Discovering Phuket: The Famous Phuket Bangla Road

Just one part of the crowd in Bangla Road

Adding Patong Beach in our itinerary, we look for a budget hostel to stay near the area. We do not know that this will also bring us to this famous Bangla Road. With a very little idea on how wild this place could be, I did not expect that it is really that apparent, straightforward, feral, busy and crazy this place could be. Patong beach is famous for its nightlife. The nightlife is centered in two main areas which is the Bangla Road and the “Paradise Complex”. It’s a 360 degrees of bars, nightclub, party, street dance, sexy girls and lady boys dancing (almost stripping) calling attention of every tourist in the area.

Very welcoming!

Photo is a bit dark but doesn't hide the crowd. 

As it stereotypes what you can see in some movies, they say that there’s a lot of drugs, alcohol, scams, prostitutes in the area, well although alcohol and drunk tourists can be found everywhere, I cannot attest the other because we simply ignore those that we feel is a potential risk and just go on our own.

Just a quick tip: Be mindful and read some common scams you may encounter in every country that you’ll visit.

I saw this act already in a TV show

We saw more lady boys than a live Elephant in Thailand. Really. As you walk along the busy street, some will solicit you for a sexy show, showing you the list of different shows you can choose from. It was like “Divisoria” (market) of prostitutes. It was loud and wild. I am in awe and was like, really?! But then it feels good to see the totally different culture here. Yes, our group is a bit conservative and we are not really that wild.

Busy street 

But of course, for us to atleast feel that we are in Bangla road, we did ordered some beers but some of us were okay walking on the street exploring, some stayed in the hostel porch and some explore on a quite less aggressive bar (just very near our hostel) with pure entertainment show only.  (Not the topless girls :p )

After the busy night, we woke up and go outside and it was like nothing happens last night. We actually spotted garbage collectors roaming and some street vendors selling morning street food that we didn’t miss trying.

Amazed :) 

Tambon Patong, Amphoe Kathu

Chang Wat Phuket 83150

Bars operates mostly around 9PM to 2AM