Patpong
Patpong is in the Silom area of Bangkok and is little more than two adjacent side streets off the main Silom Road. Every evening, it becomes a neon lit strip of nightclubs, bars, and gogo strip clubs, offering sexy girls dancing around poles, ladyboys and some very unsavoury shows being performed in the bars one level up from street level.
However, in more recent years, Patpong is less of a haunt for expatriates and sex seekers and more of a tourist show. It's reputation is more likely to attract sightseers, including couples who are perhaps stopping over in Bangkok on the Europe-Australasian routes. The real 'flesh seekers' are more likely to be found down in the bars of Sukhumvit.
A curious things about today's Patpong is the night market. Right outside the sexy bars, just a few feet from the entrances with dancing girls clearly visible, you can see tourists with young children browsing the market stalls, with sex show hawkers pestering people left, right and centre. If you visit with your wife and kids, don't be surprised if you're approached every few seconds by someone trying to get you into the bars.
Even so, many visitors who had no intention of visiting gogo bars, often find that temptation gets the better of them and they just have to go in for a look (after pretending to be interested in the night market). Before they know it, they're leaving the bar with a pretty bar girl and heading back to the hotel for a night to remember. You will also see many female tourists in the gogo bars, often looking uncomfortable with their husbands or boyfriends.
Patpong is not all gogo bars however and there are a number of restaurants, mainstream bars (such as Radio City and the excellent house band and Elvis impersonator) and discotheques. There are also plenty of Pool tables and if you're alone, there's always a girl ready to play a game with you... watch out though, they're often skilled Pool hustlers!
When you need to go back to your apartment or hotel, avoid the taxis that loiter at the end of Patpong, waiting for stupid tourists and claim their meter doesn't work. They'll certainly charge you too much. Better to hail one that's passing by and make sure they use the meter.
Whatever you're looking for in the evening, Patpong probably has something to offer you and is a very short walk from the Sala Daeng Skytrain station, or the Silom MRT underground station. The area is well policed and petty crime has been all but eradicated. It's no longer deserves it's bad reputation for pick pockets etc. Whatever you read in the Western media about Patpong, is very likely plain wrong and likely written by someone who's never even visited Bangkok.
Need advice? Got a question? Go to our Thailand Forum