This is a caution tip for people who travel as families to Bangkok.
I have always wanted to see Thailand, for its tiger temple, beautiful beaches and its amazing food. And when I planned a one week trip as a anniversary gift for my parents, I did not go for a tour operator who might book hotels in less-than-desirable locality(and for the money they charge for a 4-day trip, we stayed for one week in Bangkok and Pattaya!)
So I did all the tour scheduling and bookings myself - of course this took me months of research but I enjoyed it. Also, I wanted us all to stay in one room, not separated. And 2-bedroom suites in Bangkok were few and expensive. no tour operator can guarantee that!
Well, the first night we stepped out of the hotel to check out Chinatown, my mother and I went inside a phone cubicle to call India. My dad and my brother waited outside the cubicle, standing only a few feet away from us. At that precise moment, a man approached my 17-yr old brother, showed him a picture list and asked him which girl he wanted. My brother is like most Indian teenagers, big on bravado but in reality, quite a scared softie. He was so shocked he called my father and then that stranger also showed the list to my dad.
By this time, we had stepped out of the phone cubicle and seeing us, the man just left the place quietly. Then I came to learn of his intent. Arrrggghhh! I was so angry because this is the exact reason why I did not want to go for tour packages, and was spending money to be in an expensive family hotel. And it had happened anyway!
I went inside the hotel and complained and then learnt these pimps are everywhere in Bangkok, outside every small and big hotel and in all night markets. These pimps approach men any time in the road, so the hotels can’t really evict everyone of them, each day. They generally don’t target families, but the guy didn’t see us, so he happily targeted my dad and my brother. Grrrrrrrrr!
Throughout our stay in Bangkok, this happened to us in random places, so it’s really not the hotel’s fault. it’s rather the sad state of things in the country. But once you say no and scowl at them(like I and my mother did whenever we saw them talking to my dad/brother), these men vanish like air. It’s a little sad, actually. Such a beautiful country with beautiful, warm people. yet specimens like this.
So my word of advice would be - try to expect this to happen to you and when it does, you won’t be so scared or shocked. Take it easy and don’t get into a fight and yell at them. Truth is, millions of men flock to Bangkok for its flesh trade, so the pimps do their business by targeting them. Prostitution is present in India too, so it’s no use getting horrified at Thailand’s thriving red light industry. The first time this kind of incident happened to us, it was terribly embarrassing, but by our third day in Bangkok, we were so used to it we just no and forgot about it.So don’t take this kind of incident personally and lose your temper or sleep.
Lastly, I sincerely hope that this travel trip will not change your ideas about Thailand. The Thai people are one of the nicest, most hospitable people one earth and Bangkok is a very good place, with many tourist attractions like the awesome malls, cheapest shopping in Asia, exquisite Buddha temples, tiger temple(where you can pet tame tigers!) etc. And it’s all so cheap, thanks to the exchange rate. INR is almost equal to the Thai baht, so you can shop till you drop and stay in fairly decent hotels even on a tight budget.
So, by all means, visit and enjoy Thailand - If you are mentally prepared to accept the few shortcomings, you and your children will have the time of your lives:). Our family otherwise had a wonderful time and we want to go again this year!