Mention the word Patpong almost anywhere in the world and most people will think of Bangkok’s famous red light district. But in the evening it has one of the best tourist markets in town.

If you visit it in the day time its just a simple insignificant street that links Silom and Suriwongse Road. Around about 5pm the transformation begins. Out of nowhere or so it seems, come large metal trunks on wheels with all the stock. Team of workers are frantically putting together two aisles of stalls, metal frames slotted together, board laid on them to make the counter, cables thread between them for the light, vendors busily displaying their goods to maximum advantage. By around 7pm the show is ready to begin. Patpong is more about theatre than anything else, everything an illusion, nothing is real.

It the warm balmy night, tourist will see an array of exotic watches its says Rolex, it looks like a Rolex but is it? And then what price should I pay. The vendor will tell you a tale that it’s the latest model, the mechanism is special and will start the bidding high. It now up to you to cut him down in price. He asks 1,500, counter with 600. If you speak a few words in Thai it helps but if you don’t just mutter Peng, too expensive, and be firm. A mistake that a lot of visitors to Thailand make is they convert the price being asked into their own currency and then consider how does that compare with what I would pay at home. Of course it’s cheaper but you are in Thailand and need to think in terms of local prices if you are ever to get the best deal.

I was once buying a shirt with an asking price of 800 Baht and I negotiated to 200 Baht. Standing next too me was another foreign visitor who was happy to pay 600 baht for the same shirt.

Patpong has an excellent selection of clothes, watches, leather goods and shoes. For the tourist who is in town for a couple of nights its possibly the most convenient and user friendly place to shop. It’s not the cheapest anything you can buy in Patpong can be bought about 40% cheaper in Pratunam market just off Phetburi Road but the shopping experience is not as easy and will take twice as long. That the choice, time versus money.

Beware of the taxis waiting either end of Patpong, they always have some tale that there metre isn’t working or it’s a fixed fare to wherever you want to go. I just wont take them, either use a taxi that’s moving in the street or if you are staying close to a skytrain station take the BTS home.

For more than 30 years one of Bangkok’s most valuable pieces of real estate remained virtually underdeveloped. Patpong or “the street” as its known to its regulars has retained its three story shop house look from the 1950’s. It has to be Bangkok’s least attractive streets. It was founded by Poon Pat and took its name from his son Udom Patpong who was largely responsible for its development.

The two developments that made a simple street no different to any other into a lucrative business were firstly cutting a road through the property and the second to seek foreigners as tenants for his buildings.

Poon Pat decided to cut a six metre access road from Surawong into the property ending at Silom Klong (now the road). The old man gave his son the order to get the work done and took the rest of the family for a vacation in Hua Hin.

Udom doubled the size of the road which initially angered his father because of his disobedience. But that was soon forgiven as Udom made his decision because he saw a business opportunity and had arranged with an acquaintance the necessary financing to build a two storey row of shop houses at the Surawong end of the Patpong street. Then he headed to the New Road, a major business district at that time, and offered their tenants a novel deal on renting their office space at that time – no key money (or tea money as its often called, a huge upfront deposit paid.

Instead of asking for “key money” Udom offered a western style deal, which of caused appealed more to his foreign customers of just charging a higher monthly rent. The first to take it up was a young American pilot, a veteran of the former Flying Tigers who was establishing a tiny airline called Pacific Overseas Air Service. The airline has long ceased trading but Udom housed them in the big teak “family house” and Patpong Road hasn’t looked back since.

A Japanese man called Mizutoni opened the first restaurant Mizu that is still a Patpong mainstay. The first bar to open was Roma and the second Amor – Roma spelt backwards. It was Roma that made Patpong and Thai history, young Thai women who didn’t receive a salary and in fact paid to work in the establishment they were ghost people who actually didn’t exist on the company books. They made money officially from drinks commission but many supplemented their income with extra curricular activities with the men they met in the bar. And that was how Patpong was to operate for the next 10 years.

Since 1969 there have been three major developments on Patpong Road. The first the advent of go-go bikini clad women dancing to loud music. The second was the establishment of the night market and the last the disappearance of traditional businesses from the street.

At one time almost every International airline, with the except of Thai, had offices in Patpong along with US News Agencies, shipping lines and US Information Service.

‘It’s a bit like the Champs Elysee” grinned one regular, “sit there long enough and everyone you know will pass by.”

Some may see Patpong as an unsavory image but it survives partly because it grew up in the 60’s and also because it’s still possible to do your own thing in Thailand. It would be a pity if those values were ever to change.