One of the main go go bar areas in Bangkok is Nana Plaza. At this point the place is legendary. Despite the more modern development going on very near the old building still stands. Recently a lot of work was done to renovate it. Plus bars are constantly changing. A lot of new ladyboy bars have opened in recent years that weren’t there in the past. This coincides with an increasing interest in ladyboys overall.
Straps is one of the newest bars in Nana plaza. It’s located on the second floor on its own corner. When entering Nana Plaza it is accessed by turning left, going up the first flight of stairs, then turning left again. The door is usually kept open so people can see the stage inside where four or five dancers work the poles.
Straps doesn’t say anything about ladyboys on its sign. The people inside don’t say anything about ladyboys either. It’s unique in that the women working there seem to not want to admit that they were born with penises. Since they are all post-op and have had their penises removed they say that they are simply women.
This is the dominant narrative in the politically correct world today. But most Thai people probably wouldn’t go for it even if they are accepting of the existence of ladyboys in their society. While homophobic guys go into hysterics about fear of accidentally bedding a ladyboy the reality is that nearly all Thai ladyboys will tell people that they are ladyboys when asked, at least if they work in the adult entertainment field. They don’t want to run into problems or even violence when in a private room with a guy.
At Straps the story goes that the women on stage are women and that’s that. The discerning eye however will notice that they have not always been ladies even if they are presented and accepted as such now.
Straps is a small bar. There is a stage to the left and stadium style seating to the right with a few rows of sears. Still the place is usually filled with guys. There is no question that a lot of the women at Straps are very good looking and could possibly even be the kind that would fool a guy. Any guy fooled may never even realize it in fact since the modern methods of surgery are simply amazing.
There are about fifteen ladyboys at Straps most nights. They are nearly all tall, thin, and ladylike. They usually have white skin and long black hair. Some have big fake boobs, a few have natural nubs created by hormones, and a couple are totally flat chested. They wear small bikinis but don’t go nude. Unlike other ladyboy bars they don’t usually hang out front looking for guys. They either dance on stage or sit on the seats waiting for guys to enter. When guys do enter they do the usually showing and displaying trying to get a guy to call them over for a drink. This sort of thing only really goes on in ladyboy bars. In regular girl bars the women don’t do these kinds of performances. This is one reason people think ladyboys in Thailand are aggressive. Apparently the behavior doesn’t disappear even when the things that produce testosterone do, so there must be some other source for this kind of approach.
Drink prices at Straps are normal for Nana Plaza. The bar fine price is 600 Baht. Women want 1500 to 2000 Baht ($43-58 USD) to go to one of the hotels in Nana Plaza with a guy for a short time session. Some are up for overnight sessions but others prefer to turn and burn to make more money in a single night.
It’s much cheaper to date Thai ladyboys than go to a go go bar but that offers no promises. Plus a lot of guys don’t want to be seen outside of a place like Nana Plaza with a ladyboy for whatever reason. So these kinds of go go bars are getting more and more popular. Soon I’ll have to post new reviews every day!
Straps, Nana Entertainment Plaza, Bangkok, Thailand. Open 8:00P-2:00A. Click here for a map. Click here for the bar’s Facebook page.
