Patpong Markets

[bluemanna]

I just returned home from a trip to Thailand. I had a great time in Phuket, everything as normal and shopping as per usual. On my return home I spent a night in Bangkok. I went to the Patpong market on Monday night and to my dissapointment the market seems to have been sliced by about a third. Not only that , while wandering around the police arrived and shut down several vendors, the place died right off and lost its usual buzz. It looks like it may very well become a has been...pity as it used to be a fun spot to spend a few hours..

[dave9988]

i think all these farang bar bangkok areas will come to a point where the land is worth more than they can pay in rent.

[UncleFrank]

i think all these farang bar bangkok areas will come to a point where the land is worth more than they can pay in rent.

A developer won't be taking over Pat Pong Road for some time.

One of those vendor tables (piece of plywood) rent for 30,000 a month.

[dotcom]

Eyesore.

[bruceboy]

I also think the market will soon be a thing of the past.

[Scott]

First place I ever shopped in BKK. I lived not far from there on Sathorn and frequented the market often. I will miss it, if it closes.

[Super Hans]

hel_l on earth.

[ClaytonSeymour]

I also think the market will soon be a thing of the past.

So will tourists if they keep destroying the things that bring them to Bangkok.

[Sel]

I went to the Patpong market on Monday night

Well there's the problem Monday

For the last few years street vendors are not allowed to open Mondays as it is a Bangkok city council law so the street cleaners can do their main weekly clean-up. The cops were actually doing their job properly.

[bluemanna]

I went to the Patpong market on Monday night

Well there's the problem Monday

For the last few years street vendors are not allowed to open Mondays as it is a Bangkok city council law so the street cleaners can do their main weekly clean-up. The cops were actually doing their job properly.

That's a contradiction, if they were doing their job properly then counterfit products would be seized every night and not just on a Monday so the street sweepers could clean up

[dave9988]

30,000 for one piece of plywood? you sure about that? they never seem to be doing that good. plus, different tourist seasons would have to have different rates. sounds like conjecture honestly.

[xbusman]

I bet that number is pretty accurate. A piece of plywood on Sukhumvit is a minimum 10k monthly with no electricity and not a prime location, such as down Soi 5 or some such. I think its pretty close to 20k a month with electricity and on Sukhumvit between Soi 3 and Soi 11. I would guess Patpong to be around 30K.

[Sel]

The cops were actually doing their job properly

I was going to originally post that the "cops" most likely weren't police but were most likely city council officers. They wear almost the same uniform distinguishable by their shoulder badges. They have authority to police street vendors and public street areas for such thinks as trading hours, signage, littering etc not counterfeit products and the like what the real police are responsible for.

[Dakhar]

I also think the market will soon be a thing of the past.

In a country that has yet to discover a parking lot....

very doubtful

[Sel]

Your average street stall spot (not council controlled) on KSR runs between 20,000 to 50,000Baht per month and it doesn't change with time of year.

Any street stalls that are in a location surrounded by white lines painted on the ground usually denotes areas that are rented through the city council administration and these are significantly cheaper in the order of a few thousand baht maybe 3,500Baht cant remember the exact figure but relatively cheap.

[UncleFrank]

30,000 for one piece of plywood? you sure about that? they never seem to be doing that good. plus, different tourist seasons would have to have different rates. sounds like conjecture honestly.

Apparently you haven't checked the price...,like I did.

Yes, 1,000 thb a day for a table.

Why bother building a condo when you can rent pavement the at those rates.

[rak sa_ngop]

30,000 for one piece of plywood? you sure about that? they never seem to be doing that good. plus, different tourist seasons would have to have different rates. sounds like conjecture honestly.

A Thai friend of mine asked what the price of a stall was last week and was told 'sam muen' i.e. 30,000 a month. Now you can understand why most items on sale in Patpong are available at Chatuchak Market for less than half price (even without haggling!)

[dave9988]

interesting...

you were gonna have your gf sell farang tshirts?

[dantilley]

Patpong right now is a mess, or at least Patpong Soi 1 is.

On the one side you've got a potentially thriving, bustling market, yet shoppers have to jostle with dodgy characters trying to entice them in to see "ping pong" shows and other depraved spectacles, and their kids will keep peering in behind black curtains to see the scantily clad hookers dancing inside.

Or, conversely, you have a potentially lively, buzzing go-go bar street stifled by having a huge market stuck in the middle of it, so a bunch of lads on a night out have to pick their way around market stalls selling over-priced crap to dithering shoppers while they're trying to bar-hop.

It's neither set of customers' fault - but neither is particularly compatible with each other. So, to sort out the mess, it needs to go one way - either ditch the market and let the bar scene prosper as a free flowing, lively street like Soi Cowboy; or close down the go-go bars and let the market take off, perhaps expanding into the new vacant lots created by the closed bars. But not this current debacle.

[jaidee1]

I went to the Patpong market on Monday night

Well there's the problem Monday

For the last few years street vendors are not allowed to open Mondays as it is a Bangkok city council law so the street cleaners can do their main weekly clean-up. The cops were actually doing their job properly.

Depends on how long ago he went. They've changed cleaning day from Monday to Wednesday now. Also it doesn't include markets, just stalls on the roadside. They changed it about 2 months ago.

[JoeThePoster]

For the last few years street vendors are not allowed to open Mondays as it is a Bangkok city council law

Probably the only thing the last governor (Apirak) did was to void that law and implement cleaning every alternate Monday.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

hoppers have to jostle with dodgy characters trying to entice them in to see "ping pong" shows and other depraved spectacles, and their kids will keep peering in behind black curtains to see the scantily clad hookers dancing inside.

They will surely go blind or be scarred for life at the sight of women in bathing suits.

Edited January 21, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[bkkjames]

this soi reminds me of something I would see on animal planet.

dozens of antelope lining to take turns taking a sip from the golden pond, all the while the predators lay and wait for the weak (minded).

that being said, it is the kind of place you must see once - not as exhilerating as bungy jumping, but still an sense of risk none the less.

[dantilley]

hoppers have to jostle with dodgy characters trying to entice them in to see "ping pong" shows and other depraved spectacles, and their kids will keep peering in behind black curtains to see the scantily clad hookers dancing inside.

They will surely go blind or be scarred for life at the sight of women in bathing suits.

Well, not quite - but still it's a pretty sleazy environment for people to bring young kids to.

[Miserere]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

[bkkjames]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

No, but I hear you can buy Ping from Pong in Pat Pong.

[cymruambyth1]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

No, but I hear you can buy Ping from Pong in Pat Pong.

No, the Ping shop is in Thaniya Plaza just down the road.

What...we were not talking about golf equipment?

[bkkjames]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

No, but I hear you can buy Ping from Pong in Pat Pong.

No, the Ping shop is in Thaniya Plaza just down the road.

What...we were not talking about golf equipment?

I was

[xbusman]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

No, but I hear you can buy Ping from Pong in Pat Pong.

You can, but Pongs Ping are ting tong in pat tong.

(say that ten times fast)

[bkkjames]

Can I buy ping pong at Patpong?

No, but I hear you can buy Ping from Pong in Pat Pong.

You can, but Pongs Ping are ting tong in pat tong.

(say that ten times fast)

what is amazing about this area, even when I come out of foodland on soi 2 with my hands full of grocery bags, the tuk tuk guys still ask me if I want a massage. to which I reply "thank you no, but would you mind holding these while i flag down a taxi"