Patong Beach Nightlife

Baseball fans have Cooperstown, art lovers have the Louvre and party animals have Patong. This is the epicentre of Phuket's nightlife, ground zero for the legendary party scene and the place where all your dreams can come true (provided your dreams involve lots of booze).

That's not to say that there's nothing to do in Patong besides drink. You don't have to be soused to enjoy the scene, although it does help. There's all kinds of shopping, lots of good live music and plenty of entertainment such as cabarets and Thai boxing. Patong can be as wild or tame as you want it to be, but one thing's for sure: there's never a dull moment.

Bars, Beer Bars and Music Pubs

Although bars aren't the only entertainment, they are definitely the most prevalent. Patong's watering holes tend to fall into distinct categories: beer bars, discos, cocktail lounges, go-go bars, pubs and music pubs. Within these categories there are endless variations but not many places veer away from the basic themes. For example, all go-go bars will have a stage with girls in varying stages of undress dancing for the entertainment of the customers.

Some places may have girls in catholic school girl outfits and some places may have elaborately choreographed shows but the basic elements of girls, stage and dancing will be present. Sometimes the lines get a little blurry (actually most things tend to get blurry after a while), such as when beer bars have dancing poles, but you'll usually have a good idea of what to expect.

Beer Bars are the little joints packed side by side on the small arcades known as 'Bar Sois'. There are maybe a dozen of these in Patong, mostly located off of Bangla Road. Come in for a laugh and to find some company. Patong has a number of discos where you can dance the night away.

The music is thumpin', the dance floor is packed and the atmosphere is fun. If you'd rather leave the dancing to the ladies then check out a go-go bar. While not the raunchy shows of yore, go-go bars still offer some fantastic figures on display.

Patong also has its classy side with a number of snazzy cocktail lounges where you can relax in a plush seat, sip a martini and enjoy the vibe. Live music is also popular and places like Saxophone and Rock City cater to people who like great tunes with their beer. There are also a few simple pubs where you can just enjoy a drink without all of the other usual accoutrements of Patong nightlife.

Hours

During the daytime Patong is geared towards shopping, watersports and family pursuits and the party doesn't really get going until about 21:00. Early birds will find that some bars offer happy hour specials. Exactly which hour is happy is the subject of some debate and it varies wildly from bar to bar.

Clever punters can bar hop from 17:00 until 21:00, taking advantage of all the specials. By law the fun gets shut down at 02:00 but that law is often stretched in practice and is outright ignored in places like Safari, the after-hours joint on the hill just south of town.

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