Walking Bangkok # 1: Lumphini Park & Patpong Night Market

Patpong night bazaar

Walking is a great way to explore a city. Yesterday, I took a few hour stroll through Lumphini Park and Silom Road, taking in the Patpong markets.

Lumphini Park is a huge space of lakes, walkways and well kept lawns that make for a relaxing reprieve from Bangkok’s city streets. In the early evening the park is full of joggers and Thai aerobics sessions. Bouncing along to a dance beat a few hundred Thais lined the walkways following the instructor’s steps in pretty decent unison. There were actually 5 instructors, spread out along the front of the walkway, to cater for all the people. It was great to watch. They are apparently there every evening at 5pm.

Aerobics in Lumphini Park

The park has many activities as well with a swimming pool, tennis courts; peddle boats, a playground and a youth centre just to name a few. There are many benches as well so you can take a break, people watch and admire the contrasting views of trees in the foreground and Bangkok’s cityscape towering behind.

Lumphini Park

After a decent walk through some of the park I crossed over to Silom road where small markets line the streets with a diverse selection of things for sale. A guy selling nun chucks, ninja stars and knives has his stall alongside a young girl’s stand dedicated solely to Hello Kitty. Not far along a sex toys sit beside statues of Buddha. The markets on Silom road merge into Patpong Road, the infamous night life district.

Patpong night market

The Patpong night market, as it is called, is an area of contrasts. Most of the market stands are what you would expect at any market; t-shirts, sunglasses, watches, bags and so on. For that reason they pull the normal crowds where old couples, families with kids and travelers alike wander the streets looking for a bargain. However, the seediness of the street is very much apparent with touts flashing ‘SEX DVD’ cards in my face every twenty meters. Others have pictures of naked women or a worn lamented card with ‘SEX SHOW”; whispering in broken English as they follow you through the markets, ‘you want show, ping-pong, look, no pay, very good’. It gets tiring after a while but the real tiredness is in the sex shows bars themselves. The buildings are generally run down and as you pass the entrance you get a quick glimpse through the doorways; a mass of young Thai girls in matching bikini’s standing on stage, gripping a pole looking bored and uninterested.

Celine and I decided to venture into one of these places a few years ago and once through the door they turned into vultures devouring the fresh meat, pouncing on us with ten hungry hands rubbing us both from every angle. The vultures could tell we were beginners and without knowing the etiquette it was pretty uncomfortable. We left soon after.

The park and the night market made a good two hours walk. On the other side of Lumphini Park is the Suan Lum night bazaar but that is for next time. You can access Lumphini Park and the Patpong night market from the Silom Metro or Sala Daeng BTS. Also, to access Lumphini Park or the Suan Lum night bazaar, get off at the Lumphini Metro station.