I am all screwed up on the timetable. Getting there in the early morning 2 days(?) after I left had me confused. What happened on each day is jumbled in my head. The first night we didn’t get out looking around until 2:30am so we walked around until 4:00am as Koro pointed out places to go. Still some people out, mainly Katoeys.

Bangkok is crowded. I have never been back east, so it makes me think of San Francisco. Around the Patpongs, it was constantly as busy as Revolution on a weekend. Everything was about as clean as Revolution, but the smog is twice as thick.

I was at the Patpongs, which is just off Silom Street. Silom is a pretty busy street with Silom Mall and Sala Dang Sky train exit. So it has everything you might need. A 7/11 and McDonalds every block. Robinson’s Department store. A full grocery in Robinson’s basement. In Silom Mall you have Pizza Hut and various other American food joints. Everything you can want except safe water. There is even a California Fitness spa, which is a 24 Hour Fitness Affiliate.

The Sky-Train was great, quick and air-conditioned. 25b from Nana to Patpong. 10b from Nana to Soi Cowboy. Silom and Siam Square malls are readily available. All the conveniences of modern living are available.

We stayed at the Hotel Suriwong. The room was 750b a night for a Double. 12” x12” with AC/TV (no cable but did have MTV/CNN). Koro likes it because it is quiet and cheap. Turns out to be a gay hangout. It wasn’t noticeable except in the in house café.
There are 4 Patpong “street/strips”. 1 & 2 are for straight Farang, 3 is for gay Farang and 4 is for the Japanese. All of this made me more aware of the gay crowd. They’re here, they’re queer, and they’re proud. Even at Robinson’s a couple of the clerks were heavily made up and I think one was a Katoey. No big deal here. The attitude is “well, in their next life they will come back straight.”

Everything smaller than I imagined. All 3 of the Go-Go club areas could fit in the Zona.
Soi Cowboy seemed about the length of “The Alley”.
The Patpongs were about the length of Avenida Coahuila from La Tropa to Tropical. All the streets are narrow. Kind of like taking the neon and glitz of the Revo strip clubs and cramming them all in the Coahuila Alley. There are 2 Patpong streets connected by a side street. At night much of it is crammed with street vendors.
Nana Entertainment Plaza is the size of midsize 3-story apartment complex. Maybe as big as ¼ city block.
Some of the upstairs clubs at Patpong are as big as CC. Many clubs are smaller, the sizes of Pollo / Pelican.
At Nana the Hollywood Strip upstairs is the biggest. Maybe Bigger than CC. G-Spot famous for advertising 300 girls is maybe as big as La Tropa. At NEP and Patpong the Sex Shows upstairs and in bigger clubs.

I had decided to take advantage of pricing and buy a suit. I wanted to get the best suit I could find, as I can’t afford one here. I had recommendations for Fashion Avenue, Regents at World Trade (thanks Innocent) and Raja’s. Ended up going to Raja’s first and met Bobby. Bobby is the owner’s son and provided great service. I mentioned the 3 referrals that I had, and he admitted that they could provide a lower priced suit. He emphasized the quality of his work. His claim was supported by the letters of recommendation, from Military officers, Ambassadors and the who’s who of Bangkok that line the walls. This fit my needs well, as I explained that I was looking for a suit that would look appropriate in a Fortune 500 boardroom. I am just a regular Joe with a regular sales job, but if I ever get the opportunity to play in the big leagues, I want a uniform to fit the environment. As it happened, there was a Ford Executive present, ordering a suit. He assured me that he had shopped around and found Rajas’ to provide quality clothes at a good price. He is someone working at that top corporate level and he buys all of his suits there. He was a tremendous help, offering me the benefit of his experience and helping me decide upon a fabric that would be “Boardroom” appropriate. I ended up with a Woolen suit (I think he said Cashmere), 2 Egyptian cotton shirts and a silk tie for $250. I was measured Friday, fitted on Tuesday and picked it up Wednesday night.

I know a military friend and he too recommend Raja's when we were in Bkk.

I don't know about you, but Soi Cowboy has the best overall feel for a nighlife spot, not that every bar there is terrific, but that can be said about NEP or Patpong.

Once NEP was a more compact version of Soi Cowboy, but now it's gotten to be as chaotic feeling as Patpong, minus all the street vendors. I mean to say, they have too many barkers @ NEP now, esp. on the first level. They were not there before, nor where all the beer-bar joints on the ground level, that was a parking area then.

If you want "in-your-face-nightlife", head straight to Patpong. It's true, Soi Cowboy is about the same length as the "alley" but IMHO, much better indeed. Patpong is that x4, whereas NEP is that x3.

Next trip walk to Patpong in the day time, you'll be shocked how bland it looks, only to transorm it's self into the neon and overly crowed premiere red-light district of Bkk.

Another aspect I like about Soi Cowboy, which you don't find in the other two areas, the women often take their breaks outside the bar wearing their nice but provactive Thai silk robes. Generally each bar has a specific colored robe and maybe a bar logo written on the back. If there are any barkers in Soi Cowboy, it's these women.... ;-)