Close to six months ago an article was published in Guru about models. The article was heavily edited in some parts. This is the original article, slightly edited to bring it up to speed with a few additional words.

Bangkok is, by conventional standards, one of the ugliest cities in the world, with vast numbers of slums, building sites, traffic jams and great monstrosities of shopping enhancements in the form of glimmering malls. These glimmering malls, such as Siam Paragon, are, apparently, the future of the city. They are ‘Lifestyle choices,’ as one leading Bangkok newspaper claimed.

With these lifestyle choices comes a demographic of people living in the city that has evoked irrational feelings of anger in The Lost Boy for some time now. Some choose to reserve a balanced judgment for these individuals, whilst others are more outspoken. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the model.

’Cos we’re so pretty, oh so pretty

Bangkok is a city obsessed with image. The influx of models from around the world only serves to perpetuate this obsession. It is all too easy for a writer to generalize about models, and so specific examples are more fitting.

One model, who shall remain nameless, went on a date with an associate of The Lost Boy’s a few months back. The party moved from QBar to a location in Sukhumvit, and from thereon in the essence of ‘the model’ came to be understood. The conversation flowed, as our intrepid model claimed, with some smugness, that Kanye West did a guest vocal for Outkast on ‘Ms Jackson.’ The Lost Boy chose to let this one slide.

“I remember really weird things for no reason,” said the model. “You know, sometimes, I really think I am superior to other people because I can see things they can’t. Not everyone is this lucky.”

Looks of concern began to materialize.

“So you like rnb? Who do you think is better, Kanye West or Jay – Z? I think Kanye, because he sang a whole song with a metal plate in his mouth.”

Could he be serious?

“I wish I could have my own TV show, like The Fresh Prince. I want to work in TV someday. You know, I want to quit modeling so I can do something that I can really use my brain for.”

Why is someone with as much charisma as a Miss Kitty radio alarm-clock being treated in Bangkok as if he were royalty, when at the same time The Lost Boy is struggling to make enough money to pay for his small room in Victory Monument, let alone a night out at QBar?

You’re fit but you know it

After Bed Supperclub laid the foundations in 2004 with Bangkok’s first Models Night, Zantika, Flix, Koi and Met Bar followed suit. The people at Glow then succumbed to the temptation of using the concept to bring more people into their night club. A Models Night is a night where the models of Bangkok can go to eat and drink for free. More or less every night of the week, the models of Bangkok are deemed worthy of wining and dining at the expense of various bars and restaurants.

Why should models be singled out and treated differently to the hard working, normal people of the city who have to spend their own money whilst watching the models flaunt their lifestyle? The models are not part of the nightclub circuit. DJs, promoters, bar workers, the media, and so on, are the only people who should receive special privileges, because they work within the industry. There must surely come a point when nightclubs have to ask themselves how the club scene benefits from the pampering of models.

The models are notoriously difficult to approach and are known to refuse to mingle with non-models. Instead, they remain in exclusive circles partaking in such attention seeking shenanigans as dancing on the tables, chanting model related chants nobody else can understand and kissing members of the same sex because it’s ‘cool.’ To an outsider, it would appear that the models are socially inept and demand unnecessary attention.

“Models just hang around in the corner in their own little groups. They are impossible to talk to and they create an uneasy atmosphere in the club. It’s not right that they should think they are better than everybody else,” groaned one disgruntled clubber to The Lost Boy.

The models seem happy on the exterior, but after observing the body language and interaction within various model circles, there would appear to be huge levels of insecurity. Their lack of real social skills is reflective of a group of young, naïve children who are a long way from home.

The normal people of Bangkok have to pay to go out, and as such the normal people are subsidizing the models’ lifestyle, as was pointed out by a clubber in an interview with Bangkok Recorder.

It is important not to generalize because not all models are as dim as this writer is making out, but there are a large percentage of people working within the modeling industry in Bangkok who many clubbers would like see ejected from the circuit. As another user of Bangkok Recorder pointed out, the models have not done anything to earn their aesthetically pleasing appearances.

Drum ‘n’ bass pioneer DJ Marky played a gig at QBar earlier this year. A large group of models attempted to enter the venue, which had an 800 Baht cover charge for the night. When stopped by the cashier the lead model proclaimed “I am a model. I eat and drink for free. I do not have to pay.” The models were all declined free entry. “But I am a model,” he continued to squeal. The models refused to pay and snuck into the venue at the end of the night once the cashier had closed the till. Such antics display great arrogance and ignorance and effectively highlight the fact that the models do not care about the club scene, they only care about their own lifestyle.

There are too many people strutting around the city’s nighteries who can only cite Paris Hilton as their role model. To further complicate the matter, it would appear that anyone can become a model in Bangkok. A friend of The Lost Boy’s recently began her quest. “Why are you doing this?” asked our inquisitive reporter.

“Because I want free drinks”

The modeling industry in Bangkok is inspiring people to take up the profession, to turn their backs on real, long term job opportunities, because of the offer of free drinks and an easy lifestyle. This is a frustrating and shallow ideology.

The Lost Boy was at one time talked into doing a photo shoot of his own for a portfolio which could, apparently, lead to ‘work’ in Australia and Indonesia. Never one to shy away from staring evil in the face, this writer reluctantly did the shoot. The whole experience did nothing to heighten the appeal of delving into the models’ world. “What’s wrong with you, Matt, don’t you want free drinks?” squawked The Lost Boy’s misguided friend.

The modeling zoo

Bar Koi is a beautiful and stylish place. The drinks are plentiful and the food is sumptuous. The only problem with Bar Koi is that it is plagued with swarms of models. The venue feels fake and pathetic. Whilst some are intrigued by the allure of the ‘beautiful people,’ the novelty soon wears thin and what is left is a bar that spends vast amounts of money catering to one specific group of people. As such, Bar Koi does not feel like a real bar and the usage of Models Nights does nothing for normal customers who are excluded from the circle.

“I’ve been to Koi one time and that was enough to put me off ever going again,” mentioned one clubber.

The concept of Models Nights has become shallow and unoriginal. The nights are not so bad in themselves, but it is the models that are the problem. The models do not make a night a success. An employee from Glow was quoted as saying “The place was rocking, not because of the models, but because of the great set that DJ Nakadia was pounding out of the speakers,” about Glow’s first Models Night. If this was the case, then there seems little point in catering to the models in the first place. Whilst the models may be harmless in themselves, the problems come from the ideology that they are treated by the nightclub scene as if they were of more value than other people.

Models Nights would, ironically, be better if the models were not present. Models Nights take place in other countries, but nowhere else in the world is the concept so raped for the benefit of the models. This writer firmly believes that clubbing should maintain its focus on the music and the people. With models being treated as they are in Bangkok, and the resentment this causes, the focus has become a little blurred. The models are only at fault because they are given so much opportunity to be.

A large group of models turned up at Astra several months back, whilst Goldie was playing, claiming to be on a ‘models’ list.’ The promoter refused them free entry only to be met with remarks of how Bed Supperclub gives them free entry and ten free drinks. The animosity that a hard working promoter met on a night where he could have conceivably lost a lot of money is unjustifiable and undermines the efforts of people working hard to put Bangkok clubbing firmly back on the international circuit.

Bangkok is evidently seeking to place itself on the map in the fashion world, but at the moment the whole concept seems to be undermined by the models, out for the cheapest lifestyle they can get, and the clubs, out to exploit this nature to draw people into their venues. Whilst perhaps it is unjust to hate the models themselves, who are merely exploiting a system, the initiative of using Bangkok’s nightspots to benefit the fashion world has been overshadowed by a series of accumulating factors.

A friend of The Lost Boy’s approached him during Makoto’s recent Astra gig and reluctantly gave some bad news: “Matt, I know you hate them, and I’m sorry, but I’ve decided to be a model. I know you hate them, but if I do this I get free drinks and food. I’m just doing it for the drinks and food.”

This could well the end of normality for this friend as she is soon to be sucked into the mindless vortex of the modeling industry, whilst already having a permanent work placement. The Lost Boy can only speculate as to how this poor girl’s soul will be tampered with and molded into something entirely unrecognizable. Dark times are coming.

The Lost Boy – never one to adhere to model behavior.