Bangkok

The worst thing about Bangkok is the most well-known in the West--the sex trade. It's definitely there, but as a traveller, you can also avoid it pretty easily. Or you used to be able to. This article discusses the expansion of the sex trade on Khaosan Road, the traditional backpacker haven.

Khaosan Road is not a very nice place really. It's cheap and that's the main reason to stay there when travelling through Bangkok. It's great in some ways, particularly the wonderful street food located there. But it also represents the worst of the backpacker culture--dredlocked and shirtless French guys in their mid 30s hitting on any woman within shouting distance, groups of backpackers discussing different ways to save every last dime, Europeans claiming to be getting away from home while sitting with their friends from home watching American movies blasted out of every bar. But for all that, you could avoid the sex trade pretty easily there. It's hardly surprising that prostitution is expanding there with Thailand's international reputation, increasingly prosperity, and cheap prices compared to the more upscale districts. But it's also a bummer because it will be harder to justify staying there next time I'm in town.

On the other hand, once you've spent a few days in Bangkok, there really isn't very many good reasons to go back to that sweltering, polluted, urban expanse if you can help it. So maybe I'll figure out a way to avoid it all together.