Bangkok is still one of the most interesting places I’ve visited in Asia. The city has so many layers to it and is a reflection of our global society. It’s a place where wealth and poverty are known neighbors. One place where this is very noticeable is the red light district of Sukhumvit. On my trip to Bangkok, I walked all over the city and saw so many levels of the city. At some point I arrived at the Sukhumvit area. During evening I walked through the streets of the district. I saw drunk sex tourists, prostitutes shamelessly trying to grope me and doormen keeping an eye on me like I was about to kidnap one of the prostitutes. The streets smelled of alcohol, sex and rotten milk. They tried to (unsuccessfully) cover up these smells with the prostitutes’ cheap perfume. I overheard conversations from middle-aged American sex tourists, ‘The two I had yesterday sucked. One just didn’t know how to suck my cock. She was seventeen but come on man, at that age you should have at least SOME experience’.
The neighborhood had no shame, barely trying to hide its filthy reality. I could only imagine what else was happening in Sukhumvit. After a while I had to make a call and needed WiFi. I went to the nearest McDonalds. In this McDonalds I probably saw the most disgusting picture of the evening. As I walked in I ordered a cheeseburger and took a seat. I had made the phone call that I urgently needed to make and then looked around. There I saw it. A 2 meter tall, overweight, hairy man with two small, skinny prostitutes at both of his sides. One prostitute held onto his right arm and the other onto his left. The man was soaked in his tank top and cargo shorts from his sweat and the humidity that prevailed over Bangkok. In each of his hands he held an ice cream and licked them alternately while the prostitutes waited for him to finish. This was the image that stuck in my head the most. Unfortunately, this puking sight exists not only in Bangkok, but all over the world. But the special thing about Bangkok is that the city doesn’t try to hide its beautiful as well as the filthy layers of its society. The question remains whether this is positive or negative.