Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [129]
Royal City Avenue (RCA; Map; off Th Phra Ram IX) is well and truly Club Alley. Formerly a bastion of the teen scene, this Vegas-like strip has finally graduated from high school and at such clubs as the following now hosts partiers of every age.
808 Club (Map; www.808bangkok.com) Currently the leader of the pack with big-name DJs and insanely crowded events.
Cosmic Café (Map; 0 2641 5619) Somewhere between a pub and disco, come on Wednesday nights when the DJ spins Thai music from the 1980s.Flix/Slim (Map; 0 2203 0377) The poshest choice on the strip with big thumping house beats and a more club-jaded clientele.
Route 66 (Map; 0 1440 9666; www.route66club.com) It rocks to a younger beat with hip-hop and R&B to the ‘east’ and varying shades of house to the ‘west’.
Go-Go Bars
All those things your dodgy Uncle Larry told you about Bangkok are true. Although technically illegal, prostitution is fully ‘out’ in Bangkok, and the influence of organised crime and healthy kickbacks means that it will be a long while before the laws are ever enforced. Yet, despite the image presented by much of the Western media, the underlying atmosphere of Bangkok’s red light districts is not one of illicitness and exploitation (although these do inevitably exist), but rather an aura of tackiness and boredom. Stages where ambivalent-looking women perform fabled feats with their genitalia are found at Patpong, and are nowadays largely shows for tourists. Men strictly looking for women (or ladyboys; gà·teu·i, also spelt kàthoey) have mostly moved to Soi Cowboy or Nana.
Patpong (Map; Soi Patpong 1 & 2, Th Silom; Skytrain Sala Daeng, Metro Silom) Possibly one of the most famous red-light districts in the world, but today any ‘charm’ that the area used to possess has been eroded by modern tourism, and fake Rolexes and Diesel t-shirts are more ubiquitous than flesh. There is, of course, a considerable amount of naughtiness going on, although much of it takes place upstairs and behind closed doors. If you must, before taking a seat at one of Patpong’s ‘pussy shows’, be sure to agree to the price beforehand, otherwise you’re likely to receive an astronomical bill.
Soi Cowboy (Map; btwn Soi 21 & Soi 23, Th Sukhumvit; Skytrain Asoke, Metro Sukhumvit) This single-lane strip of raunchy bars claims direct lineage to the post-Vietnam War R&R era. A real flesh trade functions amid the flashing neon.
Nana Entertainment Plaza (Map; Soi 4/Nana Tai, Th Sukhumvit; Skytrain Nana) Much like Soi Cowboy, this three-storey complex is where the sexpats are separated from the gawking tourists. It’s also home to a few ladyboy bars.
Soi Twilight (Soi Pratuchai; Map; Soi Pratuchai, Th Surawong; Skytrain Sala Daeng, Metro Silom) Patpong’s queer little brother, the shows here range in scope from muscle boy to ladyboy.
Cinemas
Escape the smog and heat at one of the city’s high-tech cinemas. All of Hollywood’s big releases plus a steady diet of locally bred comedies and horror flicks hit Bangkok’s cinemas in a timely fashion. The foreign films are sometimes altered by Thailand’s film censors before distribution; this usually involves obscuring nude sequences. Film buffs may prefer the offerings at Bangkok’s foreign cultural centres; for contact details, Click here. For the royal treatment, opt for the VIP amenities that only Bangkok would provide (see the boxed text, Click here). All movies screened in Thai cinemas are preceded by the Thai royal anthem and everyone is expected to stand respectfully for its duration.
At the following cinemas, English movies are shown with Thai subtitles rather than being dubbed. The shopping-centre cinemas have plush VIP options, while Lido and Scala are older and artier. House is Bangkok’s first ‘art-house’ theatre. Visit Movie Seer (www.movieseer.com) for show times.
EGV Grand (Map; 0 2515 5555; Siam Discovery Center, Th Phra Ram I; Skytrain Siam)
House (Map;0 2641 5177; www.houserama.com; UMG Bldg, Royal City Ave, near