Flying on a budget to Soi Cowboy

This past weekend we took our first real trip to a neighboring country. We went to Bangkok, Thailand, with friends Nancy and Joe. We flew out of Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal on Tiger Airways, a local airline.

We arrived Friday night at the brand new international airport and were immediately lucky. The state’s travel agency was offering a promotional price on a 4 hour tour, with a private English-speaking guide and our own driver. We took a cab to our hotel and, after a much needed late dinner, went out. It turns out that our hotel, despite being in a so-called “nice” area, was actually very close to one of the infamous nightlife entertainment areas, Soi Cowboy.

The way Bangkok is organized is that there are main roads which have names (like Suhkumvit Road) and side streets, which are called Sois and numbered (Soi 1, 2, etc.) Well, this was Soi Cowboy. Taxi drivers wouldn’t understand the name of our hotel, but if we said “Soi Cowboy” and we’d be right on your way. Soi Cowboy is a small neon-lit street lined with strip clubs and pole-dancing bars on both sides. The passersby are almost all Western men, but we did see one or two couples (thankfully!) Men and girls sitting outside will call you to come in to their bar. Some of the girls inside look suspiciously young, although everyone will swear they’re all over 18. There are also a couple of regular bars. We had a couple of Singha’s (the local beer) and called it a night.