Late Night Partying in Bangkok

[FarangFarang]

Part I

Party zone _ enter at your own risk

Bangkok's late-night clubs are lawless enclaves despite and because of their connections to local police stations. 'Spectrum' spoke to club managers to find out how it works _ and discovered what happens when things go wrong

Published: 25/12/2011 at 12:00 AMNewspaper section: Spectrum

When Bangkok's nightclubs close around 2am, party people still in the mood for fun move on. From the latest in-vogue hotspot they venture to places that operate in a grey area of legality but are left untouched because of large daily or monthly payments made to local police stations.

These clubs have names ranging from the seedy to the innocuous. The latest are two Pattaya imports. And then there are the normal clubs that simply stay open when others close, or are hidden in late-night strips off Ratchadaphisek, Sukhumvit or Silom roads where small bars turn the lights down low and stay open until 5 or 6am.

The larger late-night clubs are dotted all over town, in hotel basements or at the ends of dark sois _ hard to find if you haven't been before, but your taxi driver will know how to get you there. Sometimes you ask for one but end up at another. The driver will say he was confused, but the real reason might simply be that the place where you ended up pays a higher commission _ up to 300 baht a head.

These clubs come and go. One favourite of the hi-so crowd in recent years was located at the end of a dark car park on Langsuan Road, behind an unmarked door. It closed not because of police action but for the simple reason that its lease wasn't renewed. Many long-standing clubs have survived the fickle nature of the party crowd because they are owned either outright or in part by high-ranking police officers or other heavy hitters, and are less susceptible to the vagaries of the industry.

Of course, in other countries there might be government taxes and payments to police or organised crime figures for "protection", and many such clubs the world over operate on the borderline of legality. The difference in Bangkok may be that if anything goes wrong in one of these clubs, there is little recourse.

The police are loathe to get involved to avoid risking lucrative payoffs of up to 100,000 baht a day, while the clubs, the hotels they're situated in or their front businesses (some are registered as restaurants) can merely deflect responsibility.

Spectrum took a tour of Bangkok's late-night venues to get a sense of the year-end after-hours party scene in time for the anniversary of the 2009 fire at the Santika nightclub in which 66 people died.

We spoke to club managers, clubbers and police officers to find out how it works, and became more involved than we bargained for.

PAYING OFF THE COPS

Kreangsak manages a club on Sukhumvit Road, a normal mid to high-end place but one that usually stays open until 3am, past the legal closing hour in the area of 2am. Like all the sources for this article, his name has been changed. He says the club makes most of its money between 1am and 3am, but that he pays the police a considerable amount for the extra hour. Kreangsak has seen many changes in the nightlife scene over the years as governments come and go, but one constant remains. ''Police come on the same day every month,'' he says. ''If you know someone in power you can probably get a better rate, but there isn't a single club that doesn't have to pay.''

The payments can involve multiple branches of law enforcement, including traffic and immigration police. Kreangsak describes how one department caught the club with a DJ performing without a work permit.

''We tried to pay them off and the guy wouldn't take the money. I was amazed. 'Is this an honest cop?' I thought. But it wasn't about that. He didn't want the one-time payment; he wanted the monthly one. We pay about half a dozen every month, 5,000 to 10,000 baht each. That's just to take care of the foot soldiers on the street.''

The big payment, he says, goes to the local police station. The exact monthly amount fluctuates, depending on opening hours and the current political situation, but ''runs in the low hundreds of thousands''.

''Every now and then we get a call saying we have to close at 1am or 2am and we ask why. The answer is that a big guy is out and about, someone above the local station. If that guy's out checking the scene, we have to be closed.''

Although the club pays several branches of the police, no district bothers them other than the one with jurisdiction on that street.

''If the neighbouring police district came asking for money,'' he says, ''ours would have a big problem with that.''

THE SMALL PLAYERS

Troy, a long-time patron of bars around Soi Cowboy and close to several of the bar owners, explains how payments work in the area.

''Usually a low-ranking officer on a bike comes around Cowboy once a month and collects the envelopes full of money from all the bar owners. For a small place, the monthly payments are 5,000 per bar. That goes back to the station where it is divided up, with the top guy at the station taking the biggest cut.

''When the top cop at the station changes, usually with a change of government, the new boy gets taken on a tour of all the entertainment venues in his area and sets a new price. If someone doesn't pay up, the cops will raid their bar, find an underage girl or someone who tests positive for drugs and they're fined _ at least 60,000 baht _ and closed for 60 days.''

One owner of a small bar we spoke to confirms she pays the police 4,000 baht a month to leave her alone, but that if she wanted to stay open later that price would skyrocket.

There are small enclaves of late-night bars hidden from sight, such as between Sukhumvit Soi 3 and 7, or Soi 20 and 24, she says, that because of their obscurity and size get away with payments under 100,000 baht a month, sometimes as little as 30,000 baht.

Ananda, who once managed a small club near RCA, told us that the local police charged the club by the square metre, with additions related to extended opening hours.

DANCING TILL DAWN

The big after-hours clubs, according to Kreangsak, pay far more _ up to one million baht per month or more.

''The after-hours business is very shady,'' he says. ''Most of the clubs are owned by people not on the up and up, and the ones that last are owned by heavy hitters.''

He and some of our other sources mention several clubs owned by high-ranking police officers and well connected public figures, and their allegations largely correspond. The late-night clubs that have been around for many years and remain reliably open through changes in the political climate are those most likely to have connections in high places.

To break into the late-night business requires a lot of cash, explains Ananda. He describes how one new club pays its police fee daily.

''The venue pays 100,000 baht a night, cash, collected from the premises by the cops. For this the venue can open until very late _ and they do most of their business from 1am onwards. Last I heard they were losing 1 to 1.5 million baht a month.''

The owner, he explains, has other clubs in Thailand that are far more profitable, and these other profits offset the Bangkok losses. Although the owner is thinking long term, it is only the cash that keeps the club open.

''There was one night when they didn't pay the 100,000 for whatever reason,'' Ananda says, ''and the cops closed them down at 2am on the dot.''

Spectrum contacted a Bangkok police colonel, who answered on condition of anonymity that there is a ministerial regulation that allows clubs to stay open until 6am at Christmas and on New Year's Eve. But there are otherwise no exceptions.

''All clubs have to be closed at 2am,'' he says. ''Operators have to clear all bills and turn on the lights but some clubs may allow their customers to stay a little longer. But police will tell the operators to close the club immediately if it's later than 3am.''

THE TAXI RACKET

Since the late-night clubs operate in a legal fog, they don't advertise and are often in obscure locations. Many people, especially tourists, leave it up to their taxi driver where to go next, assuming the drivers know where the pretty people are dancing. But they'll take you where they are paid the highest commission.

The big clubs pay commissions of around 150-200 baht a head, says Rory, who works at a late-night club off Sukhumvit Road. Rory explains that new clubs will pay the taxi drivers the entire entrance cost of 300 baht for each passenger, and that clubs can put the word out about commissions through taxi centres. So far his club has avoided that route.

''It's a deal with the devil,'' he says. ''The taxi drivers might bring you people but you have no recourse with them. Even if you're powerful, there are too many of them. There's very little regulation, just about anyone can get into a taxi, and the night-time taxis are a different breed, they can be vicious.''

He says there are groups of drivers that congregate around his club, but ''We don't touch them.'' Clubs that pay commission, he adds, inevitably run into problems. ''Some late-night clubs think of it as a way to get the business going, but there's no exit plan. If you're one of the heavy after-hours places you probably have a little more control over it, but a new place has no recourse.''

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/272369/party-zone---enter-at-your-own-risk

Someone at the Bangkok Post must have a death wish. This, the undercover stuff on pirate porn DVD's, and the piece on the litter police . . . man, gotta have some balls :-)

[FarangFarang]

Part II (too long for one post)

WORKING GIRLS

''Hookers are a double-edged sword,'' says Kreangsak. ''Nightlife in Bangkok almost requires them.''

He admits his club has prostitutes mingling with the customers, but that the same can be said for almost every big nightclub in Bangkok.

''Even if it doesn't look obvious, they might be more expensive or dress better, but they're there,'' he says.

To clean up its image, his club once tried to weed them out, but it backfired.

''There might be nice Thai girls that you'll misjudge. There's nothing more insulting to a woman.

''A lot of normal Thai girls now want to 'check their rating' and dress sexy.''

Ultimately, he says, the problem is not with the prostitutes but with the men they attract.

''One manager figured that the more hookers you get in a place, the more guys you'll get. It's not far off.''

He says a club can attract prostitutes by actively inviting them and giving them free drinks or even a percentage of sales, but that the best way to change the clientele is by targeting a different category of male customer.

''The after-hours places all pursue the working girl,'' says Rory. ''At some clubs, 90% of the women are on the clock. One new club gives them 50 baht for each drink bought for them, and hundreds of baht for a shisha. Their own drinks cost next to nothing.

''These girls are fun, they dance, they like to have a good time _ they add to the atmosphere.''

DRUG TESTING

''The police are temperamental, they do what they want to do, and it all depends on the government.''

Kreangsak adds that after the 2006 coup, police drug testing became much more lax. ''It went from once every few weeks to a couple times in the whole year.''

For patrons and managers alike, when police come en masse, lock the doors and force everyone to urinate into cups, it can be a frightening experience. Even cold medications can cause a positive result.

''It's a farce that they're trying to bust people with drugs,'' says Rory. ''It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with money. No matter what they say, at the end of the day it's always money.

''Very little that goes on is what it appears to be on the surface.

''Just wait until the scandals come out about flood relief funds,'' he adds. ''Someone will be dipping into that pie.

''The drug tests _ somebody's making money off of them. The drug packets cost money, and you needed tens of thousands of those every month, just for Ratchada, Sukhumvit and RCA.

''Say we have 400 customers in a night, there have been a few times when zero tested positive. And they were embarrassed because they brought a camera crew, so they started checking IDs. They loaded up a bus full of foreigners who had only passport copies rather than their real passports. That's how they got their numbers.''

FIRE SAFETY

After the Santika tragedy, fire safety was brought into the spotlight. After years of simply paying extra for officials to overlook the lack of exits, signs, sprinklers or extinguishers, clubs were checked properly and many were brought up to code.

Kreangsak says that with the international spotlight on the local nightlife scene, the changes were positive.

''The fire office came post-Santika and seemed quite legitimate. They didn't squeeze us, they just made sure we were abiding by the regulations and then left us alone.''

Since the club already had emergency exits and extinguishers, this involved measures such as extra signs showing emergency exit routes.

One glance at one of the big after-hours clubs, however _ many located in sealed-off basements or cavernous chambers with only one or two small exits _ will tell you that in case of a fire it could be a death trap.

Kreangsak agrees that fire safety at late-night clubs probably doesn't apply.

''The officials probably don't go to the after-hours places because technically they don't exist.''

Some of the clubs are registered as all-night restaurants, Ananda explains, some are normal bars that should close by 2am, others exist entirely off the books.

LEGALISE THE AFTER-HOURS SCENE

''There are a lot of bad people in nightlife,'' admits Rory, ''but there are a lot of good people. The dark side of nightlife stems from the authorities squeezing, which makes it difficult for an honest person to operate. The corruption feeds a cycle of corruption. If the authorities saw this as a real business, you'd have better people involved.

''As it is now it attracts people laundering money. Because it's a cash business you can do that. If all the decent club owners were asked to pay the money we pay in tax rather than hand it over to the police, we'd do it in a second, because the money would be used legitimately.

''When everything is illegal, the police still make money off of it, but not in the right way.

''This business is a lot of fun,'' he says of running a club. ''Never a boring night. But it's so frustrating. The amount of headaches and pain that goes into it is unreal.

''Some people are really good at playing that game, but they're dirty.''

CHANGE THE POLICE DISTRICT STRUCTURE

Ananda says that the current structure of police districts fosters corruption by the authorities.

''Look at Silom Road,'' he says. ''If your wallet gets snatched on one side of the street or the other, you have to file your report at a different police station. There are taxi scams or DVD rackets that operate on one side but not the other, because they have an arrangement or impunity from the police.

''My girlfriend's purse was snatched in the Thong Lor district but found in the Klong Toey one, which called her but never checked if a statement was filed in a different district. Thong Lor never knew it was found until we told them.''

The current system gives police too much power over their district, he claims. ''They benefit in kickbacks from a lot of illegal activity, so it's not in their interest to put a stop to it.''

One recently retired police officer we spoke to denied that the district structure fosters police impunity.

''Police can be closer to the community,'' he says. ''Even the district chief has a superior, so it's not like he can do what he wants. But this way you have police that understand the local community and know how to keep it safe, rather than strangers trying to implement policies that won't work.''

He admits there is little accountability in the night-time entertainment industry, but defends the practice of collecting ''protection'' money from bars and clubs. ''It's like a tax you have in other countries. It helps us protect them, and it helps us control drugs and gangs, and police the area. Otherwise there would be no budget for that at all.''

RECENT CRACKDOWN

Although Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung launched a new ''war'' on drugs in September, plans were presumably put on hold by the national flood crisis. The Bangkok nightlife scene, in any case, hasn't reported any large increase in drug-testing raids.

Club-goers have, however, reported many police checks in recent weeks _ not in clubs, but as they're leaving. Their taxis are being stopped, their pockets and possessions searched, any irregularity penalised not with tickets or fines. This is particularly noticeable in the Thong Lor police district, which encompasses Sukhumvit Road east of Asok as far as Ekamai.

One party-goer told us he paid 8,000 baht when caught in possession of cocaine. Another claimed he was punched in the stomach by a policeman in a group, simply for having all his papers in order and a basic knowledge of Thai law, which made the officer lose face.

A theory by one manager is that the Pheu Thai government has given the police freer reign, that the government needs a strong and content police force as a supportive line of defence against the army _ just in case there are yellow shirt protests or another coup.

Rory's theory is somewhat simpler.

''It's the end of the year,'' he says. ''They need their bonuses.''

[FarangFarang]

Part III (the reporter gets ripped off)

A CASE IN POINT _ OUR OWN

It's 5am. At a late-night place near Sukhumvit Soi 20 some of the clubbers have finally worn themselves out and are trickling home. The lights are brighter, the music quieter.

I speak to the manager for several minutes on problems he might deal with in his job. He prefers to talk about the lifestyle _ ''the girls, the parties'', he says with an intoxicated grin.

''The police are all right ,'' he says, beginning to open up.

I go back to the table where we were having a drink to collect my notebook so I can jot down some notes. The entire briefcase _ containing laptop computer, camera and voice recorder _ is gone. By now the club is almost empty _ just staff tidying up and a handful of drunken stragglers.

No one has seen the briefcase. I return to the manager, who now has female companions at his side and is talking to someone who identifies himself as a Thong Lor police officer. I point out that my briefcase is missing and ask them to investigate.

They seem amused by the suggestion.

''The staff wouldn't steal it,'' insists the manager. The girl at his side scowls at my intrusion. The police officer agrees the club has no CCTV camera and declines to take a statement or make a report. You have to go to the station, he says. They proceed to close down the club, push me out and then leave.

As the club is in the basement of a hotel and patrons exiting the club pass through the lobby, I go to the front desk.

''It's not our problem,'' says a woman who identifies herself as the manager on duty but refuses to give her name or business card. ''The club has different management [than] the hotel.''

I ask her to check the lobby's surveillance footage of the past two hours. She asks us to leave. When we persist and ask her to take a statement, she insists we get out ''or I'll call the police''. Since this might facilitate having camera footage checked and a statement taken, I agree to wait.

Instead, hotel security guards come and try to drag me out of the building. In resisting, my shirt is torn and my left calf muscle is twisted and inflamed. Finally the guards relent, and there is an uneasy truce in the lobby until the police arrive an hour later.

At Thong Lor police station later the officer listens to my statement. It is our second visit. ''What do you want us to do?'' he says finally. He explains that this club is a ''very dangerous place'', that I shouldn't be surprised to have items stolen there and should never have brought valuable items with me.

I ask them to investigate. I want to file a report.

''We don't like to mess with that place,'' the officer says simply. ''It has high connections.''

There must be CCTV footage, we insist.

''The club has no cameras,'' the officer says quickly. ''I've never been there, but I know. It used to have CCTV cameras. Not now.''

Patrons exiting the club go through the hotel lobby. It is a four-star hotel, and like all major Bangkok hotels, I insist, it must have CCTV cameras.

He concedes that this is possible, but is unwavering in his refusal to get involved. Even the wording of the report is awkward, as he tries to avoid naming the club by replacing it with the name of the hotel, but I insist on naming the club in question. He suggests we try the investigative unit, which uses plain-clothes police officers. We go round the back and ask an officer of that unit to investigate, and hand him the report. He says he'll ''ask around''.

Over the next two weeks we call the police officers in question several times on their mobile phones. Only one of these is answered. The officer says he'll read the report again and call us back. He doesn't, and all subsequent attempts to contact him go unanswered. We call the front desk and ask that the officers involved return our calls. They'll see to it, they say, but again, we receive no calls.

Meanwhile, I send emails to the general manager of the hotel, complaining of treatment by the lobby staff and asking him to check security camera footage of the time around the theft of my briefcase. He answers only the first message, saying he'll ''look into it''. No other reply comes, and subsequent emails go unanswered.

Staff at the nightclub, of course, tell us on subsequent visits that ''no black briefcase was found'' and they will call us if they find out anything. They don't. Requests to see the manager were met with staff insisting he wasn't in. ''Have him contact me,'' is likewise unsuccessful.

On the late-night scene, clubs party by their own rules.

[Admin_2]

It's all true, but it is crazy to print this. I think I can name every club to which they are referring.

We paid 5k a month for the Fun House, which was very reasonable. If we wanted to stay open late (and we did that often), we'd just have to close the blinds and lock the front door.

[FarangFarang]

It's all true, but it is crazy to print this. I think I can name every club to which they are referring.

We paid 5k a month for the Fun House, which was very reasonable. If we wanted to stay open late (and we did that often), we'd just have to close the blinds and lock the front door.

Without even thinking I can name several of the places. If I actually gave it the time I'm sure I could guess the rest. It's almost like having a scratch . . . lol