Photos: BarBar Fetish Club and Flickr user Color Lover
NIGHT PROWL – My first and only visit to BarBar Fetish Club was three years ago, in the wee hours of the morning when a group of friends and I went for a laugh. We entered to find a naked, overweight European man tied up in a cage being playfully whipped by a gaggle of giggling Japanese tourists. After leaving shortly thereafter, that shocking mental snapshot is one that has puzzled me ever since. So I decided it was finally time to head to Patpong to find out more about BarBar and its kinky details for “Night Prowl.”
I first heard about the fetish club long before this encounter, through a friend who entertained an international rock star and his girlfriend here during their stay in Thailand. Since opening seven years ago, BarBar has welcomed over 20,000 guests to its quarters. Some come only to spectate, but others try out the nipple clamps and paddles, genuine kinksters or not. BarBar is one of only two fetish clubs in Bangkok and it’s the one frequented by the local BDSM connoisseurs, as it’s larger and more fully equipped for getting weird.
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The entrance of the club is on PatPong Soi 2, a black building on the street where a leathered-up mamasan lets guests in on the rules – the first drink is THB900, the safe word is the limit and you’re in for a wild night. Down the carpeted steps, there’s a room with a fully stocked bar adorned with melted-down candles, cages suspended from the ceiling and girls clad in S&M costumes, from nurse to dominatrix.
The “performances” take place in a cage next to the bar, where the working girls bind each other up with orange ropes, pour hot wax on each other and pull out the whips. If you visit, be prepared to be approached by other customers who may want to put on their own show. For example, on the last visit an older Japanese man politely asked around to see if anyone would like to see him take off his clothes and get into the cage. Sadly for him, the response was unenthusiastic. When it comes to getting tipsy, each drink after the first is THB 300.You can also buy a drink for one of the girls (called either a “dominant” or “submissive” drink) for the same price.
More recently, I met up BarBar’s owner to learn more about the club and its clientele. He told me some people really save their coin to come here, and regulars include “very senior” people to expats and tourists. On this visit, there were middle-aged men in suits and a couple young guys in T-shirts and flip flops sipping on Singhas. According to the owner ,BarBar’s ladies earn a decent living of anywhere from THB 60,000 to 120,000 per month.
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The fetish club has showers, a hospital room complete with an examining table and wheelchair, and a horse carriage wheel with two spanking benches. Upstairs, there are the dungeons, which are “fully equipped for severe scenarios.” From what the owner hears, these 90-minute sessions can get pretty intense – imagine “men getting caned to their blood, calling for mommy and the mistress answers, ‘Mommy is here.’”
Despite the graphic nature of the service, the owner tells me there has never been an accident at BarBar and, “generally, the perception of the client is no one here would want to overstep.” The girls are given training before they enter the dungeon and the safe word is always the limit.
BarBar has anywhere from 10 to 25 guests an evening, and the club gets its busiest around 1 a.m. For the owner, the fetish club is more about providing an experience and giving first-timers a place to break the ice.
“For the price of only the first drink (THB 900), you’re welcome to stay all night.”
FIND IT:
BarBar Fetish Club
Patpong Soi 2
Tel. +662-632-7124
BTS Station Sala Daeng, MRT Station Silom
