Oct.17 Party in chaWAENG!

Cabaret show and discos on Samui's party beach

We waited until our last night on Samui to hit the party town of Chaweng for a lady-boy cabaret show & some partying at the many open air discos. We had our bungalow host as our guide to show us the best spots to hit and to point out with skill which were the Thai lady-boys (i.e. guys dressed like ladies trying to get with tourist men) and which were indeed ladies. Either way, the sex trade is alive & in your face here.
The Cabaret show was extravagant with lady boys dressed in impressive costumes (picture sequins here) dancing and lip-syncing to all the popular show tunes you can imagine. We didn't take the front row seats which were occupied by the real drunk tourists who were right into it, stuffing bills into the performers' costumes which somehow amazingly hid whatever there was to hide very well. Now the most unfortunate part was that we didn't bring our camera out for the evening, so your imagination will need to fill in the blanks ;) [well, you can sort of see the show in this photo]
Following the show, the party in the streets between clubs complete with drinking red bull & vodka out of beach buckets, resembled a cross between Mexican resort town nightlife & the full moon party we experienced earlier in the week. This night was definitely an experience we will remember. Good thing we're heading north to the cool & peaceful mountains of Chiang Mai.
-Julie and Andrew