Phuket is one of the most renowned nightlife destinations in Thailand. It has a frenetic party scene, yet most of its bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the 1-km long street of Bangla (or Walking Street) in the beach town of Patong.
Nightlife in Patong is rather male-oriented with your typical a-gogo dancers, bar fines, freelance prostitutes, naughty massage parlors and ladyboys. It is a (paid) sex paradise that acts like a magnet for single males from all over the World. While Russians are the main nationality, you also have hordes of Northern Europeans (UK, Germany, Scandinavia), Asians, Australians, Americans, Indians and Arabs. There are also thousands of foreigners who retired in Phuket or started their own businesses (restaurants, bars, tours, etc).
But Patong also attracts "normal" tourists, including families, couples and backpackers. They come mostly for the beach, but you can see them walking on Bangla street at night. They are just curious and not particularly interested in the sex trade. They might have a few wild night outs during their stay though for the sake of being on holidays. They make Patong nightlife a lot less creepy than it could be and I thank them for that.
My most recent trip to Patong was in December 2016. During 3 nights straight, I went to every nightclubs and bars I could find until they were all closed. This review is a summary of my findings. Please leave a comment below if you need more information.
Best Hotels Near Patong Nightlife
If you are in Patong for party, I advise you to stay within walking distance from Bangla Road. By doing so, you will avoid the tuk-tuk mafias (charging ridiculous prices even for a 100-meter ride) and even better, you will avoid the temptation of driving back home while drunk. It is also better to be surrounded by like-minded people and not families/couples.
HotelsCombined has created a great list of hotels located within a short distance from Bangla Road. Among them, the following are considered girl-friendly:
4-star and 5 star Hotels:
Sleep with Me (4-star): It is 200 meters from the nightlife and 100 meters from the mall JungCeylon. Price starting at 80$ on Agoda (check for better rates on HotelsCombined). Rated 8.5/10
Swisshotel Resort (4-star): This is where I was staying. It is in the same building as Hard Rock Café and Hooters Patong. The price was 75$ during high season but you can get a cheaper deal on hotelscombined.com. Rated 8.1/10.
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| Hookers don't seem to bother families in Patong |
HotelsCombined has created a great list of hotels located within a short distance from Bangla Road. Among them, the following are considered girl-friendly:
4-star and 5 star Hotels:
Sleep with Me (4-star): It is 200 meters from the nightlife and 100 meters from the mall JungCeylon. Price starting at 80$ on Agoda (check for better rates on HotelsCombined). Rated 8.5/10
Swisshotel Resort (4-star): This is where I was staying. It is in the same building as Hard Rock Café and Hooters Patong. The price was 75$ during high season but you can get a cheaper deal on hotelscombined.com. Rated 8.1/10.
Millenium Resort (5-star): The closest 5-star from Patong Beach. It is inside Jungceylon Mall. The first bars and clubs of Bangla street are just across the street. Prices starting at 85$ on Agoda (or compare on hotelscombined.com). Rated 8.3/10.
Kee Hotel is a family resort but it is connected to the infamous gogo bar strip of Soi Sea Dragon.
Kee Hotel is a family resort but it is connected to the infamous gogo bar strip of Soi Sea Dragon.
3-Star Hotels:
Yorkshire is a popular choice among regulars of Patong. It is both girl-friendly and a 200-m walk from nightclubs. Their basic room is comfortable and costs 50$ per night (compare prices now: HotelsCombined). Rated 8.2/10.
Summer Breeze is another favorite: 1-minute walk from the nightlife and quite cheap (less than 35$ per night if you book here). Rated 8.3/10.
Summer Breeze is another favorite: 1-minute walk from the nightlife and quite cheap (less than 35$ per night if you book here). Rated 8.3/10.
Hostel/Backpacker (Not girl-friendly)
Note: Even the girl-friendly hotels in Patong may ask you for a "joiner" fee (around 300THB) if you bring someone who wasn't part of your initial booking.
Meeting Girls in Phuket/Patong
If you are OK with paying for sex, then you won't need to make a lot of effort to be happy (but you should know that prices are higher than in Bangkok or Pattaya).
If you are not into prostitution, your best chance is to connect to popular dating websites like Thai Cupid or Thai Friendly. You can create an account a few weeks before arriving to make sure you already have some contacts on your first day.
Forget about Tinder. It is 20% lady boys, 30% prostitutes, 30% average looking, 10% Russian girls who don't reply messages.
Nightlife Areas in Patong
90% of Patong nightlife is within Bangla and the adjacent small streets (called Soi).
Bangla Street Nightlife
Forbidden to non-authorized cars and motorbikes, it is lined up with cheap restaurants, bars, huge nightclub complexes and strip clubs. You can also find ATMs, money changers, convenience stores, banks, souvenir shops, fast foods and pharmacies.
Touts and girls will approach you ever few meters with various offers. Most often, they'll try to sell you a ping pong show or an all-you-can-drink promotion. For the latter, the touts are often foreigners.
Adjacent Streets (Soi) from East to West:
→ Soi Vegas: The two dirtiest bars in Patong are on this street (Belvedere and Money City). You can also find some local food.
→ Soi Tiger (or Soi Crocodile): Thai food and a ladyboy cabaret bar (Cocktail and Dreams).
→ Soi Viking: You have a very crowded Scandinavian bar (Grabbarna Grus) and a massage parlor.
→ Soi Sea Dragon: The highest concentration of gogo bars (Suzie Wong I & II, Harem, Lover Club, Upstairs, Exotica, No. 1)
→ Soi Freedom (ex-Soi Eric): A fun and crowded street full of beer bars and prostitutes.
→ Soi Gonzo: Nothing special, the alley leads to the nightclub White Rooms
Elsewhere in Patong:
→ OTOP market's bars: This market is located about 100 meters across from the Swisshotel Resort (10 minutes walk from Bangla Street). There are bout 20 tiny beer bars which all seem to be foreign-owned (especially by Australians and Germans). They are very laid-back and popular with expat residents to watch sports. You can get beer from 60-70THB.
→ Paradise Complex (Soi Paradise): This is where most of Patong's gay nightlife is located. In this area, a recommended hotel is the foreign-owned, gay-friendly Connect Guesthouse.
Best Nightclubs in Patong
I wrote a detailed review about it called 9 Best Nightclubs in Patong. If you don't have time to read it, below is a quick summary.
Nightclubs in Patong are almost all free except White Room (200THB entrance). They are easy to get into as there are no queues and no dress code. If you are a small group, you should consider purchasing a bottle of alcohol as it will give you access to a table (minimum price 3,500 THB/100$).
All the nightclubs below run the same open bar promo: All-you-can-drink for 800THB from 10pm to 1am (the recently-opened Ecstasy has a deal for 599THB until 3AM but it won't last long I guess).
DJs will usually alternate between commercial EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Hip-Hop, Rn'B and Top 40. The only places where I listened to more original playlists were in the VIP rooms of Illuzion and Seduction.
The most recommended nightclubs in Patong are the following:
→ Illuzion is my favorite party place in Patong. Ranked 93rd best nightclub in the world by DJ Mag, it is brand-new and modern, with a huge stage where sexy dancers, acrobats, DJs and singers perform all night long. You have less prostitutes than elsewhere and most of the customers are young Westerners. It closes at 4AM but a smaller VIP club with tech house music stays open until 6AM.
→ Seduction is a huge nightlife complex with a beer garden, a regular club, a VIP club (Blow), a hip-hop bottle club and a rooftop restaurant. The regular club normally gets full every night with a mixed crowd a bit younger and lower-class than Illuzion. The VIP club has great music but it is happening only for special events.
→ Tiger Nightclub is also a multi-story complex, perhaps the most famous on Bangla street due to its enormous tigers statues above the entrance. On the ground floor, there are dozens of cheap beer bars with each a staff of bargirls and gogo dancers. On the second floor, there is the largest disco in Patong. It looks weird but it can be fun, especially if you party from the podium. It attracts less Westerners and more Indians/Arabs/Asians. Almost all girls in Tiger are prostitutes.
→ Stars Phuket is a Russian strip club until 4AM, but after that it becomes one of two after-hour clubs in Patong. It is quite small (100 pax capacity), but you can also hang out in the next-door Pool Club. The music is hip hop and Rn'B.
→ Tai Pan is an old nightclub popular with long-term Phuket residents. It is just one low-ceiling room with plenty of tables and dancing poles. There is always a show on stage: Dancers, live bands, DJs. At least 90% of the girls are prostitutes.
Some other nightclubs you may be interested to try in Patong are White Room (similar to Seduction), Hollywood and Ecstasy. You can read a complete review about them here: 9 Best Nightclubs in Patong.
Best Gogo Bars and Erotic Clubs
Girlie bars are everywhere in Patong and they make take several forms:
→ The cheapest are the ubiquitous beer bars that can be found every 20 meters (and especially in Soi Freedom or Soi Tiger). They can accommodate around 15-20 customers with a staff of 10 bar girls. You can sit down only for drinking beer (from 70THB), or ask for a girl's company. In that case, you should buy her lady drinks (200-240THB each) on which she gets a commission. To bring the girl back home with you, you must compensate the bar owner with a "bar fine" (short term - 1,000THB, long Term 2,000 THB), and then pay money directly to the girl (short term - 2,000 THB, long term 3,000 THB). That's a lot of efforts and money to end up with a prostitute!
→ Gogo bars are larger and more expensive. They have a podium with girls dancing in lingerie/bikini/uniforms, topless or naked (depending on the bar). Customers can seat all around and enjoy the show. Like in beer bars, you may ask a girl to join you. The prices for ladies drinks and bar fine are 25% higher.
Most of the famous Patong gogo bars are located in Soi Sea Dragon. The group Suzie Wong manages at least four gogo bars there (Suzie Wong I & II, Harem, Exotica) and another one on Bangla (Rock Hard). They are the best ones (hottest girls, great atmosphere, good music, first drink for 99THB).
You can also try the new Upstairs Gogo Bar (nude and topless girls, first beer 99THB then 200THB), No1 A Gogo, Diablo A Gogo and Club Lover.
→ Erotic clubs or Ping Pong Shows. Those clubs are a trashier version of gogo bars. They usually have older, less attractive girls who will do some kind of sexual performances. Most often, it involves inserting something in their pussies.
Honestly, it is pretty gross. With my own two eyes, I've seen a girl removing an actual frog from her vagina (and it wasn't a small one) then trowing it on a customer. The staff looked depressed and tourists were rather uncomfortable. The bar is called Money Night and you'll be asked to buy a 900-THB beer to enter (I paid 300THB after negotiating).
Another sex joint is Belvedere Luxury Club (next to Money Night on Soi Vegas). This place also charges 900THB for a beer but I wasn't able to negotiate the price down. They told me that the reason they were so expensive was because they were the only place in Patong with live sex performance on stage. As I didn't want to pay, they only let me inside for a few minutes. All I saw was a half-empty room with a mix of Russian and Thai hookers.
Note: Many tourists get scammed in ping pong shows. They get inside because they are promised a 99THB beer, but they ignore that it only applies to the first drink. After that, they get charged between between 500THB and 1,000THB per drink.
→ There are a few Russian strip joints in Patong. More luxurious than Thai ones, they also cost more and have a bad reputation for scamming customers. I tried Moulin Rouge where I paid 330THB for a beer. It was rather quiet with just 2 Russian girls dancing, one of whom was topless. You can also go to L'Amour Club and Stars.
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Best Bars and Live Music Pubs
Live Music in Patong
The number of pubs with live music on Bangla street is impressive. The most famous ones are crowded every night and they have great bands (Thai or Filipino). They are cheaper than nightclubs (around 120THB for a beer) and they have a more diverse crowd (more women, more couples).
The only thing I don't like about them is that the songs played are pretty much always the same: Adele, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, etc. After 3 nights out it gets boring.
The recommended venues are in this order: New York Bar (in front of Illuzion nightclub), Tao (belongs to Suzie Wong Group), Red Hot, Molly Malone's Irish Pub, Hard Rock Cafe (expensive), Rock City (classic rock), Heroes, Monsoon and Smiley. You can hear the bands from outside actually so just walk around and pick the one you like.
Best Bars on Bangla
Something that surprised me about Patong nightlife (compared to Bali nightlife for instance) is the lack of sophisticated bars. There are luxury beach clubs and lounges elsewhere on the island, but not many in Patong.
If you are looking for a nicer setup, you can go to the Patong Beach Club, about 300 meters from Bangla Road. They have a more upmarket Russian and Asian clientele, plus a few expats. It does not get so crowded though unless they have an event. It is just above Wine Connection an expensive wine shop and restaurant part of a Singaporean chain.
I also liked the new restaurant/lounge Cocoon. The upper floor has a laid-back setting overlooking Walking Street with Russian dancers and foreign DJs mixing chill/deep house tunes.
If you are Scandinavian, and more particularly Swedish, you will probably end up in Grabbarna Grus. I have always seen it packed with young, somewhat chubby blond girls and guys.
More Tips About Patong Nightlife
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Before or during your trip, you should subscribe to a comprehensive travel insurance online, for instance on World Nomads (recommended by Lonely Planet). It costs a few dollars per day and it can save you a lot of trouble if something happens to you.
If you have any additional questions about Patong (Phuket) nightlife, do not hesitate to leave a message below. I'm also interested to know about your favorite bars and nightclubs if I missed them.
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| Patong - Bangla Street Nightlife Map |
Bangla Street Nightlife
Forbidden to non-authorized cars and motorbikes, it is lined up with cheap restaurants, bars, huge nightclub complexes and strip clubs. You can also find ATMs, money changers, convenience stores, banks, souvenir shops, fast foods and pharmacies.
Touts and girls will approach you ever few meters with various offers. Most often, they'll try to sell you a ping pong show or an all-you-can-drink promotion. For the latter, the touts are often foreigners.
Adjacent Streets (Soi) from East to West:
→ Soi Vegas: The two dirtiest bars in Patong are on this street (Belvedere and Money City). You can also find some local food.
→ Soi Tiger (or Soi Crocodile): Thai food and a ladyboy cabaret bar (Cocktail and Dreams).
→ Soi Viking: You have a very crowded Scandinavian bar (Grabbarna Grus) and a massage parlor.
→ Soi Sea Dragon: The highest concentration of gogo bars (Suzie Wong I & II, Harem, Lover Club, Upstairs, Exotica, No. 1)
→ Soi Freedom (ex-Soi Eric): A fun and crowded street full of beer bars and prostitutes.
→ Soi Gonzo: Nothing special, the alley leads to the nightclub White Rooms
Elsewhere in Patong:
→ OTOP market's bars: This market is located about 100 meters across from the Swisshotel Resort (10 minutes walk from Bangla Street). There are bout 20 tiny beer bars which all seem to be foreign-owned (especially by Australians and Germans). They are very laid-back and popular with expat residents to watch sports. You can get beer from 60-70THB.
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| Fat Mama's Beer Bar in OTOP |
Best Nightclubs in Patong
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| Party in Illuzion Nightclub Phuket |
Nightclubs in Patong are almost all free except White Room (200THB entrance). They are easy to get into as there are no queues and no dress code. If you are a small group, you should consider purchasing a bottle of alcohol as it will give you access to a table (minimum price 3,500 THB/100$).
All the nightclubs below run the same open bar promo: All-you-can-drink for 800THB from 10pm to 1am (the recently-opened Ecstasy has a deal for 599THB until 3AM but it won't last long I guess).
DJs will usually alternate between commercial EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Hip-Hop, Rn'B and Top 40. The only places where I listened to more original playlists were in the VIP rooms of Illuzion and Seduction.
The most recommended nightclubs in Patong are the following:
→ Illuzion is my favorite party place in Patong. Ranked 93rd best nightclub in the world by DJ Mag, it is brand-new and modern, with a huge stage where sexy dancers, acrobats, DJs and singers perform all night long. You have less prostitutes than elsewhere and most of the customers are young Westerners. It closes at 4AM but a smaller VIP club with tech house music stays open until 6AM.
→ Seduction is a huge nightlife complex with a beer garden, a regular club, a VIP club (Blow), a hip-hop bottle club and a rooftop restaurant. The regular club normally gets full every night with a mixed crowd a bit younger and lower-class than Illuzion. The VIP club has great music but it is happening only for special events.
→ Stars Phuket is a Russian strip club until 4AM, but after that it becomes one of two after-hour clubs in Patong. It is quite small (100 pax capacity), but you can also hang out in the next-door Pool Club. The music is hip hop and Rn'B.
→ Tai Pan is an old nightclub popular with long-term Phuket residents. It is just one low-ceiling room with plenty of tables and dancing poles. There is always a show on stage: Dancers, live bands, DJs. At least 90% of the girls are prostitutes.
Some other nightclubs you may be interested to try in Patong are White Room (similar to Seduction), Hollywood and Ecstasy. You can read a complete review about them here: 9 Best Nightclubs in Patong.
Best Gogo Bars and Erotic Clubs
Girlie bars are everywhere in Patong and they make take several forms:
→ The cheapest are the ubiquitous beer bars that can be found every 20 meters (and especially in Soi Freedom or Soi Tiger). They can accommodate around 15-20 customers with a staff of 10 bar girls. You can sit down only for drinking beer (from 70THB), or ask for a girl's company. In that case, you should buy her lady drinks (200-240THB each) on which she gets a commission. To bring the girl back home with you, you must compensate the bar owner with a "bar fine" (short term - 1,000THB, long Term 2,000 THB), and then pay money directly to the girl (short term - 2,000 THB, long term 3,000 THB). That's a lot of efforts and money to end up with a prostitute!
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| Dirty Angel in Soi Tiger |
Most of the famous Patong gogo bars are located in Soi Sea Dragon. The group Suzie Wong manages at least four gogo bars there (Suzie Wong I & II, Harem, Exotica) and another one on Bangla (Rock Hard). They are the best ones (hottest girls, great atmosphere, good music, first drink for 99THB).
You can also try the new Upstairs Gogo Bar (nude and topless girls, first beer 99THB then 200THB), No1 A Gogo, Diablo A Gogo and Club Lover.
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| Suzie Wong's Gogo Bar (without the girls) |
Honestly, it is pretty gross. With my own two eyes, I've seen a girl removing an actual frog from her vagina (and it wasn't a small one) then trowing it on a customer. The staff looked depressed and tourists were rather uncomfortable. The bar is called Money Night and you'll be asked to buy a 900-THB beer to enter (I paid 300THB after negotiating).
Another sex joint is Belvedere Luxury Club (next to Money Night on Soi Vegas). This place also charges 900THB for a beer but I wasn't able to negotiate the price down. They told me that the reason they were so expensive was because they were the only place in Patong with live sex performance on stage. As I didn't want to pay, they only let me inside for a few minutes. All I saw was a half-empty room with a mix of Russian and Thai hookers.
Note: Many tourists get scammed in ping pong shows. They get inside because they are promised a 99THB beer, but they ignore that it only applies to the first drink. After that, they get charged between between 500THB and 1,000THB per drink.
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| Sensual milk bath in Belvedere Club |
Live Music in Patong
The number of pubs with live music on Bangla street is impressive. The most famous ones are crowded every night and they have great bands (Thai or Filipino). They are cheaper than nightclubs (around 120THB for a beer) and they have a more diverse crowd (more women, more couples).
The only thing I don't like about them is that the songs played are pretty much always the same: Adele, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, etc. After 3 nights out it gets boring.
The recommended venues are in this order: New York Bar (in front of Illuzion nightclub), Tao (belongs to Suzie Wong Group), Red Hot, Molly Malone's Irish Pub, Hard Rock Cafe (expensive), Rock City (classic rock), Heroes, Monsoon and Smiley. You can hear the bands from outside actually so just walk around and pick the one you like.
Best Bars on Bangla
Something that surprised me about Patong nightlife (compared to Bali nightlife for instance) is the lack of sophisticated bars. There are luxury beach clubs and lounges elsewhere on the island, but not many in Patong.
If you are looking for a nicer setup, you can go to the Patong Beach Club, about 300 meters from Bangla Road. They have a more upmarket Russian and Asian clientele, plus a few expats. It does not get so crowded though unless they have an event. It is just above Wine Connection an expensive wine shop and restaurant part of a Singaporean chain.
I also liked the new restaurant/lounge Cocoon. The upper floor has a laid-back setting overlooking Walking Street with Russian dancers and foreign DJs mixing chill/deep house tunes.
If you are Scandinavian, and more particularly Swedish, you will probably end up in Grabbarna Grus. I have always seen it packed with young, somewhat chubby blond girls and guys.
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| Grabbarna Grus Swedish Bar |
Best time to enjoy Patong nightlife
All the information you've just read mostly applies to the high season which runs from December to February (with a peak during the Christmas holidays and Chinese New Year). More tourists choose to visit the island during this period because the weather is always sunny, the sea is quiet and the water is clear blue.
The rest of the year, and particularly in July or August, you will have considerably less people visiting Phuket. In Patong, the occupancy during the low season may not even reach 50%.
While you will get cheaper deals on hotels, you can't expect that all bars and nightclubs will be crowded.
Travel Insurance
One foreigner dies every three days in Phuket. The most frequent causes of death are drunk driving, drowning and strangely, suicide. There are thousands of non-lethal accidents every month and the worst ones may end up costing you a lot of money (a medical evacuation from Phuket to Australia = 100,000$). Other common problems like dog bites, malaria, dengue fever, food poisoning, flu, etc... can be treated in Thailand but you will get charged a highly inflated tourist price.All the information you've just read mostly applies to the high season which runs from December to February (with a peak during the Christmas holidays and Chinese New Year). More tourists choose to visit the island during this period because the weather is always sunny, the sea is quiet and the water is clear blue.
The rest of the year, and particularly in July or August, you will have considerably less people visiting Phuket. In Patong, the occupancy during the low season may not even reach 50%.
While you will get cheaper deals on hotels, you can't expect that all bars and nightclubs will be crowded.
Travel Insurance
Before or during your trip, you should subscribe to a comprehensive travel insurance online, for instance on World Nomads (recommended by Lonely Planet). It costs a few dollars per day and it can save you a lot of trouble if something happens to you.
If you have any additional questions about Patong (Phuket) nightlife, do not hesitate to leave a message below. I'm also interested to know about your favorite bars and nightclubs if I missed them.