Simon Cabaret

Feb 8: Drag show was fab. Simon Cabaret is across Thailand. There’s one in Phuket (pronounced Poo-kay) and Bangkok, Chiang Mai, etc. Technically it’s not a drag show since most the performers are post-operative transsexuals. There are no female-born-women in the show at all. Regardless of terminology it had all the kitsch, costuming and frenetic lighting of an Ethel Mermen meets Carmen Miranda and Laugh-In extravaganza. I took a few pictures but obviously it’s hard to take pictures of a staged show from the audience. Basically the ladies lip sync and perform these huge dance numbers in elaborate costumes, sometimes with fire batons twirling, sometimes descending down long staircases – very 1950s MGM.

They sang Chinese, Thai and English songs. “I Will Survive” was featured in version I never heard, kind of a mix between Thai traditional singing and disco. After the show I got a little scammed by one of the ladies. She basically took 70 baht from me as an unintended tip. That’s about $2 so I really didn’t feel all that robbed! I worry that these women are exploited behind the scenes (some of them looked pretty happy though) so I think they deserve all the tips they can get – hopefully they don’t have to report it all to the boss.

During the day Tanya and Chris and I went to the mall across the street and took our picture in a picture booth to make stickers. A very popular thing all over Asia. Here’s a photo of the stickers! After that we saw a Thai movie called Final Score, a documentary following a group of boys taking their entrance exams for postsecondary school. It was really good and amazing all the stress that these kids endure for a test that tells them what they can do with their lives. If it’s ever available in the US I highly recommend it.

Overall the day was relatively low-key. Lunch was Japanese and dinner was Vietnamese soup while we listened to an old Thai hippie play folk music on guitar with harmonica.

Today (Feb 9) we are going to a mountain and National Park for a day trip with Aum and Gig.