18

TOUT !!!!

signed,

Homer Simpson

Posted by farang888 on September 22, 2014 21:59

Normally love Phuket Wan. But this write up is delusional. Editor, you are forgetting these girls WANT TO be there. They CHOOSE to do these shows and make 3 times the money they do farming rice back home. Nobody is taking advantage of them. Its their personal choice, so maybe you should go and ask the girls themselves what their family thinks of them before you ask your readers this same question. Leave Bangla alone. Patong is not Fiji and nobody wants it to be.

Posted by Joy on September 23, 2014 02:26

@Joy

Patong is not Fiji and nobody wants it to be.

===

In my experience soliciting on Fiji is much worse than on Patong as it takes place in high-end hotel and in quite agressive manner:

In ex.Sheraton/now Westin on Denarau is. repeated, energetic, pushing soliciting by a kind of guard/security guys, obviously of their female colleagues.

I don't think that at Patong in those place that one can regard as upmarket at that location - Impiana, Millenium, Graceland, someone push a co-bedder through your room's door.

Posted by Sue on September 23, 2014 09:11

like ping pong the issue will go back and forth but the ping pong will continue based on the supply and demand principal if there was no demand they would not exist evidently numerous do.

Posted by slickmelb on September 26, 2014 20:34

Thank you very much for taking out these ping pong shows ! It's disgusting ! But I love Bangla Road and all these open bars and the girls are very nice

Posted by Lady on October 1, 2014 08:11

To link the time share touts to the ping pong touts is disgraceful, your puritanical zeal, masquerading as women's rights campaigning is sham, in my experience the overwhelming demand for the shows comes from women ,mostly Aussie, holiday makers. The time share people do their touting all over the world, they come from Hyatts and Hiltons, Marriots and the like what's your problem with their travel clubs. Seems you haven agenda where anyone with a different view is a woman abuser or have you a problem with the noble tradition of touting, it's marketing that has existed as long as business has if you want an anodyne Bangla rd where drunkeness and violence is acceptable after hours when kids are asleep but harmless ping pong shows and inoffensive time share touts politely go about their promotional work with your opprobrium liberally poured all over them for reasons quite beyond reason.

Posted by Mike Blakey on November 6, 2014 12:55

"But lewd ping pong shows that demean women"

What nonsense is this. Many regular jobs are highly demeaning, man or woman. Highlighting things that primarily affect women is just feminist drivel. Especially when the women involved are spoken for by some presumptuous crusader instead of actually asked.

Posted by Ryan on February 11, 2015 10:22