[QUOTE=Detwing1;2928930]Passed by Cowboy last night, just as they were loading some old boy in an ambulance.
Hopefully he's ok, because he didn't look well when I walked by.
If not, I hope he had a smile on his face.[/QUOTE]I hadn't been to Bangkok in at least 5 years until my recent visit a few months ago. And the most striking change I noticed was the vast disparity that had grown between NANA and Soi Cowboy. I don't know when it happened but NANA has had a serious makeover sometime in the last 5 years with security check-points at all entrances and exits, and an overall clean feel with outside seating and clean air. On the other hand, Cowboy is now jammed packed with street hustlers selling you fake watches and other junk, rogue canabis stalls and (sorry to say) stinky street food grills every two feet. On my last visit to Cowboy, and without a word of a lie, a guy on a scooter drove screaming down the soi at high speed taking out at least 3-4 people before he went down. Thai police were comically chasing him on foot. I'm sure several people got hurt and witnessing it with all the screaming was certainly sobering. But perhaps what was most disturbing was how after all the commotion, the soi just went back to normal in about 2 minutes. A serious incident had just taken place, and I saw no blue lights or emergency vehicles. No investigation or halting of any businesses. A few people were dragged away and it was like nothing happened. A sense on unease decended on me at that moment. It's like Soi Cowboy has become this unregulated lawless part of town where anything goes. Whereas NANA has gone the other exactly in the other direction with no rifraf even allowed into the square. It's no surprise the better looking women are now to be found in NANA, its simply a cleaner and safer place for them to work. Cowboy is officially a dump.
