Patpong
[ General | Patpong I, II, III & IV | Bar Survival | Sex Shows | Blow Job Bars ]
[ Katoys (Lady-Boys) | Touts | Bar Fines (going Short & Long Time) ]
Location Patpong is located on a series of side-streets sandwiched between
Suriwong and Silom Roads. ANY taxi driver will know how to get you here. Hotels
that are close by include the Dusit Thani & Montien (both 5 star hotels), the Wall
Street Inn as well as several other hole-in-the-wall places. However, I would not
particularlly recommend staying close to Patpong. Hotels like the Dusit and Montien
will NEVER allow a "visitor" into your room and they are VERY good at recognizing the
kinds of visitors you have in mind. No matter how well you try to disguise them.
Instead, consider staying over near NANA Plaza (just a short Tuk-Tuk ride away) and many of
the hotels near NANA have NO-Problem with your guests.
History What can one say about Patpong that hasn't already been said (and that most of us don't
already know.) For the most part the serious single traveler tends to stay away from Patpong these days due to the
almost common-placed hard attitudes of the girls working there (and the high prices
they are now asking -- 1,000-2,000 Baht short time is common and hardly any girls there
want to go long time anymore). However, due to the volumes of tourists here, the most
beautiful GO-GO girls DO tend to work in Patpong since there is more money to be made here
than in any other Bangkok sex district (so if you only want the most gorgeous "model-quality"
Thai girls, it is easiest to find them here.) Still, Patpong needs to be mentioned in any serious
FAQ, if not only for historical purposes -- hey, this is where it all started boys!
Patpong is perhaps the most famous sex district in Bangkok, having its roots as a major
R&R stopover for American GI's during the Viet Nam war. It has been said that
most of the Thai sex industry was started as a result of these R&R visits and
to a certain extent I beleive it. Although I am sure that there would always
be some sort of prostitution/sex scene in a city the size of Bangkok, regardless
of any war.
Things have changed a lot in Bangkok since the Viet Nam war however. Since all
the GIs have left, tourists have taken over and due to its historical significance
if you venture into Patpong these days you are more likely to bump into crowds of middle
aged ladies from Iowa than any GIs. Still, there is plenty of fun to be had in Patpong
even these days -- although the prices for a "fun" evening have gone through the roof.
It is actually kind of funny to see all the GO-GO bars lining Patpong I with the center
of the street full of vendors hawking everything from fake Rolex watches & silver
jewlery to tee-shirts.
What's What Patpong I and II contain the tpyical Bangkok-Style GO-GO bars (where the girls
dance around poles on a stage clad in skimpy bikinis or (if the police aren't in
the bar at the time) topless. Patpong II also has a few open-air, kinda beer-barish stlye
bars on the street level (nothing like the Pattaya beer bars though - sorry.) Patpong III supposedly houses Gay bars (although I
have never bothered to take a look since this life-style doesn't interest me in the
least. Patpong IV (and I am only going by cursory reports here -- I do not know if
Patpong IV even exists or where it is in relation to the other 3 areas) is supposedly
for Japanese only tourists (i.e. the prices are way inflated to make them feel superior
I guess.)
Recommended Bars For GO-GO style bars try any of the Kings Group bars (King's
Castle, Queen's Castle) and Gold Finger on Patpong I. On Patpong II try Super Queen
and Cleopatras. Please note that many bars change names frequently in Patpong but
the best (like King's Castle) have been around forever and never cause you problems.
Regardless of which bar you go into and which Patpong you are in, things are pretty
much handled the same way. You will be ushered to a seat and a waitress will either
appear to take your order OR you will be assigned a girl who will stand-by close to
your table to handle whatever you may want during your stay in the bar (she may have
responsibility for a few tables close to yours also). Anyway, a small container with
be placed on your table with a sheet of paper in it. This is your bill and I'd
advise you to take a look at it after your first drink arrives and after each other drink
you order. This is a running tab and by checking it the first time, you'll know how
much your choice of poison costs in this particular bar. Errors HAVE been known to
occur, which is why you should check it often! The typical cost for a beer these days
(as of June '96) is around 60-75 Baht. You will also (and very quickly I might ad) be
approached by several of the girls asking you "Cola for me?" If you do buy one for them
they will sit with you while they drink it (from a very small glass) and after seen buying
one girl a drink, you will very likely experience a deluge of attention from all the other
available girls wanting you to buy them one too. If you want to, fine. If not, that's fine
too. Just make sure you are getting charged for what YOU DID order! Patpong is probably
the worst for getting hit-up for these drinks (i.e. the girls here are pretty aggressive).
If you really don't want to buy the girls any drinks, just be frim up front and soon
you'll be left to enjoy the show -- but why not have some fun and buy a couple lady-drinks.
That, is why you're here right -- to have a little fun.
In other FAQs regarding the Bangkok bars I have seen recomendations about bringing toys
to try and amuse the girls (like candies, performing card tricks or bringing one of those
laser pointers to flash on the girls on stage). If you want to do this then I guess I
wouldn't advise against it in particular but I'm afraid most of all this has become quite
common place these days. I saw a guy with a laser pointer last time I was there and he was
shining it all over the girls tits on stage, etc. I didn't see him get even a second notice
so, I dunno about this. Bangkok is pretty quickly coming out of the 3rd world and where the
girls had never seen this kind of stuff in the past, now-a-days it's (like I said) kind of
cliche. One thing you should bring though is your sense of humour and a fun-loving attitude.
If you want to stay slumped over your beer in a bad mood, you are not likely to make any
new friends (in Thailand or at home either!)
Besides the GO-GO bars in Patpong I & II there is a second class of bars
located on the upper floors of the same buildings. These bars are where the sex shows
take place. You have no-doubt heard all the stories about women opening beer bottles,
shooting ping-pong balls and darts, smoking cigarettes and pulling stings of razor-blades
out of their pussies. Well, I am here to tell you that it IS indeed all true.
Well, this kind of thing gets old pretty fast, but it's worth seeing a couple of these
shows -- if for no other reason, just to say that you saw one. If you do decide
to see one, do be careful. Many of these "up-stairs" bars charge for the show and
they don't hit you up for the money until you are on your way out the door -- where
a rather large Thai gentelman will take your head off if you refuse to pay up (these charges
have been reported to be around 400-600 baht.) A big
HINT here is to ASK before going in "do you have any kind of show charge?" and
"so, all I have to pay for is my drinks, right?" While this may still not save you
in some of the more dis-reputable places, at least you have a "barganing" chip.
In general, if you stick to one of the King's Group bars, you'll have no problems with
this (King's Castle, Queen's Castle, etc.) Also the Super Queen is a good place
to see the show over on Patpong II.
This class of bar is perhaps the most unique and interesting type of bar in the world.
It certainly sparks a lot of questions from people wondering "do such places REALLY exist?"
Well, actually they do and there are several of them located in Patpong. In these bars
you can order a beer and get a blow-job at the same time.
The Kangaroo Club is perhaps the best known of this type of bar in Patpong.
It is located right on the main drag of Patpong I. As with
all of the smaller bars, it may be hard to find since the actual bar is on the second floor
and the door on the street is partially hidden by the various hawkers of street goods. Look
for the red neon sign "Kangaroo Club." There will be a couple of men sitting out front
who work for the bar -- but they are not very aggressive about proding customers in, as are
most of the larger GO-GO style bars. Once inside the door, the only site will be a
flight of stairs leading straight up to the bar. The bar itself is fairly small and consists
of the bar itself with stools and a couch on the opposite wall. There are X-rated movies
playing on the single TV set at the bar. The couch is where the girls
sit waiting for customers (there were between 10 and 15 girls here last time I was in).
The girls are NOT as beautiful as the GO-GO girls but there are always a few beauties
available. Some will approach you as you sit at the bar. They will take their tops
down and let you play and suck on their tits, reach down or into your pants and give
your "member" a lot of attention and generally hang out and neck/pet with
you (kinda like kicking the tires I presume) until you are finally so horney you give
in and buy in to the room. You can get a blowjob right at the bar but they also have two private
rooms (one large and one significantly smaller). The cost for the room and a blow-job together
is around 500 baht at present. Some barganing may be possible. This bar used to have a
curtained appature directly underneath the bar, where the girl would go to actually give
you the blow-job right at the bar. This has apparently changed and the bar is solid now
(NO curtain). I am pretty sure you can still get service right at the bar but I guess
I was a little too shy to try it. The larger room has several nice leather chairs for you
to sit in and a small twin bed against the wall. I'd say there are 5 or 6 of the
leather chairs, in order to service multiple customers when the bar was very busy but
when I was there, I was the only one in the room.
Rose Bar Unfortunately, I do not have much experience in this place (any readers
care to shoot some info my way on this one?) However, it is a BJ Bar and is likely to
have a similar settup to the Kangaroo Club. Don't confuse this bar with Pantera Rosa which
from all current accounts has turned into a gigantic rip-off bar (i.e. I would not recommend
even going in there).
LadyNight Another BJ bar. This bar has the added feature of reportedly being a
good place to score some ganja (if you are into that kind of thing). However, and I
can't stress this enough YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET CAUGHT IN THAILAND WITH EVEN THE SMALLEST
AMOUNT OF "GANJA." If you are, you could be thrown in jail for up to 40 years and
the Thai prison system is VERY brutal and their legal system DOES NOT afford you any
specific rights as you are used to in the states! You can make your own decissions on this
but be EXTREMELY careful!!!
Star of Love This is a great "classic" BJ bar over on Patpong II. This one
still has the curtains under the bar for that added discretion!? Worth checking this
one out if not just to see the faces on the people at the bar.
If you are going to partake of the fruits in Patpong (and basically any sex district in
Bangkok OR for that matter anywhere in Thailand) the Lady-Boy situation needs to be
considered very carefully. Katoys or Lady-Boys are both pre and post-op transsexuals that
try to pass themselves off as women. Be scared, be VERY scared (unless you like that kind of
thing) because some of these "women" are very, very good lookers. I dare almost anyone
to tell the difference between a really good Lady-Boy and the real thing. Look for all
the tell-tale signs (deeper voice, a bulge in their pants/dresses and probably the best
give-away the adams apple). You may think you are pretty smart about identifying these
Katoys but you just need to really stay on top of your game (i.e. DO NOT get too drunk and
then try to make a decission)! I always like to look for the adams apple however, I am not even
sure that this could not be surgically "corrected." In most areas you should be "fairly" safe
especially if you are patronizing a well established bar (like one of the Kings group establishments).
There are SOME bars however, that are all Katoys and you just need to know where these are.
Since the bar names change so frequently, it is just best to find an Expat in one of the bars
and ask him for advice once you arrive. Or, trust your sober judgement. There is one bar
in NANA plaza on the second floor in the back left hand corner (I beleive the name is "Cassanova's")
that is chock full of pre-op transvestites. I made the mistake of getting dragged in there once.
A very eye-opening and interesting experience. They hit me up for lady-drinks, I bought one and
they kept putting my hands on their perfect tits (a little too perfect and big - if you know what I mean.)
Finally, one started putting my hand between "her" legs where upon I felt the huge bulge and then I was
off towards the door -- pronto! Be careful out there - it's a jungle!
GENERAL
PATPONG I, II, III and IV?
BAR SURVIVAL
SEX SHOWS
BLOW-JOB BARS
KATOYS (LADY-BOYS)
