Songkran Photos

Mango Sauce
Does anyone have any good photos of the water fights of this past Songkran celebration? Email them to:
arttvhawaii@hotmail.com
for us to possibility use them here.

Following the Dragon at Chinese New Year

Last year me and my assistant, a girl I bar-fined from G-Spot, were fortunate enough to stumble upon some dragon dancers who walked right in front of us in Chinatown.
The first day they led us to a small Buddhist temple in an alley where they performed just for us and the resident monks. They would bow to the Buddha statues in each of the four walls.

The next morning another (and more skilled) dragon dancing troupe passed right in front of our taxi and led us to the central stage for the national media and government big shots. The cultural commissioner's wife was happy to see the Hawaiian media present (although I had no media passes, only my Art TV Hawaii business card) and told us about visiting Hawaii for a formal tea ceremony earlier in the year.

All the media would run up upon the stage to shoot the commentary by the bigshots and retreat for the dancing. I could see what was happening and was able to place myself in ideal spots to shoot the entertainment, all the time thinking the network TV crew was going to bump me from my vantage spots.
It opened with some beautiful Thai dancers, whom I was able to get backstage before their performances and shot portraits of them putting their makeup on. Then the dragon dancers would jump rope with the dragon body, roll on the stage with the dragon body above them, and even get on each others' shoulders for a rotating spiral effect with the head held up high in the center. And the lion dancers then danced and pranced on top of poles above the audience.

After the formal presentation was over, we followed the dragon across the street where they performed for the masses of spectators of common people. My assistant was very impressed with how I was able to get in among all the big-time media and government officials inside the ropes, right to where the action was. And the cultural commissioner's wife invited us back the following evening to see the queen who was suppose to attend, but I had enough of the crowds, all wearing red shirts for the occasion, and just wanted to get laid by my assistant.

So the motto of the story is to "Follow the Dragon," it'll take you to where the action is.
Art TV
(bottom photo by Dean Barrett at this year's event.)

Dave The Rave Has A New Look

Dave The Rave has updated his website,
complete with some new photos. Some exciting stuff.

Dave writes about Valentine's Day:
Valentine’s Day is a lovely time in Thailand, when the girls and guys can have some fun and offer hearts in the form of gifts and stickers. It is also visually appealing to see the pole performers in the go-go bars all wearing seductive red outfits. Valentine’s Day is a time when the world can celebrate love and romance, but in the nightlife areas in Thailand it is a time for fun and frolics. Being the man with the reflective dome, my head ended up being completely covered with love heart stickers. This is another good reason why I still enjoy my time here, because the Thais will spontaneously party and have fun. The world can be such a serious place, so it is always enjoyable to be able to escape that.

Have a look.
Dave The Rave
Dave also has a new video out. Take a look at Youtube.

New Year's Eve at Soi Cowboy

However, without question, the winner of the most-fun-bar on New Year's Eve is Dollhouse also on Soi Cowboy. In his wisdom, Darryl every year brings in an enormous amount of tiny Styrofoam balls so that one must wade and swim across the floor, one hand on a glass and one hand on a lovely, skimpily clad lady.

Dean Barrett

Christmas in Bangkok

Christmas at Soi Cowboy
I found this image in Dean Barrett's archives from last year. Hopefully, there will be some photos from this year's holiday season.
Happy Holidays to everyone.

Christmas at Nana Disco

This shot is from a couple years ago, showing the dance girls at the Angels Disco (or Nana Disco), dressed for the holidays. (Its the dance club that's found inside the Nana Hotel.)

Songkran Festival Celebration in Pattaya

Photo from celebration in Phuket

Here is a link to Jim Suay's video on celebrating the new year in Pattaya. This takes place in April.
Check it out.