Okay so I have lived in Bangkok for just over a year and figure I would create a data sheet as the last one done was in 2011.
Where to stay in Bangkok
I would suggest staying around sukhumvit area, this is the new boom area of Bangkok, has a sky train for easy transport, a lot of trendy bars and restaurants, clubs and is close to the RLD of Nana cowboy and Nana Plaza.
The areas I would suggest are the following, each area has a BTS stop and I list them in order of BTS stops:
Nana- this is bang in the middle of the bar girl scene, very touristy, go go bars and free lance hookers are on your door stop. Lots of hotels and fast food places. You will be harassed by taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers if you stay here. A lot of street vendors selling illegal goods such as Viagra, tasers, DVDs and other stuff.
Asoke – Asoke is very similar to Nana as it has Soi cowboy close by, it also connects the BTS with the MRT which is an underground metro service to get you to other parts of Bangkok. Has many hotels nearby, malls and a good selection of restaurants mostly packed with tourists. You will get hassled here by taxi and tuk tuk drivers. Big hooker scene and freelancers.
Phorm Phong – Now you start to get away from the total tourist parts of Bangkok, you will be harassed less by, tuk tuk drivers and be treated more like an expat. The area has a small park nearby, a mall and lots of hooker bars (Soi 22). However most of them are very relaxed and easy going, easy to have a chat inside, music not to loud. Many massage parlours around here also. A smaller hook scene and freelancers.
Thong lo - Thong lo at the time of writing is considered the “hip” place to be, it has a huge list of nice restaurants, bars and clubs. A lot of expats living here, mainly western and Asian. Almost a 0 bar girl scene here, any girl you meet around here is most likely a normal girl, unless you go to a G club. From Thong lo outwards, you will not be harassed by taxi or tuk tuk drivers for anything.
Ekkamai- Kind of like the little sister to Thong lo, not as big or as flash, but still keeps up there with some nice “hipster” style bars, not as many good restaurants but has a cinema nearby and apartments/hotels cheaper than Thong lo. Almost a 0 hooker scene here , has a few G clubs in Soi 63.
Phar Khanong- Not much goes on here, a very typical Thai area, nothing of interest for playboys. If you go quite far down Soi Phar khanong (soi 71) there are a few Thai styled go go bars. The girls usually don’t tend to speak much English, but drinks are much cheaper here.
On nut - A good budget area to live in, tons of apartments for cheap prices, starting around 5,000 baht upwards. Has two huge supermarkets near by, a lot of street food and good priced hotels. Also has a lot of Thai style go go the deeper you go into soi on nut 77.
Okay anything past on nut, is not really worth talking about. If you are planning on staying long term or short, the areas of living I would suggest would be Phrom Phong/Thong lo and Ekkamai. If you are on a budget On nut is a very interesting place to live. Asoke/Nana I wouldn’t want to stay there too long, too many tourists and the place feels like a tourist trap.
The area above discussed is the Sukhumvit area, and I have mentioned each place in order of its metro stop. Ratchada Is another area of Bangkok you could stay in, but I never stayed there so I won’t comment.
Hotels
I have done a review on my website about Bangkok hotels, so I won’t go into too much detail here as I don’t want to repeat my self. The things I would look for when booking a hotel are:
Does it have a safe? – You never know what people may steal when your room is unattended, or what the girls may take when you bring them back.
Is it close to a main road? – It can be annoying finding a taxi if your hotel is tucked deep into a Soi, may have to walk 5-10 minutes in the heat which is not a good thing.
Is it guest Friendly? – Well that doesn’t need to be explained. All the hotels I linked have all three.
Short term apartments
If it very hard to find month to month apartments, a few good serviced apartments:
Ekkamai prestige
The Green bells on nut/Ekkamai
Other ways to get short term apartments are to check Thai craiglist. I have a list of budget Bangkok apartments on my blog, I have stayed in them all, all offer month to month and I have no problems with any.
Long term apartments
They can be found all over the internet, you will usually pay 1 month advance rent, then 2 months deposit. Leases usually start 6months +.
None Hooker night clubs
For a full look at Bangkok night clubs visit the blog link as its has a lot of detail. For a summary see below:
Route 66 – Open every day, gets busy around midnight, expect weekends where it gets busy from 10pm. Has a lot of Thai girls who are very welcoming to westerns. #1 place for westerns to find a girl in Bangkok. Located in RCA, plays rnb and hip hop, also has a Thai live band playing in another room.
Slim/Flix – Same as route 66, bit harder for westerns but still have a good chance. located in RCA. Plays hip hop and the second room plays house music. Flix closes around 5am.
Funky Villa – In thong lo, plays a mixture of hip hop and Live Thai music, mostly full of Thais. Much harder to get girls here, a nice place, bit small.
Demo – Next to Funky villa, plays mostly house music, same type of girls as funky villa, not many westerns.
Safe house – is an after hours club located a few meters away from demo, usually gets busy after 2am.
Nung Len – Located in ekkamai, plays a mix of hip hop and live thai music. Hard to get a girl here, I would say some of the hottest girls I have seen visit this place.
Levels- Located near Asoke/Nana, on the top of a roof top, good music. Mixture of hookers and normal girls.
Wip – This is an afterhours club, gets busy from 2am, mostly full of Thais, hard to get girls, music is hip hop mixed with house, good place. Can smoke inside here, may get smokey.
Scratchdog- Another afterhours clubs, gets busy from 2am. Most suited for western Asians or Japanese’s/Koreans to get Thai girls. Much harder for westerns as the girls here seek an Asian man. Small % of hookers, usually around the DJ booth, they can smoke inside here, so it can get quite smokey.
Koh san road- full of backpackers a few hookers and some Thai girls. I don’t go there.
If I missed out any clubs, it’s most likely means they are not worth going too.
Hooker Night clubs
All of these don’t get busy until after 2am, so no point going before that.
Spicy – mixture of westerns and hookers, some black people, gets a rep for having a lot of fights. I would not go here. Located near Siam. Has some Russian working girls.
Insomnia- I have a review of insomnia, it’s a fun place to go, 80% of girls are working girls. Located in Asoke.
Climax- usually has a live band playing a mixture of Thai and western songs, 80%+ hookers, fun place, located between Nana/Asoke.
Bossy – I forgot where this is, but don’t go, 80%+ hookers, very sleazy, has some Russian working girls.
Swing- free entry, located next to Spicy, opens at 6am, free entry and sometimes you can bring your own bottles inside. Lots of ladyboys and hookers.
Mixx- has some backpackers who got lost and a decent mix of normal girls and hookers. You MUST WEAR trousers to be allowed in, can be rented at 300baht.
Bash- labelled as an “upscale” after hours, full of gold diggers and hipsters, way over priced. Located soi 11 near Asoke/nana.
Just because you pull a girl from the above clubs and she doesn’t mention money in the taxi or after you do the deed that does not mean shes not a hooker or your awesome and banged a girl without paying. Some girls are very shy when it comes to asking about money. So whenever you leave with a girl from the following places ALWAYS ask if she is a hooker or not. Chances are she is.
Once again if I’ve left out any clubs, it’s most likely means they are not worth going too.
Online dating sites
I have a brief detail blog post about thai dating sites which you can all read, I would suggest using them if you want to meet girls. They are a VERY VERY GOOD resource!
Cost of living in Bangkok
I managed to live in bangkok for around $1000 a month on average. You can go as low as $800 I think but you would need to live on the outskirts of Bangkok. I would say the average person is going to need around $1500 a month to have a very good life style. Can also check numero.com for the price of things.
Taxi meter starts are 35 baht
Street food starts at 30baht upwards
Bottle of water 6baht
Bottle of vodka in clubs appox 1,500baht
Cigarette boxes around 85baht/ Thai brand 40baht
Bangkok safety
I have never felt in danger every, just use common sense. Don’t ever get Thai people angry or start a fight on one, because everyone in a 50 meter area will come and beat you up. I never saw any trouble in my whole year of Thailand.
Motorcycles are quite dangerous, I would always suggest wearing a helmet or even buying your own like I did.
Drugs
Can be gotten, just never get them off a tuk tuk driver or near a tourist area, chances are you are being set up. I never done drugs in Thailand nor do I suggest anyone else too.
Thoughts on Thai girls
Overall Thai girls are very sweet and nice, they will go the extra mile to take care of you and from what it seems they fall in love very quick. Due to language barriers it’s hard to have many meaningful conversations with them.
Some Thai girls seem to go be erratic and go crazy after a while, for various reasons, I could go into great depth about this but I won’t. I would best describe them like a snowflake, no two are ever the same.
Ladyboys
If they are your thing once again use Thai dating sites as I suggested, you could be able to have sex with quite a lot with no issues what so ever, they are very keen.
Blow Job bars
The main three on Sukhumvit are:
lollipop 1 – Soi 10
Dr bjs – Soi 7/1 ( Dr BJ review)
Lolitas bar- soi 8
700baht for a pop, 1,000 for the “hot girls” in some.
If you have any questions feel free to ask, sorry for spelling errors.
Where to stay in Bangkok
I would suggest staying around sukhumvit area, this is the new boom area of Bangkok, has a sky train for easy transport, a lot of trendy bars and restaurants, clubs and is close to the RLD of Nana cowboy and Nana Plaza.
The areas I would suggest are the following, each area has a BTS stop and I list them in order of BTS stops:
Nana- this is bang in the middle of the bar girl scene, very touristy, go go bars and free lance hookers are on your door stop. Lots of hotels and fast food places. You will be harassed by taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers if you stay here. A lot of street vendors selling illegal goods such as Viagra, tasers, DVDs and other stuff.
Asoke – Asoke is very similar to Nana as it has Soi cowboy close by, it also connects the BTS with the MRT which is an underground metro service to get you to other parts of Bangkok. Has many hotels nearby, malls and a good selection of restaurants mostly packed with tourists. You will get hassled here by taxi and tuk tuk drivers. Big hooker scene and freelancers.
Phorm Phong – Now you start to get away from the total tourist parts of Bangkok, you will be harassed less by, tuk tuk drivers and be treated more like an expat. The area has a small park nearby, a mall and lots of hooker bars (Soi 22). However most of them are very relaxed and easy going, easy to have a chat inside, music not to loud. Many massage parlours around here also. A smaller hook scene and freelancers.
Thong lo - Thong lo at the time of writing is considered the “hip” place to be, it has a huge list of nice restaurants, bars and clubs. A lot of expats living here, mainly western and Asian. Almost a 0 bar girl scene here, any girl you meet around here is most likely a normal girl, unless you go to a G club. From Thong lo outwards, you will not be harassed by taxi or tuk tuk drivers for anything.
Ekkamai- Kind of like the little sister to Thong lo, not as big or as flash, but still keeps up there with some nice “hipster” style bars, not as many good restaurants but has a cinema nearby and apartments/hotels cheaper than Thong lo. Almost a 0 hooker scene here , has a few G clubs in Soi 63.
Phar Khanong- Not much goes on here, a very typical Thai area, nothing of interest for playboys. If you go quite far down Soi Phar khanong (soi 71) there are a few Thai styled go go bars. The girls usually don’t tend to speak much English, but drinks are much cheaper here.
On nut - A good budget area to live in, tons of apartments for cheap prices, starting around 5,000 baht upwards. Has two huge supermarkets near by, a lot of street food and good priced hotels. Also has a lot of Thai style go go the deeper you go into soi on nut 77.
Okay anything past on nut, is not really worth talking about. If you are planning on staying long term or short, the areas of living I would suggest would be Phrom Phong/Thong lo and Ekkamai. If you are on a budget On nut is a very interesting place to live. Asoke/Nana I wouldn’t want to stay there too long, too many tourists and the place feels like a tourist trap.
The area above discussed is the Sukhumvit area, and I have mentioned each place in order of its metro stop. Ratchada Is another area of Bangkok you could stay in, but I never stayed there so I won’t comment.
Hotels
I have done a review on my website about Bangkok hotels, so I won’t go into too much detail here as I don’t want to repeat my self. The things I would look for when booking a hotel are:
Does it have a safe? – You never know what people may steal when your room is unattended, or what the girls may take when you bring them back.
Is it close to a main road? – It can be annoying finding a taxi if your hotel is tucked deep into a Soi, may have to walk 5-10 minutes in the heat which is not a good thing.
Is it guest Friendly? – Well that doesn’t need to be explained. All the hotels I linked have all three.
Short term apartments
If it very hard to find month to month apartments, a few good serviced apartments:
Ekkamai prestige
The Green bells on nut/Ekkamai
Other ways to get short term apartments are to check Thai craiglist. I have a list of budget Bangkok apartments on my blog, I have stayed in them all, all offer month to month and I have no problems with any.
Long term apartments
They can be found all over the internet, you will usually pay 1 month advance rent, then 2 months deposit. Leases usually start 6months +.
None Hooker night clubs
For a full look at Bangkok night clubs visit the blog link as its has a lot of detail. For a summary see below:
Route 66 – Open every day, gets busy around midnight, expect weekends where it gets busy from 10pm. Has a lot of Thai girls who are very welcoming to westerns. #1 place for westerns to find a girl in Bangkok. Located in RCA, plays rnb and hip hop, also has a Thai live band playing in another room.
Slim/Flix – Same as route 66, bit harder for westerns but still have a good chance. located in RCA. Plays hip hop and the second room plays house music. Flix closes around 5am.
Funky Villa – In thong lo, plays a mixture of hip hop and Live Thai music, mostly full of Thais. Much harder to get girls here, a nice place, bit small.
Demo – Next to Funky villa, plays mostly house music, same type of girls as funky villa, not many westerns.
Safe house – is an after hours club located a few meters away from demo, usually gets busy after 2am.
Nung Len – Located in ekkamai, plays a mix of hip hop and live thai music. Hard to get a girl here, I would say some of the hottest girls I have seen visit this place.
Levels- Located near Asoke/Nana, on the top of a roof top, good music. Mixture of hookers and normal girls.
Wip – This is an afterhours club, gets busy from 2am, mostly full of Thais, hard to get girls, music is hip hop mixed with house, good place. Can smoke inside here, may get smokey.
Scratchdog- Another afterhours clubs, gets busy from 2am. Most suited for western Asians or Japanese’s/Koreans to get Thai girls. Much harder for westerns as the girls here seek an Asian man. Small % of hookers, usually around the DJ booth, they can smoke inside here, so it can get quite smokey.
Koh san road- full of backpackers a few hookers and some Thai girls. I don’t go there.
If I missed out any clubs, it’s most likely means they are not worth going too.
Hooker Night clubs
All of these don’t get busy until after 2am, so no point going before that.
Spicy – mixture of westerns and hookers, some black people, gets a rep for having a lot of fights. I would not go here. Located near Siam. Has some Russian working girls.
Insomnia- I have a review of insomnia, it’s a fun place to go, 80% of girls are working girls. Located in Asoke.
Climax- usually has a live band playing a mixture of Thai and western songs, 80%+ hookers, fun place, located between Nana/Asoke.
Bossy – I forgot where this is, but don’t go, 80%+ hookers, very sleazy, has some Russian working girls.
Swing- free entry, located next to Spicy, opens at 6am, free entry and sometimes you can bring your own bottles inside. Lots of ladyboys and hookers.
Mixx- has some backpackers who got lost and a decent mix of normal girls and hookers. You MUST WEAR trousers to be allowed in, can be rented at 300baht.
Bash- labelled as an “upscale” after hours, full of gold diggers and hipsters, way over priced. Located soi 11 near Asoke/nana.
Just because you pull a girl from the above clubs and she doesn’t mention money in the taxi or after you do the deed that does not mean shes not a hooker or your awesome and banged a girl without paying. Some girls are very shy when it comes to asking about money. So whenever you leave with a girl from the following places ALWAYS ask if she is a hooker or not. Chances are she is.
Once again if I’ve left out any clubs, it’s most likely means they are not worth going too.
Online dating sites
I have a brief detail blog post about thai dating sites which you can all read, I would suggest using them if you want to meet girls. They are a VERY VERY GOOD resource!
Cost of living in Bangkok
I managed to live in bangkok for around $1000 a month on average. You can go as low as $800 I think but you would need to live on the outskirts of Bangkok. I would say the average person is going to need around $1500 a month to have a very good life style. Can also check numero.com for the price of things.
Taxi meter starts are 35 baht
Street food starts at 30baht upwards
Bottle of water 6baht
Bottle of vodka in clubs appox 1,500baht
Cigarette boxes around 85baht/ Thai brand 40baht
Bangkok safety
I have never felt in danger every, just use common sense. Don’t ever get Thai people angry or start a fight on one, because everyone in a 50 meter area will come and beat you up. I never saw any trouble in my whole year of Thailand.
Motorcycles are quite dangerous, I would always suggest wearing a helmet or even buying your own like I did.
Drugs
Can be gotten, just never get them off a tuk tuk driver or near a tourist area, chances are you are being set up. I never done drugs in Thailand nor do I suggest anyone else too.
Thoughts on Thai girls
Overall Thai girls are very sweet and nice, they will go the extra mile to take care of you and from what it seems they fall in love very quick. Due to language barriers it’s hard to have many meaningful conversations with them.
Some Thai girls seem to go be erratic and go crazy after a while, for various reasons, I could go into great depth about this but I won’t. I would best describe them like a snowflake, no two are ever the same.
Ladyboys
If they are your thing once again use Thai dating sites as I suggested, you could be able to have sex with quite a lot with no issues what so ever, they are very keen.
Blow Job bars
The main three on Sukhumvit are:
lollipop 1 – Soi 10
Dr bjs – Soi 7/1 ( Dr BJ review)
Lolitas bar- soi 8
700baht for a pop, 1,000 for the “hot girls” in some.
If you have any questions feel free to ask, sorry for spelling errors.