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The forces of gentification are at work in Nana, my boys, and it won't be long now before your favorite neighborhood is a thing of the past.
Personally, I give the area five years, tops, before it's completely changed over, but it may not even last that long.
Normally, you all might be able to dismiss this post as typical "barstool bullshit" gloom-and-dooming, but take a look around the Nana yourself and you'll see plenty of evidence that the pressures to gentrify are beginning to mount.
The weak dollar and strong Thai baht are also a factor now. Many young, professional Thais are actually RETURNING to Thailand looking to invest, and the Nana area offers the perfect opportunity to buy cheap, renovate, and sell high. These jet-set "TAPs" (Thai-American Princes/Princesses) are not put off by Nana's seedy reputation amongst local Thais, in fact, that's part of the allure. They've got money, they've got energy, and they've got support from local business leaders who'd like to polish up Bangkok's tarnished reputation.
Back home, I've always liked to live in seedier places (cheap rent, woo!), so I've ended up living in quite a few neighborhoods that went through this same process, and the writing is clearly on the wall.
Remember how Ft. Lauderdale used to be the "Spring Break" capital of the world? Heck, there are STILL some college students who watch some old movies and mistakenly make the trek to South Florida only to find that the cheap, seedy dives their parents' generation used to trash every spring are now either cheap, seedy crack house or multi-million dollar hotel/spas catering to rich German, French-Canadian and Brazilian tourists.
Well, in the very near future, there are going to be some hapless internet tourists making exactly the same mistake about Bangkok. Don't get me wrong, the sex industry isn't going away. It's way too deeply ingrained in Thai culture. But the seedy, sexpat neighborhoods of Bangkok are on the way out, that's a fact that you can take to the bank, literally.
Patpong is now 50/50 red-light district and night market, and the night market is winning. And every time a go-go bar closes, it's replaced by an upscale restaurant or shoe store, not another go-go bar.
Nana has held out largely because the owners of those clubs have resisted pressure to "get the fuck out", but in the end, this is all about money, and right now, there is some SERIOUS money aimed at the Nana area.
I've actually heard that from "the horse's mouth", so to speak. Someone fairly high up the food chain was showing me some plans for several projects they and their friends have going on, and one such project was very close to the Nana red-light area. And I cannot imagine these people putting up that kind of money to cater to sexpats. Nope. No way.
Dont' expect bulldozers to be knocking down the plaza any time soon (although that's not out of the realm of possibility). But just take a good look around and you'll see plenty of evidence that change is on the way.
So enjoy it while it lasts, boys. We're living in a fading era. Soon people will be heading to Nana to grab a bite at Au Bon Pain before meeting up with friends at some posh fern bar.
Where the p4p scene relocates to is open to speculation, but Nana is already extinct. We just don't know it yet.
Personally, I give the area five years, tops, before it's completely changed over, but it may not even last that long.
Normally, you all might be able to dismiss this post as typical "barstool bullshit" gloom-and-dooming, but take a look around the Nana yourself and you'll see plenty of evidence that the pressures to gentrify are beginning to mount.
The weak dollar and strong Thai baht are also a factor now. Many young, professional Thais are actually RETURNING to Thailand looking to invest, and the Nana area offers the perfect opportunity to buy cheap, renovate, and sell high. These jet-set "TAPs" (Thai-American Princes/Princesses) are not put off by Nana's seedy reputation amongst local Thais, in fact, that's part of the allure. They've got money, they've got energy, and they've got support from local business leaders who'd like to polish up Bangkok's tarnished reputation.
Back home, I've always liked to live in seedier places (cheap rent, woo!), so I've ended up living in quite a few neighborhoods that went through this same process, and the writing is clearly on the wall.
Remember how Ft. Lauderdale used to be the "Spring Break" capital of the world? Heck, there are STILL some college students who watch some old movies and mistakenly make the trek to South Florida only to find that the cheap, seedy dives their parents' generation used to trash every spring are now either cheap, seedy crack house or multi-million dollar hotel/spas catering to rich German, French-Canadian and Brazilian tourists.
Well, in the very near future, there are going to be some hapless internet tourists making exactly the same mistake about Bangkok. Don't get me wrong, the sex industry isn't going away. It's way too deeply ingrained in Thai culture. But the seedy, sexpat neighborhoods of Bangkok are on the way out, that's a fact that you can take to the bank, literally.
Patpong is now 50/50 red-light district and night market, and the night market is winning. And every time a go-go bar closes, it's replaced by an upscale restaurant or shoe store, not another go-go bar.
Nana has held out largely because the owners of those clubs have resisted pressure to "get the fuck out", but in the end, this is all about money, and right now, there is some SERIOUS money aimed at the Nana area.
I've actually heard that from "the horse's mouth", so to speak. Someone fairly high up the food chain was showing me some plans for several projects they and their friends have going on, and one such project was very close to the Nana red-light area. And I cannot imagine these people putting up that kind of money to cater to sexpats. Nope. No way.
Dont' expect bulldozers to be knocking down the plaza any time soon (although that's not out of the realm of possibility). But just take a good look around and you'll see plenty of evidence that change is on the way.
So enjoy it while it lasts, boys. We're living in a fading era. Soon people will be heading to Nana to grab a bite at Au Bon Pain before meeting up with friends at some posh fern bar.
Where the p4p scene relocates to is open to speculation, but Nana is already extinct. We just don't know it yet.
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