Bangkok Street warriors

These photos show the red light areas of Sukhumvit Road, Soi Sukhumvit 7 and Soi Sukhumvit 11, Nana, and PatPong in Bangkok.

Most of these women on the streets are Free-Lancers also known as Street Warriors, as they ply their trade independent of any bars, massage parlours or pimps and gangs , what they earn they keep.

Their do-it-yourself approach to sex work makes them vulnerable and they have each other for support mainly emotional. Half the women photographed here are lady-boys and they have the same support system with each other but physical as well as emotional.

I have also photographed clients + watchers who will look at the women from the sky walk on Sukhumvit Road where the Free-lancers / Street Warriors work.

Some of the pictures are of women in Girl bars, massage parlour and Karaoke bar, where the girls work for the owner and are not free-lance.

The pictures are not about identification of the workers , but the environment they work in and the people that as a result frequent the area.

Most of the clients are from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India and the West (Farangs) UK, Europe, Eastern Europe, USA, Australia, Canada.

Most Thai sex workers are from Isan in Thailand, the largest and poorest provence in the country, the music playing during the photos is Molam music which is also from Isan . Molam is a cultural highlight of Thailand and incorporates psychedelic folk, funk, disco, pop, jazz and rock. The music is looked down upon in Bangkok as old or country music but you hear it everywhere from the Tuk-Tuk and Taxi drivers to the bar girls singing along to well known Molam songs.

The Street Warriors are very aware of their surroundings , its their advantage to be present , so as not to be taken advantage of, or reduce the abuse that happens.

Sex addicts, perverts, drug addicts, alcoholics, bankers, criminals, businessmen, psychopaths, tourists, sex-tourist, pimps, suits, ex-pats, sex-pats, there all here, looking to get what they want.

Women working in the bars, earn money by been bought a drink by a customer usually alcoholic, there is a huge alcohol culture in the bar work and through been paid to drink, a high rate of alcoholism.

The bars are frequented by Westerners (Farangs) Thai men and most Asian men would not want to be seen in that environment and meet women in karaoke bars which are more private than the open bars along the street.

There are also street bars set up illegally along the streets of Sukhumvit Road which authority's are clamping down on , they act as an area for Street Warriors to hang out between working the streets.

These photos aim to show the working women of Sukhumvit and Nana , through observing where the Free-lancers work, people photographed in couples or watching the girls work are not included in the description above as they are passing and are viewing , observing the women or purely going about their day in that environment.

all pictures taken January / February 2024 Ben Graville