Patpong
Encyclopedia
Entertainment district
An entertainment district is used to describe an area that offers several forms of entertainment or many entertainment venues.Specific entertainment districts include:* Calgary Entertainment District, Canada* Granville Entertainment District, Canada...
in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates. While Patpong is internationally known as a red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
at the heart of Bangkok's sex industry
Sex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
, 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.
Location and layout
Patpong (location: 13°43′42"N 100°32′00"E)consists of two parallel side streets running between Silom Road
Si Lom
Si Lom is a sub-District and road in Bang Rak district, Bangkok, Thailand. Constructed in 1851 as part of a dyke and irrigation system, Silom road has become one of Bangkok's most cosmopolitan streets and major financial center; it is the home to some of the largest companies in Thailand ex...
and Surawong Road and one side street running from the opposite side of Surawong. Patpong is within walking distance from the BTS Skytrain 's Sala Daeng Station
Sala Daeng Station
Sala Daeng station is a BTS Skytrain station, on the in Bang Rak District, Bangkok, Thailand. The station is located on Si Lom Road to the southwest of Sala Daeng Intersection...
, and MRT
Bangkok Metro
The MRT , sometimes referred to as the Bangkok Metro, is Bangkok's underground metro system in Thailand. It was constructed under a concession concept...
's Si Lom Station
Si Lom Station
Si Lom Station is the underground station of Bangkok Metro. This station located between Rama IV Road and Si Lom Road, the Bangkok CBD.- Station Map :-Station Levels:Si Lom station have 4 levels including* 1 Concourse Level...
.
Patpong 1 is the main street with many bars of various kinds. 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
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men, whilst nearby Soi Thaniya has expensive bars with Thai hostesses that cater almost exclusively to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese 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, ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, 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
R&R
R&R may refer to:* R&R , a music trade magazine* R&R , acronym for Rest and Recuperation* "R&R" , an episode of the science fiction TV show*R&R , a fictional nightclub in EastEnders...
(Rest and Recuperation) location for U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops serving in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, 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, and was famous then 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. By late 1980s, however, the Patpongpanich family had begun to rent out small lots in the middle of Patpong 1 for a night market.
Today, the nightlife areas of Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza is a 3 storey red-light district in Bangkok, which is rumoured to be the largest sex complex in the world. It is located on Sukhumvit Road Soi 4 across from the Nana Hotel, within walking distance of the BTS Skytrain's "Nana Station"...
and Soi Cowboy
Soi Cowboy
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....
provide strong competition for Patpong. However, Patpong is the only one within the official entertainment zones decreed by the Thai government in 2004; this allows local venues to legally stay open until 2am, instead of the 1am legal closing time in other areas. Enforcement of that law was initially strict but has varied over time since.
In recent years, there has been a move away from the traditional sex venues in Patpong. Twilo hip hop bar boasts two live bands every night, and is very popular with both tourists and local Thais. Also, Muzzik Cafe has been completely renovated and is a very popular live music bar playing a mixture of Rock, Hip hop and Pop.
Next to Twilo is Funky Dojo with DJs regularly playing both club and house music. Park Bridge, another high class music venue, has just opened across Patpong 2 and is accessible from either the Foodland car park or the opposite building from the third floor. Radio City and Lucifer are also being refurbished, which will mean by November 2008 Patpong will be one of the main live music areas in Bangkok.
Sex-related businesses
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s, and a few famous "blowjob bars" offer oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
at the main bar or in back rooms.
Several upstairs bars still feature (technically illegal) sex shows, with women performing various creative acts. 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 are run by scam artists who lure tourists with offers of low prices and later present a wildly inflated bill along with a threat of physical harm should the bill go unpaid. The Tourist Police, usually stationed at Patpong 1 and Silom Road, can help in these situations.
Some establishments in Patpong employ kathoey
Kathoey
Kathoey or katoey is a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. Related phrases include sao praphet song , or phet thi sam . The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin...
s (or "ladyboys") either exclusively or as part of a mixed gender staff. Unlike the kathoey bars in Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza is a 3 storey red-light district in Bangkok, which is rumoured to be the largest sex complex in the world. It is located on Sukhumvit Road Soi 4 across from the Nana Hotel, within walking distance of the BTS Skytrain's "Nana Station"...
, many of the staff at these Patpong bars are post-operative transsexuals.
With one or two exceptions, the gay bars in the Patpong area are not go-go bars, but simply traditional gay pubs, such as Telephone and The Balcony, which cater to both Thais and tourists. The commercial gay oriented go-go bars are mainly on Surawong Road or in small street Soi Pratuchai
Soi Pratuchai
Soi Pratuchai is a gay related entertainment walkway in the Bangrak district of Bangkok, Thailand, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates...
leading off Surawong.
Today, however, there are signs that parts of Patpong are turning away from the sex industry and providing other kinds of entertainment. There are now a number of live music bars that attract regular Thais and tourists as well as a number of very good restaurants.
Night market
In recent years, Silom and Surawong have been taken over by the Patpong night market, making movement in the area difficult and filling the area with farangFarang
Farang , also spelled falang, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is khon tang prathet . There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on...
tourist couples and backpackers. Men selling pornographic DVDs have become an increasing nuisance in the area, as have touts who try to direct tourists into the bars offering sex shows. This night market is very tourist-oriented, with the accompanying high prices compared to local-oriented markets unless one is prepared to bargain very hard to get a good price.
EMPOWER
EMPOWEREMPOWER
EMPOWER , also known as Centre for Sex Workers' Protection or Moolniti Songserm Okard Pooying , is a non-profit organisation in Thailand that supports sex workers by offering free classes in language, health, law and pre-college education as well as individual counseling...
is a non-profit community organization that operates in Patpong (and elsewhere) and serves women working there by offering classes in language, health, law and pre-college education, as well as individual counseling. It also lobbies the government on behalf of the women, in an attempt to extend regular labor protections to sex workers. Since the dancers and other female bar employees are invariably under-educated young women from rural areas, EMPOWER's work is appreciated by the women , if not necessarily by all the bar owners.
Books and popular culture
Many western films have featured Patpong, including the award winning The Deer HunterThe Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
(1978), starring Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
. The final part of the popular musical Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
(1989) is set in the bar scene of Patpong.
The movie Baraka
Baraka (film)
Baraka is a 1992 non-narrative film directed by Ron Fricke. The title Baraka is a word that means blessing in a multitude of languages....
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
Cleo Odzer
Cleo Odzer was an American writer, author of books on prostitution in Thailand, the hippie culture of Goa, and cybersex.-Childhood and being a groupie:...
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
Nick Nostitz
Nick Nostitz is the professional name of a German photographer who has lived and worked in Bangkok since 1993. Fluent in the Thai language, he specializes in the lower levels of the country's society seldom seen by casual visitors...
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
Maverick House Publishers
Maverick House Publishers is an independent publisher of non-fiction books. It was founded in the Republic of Ireland. The headquarter is based in Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland. A second branch is situated in Bangkok, Thailand...
.
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. Copies are available from Radio City.
External links
- Patpong Area Photo Guide
- Ajarn article on Patpong
- Thailand.com article on Patpong.
- Excerpts from Patpong Sisters. Urban Desires, Volume 1, Issue 1, December 1994