After Dark

Go-Go's, Bars, & Clubs

The 3 main areas for night-time entertainment in Bangkok are PATPONG, NANA PLAZA, & SOI COWBOY.

All the guidebooks mention Patpong, but it is really vastly over-rated with scruffy bars, grasping staff, and the street all but blocked with vendors hassling you as you try and walk.
This is the most popular area for tourists, and as such, it attracts the worst examples of scams and rip-offs. There are a number of perfectly decent bars, but there are just too many pitfalls for the unwary, give it a try but head for Cowboy or Nana before you get too "elephants", as you will need your wits about you, at all times, in Patpong! [English Cockney rhyming slang, elephant's trunk - drunk.]

PATPONG

Sala Daeng Sky Train

Silom Subway station

Patpong consists of 2 private, parallel roads that run between Silom Road and Suriwong Road. By day it's very quiet, but by night a market place appears in the road where you can buy all manner of counterfeit goods at "tourist" prices, i.e., much more than elsewhere.
In recent years the vendors have increasingly spilled over onto Silom Road to such an extent that it is virtually impossible to walk up the pavement at night.

Patpong has dozens of bars, go-go bars, and restaurants. Some are good, some are fair, a few are poor and a few are out and out rip off joints where the unwary will be parted from their cash in many different ways.
In years gone by, every unit was a bar or go-go, sadly now more lucrative businesses now occupy many of the shop units to such an extent that you might wonder what all the fuss is about. - Try and picture it as it was, all bars etc. and no market.

The basic rules on Patpong are:-

DO NOT go into any bar in the small alleyway between Patpong 1 and Patpong 2 Roads.

DO NOT go into any bar without a name above the door.

Take care in upstairs bars, as these are the places where you are most likely to get ripped off.

In general, it is fair to say that any bar run or owned by Kings Group is usually well managed and safe, although they tried to steal my wallet in Queens Castle 2 by lifting it from my pocket and trying to stuff it down the back of the seat! As an experienced Bangkok visitor since 1986, Patpong remains the only place where I have ever had any trouble.

Always check the items on your bar bill and always check your change in Patpong.

Patpong is where you will find the shows, things such as Pussy Writing, Flower Shows, Yards of String Show, Razor Blades, Pussy Smoking, Pussy Whistle, Pussy Horn, Pussy Ping-Pong, plus opening bottle shows and various other combinations of objects, reptiles, and fish in orifices. If it is of any interest, several bars feature live sex shows and some have quite artistic body painting shows. My opinion is that watching a Thai screw his girlfriend on stage is as about as erotic as watching Margaret Rutherford on the toilet.

Patpong is worth a look, but usually it's full of tourists, as anyone in the know will go elsewhere. The prime objective of the girls here is to get you, or pester you to buy them a drink, a stark contrast with similar bars in Nana and Cowboy where the overall atmosphere is more relaxed.

The taxi drivers are a mercenary lot around the Silom end of Patpong, blocking the road outside with parked cabs, and making it virtually impossible to hail one from the street. The Parked taxis will invariably want to quote you a price at least twice that of a metered ride. Several taxi drivers have told me that to even park in Silom, taxi drivers have to pay a monthly fee to the local police, and I have no reason not to believe this.

I urge you to use the Sky Train or MRTA subway, but leave before 12.00 midnight as this is when the service closes, otherwise, walk away and hail a moving taxi nearby, Convent Road is a good place for this as many cabs are returning empty. I usually walk to outside the Irish X Change before attempting to get a taxi ride.
All in all, there are far more reasons for staying away than going to Patpong, by all means check it out, but don't say you haven't been warned!

Recently, an attempt was made to charge myself and three friends 1200 Baht for 4 Heinekens!
Threats of Tourist Police brought the bill down to 400 Baht, or a more reasonable 100 Baht per beer. No problem for us to sort out, but newcomers beware, this only happens in Patpong.

And another thing! Patpong seems to have a high percentage of katoeys mixed in with the girls, so apart from checking your bill, your change, and your wallet - you have female impersonators to cope with as well!

Looking at Patpong now, 2006, it is a shadow of its former self. All the shop units were bars etc. but now the majority are shops etc. The number of bars is down to a mere 25% of what it was in the 1980s.
There are still rip-offs, but Patpong is no longer the place it was, and if anything, the former number one is only an "also ran". The bars and quality of the girls in Nana Plaza is far superior.
If you go, imagine how it was when all the shop units were bars, with even more on the upper floors.......................

Nana Plaza [NEP]

Nana Sky Train Station

Nana Plaza is a slightly scruffy 3 storey building just inside Soi 4 Sukhumvit. There are a few open bars on the ground floor where the car park used to be, but the rest of the entire complex is all go-go bars, or similar.
The atmosphere is much more relaxed, the girls are less mercenary. Absolutely no rip-offs here (almost), and much safer and less "hectic" than Patpong. The bars have fewer or no shows, but a much better choice all round, everyone seems friendlier as well!

Favourite bars here are Pharaohs, in the ground floor car park - a good place to meet your friends and watch the antics of the customers around the complex, sometimes more entertaining than some of the bars! Cheap drinks, plenty of attentive staff, and a happy hour 'till 21.00.
Voodoo, on the ground floor is usually good, cold beer and reasonable service, as is Hollywood opposite.

G-SPOT, on the first floor - A medium sized go-go bar, plenty of girls and a shower show at a variable time, but if you see the body painting, then the shower show follows. G-Spot is probably the best all-round example of a go-go bar there is.

You will find the best bars on the second floor, because by the time the police get up the stairs - anything that was going on before has stopped, so this is where the "raunchier" shows are. Here you will find the Carnival, Hollywood Strip, Beverley Hills and others. Lots of girls, good service and a few shows on the rotating stage. Hollywood Strip features another shower show at around 23.00 (Thai time) *Thai time means plus or minus 1 hour!

Carnival is where you'll find the electric bucking bronco, although this one is actually a bull (buffalo). Surprisingly for a bar, I asked and was allowed to take a picture:-

Steer clear of "Cascade" (2nd Floor) the one that looks like a stone cave, this is (or was last time I looked) 100% katoeys.

Angelwitch, on the first floor, seems to be getting very popular, attracting more girls and great service, usually quite short of seats, but well worth a visit.

Rainbow, on the first floor also, is the newest bar/club and has a vast selection of girls. This looks like the best bar of its type at the moment.

This bar has changed format now, but the business card on the right is worth showing!
Run your mouse over the one on the right to see the clever detail!

Soi Cowboy

Asoke Sky Train Station

Sukhumvit subway station

Not too difficult to find, any taxi driver will take you to "Cowboy" (Sukhumvit Soi 23), or go by skytrain to Asok station, then cross the busy junction by the subway rather than walk over the busy road junction, you should be able to see the Soi Cowboy sign across the end of the Soi from the Skytrain station.
Getting to Soi Cowboy is now dead easy by MRTA Subway to Sukhumvit station.

Soi Cowboy is a small road (Soi) between Asoke Road (21) and Sukhumvit Soi 23. This is a very versatile street with a lot of bars, go-go bars. Until 2003 there was even a dentist, and a toy shop still survives into 2006.

The best bars for shows are Rawhide and Long Gun, both have plenty of girls and are quite unique in so far as the management do not allow the girls to pester you for "ladies drinks".
Tilac is quite good but more restrained, as is Our Place, Cowboy 1 & Cowboy 2.
The whole atmosphere in Soi Cowboy is more "laid back" and more friendly. Not as "raunchy" as some places, but you can have fun here and not have your wallet stolen! Toy Bar is known as a Petting Zoo!

I have a full rundown of the bars on Soi Cowboy on its own page with a map etc. Click HERE

Sukhumvit Soi 33

Sometimes called "the artists area" due to the names of the original bars, Van Gogh, Degas, Monet etc. Covered in more detail on my Soi 33 page Click HERE

Paying "Lip" service in Sukhumvit Soi 8, see their website HERE

Now also open also in Patpong, beside Foodland. Website HERE

Sadly, 01:00 closing is still being enforced 2006.

Beer Garden Sukhumvit Soi 7

This has long been a favourite haunt of Bangkok regulars, and like the Thermae, it's really a bar where you can easily pick up stray women.
Quite harmless and entertaining though, the girls and customers put you in mind of that bar in the first Star Wars film, all manner of weirdoes and mutants.
Cheapish drinks, and worth a look if you are seeking company. Apply a small amount of common sense and you should be OK.

Bamboo Bar Sukhumvit Soi 3

Along the same lines as the Beer garden, former haunt of some Russian tarts until immigration rounded them up!
Sometimes there is a live band on, very enthusiastic, but not very good.

On Sukhumvit Soi 22, opposite the Queens Park Hotel there are a number of beer bars and restaurants in a small complex just down from Washington Square. Worth a look as this area is not widely known to most people.
In July 2007 I saw someone wearing a T-shirt with "Flaming Moe's Now 84% Rat Free" on it!

Website HERE

The Thermae

If you get to Soi 15 Sukhumvit, you should be able to see this place even if you are 90% elephants trunk, if not, follow the first gaggle of off duty bar-girls that come along!

The most popular pick up joint, The Thermae Coffee Shop, is a basement bar area in Ruam Chit Plaza, where literally hundreds of girls congregate from 11pm onwards. Closing time? this used to be no problem, possibly linked to the fact that on several occasions I have been served my beer by a fully uniformed Thai Policeman - gun and all, sadly the clean up campaigners have reached here too.
Don't expect a drink after 02:00. Previously, I have been here until 04.30am with drinks still flowing, and I once arrived back in Bangkok after a delayed flight and passed the Thermae in a taxi at about 6:30am and people were still coming out.
Not everybody's scene, but worth a look. Do you remember that bar in the original Star Wars film?, this is the closest you'll come to that in the real world.

Visit the "unofficial" Thermae Coffee Shop web site CLICK HERE

Angels/Nana Discotheque

Located behind the coffee shop on the ground floor of the Nana Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 4, just opposite Nana Plaza. This has been a popular after hours meeting place for several years now, and although extended just over a year ago, it still gets really packed. The service is always quite good with plenty of staff.

Loud music, lots of girls, plenty of security, but the once free entry has been replaced with a charge on the door that just seems to keep going up. First it was 160 Baht in August 2004, now in November it's up to 300 Baht. Ok, you get a free drink, but this is out of order now, charging entry at this level will change the whole character of the place. It looks as if they are jumping on the bandwagon of higher prices in general in Nana, and pricing themselves out of the market.

Varying closing times here, so I can't be too specific, it seems to depend on the whim of the local police station.

Please don't forget:-

Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder!