Patpong Reinvented
By Patrick Shaw
Thailand
2008-04-08
Most people know Patpong as two narrow streets between Surawongse and Silom roads. In fact, if you didn't know they were there, you would probably not even notice them. Many tourists find themselves browsing the crammed night market, uncomfortably jostling with gogo bar touts showing you details of erotic shows in the upstairs bars.
Patpong is synonymous with gogo bars and sex, especially in the eyes of tourists and the travel press and it has been that way since the American war in Indochina, when it gained a reputation as being an anything goes venue for R+R. It's raunchy heydays were in the 80's, when it was the epicentre of Bangkok's nightlife for foreigners.
The streets are actually privately owned by a Chinese immigrants, the Patpongpanich family. By the 90's, they had begun renting out small plots down the middle of the main soi and the Patpong night market was born. Today, it is a crowded maelstrom of families, sex tourists, expats and touts.
The 'upstairs bars' for which Patpong gained it's sordid reputation for ping pong shows, in which women use their genitalia to perform all manner of lewd acts to entertain the clientèle still exist. They are also still the places where you should carefully check the bill when it is presented, as rip offs are commonplace.
Patpong fell out of favour for a few years when it became overpriced and started targeting big spenders i.e. the gogo bars put their prices up and dancing girls started asking very high prices, often to Japanese customers only. Many expatriates left for other bar areas, while Patpong could still rely on it's reputation to attract transient tourists.
It's been a number of years since I'd socialised in Patpong and so I recently hooked up with a few friends on two separate occasions to have a look around and it was a pleasant surprise for all of us... Far from being the overpriced place it was a few years ago, Patpong gogos seem half empty. Beer prices range from 80 to 120 Baht per bottle (we're talking about street level bars here)... and so we come to the main point of this article...
Club 66
We wondered in and out of a few bars this week and came upon the entrance to one of the notorious 'upstairs bars', where the door staff naturally tried to get us to go inside. As old Bangkok hands, we were keen to avoid the place and agreed with each other that it was very likely we would be ripped off should we enter. However, already a little drunk, we thought what the heck. After climbing the pink staircase, we were amazed by what we found. Far from being a dingy, seedy ping pong bar, it was a gleaming, sophisticated place that is clearly trying to take Patpong in a new direction.
Gone are the genitalia shows, now replaced with Coyote Dancers... Gone are the filthy, stinking toilets, replaced with clean, bright, staffed rest rooms... Gone are the tatty seats, replaced with sofas and cushions... Gone are the 60 watt light bulbs, replaced with lasers and glitter balls... Club 66 is more like a posh lap dancing club.
Service was attentive and polite. Small bottles of beer were expensive at 150 Baht but it's no longer the sort of place you'd expect to get your bill padded. Frankly, we had no idea this sort of place would be at the top of the staircase.
Around the bar are very sexy dancing girls, who will come to talk or dance with you (for a tip of course). It's often difficult for people to remember that the girls are at work and if they can make more money talking or dancing with someone else, they will do so.
The whole place has expensive written all over it. Purely in the interest of research, we were told the bar fine is 700 Baht and the girls charge 2000 Baht short time... so it's still a gogo bar at heart i.e. a front for prostitution.
Future of Patpong
Patpong is not likely to die for a number of reasons. It's enjoys a very discreet location and is largely hidden from view. Think about the government policy of isolating the sexy nightlife and you'll realise this particular nightlife area is ideal.
Furthermore, Patpong is entirely privately owned. Huge sums of money have been invested in these two sois in recent years by entrepreneurs and big spending speculators... that does not however mean we won't see change. It's likely Patpong will be a very different place in years to come. There are moves to make it more palatable to a broader range of tourists and party animals. It's even possible we will see a decline of the obvious scantily clad girls in the ground level bars, as the 'in your face' girlie bars are replaced with more stylish establishments that are more suited to the wide range of tourists that Patpong attracts, many of which are unsettled by the sordid atmosphere.
Patpong is always going to have a reputation for sexy shows and naughty bars... but as Thailand's economy grows and as the people earn more money, you will see a changing subset of girls working the bars. Be in no doubt... Patpong is changing.
Thanks to elsie, Stocky and mbk
Comment on this article at: The Changing Face of Patpong
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