Patpong Night Bazaar

Mention the word Patpong almost anywhere in the world and most people will think of Bangkok’s famous red light district. But in the evening it has one of the best tourist markets in town.

If you visit it in the day time its just a simple insignificant street that links Silom and Suriwongse Road. Around about 5pm the transformation begins. Out of nowhere or so it seems, come large metal trunks on wheels with all the stock. Team of workers are frantically putting together two aisles of stalls, metal frames slotted together, board laid on them to make the counter, cables thread between them for the light, vendors busily displaying their goods to maximum advantage. By around 7pm the show is ready to begin. Patpong is more about theatre than anything else, everything an illusion, nothing is real.

It the warm balmy night, tourist will see an array of exotic watches its says Rolex, it looks like a Rolex but is it? And then what price should I pay. The vendor will tell you a tale that it’s the latest model, the mechanism is special and will start the bidding high. It now up to you to cut him down in price. He asks 1,500, counter with 600. If you speak a few words in Thai it helps but if you don’t just mutter Peng, too expensive, and be firm. A mistake that a lot of visitors to Thailand make is they convert the price being asked into their own currency and then consider how does that compare with what I would pay at home. Of course it’s cheaper but you are in Thailand and need to think in terms of local prices if you are ever to get the best deal.

I was once buying a shirt with an asking price of 800 Baht and I negotiated to 200 Baht. Standing next too me was another foreign visitor who was happy to pay 600 baht for the same shirt.

Patpong has an excellent selection of clothes, watches, leather goods and shoes. For the tourist who is in town for a couple of nights its possibly the most convenient and user friendly place to shop. It’s not the cheapest anything you can buy in Patpong can be bought about 40% cheaper in Pratunam market just off Phetburi Road but the shopping experience is not as easy and will take twice as long. That the choice, time versus money.

Beware of the taxis waiting either end of Patpong, they always have some tale that there metre isn’t working or it’s a fixed fare to wherever you want to go. I just wont take them, either use a taxi that’s moving in the street or if you are staying close to a skytrain station take the BTS home.