I posted my advice on Thailand here.
Beautiful country with beautiful culture.
As for age, I was always advised to guess and add 7 years.
If you are going to take a trip to Nana then further along the Soi Nana sits in on th right is a bar called Bus Stop (two open air levels) which is pretty good for a breakfast. Nana hotel also has a fair quality resturant. Big portions of both Thai and Western foods. Nana disco is also known for the girls without 'dates' to try and catch a final drunk farang. If you are going to Nana or Soi Cowboy then do a search for maps of the bars. There was a great site (forget the name and link is not really appropriate for here) which lists the bars, rough beer prices and highlight the ladyboy bars to avoid some unexpected surprises
.
As for more legitamate clubs. I have only tried Bed Supper Club which was ok. Set in what looks like a large capsule from space 1999 from the outside, it was ok.
I cannot remember the name of the bar I liked quite a lot. Just up Sukhumvit Road down one of the Soi's on the left (back to Nana). Big, wodden with a few pool tables. Thought it was Gullivers but with Gullivers mentioned here as being on the corner I am now not so sure.
The Londoner as mentioned here is fairly good but a good bit further up the street, next to the Superbowl (?).
MBK is a big mall and I felt not that different to anywhere else.
The Patpong most people go to see continues over the main highway. The other side is a gay area and although not gay myself, when I was taken there by a female friend we had a great time. The staff in the bar we went to were friendly and joked around but knew where to draw the line. Great to get away from the bar girls and 'Hey sexy man." calls.
The canal boat rides are good but take come Bhatt to pay for bread from the riverside sellers to feed the fish.
TBH I am not the biggest fan of Bangkok. Great for a weeks visit especially if you are single and looking for some night time entertainment but there are nicer places in Thailand (like visiting London and missing out Cornwall / the Lake District / Scotland / Wales etc).
Read up on the culture, concept of saving face, learn a little thai, if you get in to problems then call the tourist police (brown rather than blue shirted police officers IIRC) who will usually speak English and Thai. Getting involved in a fight with Thais will go badly if not with the people you are fighting then when the police get involved. Violence towards Thais from a foreigner is taken very seriously by the authorities.
On a plus note.....
I dropped my wallet in a Taxi. It had my main cash card in and a few other bits. I realised in my hotel room it was missing and then called the bank to cancel the card fearing my bank account getting wiped out. A few minutes later the card was stopped and I could rest easy. Took a shower and then had to jump out wet as my mobile phone rang (local Thai sim card). Someone started speaking to me and I could not understand a word of it. So phone to my ear, hopping up and down trying to convice the person to hold on whist trying to put my trousers on I finally made it downstairs to reception in a fairly dressed state.
Turns out the taxi driver had found the wallet, had seen one of my photography business cards with my Thai number on it and called. He then dropped the wallet off when he next passed (whilst waiting on the street as there is no stopping outside the hotel I got talking to another taxi driver but that is a whole different story). Guy stopped, handed back the wallet and gave him a thank you 'tip'. Cards were useless as they had been cancelled but had a couple more credit cards in the hotel safe so not too bad.
Lessons learnt: Not everyone is there to rip you off. Keep more than one card with the backup in the hotel safe. Know your banks card cancellation number just in case. Put a card with your pref. Thai number in your wallet.
Back to Phuket this Thursday. Ahh, the sun, sand, sea and err..... shopping
as my wife would say.
RB
Beautiful country with beautiful culture.
As for age, I was always advised to guess and add 7 years.
If you are going to take a trip to Nana then further along the Soi Nana sits in on th right is a bar called Bus Stop (two open air levels) which is pretty good for a breakfast. Nana hotel also has a fair quality resturant. Big portions of both Thai and Western foods. Nana disco is also known for the girls without 'dates' to try and catch a final drunk farang. If you are going to Nana or Soi Cowboy then do a search for maps of the bars. There was a great site (forget the name and link is not really appropriate for here) which lists the bars, rough beer prices and highlight the ladyboy bars to avoid some unexpected surprises
.As for more legitamate clubs. I have only tried Bed Supper Club which was ok. Set in what looks like a large capsule from space 1999 from the outside, it was ok.
I cannot remember the name of the bar I liked quite a lot. Just up Sukhumvit Road down one of the Soi's on the left (back to Nana). Big, wodden with a few pool tables. Thought it was Gullivers but with Gullivers mentioned here as being on the corner I am now not so sure.
The Londoner as mentioned here is fairly good but a good bit further up the street, next to the Superbowl (?).
MBK is a big mall and I felt not that different to anywhere else.
The Patpong most people go to see continues over the main highway. The other side is a gay area and although not gay myself, when I was taken there by a female friend we had a great time. The staff in the bar we went to were friendly and joked around but knew where to draw the line. Great to get away from the bar girls and 'Hey sexy man." calls.
The canal boat rides are good but take come Bhatt to pay for bread from the riverside sellers to feed the fish.
TBH I am not the biggest fan of Bangkok. Great for a weeks visit especially if you are single and looking for some night time entertainment but there are nicer places in Thailand (like visiting London and missing out Cornwall / the Lake District / Scotland / Wales etc).
Read up on the culture, concept of saving face, learn a little thai, if you get in to problems then call the tourist police (brown rather than blue shirted police officers IIRC) who will usually speak English and Thai. Getting involved in a fight with Thais will go badly if not with the people you are fighting then when the police get involved. Violence towards Thais from a foreigner is taken very seriously by the authorities.
On a plus note.....
I dropped my wallet in a Taxi. It had my main cash card in and a few other bits. I realised in my hotel room it was missing and then called the bank to cancel the card fearing my bank account getting wiped out. A few minutes later the card was stopped and I could rest easy. Took a shower and then had to jump out wet as my mobile phone rang (local Thai sim card). Someone started speaking to me and I could not understand a word of it. So phone to my ear, hopping up and down trying to convice the person to hold on whist trying to put my trousers on I finally made it downstairs to reception in a fairly dressed state.
Turns out the taxi driver had found the wallet, had seen one of my photography business cards with my Thai number on it and called. He then dropped the wallet off when he next passed (whilst waiting on the street as there is no stopping outside the hotel I got talking to another taxi driver but that is a whole different story). Guy stopped, handed back the wallet and gave him a thank you 'tip'. Cards were useless as they had been cancelled but had a couple more credit cards in the hotel safe so not too bad.
Lessons learnt: Not everyone is there to rip you off. Keep more than one card with the backup in the hotel safe. Know your banks card cancellation number just in case. Put a card with your pref. Thai number in your wallet.
Back to Phuket this Thursday. Ahh, the sun, sand, sea and err..... shopping
as my wife would say.RB
