Soi Pratuchai

Soi Pratuchai (alias: "Soi Twilight";[1] Thai: ซอยประตูชัย, meaning "Triumphal arch") was a gay related entertainment walkway in the Bangrak district of Bangkok, Thailand,[2][3] catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates.[1] While Soi Pratuchai was internationally known as a red light district for gays at the heart of Bangkok's sex industry, the city in fact has numerous gay-related red-light districts[1] that are far more popular with Thai.

Soi Pratuchai
Entrance to Soi Pratuchai
AddressesBangrak
LocationBangkok, Thailand
Coordinates13.730443°N 100.5318478°E / 13.730443; 100.5318478
South endSurawong Road
North endRama IV Road
Other
Known forGay entertainment area

Soi Pratuchai is closed since 1 April 2019. All the buildings will be destroyed and some bars will relocate in the vicinity, while others have closed down permanently.

Location and layout

Soi Pratuchai consists of a "7"-shaped walkway running between Surawong Road[4][5] and Rama IV Road. Soi Pratuchai is within walking distance from the BTS Skytrain Silom Line's Sala Daeng Station, and MRT Blue Line's Si Lom Station.

From south to north, it has a lot of gay bars, restaurants, cafés and salons:

Most Soi Pratuchai go-go bars feature boys dancing on a stage.[10] The dancers (and even occasionally the serving staff) are generally available to customers willing to pay a bar fine to take them out of the bar; the fees for sexual services are negotiated separately.[4] Some establishments advertising "massages" are in fact disguised brothels,[11] and a few famous "blowjob bars" offer oral sex at the main bar or in back rooms.

Several upstairs bars still feature (technically illegal) sex shows, with boys performing various creative acts.[12] Perhaps the most notorious of these features boys performing exotic feats involving bathing. Some of these second-floor gay bars are run by scam artists who lure tourists with offers of low prices and later present a wildly inflated bill along with a threat of physical harm should the bill go unpaid. The Tourist Police, usually stationed at Patpong 1 and Silom Road, can help in these situations.

Some establishments in Patpong employ kathoeys (or "ladyboys") either exclusively or as part of a mixed gender staff.[13]

The bars open at 6 pm and close at 2 am. [1]

See also

Sources
  1. "Soi Twilight Bangkok | No. 1 Gay Red Light District - Review Update 2018!". The Gay Passport. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. Lonely Planet 2004, p. 135.
  3. "Soi Twilight (Soi Pratuchai) - справочник мест для гей туриста". гей гид (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  4. Stapleton 2011.
  5. Jackson 2011, p. 168.
  6. Miksche, Mike (21 December 2016). "Exploring Soi Twilight, Bangkok's gay red-light district (Part 1)". Xtra. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. "Soi Twilight Bars In 2017 - Gay Bangkok". The Naughty Nomad. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  8. Swe, Albert (18 October 2013). "Top 10 gay bars in Bangkok". Coconuts. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  9. "Gay Go-Go Bars in Bangkok - Bangkok Nightlife". bangkok.com. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  10. "Nightlife District". Nightlife District. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  11. "Gay Massage: Bangkok Gay Massage". Gay Massage. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  12. Mendoza, John Ryan (18 October 2013). "A peek at Bangkok's Soi Twilight". Outrage Magazine. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  13. Das, Guttersnipe (31 July 2010). "Guttersnipe Das: An Evening in Soi Twilight". Guttersnipe Das. Retrieved 13 January 2019.

Bibliography
  • Ngo, Rosemary (1994). Go-go Bars Galore: Tourist and Expatriate-oriented Commercial Sex in Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Jackson, Peter A. (2011). Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789888083046.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Stapleton, William John (2011). The Twilight Soi. eBookIt.com. ISBN 9781456604011.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bangkok. Lonely Planet Publications. 2004.
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