Nana Plaza

Nana Plaza

Located in Sukhumvit Soi 4, Nana Entertainment Plaza is Bangkok's sleaze central. Notorious for its racy themed go-go bars - from school-girl and leather dominatrix to ladyboy - it's literally a 'sex mall', with three storeys of eye-popping activity all focused around a square-shaped central atrium. Unlike at the better-known Patpong, Nana is a 'strictly adult' scene. That means no families, no markets and few curious tourists strolling in for a look. It also means a lot more men hell-bent on renting bodies.

Walking down Soi 4 from Sukhumvit Road, you'll know you're approaching Nana when you spot the line of street vendor carts preparing an array of weird and wonderful bites. These include 'som tum' (spicy green papaya salad), 'kai tod' (charcoal-grilled chicken) and fried insects, among other odd delicacies - comfort food for the bargirls who mostly hail from Thailand's northeastern Isaan Province.

Young girls in halter tops and short mini-skirts can be found filling up bags of crispy invertebrates, which they chop up and eat with rice and a dash of 'nam prik', chili and shrimp jam (watching them refuel on these down-to-earth pleasures, even joining in, makes for an interesting diversion from the other sorts of pleasures found here).

Welcome to Bangkok's Sex Mall

Greeting you when you pass beneath the monstrous 'Nana Entertainment Plaza' entrance sign is a mass of glowing neon signs, yelling at you from all directions. Shouting even louder than the neon is the intriguing cast of upfront characters - ladyboys, midgets and, of course, girls - who will try and accost you. They can be in your face, but it's all light-hearted and unthreatening.

On the ground floor there are mostly open-air beer bars to choose from. With salacious names like Lollipop and Red Lips, girls here will try and tempt you in for a drink, a game of Jenga and, probably, more. Some will step into your path or give you a gentle jab in the kidneys to encourage you. Others will resort to trying to drag you in - a shrug and a quick side-step is usually enough to shake them off. A few go-go bars line the right side. Playschool, Rainbow 1 and Rainbow 2 all pack them in - both the bikini-clad girls and the punters.

Nights in White Satin

Ascend up the escalator to the first floor and it's mostly go-go bars. These include Spankys, Fantasia and Rainbow 3. Rainbow 4 is one of the biggest, with hordes of Japanese-looking girls attracting a busy mix of Westerners and Japanese spectators. G-Spot, Cassanova and Temptations are among the most popular, and it's no surprise - they're ladyboy bars and put on dazzling shows. Angel Witch, on the left, with its lesbian and dominatrix shows is also a big hit. A lot of thought and energy clearly goes into the costumes and performances here - girls in elegant but provocative strips of white satin were strutting gracefully to 'Nights in White Satin' on our visit.

For relative calm, head for Big Dogs bar on the left corner of the entrance. This is a humble watering-hole, with beers and a raised terrace view onto the street and alleyway.

How to get there: walking distance from Nana BTS Skytrain station

 

Soi Cowboy in Bangkok

Named after the cowboy hat-wearing African-American who opened the first bar here in the early 1970s, this red-light district has a more laid-back, carnival-like feel to it than Patpong or Nana Plaza. Flashing neon lights up a seedy streetscape comprised mainly of middle-aged expats, Japanese suits, tourists and gaudily dressed working girls. With cries of 'hello, welcome!' and mock brute-force - a playful arm tug usually - the latter try to lure you into one of the 40 or so go-go bars that line its sides.

Each is dark and noisy, lines of grubby faux-leather seats typically arranged in tiers around a UV lit central stage. The girls sway and shimmy, most wearing little more than an I'd-rather-be-watching-Star Movies expression. When the song finishes (typically thumping techno or anthemic rock) they desert their allotted steel pole as if it's iron-hot. Some run off to touch up their make-up, others make a beeline for their mobile, or their spicy pappaya salad. But most step off stage to mingle and flirt in hope of earning that elusive 'lady drink' and a quick-exit with you; or the next man, or the next...

Top establishments include 'The Dollhouse', where sartorially challenged girls dance with rarely seen enthusiasm. With its transparent glass ceiling and school girls in unfeasibly short skirts, 'Bakara' belongs in a shady Tokyo backstreet - and is thus a big hit with the Japanese. 'Rawhide' features exactly that - raw hides, only alongside choreographed dance troupes that vary from accomplished to atrocious. We could continue, but the truth is that variables - bars, girls, levels of depravity - fluctuate fast in go-go land. Beers vary in price, the general rule of thumb being that the cheapest are found in the tattiest bars. 'Lady drinks' will set you back more, but for the premium expect your companion not to act like one (leg rubbing, dry humping etc).

However Soi Cowboy is more than merely a hunting ground for degenerates. It's also home to some of the city's most outlandish scenery... The street's hue of sleazy pink neon makes everyone look less than human. A couple of times each night an adolescent elephant trudges forlornly down the street, a reflective CD dangling from its tail. Rickety street carts serve protein-rich meats, insects and other unidentifiable snacks to the Isaan girls who comprise the workforce; and shots of mystic herbal whisky - yaa dong - to foolhardy farang. On rainy nights, when neon shimmers off electronic puddles, it all resembles a dystopian backstreet from some sci-fi film-set. Call us sentimental but it's these surreal pleasures, hidden amidst all the iniquity and perversion, that make Soi Cowboy.

How to get there: Less than 100 metres from Sukhumvit Road, between Asoke Road and Sukhumvit Soi 23 (the nearest Skytrain station is Asoke, or MRT station Sukhumvit).

Narcissus soi 23

A hip, classy, up-market club-bar located in an all-white building that resembles the villa of some Roman senator relocated to Siam. Ignore Pegasus, the exclusive hostess joint next door, and enters this vast, opulent sun palace with more bars, dance floors and spilt levels than you could shake a swizzle stick at. Music is of cutting-edge international club standard and the DJs doing duty have flown in from all corners of the globe. Sure, it's pricey and posey and your fellow Narcissists are rolling in the money, but wouldn't you want to pay more for drinks, snacks and a magazine-cover clientele like this?

"Music is good, layout is good, drinks priced fairly (although certainly not cheap). I think the 500 Baht door fee is actually a good idea – you get 3 drinks with that (more or less any drink – vodka red bull for example) so you would have spent the 500 Baht anyway, but the charge keeps the riff raff out – and keeps the crowd more in tune to a proper club rather than the flip-flop and shorts wearing wannabe back packer tourist crowd. Overall a good club, and a good night to be had – definitely a must visit spot on the BK"

Narcissus Bar

Address: 112 Sukhumvit Soi 23 Road WattanaBangkok, 10110

Tel: 00 66 2 258 4805

Hours:8:30pm-2am

website: http://www.narcissusclubbangkok.com/