One of Bangkok’s liveliest entertainment districts, Patpong is more populated by travellers and expatriates than by the local Thai. Nonetheless, it’s where visitors can find the most infamous bits of Bangkok nightlife.
Much of the district is packed with the bars and rowdy nightlife that made Patpong famous in the 1970s and 80s. Those disinterested in this aspect of Bangkok, however, can stick to the less chaotic area around Patpong 2, where the land’s owners have established a busy night market. Vendors tend to quote high prices, so shoppers are advised to bargain hard.
Patpong is a subsection of the larger Silom district, which by day is Bangkok’s answer to Wall Street. The area stretches between Silom Road and Surawong Road, with just two parallel side streets to its name. The nearest public transport stations are Sala Daeng on the BTS Skytrain Silom line and the Si Lom station on the blue line Metro.
Named for the family who owns the land, Patpong first rose to prominence as a red light district in the 1970s and 80s. The go-go bars and sex-driven nightlife have declined somewhat since the owning family’s decision to turn one of the area’s streets into a night market, bringing in more tourist traffic.