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What makes a great Friday night? Dancing the night away in one of Bangkok’s numerous clubs? Multiple shots of (insert favorite alcoholic drink here), perhaps?  For teenagers, a typical Friday night once involved watching a movie then early to bed for some much-needed beauty sleep after a long and hectic school week. But, then younger generations get smart and grow more rebellious. Teenagers are no longer satisfied with pajama parties and innocent fun with friends. No, young kids today are more interested in ‘practicing’ anarchy. Anyone will testify to the thrill of forbidden activities, including all the vices, from cigarettes to excessive drinking. But how can one really blame Generation X when authorities in Bangkok fail to take necessary precautions to keep us minors at bay?
Despite some crackdowns, there are still many nightspots in Bangkok where underage clubbers can easily get into. Some clubs don’t even ask for I.D. anymore and here swarms of drunken thirteen-year-olds bopping their heads to loud music come clearly into view.
 To get into the stricter clubs, all one has to do is produce some form of identification, which in the dim lighting and long queues can easily be forged. Changing an I.D. card can be as simple as a minor modification of birth date or they can be entirely renewed, giving the cardholder a completely new identity. Many outlets on Khao San road provide younger tourists and locals with fake passports and I.D. cards for a pretty sum so they can indulge in night to be whispered through the school halls on Monday morning (torrid anecdotes of getting into a club and getting a bit tipsy, or dare I say, shamelessly drunk).
Yes, hordes of young adults stroll around Khao San, looking for the best place to get their new identities. A few smarter, PC-literate individuals can make their own in the comfort of their own home. But for those choosing the streets 600-800 baht and an endless wait will ensure their very own pass to debauchery. Most will then try their new found legal status in one of the more lenient, cheaper clubs in the district. But, unfortunately, a teenager’s span of interest never lasts long and they soon tire of the area in search of newer, more distinguished clubs. But are they really all they’re cracked up to be. With outrageous entrance fees, over-priced drinks, ear-piercing decibels of usually hip hop music, there’s not much attraction for anyone, least of all teeny boppers. And let’s not forget the infamous police raids to make sure everyone has I.D.s (real or fake). Oh, what joy!
But maybe club-hopping isn’t such as great habit to get into for the healthiest lifestyle for students in our teens. Starving oneself for a week just to be able to save money to go clubbing the following weekend, plus too much alcohol on the well-awaited night, and also unwanted (or sometimes, wanted) second-hand cigarette smoke, as well as speakers at max volume directly pumping into one’s ears and sweaty bodies sticking to other sweaty bodies, plus the risk of drink-spiking can only lead to one thing in the long run: the realization that one has wasted too much of their young carefree innocent life (not to mention their money) on something they would eventually be able to experience and pay for anyway.
But then again, you can’t blame teenagers for their actions. The forbidden fruit is a lure known to each and every one of us. Underage clubbing is like a rite of passage into adulthood. Teens are merely exploring the responsibilities and privileges of feeling independent, choosing the way they spend money, and being trusted by parents.
Authorities may attempt to up the ante for minors, but there are always ways to circumvent these measures. But after the underage clubbing experience, I’ve now chosen to become accustomed to a new identity for myself: the one I was born with.
by Angel Rodriguez
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