Pronunciation and Spelling

ด่านนอก

As usual, the common transliteration of a Thai place name into English is completely hopeless. If you pronounce Dannok as it would normally be pronounced by a native English speaker, a Thai won't have a clue what you are trying to say.

The first syllable is a long vowel sound - daan - and there is a distinct pause between the first and second syllables. The second vowel is also long - nohk - with a 'k' sound at the end that you should begin to voice but not finish, so there shouldn't be any aspiration.

The first syllable daan (mid-class initial consonant and first tone mark) is pronounced with a low tone. The second syllable nohk (low-class initial consonant, dead syllable, long vowel) is pronounced with a falling tone.

Despite the standard Thai system of transliteration being next to useless, I will continue to use it here purely for the benefit of Internet search engines.

With regard to street names, etc., you will see that different hotels transliterate the same Thai names into English in several different ways. They are normally all misleading. On one hotel business card, the name of the contact was given as Kong - as in King Kong. When I looked at the Thai spelling, I saw it was actually Goong (shrimp, in Thai). What a joke.

What is Dannok?

Dannok is a small town on the Thai/Malaysian border located in the Sadao district of Songkhla province, not far away from Hat Yai. It is so insignificant that it doesn't feature on my large map of Thailand.

Quite a lot of para-rubber is grown in Sadao but the area has no natural attractions and there is nothing much that is culturally interesting; certainly not in Dannok. To be honest, Dannok is one of the most unattractive towns I have ever been to in Thailand.

In the days when foreigners could live permanently in Thailand on perpetual 30-day stamps, there used to be a constant stream of farangs in Dannok who would appear once a month to get a new passport stamp.

However, since around the end of 2006 when the immigration rules changed, they have all but disappeared.

Despite all this, Dannok continues to grow at an incredible pace with new hotels springing up all the time and this web site receives a fair few search queries for Dannok. Why then, you may wonder, is there such interest in a dirty, ugly little town on the Thai/Malaysian that has nothing of interest?

The answer isn't very difficult to work out and Dannok isn't dissimilar to many other border towns in the world where a commodity is easily available in one country but not in the country on the other side of the border. These places spring up from nowhere due to the natural forces of supply and demand.

There is great demand for a particular commodity in Malaysia that the Thais are quite happy to supply; and that commodity is commercial sex.

Fast Growth

There has been tremendous growth in Dannok in the last four to five years since I first it visited to get a visa stamp. Prostitution, although widely tolerated in Thailand, sits uneasily with the Thais. Many ordinary and influential people make a lot of money from the industry and many poor girls survive and support their families from it. For as long as there is demand, there will be supply, and when the demand for sex stops, that will be the time the earth stops spinning.

However, in places like Hat Yai, there has been a bit of a move to clean up the industry a little. Many massage are shops are just that, and even the large aab op nuat bath and sex places keep a lower profile these days. For instance, you no longer see photos outside of the girls inside.

Malaysian sex tourists have complained about this on some sex tourist Internet forums and many have apparently turned their back on Hat Yai to go to Dannok instead. Being right on the border, it is also more convenient for them.

Many of the working girls who previously worked in Hat Yai have moved there and thus the town continues to grow but the growth is all centred around one industry.

People

You will see lots of groups of ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysian men, and lots of Thai girls to entertain them in various ways. The girls tend to come from the far north of Thailand as a result of Chinese men having a preference for girls with fairer skin.

The girls are used to dealing with Malaysians and a few I have spoken to have given the impression of feeling uncomfortable when speaking with farangs. It's not like Pattaya or Patong where they are very familiar with farangs.

It's easy to work out if a Thai working girl normally deals with Malaysians or Singaporeans because if she tries to speak English, she will add 'lah' or 'ah' to the end of every sentence. This is how Singaporeans and Malaysians speak.

The level of rudeness in Dannok is unusual for Thailand because it is not the Thai way to be rude. However, because of the nature of what goes on in Dannok this is to be expected.

As well as customers and direct employees of the sex trade, there is a large contingent of staff to support it, including hotel workers, regular massage girls, singers, dancers, bar staff, etc. etc. I also know of hairdressers and retailers who have moved from Hat Yai to Dannok because business is perceived to be better there.

There are also a lot of Muslims in southern Thailand close to the Malaysian border and a fair few in Dannok. The traditional Thai street market and many of the roadside stalls are run by Muslims, and it isn't unusual to find Muslim restaurants.

Shopping

There are no big supermarkets or department stores. Most visitors to Dannok only stay for a short time. You can find the ubiquitous 7-Eleven stores that are found all over Thailand, as well as other small shops and stalls.

There is a large Duty Free shopping centre on the piece of land between Thailand and Malaysia which is possible to visit without leaving Thailand. Whether prices are actually cheaper than elsewhere is available so check first.

You should be able to get anything for your basic needs but generally people don't go to Dannok to shop.

Border Runs

Even with a valid one-year Thai visa, it is still necessary to do a border run every 90 days unless the nice people at your local immigration office have given you an extension. This is easy to do at Dannok.

As you approach the border control station on the Thai side, it is likely that a motorbike taxi will offer to take you to the other side and back. He will probably ask for Bt100. It's an easy 10-15 minute walk to the other side though, so not really necessary unless you have problems walking.

You can stop off at the Duty Free shop on the way to shop or get a coffee.

Transport

I have only ever been to Dannok by minivan from Hat Yai. Dannok-bound minivans in Hat Yai leave from the Hat Yai Plaza/clock tower area on Phetkasem Road (Map 1). Every tuk-tuk driver and motorbike taxi in town knows this place so there won't be a problem finding it. Thais refer to it as hor naaligaa or naa hor. The current fare (June 2008) is Bt55.

There's a pedestrian bridge over Phetkasem Road in front of Hat Yai Plaza and the vans used leave from next to the bottom of the steps on the Plaza side of the road. However, since building work started to redevelop the Plaza the minivan stand has moved just along Phetkasem road towards Vichusin electronics shop and the roundabout. It's still easy to find.

The journey time should be around an hour but it often takes longer because the drivers cruise around to get a full load of passengers and it isn't unknown for them to make deliveries of goods on the way. The guys are basically a law unto themselves. They do whatever they want to do and treat their passengers like cattle.

Minivans back to Hat Yai leave from outside the 7-Eleven on the main road. If you are a farang, you will get asked by lots of men if you want a taxi to Hat Yai. It's up to you but they will want Bt500 compared to Bt55 for the minivan. I am not keen on minivans but don't consider taxis at nine times the price being worth the extra.

Malaysian men go to Dannok to have sex with prostitutes and they use hotel rooms for that purpose. Do not, therefore, expect hotels to be equipped with swimming pools and other amenities, or to have very sophisticated evening entertainment.

Many hotels, in addition to their overnight rates, post room rates for one or two hour stays. You will also find that it is common for room rates to be displayed in Malaysian Ringgit. To convert to Baht, they just use a standard exchange rate of 10 which doesn't seem to fluctuate in the same way as the official exchange rate. Therefore, RM40 = Bt400.

Comments: Almost indistinguishable from the lesser-known Caesars Palace casino and luxury hotel located on the Las Vegas strip, world class performers including Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jnr, and Frank Sinatra provide the evening entertainment here in Dannok.

The hotel tends to get fully booked when championship boxing matches are held in its outdoor arena so book early. And all this for the bargain price of Bt400 a night.

Comments: The sign outside says Bt450 but I get the impression that when it is quiet, you can get big discounts. With the nature of what goes on in Dannok, hotels will be busy at weekends but quiet mid-week. This small mansion building has 14 rooms.

Comments: Another identikit Bt400 per night cheap Dannok boarding house with 35 rooms.

Comments: It may be called the First World Hotel but this hotel is located in a distinctly Third World region of Thailand. It has quite a fancy reception and aims to be a cut above the typical Bt400 Dannok flophouse. There are 60 rooms.

Comments: Somehow, referring to anything in Dannok as 'high class' just seems wrong. Very wrong. As well as offering rooms by the day (they didn't mention anything about hourly rates), rooms are also available for monthly rental.

For stays up to six months, the rate is Bt6,200 per month, but for stays in excess of six months, the monthly rate drops to Bt5,600. Rooms are fully furnished with TVs and refrigerators, etc.

Six months in Dannok? Perish the thought. My limit is about three hours before I need to get away.

Comments: Located near Dannok's Caesar Palace hotel, in one small area of this small Thai/Malaysian border town you can experience the wonders of Beverley Hills and the Las Vegas Strip without even needing to use a taxi.

The hotel offers a restaurant, pub, disco and traditional Thai massage service. There are 38 rooms.

Comments: In my quest to find the rudest person in Dannok, it was a close run thing between the receptionist here and the one at Lanna Mansion.

She wouldn't tell me how many rooms in the hotel, and neither would she give me a simple room rate. All I could ascertain was that room rates are around Bt500. Considering that this hotel is in the same league as hundreds of other similar places in Dannok which charge around Bt400 a night, it therefore seems expensive.

I suspect she was lying in order to try to overcharge me, and that was the reason why she was so vague with her answers. Lovely lady.

Very highly recommended.

Comments: A typical dirty, squalid, cheap Dannok guest house with prices advertised in Malaysian Ringgits and rooms to let by the hour.

The woman I spoke to in this place was one of the rudest Thais I have ever encountered. I don't know how many rooms there are because she wouldn't tell me.

Highly recommended.

Comments: An interesting name for a Dannok hotel. I don't know where the nearest marina is - probably hundreds of miles away, but it sure ain't in Dannok. The workman in the photo is applying a new lick of paint to the outside of the hotel.

Anyway, it looks OK and the room rate is cheap. It's right in the centre of a particularly active area of Dannok and a lot of working girls seem to use the terrace area outside the hotel as somewhere to relax.

Punters leaving the hotel from either exit need go no further than about five yards to find the nearest karaoke bar.

Comments: This hotel, a large building with 130 rooms, is part of Oliver Plaza and it is fairly new. The hotel is further away from the border than most other places and when I saw it being built, I thought it might be an attempt at moving Dannok a little more upmarket. I was wrong.

The small road on the left side of the hotel is full of karaoke bars, including the ones built into the ground floor of the hotel. It is physically cleaner than many other places, owing to the fact it is relatively new, but exactly the same stuff goes on there as elsewhere.

The girls working in the hotel reception are respectable Thai girls but all they see is sex tourists and prostitutes. I guess they get used to it. Oliver Plaza also contains various shops and restaurants.

Comments: Located in a bustling area, this place looks fairly old and very well used. There are 64 rooms which, if they could speak, I'm sure could tell a story or two.

Comments: Cheap, friendly and -for Dannok - relatively pleasant. Rooms are available to rent at any time of the day so it doesn't matter what time you want to bring a nice girl back, the hotel check-in will be open. There are 12 rooms.

Comments: After encountering so many rude receptionists in Dannok, it was a relief to talk to a Thai who behaved like a normal, friendly Thai.

SP Palace advertises Tamil music, thus catering for the hordes of Indian Malaysians who come over the border every week for cheap sex.