BANGKOK, Thailand – Convivial Zara McDermott clearly enjoyed Bangkok in her latest reality production The Dark Side of Paradise: the clubs, the people, the contradictions. She loves the backpacker pub crawls and the luxurious rooftop bars, whilst being shocked by fried insects and the Thai police power to require a urine test for drugs. Indeed, the video is painfully aware that one mistake on the street can land tourists in a police cell.
There are some good insights into red light districts. Zara comments that Bangkok’s Khao San Road has blaring music and a party atmosphere, whereas Soi Cowboy is quieter and more geared to the one-night-stand sex industry. It’s a “Benidorm on steroids” says one young British bachelor. Zara pinpoints the curious red tape associated with the Thai nightclub industry which encourages commercial and illegal prostitution whilst keeping reserve police powers to crack down if necessary.
Filmed in February 2025, the concluding warning that cannabis is about to be outlawed again in Thailand is already out of date. A new government is now in office and premier Anutin Charnvirakul has stated that he wants to see purchase linked to a medical condition, but without reversion to criminal narcotic status. Zara is understandably put off by the pervasive smell of weed in the night time public areas she visited, an issue which sorely needs to be addressed.
There is useful footage about the British embassy in Bangkok and what they can and can’t do for distressed nationals. There has been an increase in the number of Brits arrested since the delisting of cannabis as a narcotic because taking the stuff out of the country still requires an export licence. It’s also mentioned that the death penalty still exists for trafficking, although it’s also true that no foreigner has been executed in Thailand since the 1970s. And he was Japanese.
Zara accompanies a consular office to the immigration detention center though she isn’t allowed inside with cameras. The officer repeats several times that one cashless Brit was arrested and deported with just a two-minutes visa overstay. How typical is that? The footage showing the unloading of prisoners from a huge cage on the back of a truck is a timely warning of the consequences of arrest. The embassy has no magic wand.
The well-publicized saga about near-arrest for filming in a red light street is given prominence. The fright would likely not have occurred if the British team had used a Thai representative or fixer as an intermediary. Whenever foreigners without Thai fluency get into an argument with Thai police, expect problems. None the less Zara and her team are invited to join the police in pub raids, checking for illegal drugs especially cocaine and methamphetamines. She comes to the conclusion that such raids are often about reminding partygoers to watch their step rather than creating mass arrests.
Towards the end, Zara has her long-anticipated chat with a prostitute about the daily routines. The young lady, an unmarried mum with a baby, tells us that many of her clients are British vacationers who are becoming more numerous by the year. She also confides that dads are bringing their teenage sons to indulge in horizontal leisure pursuits for sex education purposes. Like the rest of this video, it’s a highly entertaining view of Bangkok behind the curtain. Reality TV par excellence.
