Pattaya go-go dancers: Madame Tussaud’s come to life, almost

When the girls who work in the go-go bars are asked what they do, they almost invariably say they are ‘dancers’. As most observers of the go-go scene would no doubt concur, in many places it is hard to tell whether they are ‘dancers’ or merely auditioning for future roles as dummies in a wax museum.

One partner in the long defunct Spicy Girls go-go (which started life in Pattayaland Soi 1, before that lane became overly gender-confused) was once reported to have said, “we’ve got some poles that are a bit loose, and they move more than the girls!”

In years gone by the place where the best chrome pole gyraters could be seen was Happy go-go (Walking Street). For some years they had easily the best line-up of girls who would cavort about the centre stage in various stages of undress while shaking everything. Rumour suggested much of this adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) was due to the liberal ingestion of medicinal compounds not usually available over the counter in a pharmacy.

Nowadays it’s hard to think of a single den which can lay claim to having a crew of genuinely energetic or frenetic exponents of the art of molesting a chrome pole.

When Diamond go-go (Soi Diamond) used to hold regular monthly dance contests, especially in the early days when other go-go’s would be invited to compete, the quality of the dancers and the dancing was first rate, especially towards the final rounds.

That said, I doubt most punters wander into a go-go in search of a partner to take to the World Tango Championships. Their main interest, after all, is what kind of a performance can be expected in the horizontal mattress dancing stakes.

©Duncan Stearn