Prostitution, the CIA, David Bowie and Patpong – Undercover in Bangkok infamous red light district

[Thingamabob]

8 hours ago, sanemax said:

Full on live sex shows and  ping pong balls , blow darts and bananas flying all over the place .

  Holding a ballon up awaiting a dart to come flying out a vagina aiming to burst the  ballon is a frightening experience .

  You are trying to cover your eyes and look at the same time .

Terrific in the 70s and early 80s. The original Queen's Castle on Patpong 1 was voted the best bar in the world by Time Magazine. Then the riff raff began to arrive on cheap flights. Nothing was ever the same again. 

[bubba]

If anyone is interested, here is the Bangkok segment from David Bowie's Serious Moonlight documentary, including the Patpong scene:

 

Serious Moonlight - Bangkok

[WhatupThailand]

Surprised no one has mentioned Uncle Sam's Steak House, or Lucy's Tiger Den

 

[Spaniel]

13 minutes ago, WhatupThailand said:

Surprised no one has mentioned Uncle Sam's Steak House, or Lucy's Tiger Den

 

 

13 minutes ago, WhatupThailand said:

 

 

Or Rick Menards place or Max's or Bobby Dees hotdog stand or Mizu Kitchen or many others.    I first went there in 1967 but hate to say I am having a hard time trying to remember the names of the earlier places.

[sunnyboy2018]

12 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Ping Pong shows? Can anyone explain? Is this a table tennis exhibition?

 

 

Serious? Ever been to Thailand or read a book about Thailand?

[Swedenlars]

11 hours ago, PatOngo said:

It was the pulse of Bangkok throughout the 70's.

Nuff said

[PatOngo]

3 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Serious? Ever been to Thailand or read a book about Thailand?

Planning on going there some time! What's it like?

[sunnyboy2018]

2 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

Terrific in the 70s and early 80s. The original Queen's Castle on Patpong 1 was voted the best bar in the world by Time Magazine. Then the riff raff began to arrive on cheap flights. Nothing was ever the same again. 

Yes you are right about the riff raff in general spoiling thailand and indèed Patpong was good until the middle 90s. Now its just a night market for tourists. Dreadful

[sunnyboy2018]

2 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Planning on going there some time! What's it like?

Its a big place but like Patpong spoilt by mass tourism. Bring your table tennis racquet and you will have fun I'm sure.

[PatOngo]

Just now, sunnyboy2018 said:

Its a big place but like Patpong spoilt by mass tourism. Bring your table tennis racquet and you will have fun I'm sure.

Yeah right Sunnyboy, don't forget to update your Facebook page! You may have some likes! 

[sunnyboy2018]

25 minutes ago, Spaniel said:

 

Or Rick Menards place or Max's or Bobby Dees hotdog stand or Mizu Kitchen or many others.    I first went there in 1967 but hate to say I am having a hard time trying to remember the names of the earlier places.

The 60s. If you can remember it you weren't there!  Cleopatra's...a smack front. The Kangaroo club...BJ bar...Bobbies Pub..

[sunnyboy2018]

8 hours ago, Dermah said:

Why do they do that?

For entertainment. Such shows are still around in Bangkok and Pattaya.

[sunnyboy2018]

9 hours ago, DonaldBattles said:

I lived on Silom Road near Patpong for 25 years. There was more to Patpong than sex shows. Some good eating places, shops and Foodland. The Madrid on Patpong 1 was my favorite meeting place. Khun Daeng ran a respectable business and had good food. Jack Shirley entertained us for years with old CIA stories. When Tony Poe came to town there was lots of excitement. Also, when John Daughtrey came from Sadia there was a lot of free drinks. I am retired in Chiang Rai now but I really miss Patpong.

 

You are correct. All so called red light areas in Thailand offer plenty of other entertainment including bars,  restaurants and shops. Walking street has loads going on as does Soi Nana and Soi cowboy. They are entertainment zones but PP lost its mojo sometime in the 90s. New police chief? New municipal rules?

[NeoDinosaw]

7 hours ago, Cats4ever said:

In the 70's Patpong was a great place. I remember Sugar Shack as a cool place. Bobby's Arms in the car park was a good drinking spot, where all types gathered in a good spirit. Yes, the Foodland was a handy asset also. A military government brought in midnight closing at one time. The bar I was in organised a convoy of taxis (traffic was allowed then) to take all who wanted to some large house in the burbs, where the show continued. Nothing stays the same forever, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

I remember The Other Office in  the early 70's.  At that time the British Council had two different offices in BKK.  If a wife rang her husband and he was out, she was told he was in the other office - which of course he was ... but not the one she thought it was. Visited again in the early 90's it was quiet, but my friend was given a BJ openly at the bar on the ground floor. 

[Just Weird]

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Apparently there was a couple did it on a motorbike somewhere back in the day, but before my time.

Patpong 1, upstairs, next door to the Derby King restaurant.

[Just Weird]

10 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

So now they admit that prostitution has been around in Thailand for years.....LOL

 

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

They admit that it happened years ago, but the Americans convinced them to make it illegal, and it hasn't happened since then:-)

None of the authorities or government agencies has ever claimed that prostitution doesn't exist in Thailand!

Edited November 15, 2019 by Just Weird

[Just Weird]

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

9 hours ago, Dermah said:

Why do they do that?

Unfortunately forum rules do not allow us to explain such to you.

They do that for the entertainment of some bars' customers and explaining why they do it isn't against the rules.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Just Weird

[Just Weird]

9 hours ago, zydeco said:

Despite the naysaying in this topic, the area does have a rich history. The Crown Royal was part of it, too.

Crown Royal still is!

[Just Weird]

9 hours ago, zydeco said:

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Does anyone even go there anymore?

I admit I haven't been over there in a couple of years. But I did like the chicken fried steak and pizza at the Madrid. Best in Bangkok.

...and the Philly steak sandwich!

[Misterwhisper]

20 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Patpong 1, upstairs, next door to the Derby King restaurant.

FireCat

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, Spaniel said:

1 hour ago, WhatupThailand said:

Surprised no one has mentioned Uncle Sam's Steak House, or Lucy's Tiger Den

 

Or Rick Menards place or Max's or Bobby Dees hotdog stand or Mizu Kitchen or many others. 

Mizu's was mentioned in the OP, great place but it took a week to get rid of the smell of the sizzling steaks from your clothes.

[Just Weird]

14 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

35 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Patpong 1, upstairs, next door to the Derby King restaurant.

FireCat

Think you may be right, that rings a bell.   Motorbike lowered from the floor above through a hole in the ceiling with a soon-to-be-copulating couple on it.

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I just watched the entire "official" VDO and nothing at all in it suggests Patpong or even Thailand.

It was filmed mostly in Chinatown in Sydney,,,,

Strewth! It's a work of fiction that purportedly takes place in Bangkok with allusions to willing younger female partners with uninhibited libidos, lesbians and guilt-free sex.

 

I discovered Patpong around 1979 and as far as I can recall, the above was what it was ALL about.

[sunnyboy2018]

12 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Think you may be right, that rings a bell.   Motorbike lowered from the floor above through a hole in the ceiling with a soon-to-be-copulating couple on it.

Yep. My first visit I saw that show. The music was the ride of the valkyries!

[sunnyboy2018]

1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

Yeah right Sunnyboy, don't forget to update your Facebook page! You may have some likes! 

Im sure thats a clever comment but alas i dont understand it.

[Lucky dog]

I love this topic it makes me feel young and nieve. Well young anyway 

[sunnyboy2018]

4 hours ago, Duck J Butters said:

All that stuff still exists. You just need to be tech savvy to find out where it is. Some of the most posh clubs in Thailand are in the trampiest, dirtiest areas. For example, I had to travel 1000 feet through a sewer once to get to an orgy with Thai celebs. Thailand has gone digital 4.0. Many crazy parties and wild times in Thailand in 2020 that would make the 70s look lame. Way better designer drugs now too. Must be tech savvy to get connected. Everything isn't out in the open like it used to be. Great party in Bangkok called The Hush Hush but you won't be reading about it on Google or anywhere on the public web. Going to need to know how to use a Tor Browser to get updates on its shifting location...which will likely be in some random abandoned warehouse in Bangkok...somewhere...no one ever knows where the party will go down. 

Ping pong and other  shows still around in Soi cowboy and in Pattaya

[NanLaew]

Lucy's, Madrid, Kings Castle, Star of Light, Kangaroo, Derby King that had Big Bill working making the best Reuben on rye this side of the Pacific. You could order delivery from the bar at Goldfingers. If we were up from Pattaya on a long weekend debauch in Bangkok, booking the 3-bedroom suite at the MMM (sahm em) apartments was a must. How the housekeeping kept us stocked with fresh dry towels was a mystery but we tipped them well.

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

...and the Philly steak sandwich!

Simply the best American food in Thailand.

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

Crown Royal still is!

Love that little passageway between the Madrid and the Crown Royal. Muggers ally.