Hangover 2 – Is Bangkok Really Like That?

Hangover 2 is a hugely successful movies that’s showing in cinemas all over the world these days. And it certainly gives Bangkok a… well, “image”. (Or maybe reputation is a better word).

In Hangover 2, “the wolfpack” travel to Thailand to celebrate the wedding of one of their members, the dentist, with his beautiful Thai wife. Somehow, three of them end up in Bangkok without any recall of what happened. But they do find something that is a bad sign: a finger that belongs to the young brother of the soon-to-be wife. And the young brother is missing.

So they try to find him – but in order to do so, they first must recall what they did, which turns out to be a big problem. As the story unfolds, they discover more and more about what they did while they were drugged and drunken in Bangkok. It’s a story of sex, drugdealing monkes, transgender prostitutes (or ladyboys, as they’re also called in Thailand – one of the most memorable lines in the movie is when a ladyboy in the says: “There’s a reason it’s called Bangkok and not Bang-cunt, honey”) and mafia makings in Bangkok’s underworld-belly.

So is that the real Bangkok?

Well, yes and no.

Bangkok has all that’s in the movie. But it’s just one part of it. Bangkok is made up of many elements. There’s also a nice, fancy, luxury shopping mall and first class spa element of Bangkok. There’s a traditional Thai culture element of Bangkok. There’s a food metropolis element of Bangkok. And more.

The only thing that the movie definitely got wrong is the monks attire – monks in Thailand wear orange robes, not the ones that are depicted in the movie. But that was no accident – Thai authorities wouldn’t have allowed that. Because in this movie, there are also scenes of a monk who enjoys the services of gogo dancers (among other sins). In Thailand, it is not appreciated if you make jokes about Thai monks.  So the movie makers used that as a little loophole.

If you’re looking for a Thai tour guide to show you around Bangkok’s underworld… well… sorry, but we don’t have that on our program. And we’re not really that familiar with the underworld. But if you’re interested in Thai culture, sightseeing and food – oh, you won’t find someone who will be more glad to introduce you to these kinds of pleasures 🙂

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