The drayang culture

People agree that the scenario at Thimphu drayangs has improved since they have been legalised but people have shown concerns about the youths that they attract. These musical entertainment bars employ a lot of people, especially female entertainers,
some of them as young as 16.

Some of the owners running the drayangs are concerned about their employees and make it a point to drop the girls home. Some owners also have laid down strict rules for their employees, such as not being allowed to drink alcohol with the customers.
However, there are always some loopholes.

Entertaining in drayangs has been seen as an easy job to make easy money. The female
entertainers are sometimes abused and harassed by customers within or outside the drayangs.

Female entertainers are mostly employed to attract customers and the owners say that with girls around, the number of customers increases.

Sources say that some of these female entertainers go out with the customers after their work hours. According to Chimi, an entertainer,some of the entertainers
in her drayang have regular customers. And toearn more she has seen some of her friends willing to go out with the customers after work.

“The problem is not just for the entertainers but also the kind of crowd these drayangs attract,” said Tashi, a private firm employee.In the area she stays, there are three drayangs and she is disturbed most of the nights. “It is either the music from the drayang or the youth who linger around after the drayangs are closed,” she said.

She remembers an incident where she could not sleep well the whole night because a couple of youth were outside her building being a nuisance. “I looked from the window and the children were very young to be outside at that odd hour,” she said.

An owner of a drayang said that he has various age groups of customers coming
in. He said that at times, when smaller children come in, he does not entertain them but most of the time he is not aware of the age of his customers.“Children these days look older than their age,” he added.

Zangpo and his friends recollect seeing a group of young boys in a drayang. “There were four of them requesting songs, all of them looked like school kids,” said Zangpo.

There are people who usually go and drink in drayangs but a few others have their own reservations. “I have not been to all the drayangs but among the few I visited, it did not make a good impression so I think it is not a healthy environment for youth to be,” said Indu Gurung, who usually loves checking out entertainment places.
Pema, mother of two, said that earlier, late night parties worried her but with the drayang culture picking up so fast her concerns have increased.

“There should be a system where the owners of drayangs ask the customers’ age so that young children will not be allowed in such places,” she said.Tshering, a civil servant, said that he and his friends visited drayangs occasionally and if the girls agreed they got themselves a room to spend the night.

“Most girls come from poor background but some are educated and should actually have no problem getting a decent job, I don’t understand why they opt for such jobs,” said Tshering.

Most of the drayangs have come up with their own dress code. The entertainers wear uniforms provided by the drayang owners. The dresses are mostly kira but a few drayangs have bego (Tibetan dress) as their uniform.

A few drayangs look a lot cleaner but a few still remain the same. Thimphu has more than 12 licensed drayangs. Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority regulates the drayangs.