Wikipedia:-
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, 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.
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 of
the SkyTrain's Sala Daeng Station, and Bangkok Metro's Si Lom
Station.
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 or Soi Kathoey. It has long catered to gay men, whilst nearby
Soi Thaniya has expensive bars with Thai hostesses that cater
almost exclusively 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, when 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 at the
time. The family first built the road - 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 filled in to make room for more shophouses.
Originally, simply an ordinary business area, the bars eventually
would drive out most of the other businesses.
By 1968, a number of nightclubs existed in the area, and Patpong
found some use as a R&R (Rest and Recuperation) location for
U.S. troops involved 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,
and was famous then for its sexually explicit shows. In the mid
1980s the sois actually hosted an annual Patpong Mardi Gras that
was a weekend street fair and raised considerable money for
charity. By late 1980s, however, the Patpongpanich family had begun
to rent out small lots in the middle of Patpong 1 for a night
market.[1]
Today, the nightlife areas of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy provide
strong competition for Patpong. However, Patpong is the only one
within the official entertainment zones decreed by the government
in 2004, and thus may in future years be the only one allowed to
remain.
Sex-related businesses
Most Patpong go-go bars feature women dancing on a stage. The
dancers (and even occasionally the serving staff) are generally
available to customers willing to pay a bar fine to take them out
of the bar; the fees for sexual services are negotiated separately.
Some establishments advertising "massages" are in fact disguised
brothels, and a few notorious "blowjob bars" offer oral sex 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 kathoeys (or "ladyboys" )
either exclusively or as part of a mixed gender staff. As of 2005
the King's Corner bar on Patpong 1 was known for doing so. Unlike
the kathoey bars in Nana Plaza, many of the staff at these Patpong
bars are post-operative trans-sexuals.
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 streets leading off Surawong.
