Bangla Walking Street Full Of Bars & Nightlife But Watch Out For The Street Hawkers
It is easy to see how – with the right group of friends and at the right time of the year – Patong Beach on the island of Phuket in Thailand would be a great place to party.
For two, even three days.
However, it is also important to note that it’s recommended you put blinders on for the rest of the time. This is not a pretty town – in fact it’s quite ugly with run-down businesses stacked one against another for seemingly endless blocks – and there are hawkers everywhere. Some are relentless, following you down the street or beach sometimes for a couple of blocks, and even grabbing your arm.
The latter is a particular speciality of the girls at the seemingly hundreds of massage parlors. Now while this may seem like a dream for some men – in fact, it’s one big reason they go to Patong in the first place – but from PubClub.com’s perspective it gets annoying real quick. Plus, most of the girls we noticed were not exactly ravishing beauties. Important Note: If a place has a sign in the window saying NO SEX, that means it’s a “happy ending” massage parlor.
BANGLA WALKING STREET PATONG BEACH
On the plus side from a pure party perspective, Patong Beach is home to the world-famous Bangla Walking Street, a multi-block area of bars featuring live music, girls dancing on poles, so-called Go-Go bars (essentially strip clubs where you can take home the girls for about 2000 baht), sex show bars and plain ‘ol dive beer-drinking bars.
It attracts people from all over the world and has twice as many people walking up and down the street as are in the bars. Dozens of workers are out in the street and in front of the bars waving big cards saying things like “bucket of beers 300 baht” or “beers 90 baht.”
Others are holding up laminated cards for the so-called ping-pong bars; these are places where girls do things with ping pong paddles, darts and even bananas you would not normally expect a girl do with such objects. The laminated cards are kind of a like an al-a-cart restaurant menu; if you want to see, say, a show involving bananas, you tell the guy and go to it. Careful, tho; these places are notorious for luring you in and then siphoning your wallet of baht.
It’s all quite the scene on Walking Street!
What Walking Street is not, however, is a great singles pick- up place. So if you are one who is not accustomed to paying for girls’ attention and/or affection, then slip Patong and proceed directly to adjacent Phi Phi Island.
And for the girls seeking a singles scene, know that many of the men are in Patong for that paid companionship.
Here’s the scoop on the Walking Street bars.
NON-GIRL HOST BARS IN PATONG BEACH
About half the bars are small regular bars, some with live music. A girl will seat you (and you must be taken to a seat) and another girl will serve you, but she won’t hit on you or sit with you. Perhaps if you ask she will, but this is not part of the program. Because these are mainly just beer-swilling bars, they are often the most raucous bars.
GO GO BARS IN PATONG BEACH
These are the places with the strip poles out front. You go there and a girl (or girls) will most definitely sit down with you and want you to buy her/them a beer (and let’s face it, at 90-150 baht a beer it’s not like this is breaking your bank). These places are outdoor and if you want to pick up the girl, you just do it, but you do pay the bar a sort of finder’s fee.
Now, if you go inside or upstairs – like at the famous Tiger bar – then this is where you see the higher-quality girls and the strip shows. This is where the men who are serious about taking home one of the working girls goes to, well, take care of business. Don’t expect to walk out of there cheaply, of course.
SEX & PING PONG BARS IN PATONG BEACH
These are sex shows and the aforementioned ping pong bars, which are located down a side street off Walking Street.
OVERALL PARTY TOWN REVIEW
So it is a great party town? It most certainly can be, especially if you are seeking 2000 baht dates. But if you’re looking to party with more, well, “standard” travelers, then bypass Patong and proceed straight to the ferry and Phi Phil.
WALKING STREET PARTY TIPS
Carry and pay for everything in cash; few (if any) places take credit cards…If you go into a Go Go bar or a ping pong bar, you’re under no obligation to spend any more than the price of the drink(s) offered to get you in there in the first place…You can grab a beer from one of the many convenience stores (just 60 baht for a large bottle!) and cruise up and down Walking Street as long as you like all night…The bars close earlier than you might expect, some at 1 a.m.
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