We are leaving in less than a week for our first trip to Thailand. We will be in Bangkok for 4 days and will have some unscheduled time to wander some of the areas and markets. Wondering if we should go to the famed "red light district". #1 - is it safe if you take reasonable precautions as you would in any city? #2 - does it feed into the exploitation of the women? From some things I have read many of them are forced into prostitution and/or kidnapped or sold into a form of slavery. On the other hand - other things I have read indicate that most of them are adult women who have made a choice to work in the sex trade. Which is true and is it worth taking a quick stroll of the area? Thanks so much!

Both. Neither. You'd have to decide for yourself. The thing is, Patpong is a huge night market, not just a red light district. I've been there dozens of times, but have never set foot inside one of the bars, and from what I've observed, that's true of a lot of the people who visit there.

I have been in and out of Thailand for almost12 years, either with the military or on holiday, I have never met any bar girl who was forced to work in a bar! I am sure that this might happen on a very small scale but the overwhelming majority of women in bars are there because they choose to be there.

I recall reading about "forced slavery" in New York and San Francisco, guess that means every brothel, bar, sweat shop and nail salon is running on "slave labor!"

The other thing that always comes up is "under age girls in bars!" Well just because some of the women look young does not mean they are young! Don't mistake small and dainty with underage. You will find a Thai lady who is 30 and looks like a teenager and a 30 year old Farang lady who looks like she is 50!

The Patpong night market is okay for a looksee, you can also use the Skytrain to get there. I think you can find most of the same items cheaper on Sukhumvit Road (near the Nana Skytrain stop) and on Phetchaburi Road not far from the Baiyoke Tower hotel.

The Nana Entertainment Center on Sukhumvit Soi 4 is a lot better than Patpong, with less hassle and cheaper drinks. None of the go-go bars are like it was 8 or 10 years ago anyway!

Have a nice time in Bangkok. Hope you have a hotel near the Skytrain.

You should experience it. Just make sure you don't go inside any of the bars otherwise you'll find yourself with a exorbitant bar tab (or waking up disoriented in a filthy alley) (not me!)

Just price before you order your drinks and you should be OK. If you decide to buy a "ladies' drink" be doubly sure to check the price beforehand.

Rule of thumb in Pat Pong is to not go into an upstairs bar -- an invitation to get ripped off.

As Sir Halberd says Nana is probably a better choice, as is Soi Cowboy.

If you want to go upmarket try the Renoir or another bar in Sukhumvit Soi 33.

I don't think any of the girls catering to the farang trade have been forced into it -- possibly different in the establishments catering exclusively for Thais, which tourists seldom see although there are thousands of them.

Plenty of "normal" bars in the vicinity including "The Duke".

Thanks everyone. Yes, we have a hotel near the Skytrain so I suspect we willbe using that a bunch to get around. I can't wait!

Walk the market there but don't buy as everything is much much higher than other markets and they won't bargain with you.

BTW - where does one go to see the infamous "lady boys"?

SirHalbeard
"I have never met any bar girl who was forced to work in a bar! I am sure that this might happen on a very small scale but the overwhelming majority of women in bars are there because they choose to be there".

Unbelievable! These veiws are incredibly naive and really offensive to women.

Not naive at all if he has only been to bars that cater to farangs.

No women in their right mind enjoy being a prostitute especially in Thailand. Perhaps they were afraid of their pimp or it's because it's part of their job to make their customer feel that way so they don't openly admit to it. If they had a choice at doing something else and making the kind of money that they can make from prostitution they would certainly choose that.

Tangata and Sir Hal your ego is bigger than your brain if you truly believe that.

Most men are not thinking with their brain when they go to a farang bar in Patpong.

I meant to add that there are lots of fun things to buy there from the vendors, other than girls!

In any country, sex tourism, go-go bars or call it what you may, always stemmed from poverty. I seriously don't see how girls can call working in Patpong's go-go bars a career and do it willingly.

I'm not certain about other countries but I go to southern Thai, the poorest region, often enough to safely say most girls half-heartedly work in Bangkok's many sleazy bars all for the sake of putting more food on the table for her siblings or blackmailed to help pay her parents' debts. Sure, I've met some tourists who think without sex tourism, Thailand's economy would be worst, and hence by patronising these hot spots they are actually helping out. Come come, what they are doing is just fuelling sex tourism. Remember the supply-demand thingy?

If one take a serious look at all travel forums in the internet, for a small country like Thailand, it managed to chalk up more threads than region/a few countries combined in Asia. At time of this writing, thorn tree forum has this stats ....

Australia, NewZealand, Antartica - 10,658 threads
Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Phillipines - 12,284 threads
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,Myanmar - 15,857 threads

Here's the kicker ...

Thailand alone - 17,247 threads !

Yes, I agree, in many ways Thailand has more interesting sites and great culture to woo tourists, but can anyone safely say sex tourism isn't part of the attraction? Tourists know it, tour agents know it and even the government knows it. I am waiting for the day when the Thai government has grown enough backbone to start pouring more money into education programs for countryside girls so that they can attain paper qualifications and get proper jobs in the towns and cities. My poor friends in southern Thai said that's not going to happen soon, because many politicians and government officers have a foot in sex trade too. So there you are.

My stand is - Don't visit or even go near any spot that purveys women as tourism attraction. Elsewhere Thailand has so much more to offer.

Having lived here for 15 years and in Asia for 37 years, having been married to a Thai lady for 25 years and having never used the services of a prostitute anywhere I stand by what I wrote.

It may not be a pleasant choice but they obviously think it preferable to the alternatives.

take a walk through....its noisy and there are hordes of vendors....just watch your wallet and don't buy anything unless you really want it...most things are available for less elsewhere in bkk...

there is nothing offense on the surface...

they do occasionally enslave women from the USA....you know the summissive type...i met one once...

I really dont like Patpong and find the whole experience to be depressing. Even the market stall-holders can tend to be more abrupt and less fun to deal with than in other area's. Iam sure this has alot to do with the clientelle that the surrounding activities attract. If you do go, dont be led into a club by one of the touts on the street, particularly to an upstairs bar where things turn nasty very quickly when you have a "misunderstanding" over the bill.
Without trying to ad to the controversy of the choices of bar girls, I must say that in the numerous conversations my wife has had with these girls (not in Patpong but inother areas of Thailand) they all seem to be working whilst they wait for their "boyfriend" returns from England or Germany so they can go on holiday. They are generally seem to be under the illusion that they will be taken back to these countries (I am sure that some actually do, but that would be a minority).
It may be great acting or drugs or a combination, but many of these girls actually seem not to be having such a terrible time and they certainly seem intellegent enough to be in control of their own destiny. Sure it may not be their ultimate choice but how many people would actively aspire to work in a supermarket or spend 16 hours a day selling t-shirts?

Let me recommend an interesting book (non-fiction), Patpong Sisters by Cleo Odzer. It offers a glimpse of the world of the Patpong bar girls.

It is a little scary going through there sometimes. Its a good idea that you watch your valuables too. Just be polite and smile when they ask you something, but keep walking.