Nightlife
Bangkok offers a widely varied nightlife. Like nearby Pattaya, the city is notorious for some concentrations of massage parlours, go-go bars and karaoke places, with Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza being the main areas catering to male tourists. There are, however, many other venues available to enjoy other pursuits. There are Westernized clubs and cafes for the rich, and lower-cost bars and pubs that are very popular with the locals. The city's Phra Nakhon district is home to probably the most profound worldwide example of a "backpackers' ghetto", Khaosan Road. Sukhumvit Road boasts some of Asia's most crowded clubs along the 5 km (3 mi) section between Ekamai and Withayu.
Pattaya (Thai: พัทยา, RTGS: Phatthaya) is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand (12°55′39″N, 100°52′31″ECoordinates: 12°55′39″N, 100°52′31″E), about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chon Buri.
Meaning the 'south-west monsoon wind" and correctly pronounced "Patti-yah" not "Patt-eye-yah", it is located roughly 150 kilometres from Bangkok and ranks as one of the most successful beach resorts in the world, with some 5.4 million visitors arriving in 2005. Increasing numbers of tourists come from the former Soviet Union and East Asia.
The city of Pattaya is a self governing special municipal area which covers the whole tambon Nong Prue and Na Kluea and parts of Huai Yai and Nong Pla Lai. It is located in the heavily industrial Eastern Seaboard zone, along with Si Racha, Laem Chabang, and Chon Buri. However, it remains mostly a tourist city, with very light industry.
Pattaya is second only to Bangkok in high rise buildings, as many condos for foreign residents are built, and has a modest skyline. The city's economy benefits from its relative proximity to Bangkok.
Pattaya is also the center of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area, the conurbation in Chonburi Province.
Patpong (Thai: พัฒน์พงษ์, "Phatphong") 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, the city in fact has numerous red-light districts that are far more popular with Thai men. A busy night market aimed at tourists is also located in Patpong.
Soi Cowboy is a red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand. A short street with some 40 bars, it is similar to Nana Plaza and Patpong and caters mainly to tourists and expatriates.
It is located near Sukhumvit Road, between Sukhumvit Soi 21 (also called Soi Asoke) and Soi 23 ( 13°44′12.5″N, 100°33′45″E), within walking distance from the SkyTrain's "Asok Station" and the Bangkok Metro's "Sukhumvit Station".
The agogo bars follow the pattern common in Thailand: alcoholic drinks are served and women in bikinis dance on a stage. Topless or even nude dancing occasionally occurs in some bars, but remains technically illegal. Most of the dancers are in fact prostitutes and will join a customer if he pays a "bar fine" to the bar and a separate fee to the woman. Sexual services usually take place in the tourist's hotel room. Thai customers usually are not admitted to these bars unless accompanied by foreigners.
There are also a number of restaurants at Soi Cowboy, including what is perhaps Bangkok's best known fish and chips shop.
The area is named after T. G. "Cowboy" Edwards, a retired American airman who opened one of the first bars there in 1973 or 1977 (sources differ). A tall African-American, Edwards got his nickname because he invariably wore a cowboy hat.
Soi Cowboy during the day, with Fanny's, Dollhouse and Midnite Bar visible on the left
One staple of the Soi Cowboy nightlife are elephants frequently marched up and down the street by their handlers who are in the business of selling elephant food to tourists.
When Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, his government instituted a "social order" campaign. As part of this campaign, all bars and nightclubs had to close by 2 am, later changed to 1 am for all areas not officially designated as "entertainment zones". (Unlike Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza were not so designated). A mandatory midnight closing time was even discussed. As of 2006, the Soi Cowboy bars switch off their outside neon lights by 1 am and usually close at 2 am.
Soi Cowboy's reputation suffered a temporary blow when, as part of the same social order campaign, the area was closed off by police one Friday night in November 2003 and all workers and patrons were required to submit to urine testing for drugs.
Near their entrances, all go go bars carry government-mandated signs in Thai and English; the slightly humorous English text reads,
NO-ONE INSIDEUNDER 20 YEARSDRUG-FREE
During the 2004 International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, a bead sculpture made in Soi Cowboy was displayed as part of the cultural program.
On June 9, 2006, Thailand commemorated the 60-year anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne. In the evening the employees of all Soi Cowboy bars celebrated the event by stepping outside for about half an hour, holding candles and wearing yellow "We love the King" shirts, and finished by singing the national anthem.
Bangkok offers a widely varied nightlife. Like nearby Pattaya, the city is notorious for some concentrations of massage parlours, go-go bars and karaoke places, with Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza being the main areas catering to male tourists. There are, however, many other venues available to enjoy other pursuits. There are Westernized clubs and cafes for the rich, and lower-cost bars and pubs that are very popular with the locals. The city's Phra Nakhon district is home to probably the most profound worldwide example of a "backpackers' ghetto", Khaosan Road. Sukhumvit Road boasts some of Asia's most crowded clubs along the 5 km (3 mi) section between Ekamai and Withayu.
Pattaya (Thai: พัทยา, RTGS: Phatthaya) is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand (12°55′39″N, 100°52′31″ECoordinates: 12°55′39″N, 100°52′31″E), about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chon Buri.
Meaning the 'south-west monsoon wind" and correctly pronounced "Patti-yah" not "Patt-eye-yah", it is located roughly 150 kilometres from Bangkok and ranks as one of the most successful beach resorts in the world, with some 5.4 million visitors arriving in 2005. Increasing numbers of tourists come from the former Soviet Union and East Asia.
The city of Pattaya is a self governing special municipal area which covers the whole tambon Nong Prue and Na Kluea and parts of Huai Yai and Nong Pla Lai. It is located in the heavily industrial Eastern Seaboard zone, along with Si Racha, Laem Chabang, and Chon Buri. However, it remains mostly a tourist city, with very light industry.
Pattaya is second only to Bangkok in high rise buildings, as many condos for foreign residents are built, and has a modest skyline. The city's economy benefits from its relative proximity to Bangkok.
Pattaya is also the center of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area, the conurbation in Chonburi Province.
Patpong (Thai: พัฒน์พงษ์, "Phatphong") 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, the city in fact has numerous red-light districts that are far more popular with Thai men. A busy night market aimed at tourists is also located in Patpong.
Soi Cowboy is a red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand. A short street with some 40 bars, it is similar to Nana Plaza and Patpong and caters mainly to tourists and expatriates.
It is located near Sukhumvit Road, between Sukhumvit Soi 21 (also called Soi Asoke) and Soi 23 ( 13°44′12.5″N, 100°33′45″E), within walking distance from the SkyTrain's "Asok Station" and the Bangkok Metro's "Sukhumvit Station".
The agogo bars follow the pattern common in Thailand: alcoholic drinks are served and women in bikinis dance on a stage. Topless or even nude dancing occasionally occurs in some bars, but remains technically illegal. Most of the dancers are in fact prostitutes and will join a customer if he pays a "bar fine" to the bar and a separate fee to the woman. Sexual services usually take place in the tourist's hotel room. Thai customers usually are not admitted to these bars unless accompanied by foreigners.
There are also a number of restaurants at Soi Cowboy, including what is perhaps Bangkok's best known fish and chips shop.
The area is named after T. G. "Cowboy" Edwards, a retired American airman who opened one of the first bars there in 1973 or 1977 (sources differ). A tall African-American, Edwards got his nickname because he invariably wore a cowboy hat.
Soi Cowboy during the day, with Fanny's, Dollhouse and Midnite Bar visible on the left
One staple of the Soi Cowboy nightlife are elephants frequently marched up and down the street by their handlers who are in the business of selling elephant food to tourists.
When Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, his government instituted a "social order" campaign. As part of this campaign, all bars and nightclubs had to close by 2 am, later changed to 1 am for all areas not officially designated as "entertainment zones". (Unlike Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza were not so designated). A mandatory midnight closing time was even discussed. As of 2006, the Soi Cowboy bars switch off their outside neon lights by 1 am and usually close at 2 am.
Soi Cowboy's reputation suffered a temporary blow when, as part of the same social order campaign, the area was closed off by police one Friday night in November 2003 and all workers and patrons were required to submit to urine testing for drugs.
Near their entrances, all go go bars carry government-mandated signs in Thai and English; the slightly humorous English text reads,
NO-ONE INSIDEUNDER 20 YEARSDRUG-FREE
During the 2004 International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, a bead sculpture made in Soi Cowboy was displayed as part of the cultural program.
On June 9, 2006, Thailand commemorated the 60-year anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne. In the evening the employees of all Soi Cowboy bars celebrated the event by stepping outside for about half an hour, holding candles and wearing yellow "We love the King" shirts, and finished by singing the national anthem.
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