It might not be new to him, I mean to Nick Nostitz the photojournalist, but there’s a bit of Jack Kerouak in the way he wanders the world, a bit of Charles Bukowsky in his addiction to screwing and being high, and a bit of Nan Goldin in the way he sees people and shoots them. A good mingle, I would say. And surely the perfect one to tell us about Patpong, the Center for underground life in Bangkok: go-go bars, blow-jobs bars, VD clinics, restaurants, souvenirs shops, KFC and McD.

The book perfectly reflects this atmosphere: B&W pics and some in color stolen from moments of life and sometimes taken in the stupor of alcohol, never vulgar but often sad; lines typed with an old typewriter or handwriting that read like they were taken from a journal; and names, plenty of names of western guys and Thai girls that play around and screw, exchange money and fun but never love, because love "makes you vulnerable ... and when found here, is usually and illusion". They all basically have a good time.

Patpong is actually a journal made for the curious and wimp to peep into somebody else’s life, and for the curious and brave to get a clue, a destination for going away.

M.M.

all images © Nick Nostitz