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Patpong is an entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates. While Patpong is internationally known as a red-light district at the heart of Bangkok's sex industry, it is in fact only one of numerous red-light districts, some catering primarily to Thai men and some others, like Patpong, catering primarily to foreigners.
A busy night market aimed at tourists is also located in Patpong. The market disappeared for a period during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since returned. There are still girlie bars in the area, although Patpong today has fewer traditional go-go bars than during its peak years and parts of the surrounding area are also known for gay bars and kathoey bars.
Check out the WikiSexGuide's Patpong video from April 2014!
See also: List of ladyboy friendly Hotels in Bangkok
Contents
Bars
- Convenient bar to go is Pink Panther. No hassle inside and beautiful girls are surrounded you with good taste of manner. Price for drinks are very reasonable. European owner keeps the place clean and comfortable. Highly recommended.
- Super Pussy
Location and layout
Patpong consists of two parallel side streets running between Silom Road and Surawong Road and one side street running from the opposite side of Surawong. Patpong is within walking distance from the BTS Skytrain Silom Line's Sala Daeng Station, and MRT Blue Line's Si Lom Station.
Patpong 1 is the main street with many bars of various kinds and the tourist night market. Patpong 2 also has many similar bars. Next to these lies Soi Jaruwan, sometimes referred to as Patpong 3 but best known as Silom Soi 4. It has long catered to gay men, whilst nearby Soi Thaniya has expensive bars with Thai hostesses that cater largely to Japanese men.
History and ownership
Patpong gets its name from the family that owns much of the area's property, the Patpongpanich (or Patpongpanit), immigrants from Hainan Island, China, who purchased the area in 1946. At that time it was an undeveloped plot of land on the outskirts of the city. A small klong (canal) and a teakwood house were the only features. The family built a road - now called Patpong 1 - and several shophouses, which were rented out. Patpong 2 was added later, and both roads are in fact private property and not city streets. (The so-called Patpong 3 and Soi Thaniya are not owned by the Patpongpanich family.) The old teak house was torn down long ago and the klong was filled in to make room for more shophouses. Originally simply an ordinary business area, the coming of the bars eventually would drive out most of the other businesses.
By 1968, a handful of nightclubs existed in the area, and Patpong found some use as a R&R (Rest and Recuperation) location for U.S. troops serving in the Vietnam War, although the main R&R area was actually along New Petchburi Road. In its prime during the 1970s and 1980s, Patpong was the premier nightlife area in Bangkok for foreigners, and was famous for its sexually explicit shows. In the mid 1980s the sois hosted an annual Patpong Mardi Gras, which was a weekend street fair that raised considerable money for Thai charities. In the early 1990s, however, the Patpongpanich family decided to turn much of Patpong 1 Road into a night market, renting out spaces to stall holders.
The consequence was that Patpong lost a great deal of its vibrancy as a go-go bar and sexual services strip, becoming crowded with tourist shoppers who were at best bemused by the nightlife and put a big damper on the strip's power to excite and amuse. Soon much of the action moved to the newer nightlife areas of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, which today have a greater concentration of go-go bars.
Patpong was included within one of Bangkok's designated entertainment zones, which historically gave licensed venues in the area different permitted opening hours from establishments outside the zones. Closing times and their enforcement have changed repeatedly over the years.
In more recent years, there has been a move away from the traditional sex venues in Patpong. Live music bars, restaurants, pubs and other entertainment businesses have increasingly shared the area with its remaining adult venues.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a particularly large impact on Patpong. Numerous businesses closed and the famous night market disappeared for a period. The market has since returned, although the district today is different from the Patpong of its 1970s–1990s heyday.
Patpong has many shows featuring women doing stunts in the nude. These shows are mostly marketed by roadside agents handing out pamphlets or approaching tourists directly. Please be aware that some of these shows have long been associated with overcharging scams, where customers are encouraged to enter with promises of cheap admission or drinks and later charged exorbitant amounts, resulting in frequent quarrels and unpleasant scenes.
Go-go bars feature women dancing on a stage. The dancers may be available to customers willing to pay a bar fine to take them out of the bar; any fees for sexual services are negotiated separately. Some establishments advertising "massages" are in fact disguised brothels, while other massage businesses in the wider Silom area are ordinary massage shops.
Several upstairs bars have historically featured sexually explicit shows, with women performing various acts such as the famous Ping pong show. Perhaps the most notorious of these features women performing exotic feats involving their genitalia and projectile table tennis balls.
Some of these second-floor bars have long been associated with scams in which tourists are lured inside with offers of low prices and later presented with a wildly inflated bill. Visitors should ask clearly about entrance charges, drink prices and show charges before ordering and should be particularly cautious about following street touts into unknown upstairs venues. See also Common scams and Staying safe.
Some establishments in Patpong employ kathoeys (or "ladyboys") either exclusively or as part of a mixed gender staff.
With one or two exceptions, the gay bars in the Patpong area have traditionally not been go-go bars, but simply gay pubs, particularly around nearby Silom Soi 4, which caters to both Thais and tourists. The commercial gay-oriented go-go bars have historically been located mainly around Surawong Road and nearby small streets.
Today, Patpong is increasingly less dependent on the sex industry and provides other kinds of entertainment. There are live music bars, restaurants and other nightlife venues that attract both Thais and tourists alongside the remaining adult-oriented businesses.
Night market
The Patpong Night Market is once again operating along Patpong 1. The market had been one of the defining features of Patpong for decades before disappearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It subsequently returned as the area recovered.
The night market is very tourist-oriented, selling clothing, souvenirs, watches, bags and other goods. Prices can be high compared to local-oriented markets unless one is prepared to bargain.
Men selling adult material and touts trying to direct tourists into bars offering sex shows have traditionally been a common sight around the market. Visitors should be cautious about unsolicited offers to visit upstairs shows because inflated-bill scams have long been associated with some such venues.
In media
Many western films have featured Patpong, including the award winning The Deer Hunter (1978), starring Robert De Niro. The final part of the popular musical Miss Saigon (1989) is set in the bar scene of Patpong.
The movie Baraka features several shots of strippers in Patpong.
The 1994 book Patpong Sisters: An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World (ISBN 1-55970-281-8) by Cleo Odzer describes the experiences of an anthropologist doing field research in Thailand.
Patpong: Bangkok's Twilight Zone (2001, ISBN 0-9537438-2-9) by Nick Nostitz is a personal photographic depiction of aspects of the Patpong night life.
The 2008 book Ladyboys: The Secret World of Thailand's Third Gender gives an intimate portrait of Thailand’s kathoeys. It is a collection of authentic stories about journeys of self-discovery by those who have struggled with gender identity while trying to maintain normal lives and careers. The book features some of Thailand's celebrity ladyboys such as Boxer Nong Toom as well as the life of a magazine columnist, a cabaret performer, a prostitute and others. Some of them also tell about their experiences in Patpong. The book was written by Susan Aldous and Pornchai Sereemongkonpol and published by Maverick House Publishers.
Patpong opera is a collection of songs written by Paul Wood, manager of Radio City, to tunes of modern rock songs. Together they tell the story of the people in Patpong.
Patpong serves as part of the setting in Tom Robbins' book Villa Incognito.
See also
- Bangkok | Nana Plaza | Soi Cowboy | Pattaya | Phuket
- North America | South America | Europe | Africa | Asia | Oceania
