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. 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 (Rest and Recuperation) location for U.S. troops serving 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 for foreigners, and was famous 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. In the early 1990s, however, the Patpongpanich family decided to turn all of Patpong 1 Road bar the sidwalks into a night market, renting out spaces to stall holders.

The consequence was that Patpong lost a great deal of its vibrancy as a go-go bar and sexual services strip, becoming crowded with tourist shoppers who were at best bemused by the nightlife and put a big damper on the strip's power to excite and amuse. Soon the real action moved to the newer nightlife areas of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, which today far outdo Patpong as go-go bar strips. However, Patpong is the only one within the official entertainment zones decreed by the Thai government in 2004, which allow 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

Patpong has many shows featuring women doing stunts in the nude . these shows are mostly marketed by road side agents handing out pamphlets. Please be aware that, most of these shows are places of extortion, where, the customers are fooled to come in and later charged with exorbitant amounts, resulting in frequent quarrels and uncouth scenes. earlier these places were not reported to deal with foreigners in such a way, however low season and bad business has forced them to resort to such practices. most of these cases go unreported as the victims are not sure whether such patpong shows go hand in glove with the police department.

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 famous "blowjob bars" offer oral sex at the main bar or in back rooms.

Several upstairs bars still feature (technically illegal) sex shows, with women performing various creative acts such as Ping pong show. 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. Unlike the kathoey bars in Nana Plaza, 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 leading off Surawong.

Patpong Night Market has offered souvenirs, gifts, clothes, handbags and jewelry amidst entertainment establishments since the late 1960s. This is one of the best known open air night markets in Thailand.

 

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