Patong Beach is the center of all tourist oriented nightlife on Phuket, Thailand. There, located within a radius of half a kilometer around Soi Bangla, are over 150 bars, pubs, discos and ago go bars.

The pubs, bars and ago go bars of Patong Beach are the most popular nighttime destinations on the island. They give the town its unique flavor of a lively, fun place until long after the sun goes down.

Patong Beach features some great discos too. Two of them, the Banana Disco and the Shark Club, are also located at Soi Bangla. Another one, the Safari Pub, is on the hill towards Kata Beach.

Another option are the Thai-style "coffee shops" - nightclubs where ladies in fancy dresses take turns getting up to sing Thai songs while customers eat and drink and, occasionally, entice singers to join them at their tables. Later at night there are sometimes farcical skits on stage and other types of entertainment.

If you want to know more about the nightlife in Patong Beach, read more in the sections marked on the navigation bar to the left of the page.

Bars and Pubs
Lined up next to each other in long rows around Soi Bangla, the bars and pubs of Patong Beach are probably the most popular nighttime destination for most visitors.

Most of the bars are small and simple with stools or benches and some kind of roof. The music can be loud and often very mixed as each bar has its own stereo system. The volume of music can make conversation difficult but a fun time is to be had by all.

The atmosphere is easy and relaxed as it is very easy to take a seat in one of the many bars or pubs and enjoy people-watching as there is always a sea of human beings moving around you. In season Phuket is awash with people from many different countries and Patong Beach in particular becomes a very cosmopolitan place. People who finish a days diving, sunbathing or sightseeing enjoy congregating in these places to meet and party on into the night.

There is a wide variety of bar sports to play with any of your new found friends. Games such as banging a nail into a tree stump with a special hammer are quite popular and can get quite funny after a couple of beers. Connect Four, Backgammon or the Thai version of Ka Plunk are also in vogue. Some of the slightly larger bars have pool tables (for as cheap as THB 10) and dart boards, giving the opportunity do do something more than just drink.

A visit to the bars and pubs of Patong is for many the ritual by which they begin the nightly party.

A Go Go Bars
In Patong Beach, the heart of Phuket Night Life and Entertainment, there are many A Go Go Bars, most of them located around Soi Bangla.

If you are not familiar with A Go Go Bars from TV documentaries or Hollywood movies, here you find a short introduction into what a go gos are all about.

An ago go bar is a place, where you can watch Thai girls dancing to energetic music clothed in nothing more than a string bikini. These girls are not totally nude, as this is officially prohibited by Thai law.

The girls may interact with the customers during the time they are not dancing. They are not owned in any way by the bar and if they want to share their time with the guest, it is their decision to make. If you enjoy the company of a particular lady and would like her to accompany you perhaps to dinner or a disco, it is customary to pay the bar a small fee, since if she accompanies you, she is no longer assisting the bar by providing entertainment.

Anyway, if you have an open mind, visiting an ago go bar will surely give you a unique insight into this aspect of tourist entertainment.

Thai Massage
After having had a fascinating dive in the Andaman Sea or after a night dancing in one of Patong's discos, a relaxing massage done by the soft hands of Thai girls will help to refresh and revive you. Thai traditional massage is one of the most famous recreational activities in Thailand (this should not be confused with Full Body Massage, offered in specialized massage parlors like Christins in Patong Beach).

Practiced for centuries and passed down verbally from one generation to the next, from teacher to student or from parent to child, traditional Thai massage has a long history.

The roots of this way of therapeutically healing and recreation go back to India. Jivaka Komabhacca, a doctor friend and contemporary of Buddha, is believed to be the founder of this practice over 2.500 years ago. The heavy Indian influence on the southeast Asian cultures including Thailand and the Malay peninsula, helped spread the knowledge about massage rapidly throughout the region. Ancient Chinese medical techniques, brought in by a large number of immigrants, had further influence on Thai massage.

At the time that Thai culture came to full flower under the kings of Ayutthaya, a large collection of medical texts about Thai massage and its techniques existed. But with the Burmese invasion of 1776, leading to the destruction of the capital, most of these scriptures were lost forever. What was left was carved in the Wat Poh in Bangkok in 1832 by order of King Rama III, who wanted to preserve this great tradition.

According to these inscriptions, the theoretical basis of Thai massage are energy lines, of which the major ten are called "Sen". Important acupressure points are located on these lines which run through the body and working on them will help to remove blockages of energy flow.

Therapeutic massage for treatment of specific conditions and diseases is also practiced in Thailand, but only by a small number of skilled practitioners. For a good experience of popular Thai massage, a massage girl from one of the many massage parlors all over Phuket or even one of the beach girls offering a massage for a few Baht will suffice.

Simon Cabaret and Transvestite Shows
Going to the cabaret on Phuket has a different meaning than almost anywhere else in the world. The island boasts extravagant cabaret shows with stunning costumes, bright lights, expensive sets and a unique feature, most of the performers are men dressed as women.

Transvestites and transgendered people are much more accepted in Thailand than in Western countries, perhaps because the Buddhist religion practiced in the region does not have texts or doctrines that are judgmental of different lifestyles. Whatever the reason, they can be often be seen on the streets and in everyday jobs where they are employed without persecution.

At the Simon Cabaret, famous well beyond Phuket, an all-male revue with the the utmost extravaganza can be experienced. Performers recreate a traditional Thai dance or lip-synch songs popular in countries around the world.

Besides the Simon Cabaret, the popularity of transvestite and transsexual cabaret performers has spread to most parts of Phuket. Many of Phuket's five star resorts featuring transvestite cabaret performers for special occasions and numerous other venues can be visited. Most well-known are the Andaman Queen Cabaret and shows at the Royal Paradise Complex.