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Patpong Through The Eyes Of Newbie Farang Girls


gobbledonk

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This is where you and I differ, I live close to Sathorn area so Patpong is only a 5 minute walk for me and I can't be doing with the traffic to Sukhumvit.

 

There are some old established bars in Patpong, Madrid, Cosmos, Crown Royal etc places where a Thai female would not feel intimidated as much as NEP or SC, plus there are some great open bars with live music something that is missing from Sukhumvit with the exception of Hilary's and Warblers before Santos got busted, French Tommy is now in Hua Hin.

 

I did go through a phase of liking NEP circa mid 90's, SC has never really done it for me but Patpong has always been and always will be my area for nightlife.

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Expats started switching from Patpong to Soi Cowboy in the mid 1980s because the prices were about 1/3 lower for everything. NEP came along later and was great for a while, but Nana has since changed for the worse. The "Arab" bars in Cowboy are also a negative - nice eye candy outside but ridiculous prices inside. Avoid them like a plague. I got tired of the Pong simply because of having to run the belt line of touts to get to a bar that you liked. Patpong does have better restaurants though. I was editor of a tourist magazine in the mid to late '80s, and Patpong was still the place to go hands down. Nowadays I'd call it a toss up.

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I like the area, not just Pong 2 and the night market but the whole district.

 

There are some great restaurants around Narawatiwat, some Hi-So places close to Chong Nosnsri, some great back street shops around Bangkok bank and of course Suriwong.

 

I find that Sathorn / Silom area offers more options than Lower Sukhumvit, hey I used to be a bar hound once but I have grown out of it over the years and now prefer something different..

 

I have often said that Bangkok is a city of 1.000 villages, there must be 300 of them in 4 Square KM distance.

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Expats started switching from Patpong to Soi Cowboy in the mid 1980s because the prices were about 1/3 lower for everything. NEP came along later and was great for a while, but Nana has since changed for the worse. The "Arab" bars in Cowboy are also a negative - nice eye candy outside but ridiculous prices inside. Avoid them like a plague. I got tired of the Pong simply because of having to run the belt line of touts to get to a bar that you liked. Patpong does have better restaurants though. I was editor of a tourist magazine in the mid to late '80s, and Patpong was still the place to go hands down. Nowadays I'd call it a toss up.

 

And that leaves Saphan Kwai for the serious cheap charlies, right ? Screw it - I'm going to check it out anyway, just to be able to say I've been there (apparently its easy to get to by train).

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Mekong, I thought you were in the Middle East ? How is it that you are suddenly a resident of Saturn ?

 

Gobbie, not sure if you are being pedantic or trying to catch me out but I will afford you an honest answer.

 

It's called contracting and the RnR breaks are good. When I was in Qatar I was working 10 hours day 6 days a week, 6 weeks on 3 weeks off, now I am in Dubai i am offshore doing sea trials on FSPO's so its 14 hours / day for 2 weeks then a 2 week RnR.

 

Most Middle East Engineering Contract positions do offer decent home leave for western personal. Even the Gorgon Project in Barrow Island NW Australia is offering 26 days on 9 days off rotations.

 

After Dubai which is only a short term contract I will probably be heading of to Baku in Azerbaijan, 4 weeks on 4 weeks off rotation.

 

So whilst I am an Industrial Prostitute working for the Petro Dollar I do get to spend at least 4 months / year at home in Sathorn, it is my home base with my worldly belongings and the wife is here all the time.

 

It is not everyones cup of tea travelling quite a lot and changing jobs quite often but the lifestyle suits me, I am a gypsy at heart and not many jobs afford you the luxury of spending a minimum of 4 months a year on vacation in Thailand, I have been doing it since I was 24 and will be turning 50 next March, it's the only lifestyle I know. I did try a staff position in Thailand for 3 years and got itchy feet again 5 years ago.

 

The one think that needs to be looked out for is the 180 days / year in Thailand, anything over 180 days from Jan 1 to Dec 31 in kingdom and I would be liable for Thai Income tax but come next year that wont be an issue when I apply for retirement visa.

 

So now you know how I work in far flung locations but can still call Sathorn home, most of the people I know professionally are in the same situation as myself, us contractors are a rare breed and tend to stick together.

 

I do know of at least 3 other board members from this forum who live the same lifestyle, but it is not my place to name them, I do believe in privacy, but on my LINKEDIN Profile all of my 500+ contacts are contractors or recruiters.

 

So, I hope that my reply has cleared up any confusion on your behalf, I expect that when you retire next year that you will have a "Home Base" to keep all of your goods but also travel a lot around SE Asia, at the end of the day your home base will always be your home.

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