Bangkok Soi Cowboy Red Light District Guide

Soi Cowboy is the smallest of Bangkok's 3 major sex districts, just a short soi (street or alley in Thai) about 400 meters long, tucked away between Asoke road and Sukhumvit Soi 23. What it lacks in size Soi Cowboy makes up in pure male entertainment value. It's hard not to feel like a rock star when bar girls tug at you at each and every direction trying to get you into their place of work.

There are at least 40 go go bars stacked into this funky neon lit sex district, not including international pubs, restaurants and venues for bands playing live music. And yes there are freelance Thai prostitutes hanging around those seemingly normal places of business.

Because that's what Soi Cowboy is simply all about, easy sex for sale and where the booze flow freely. It's a place where male visitors from all over the world think of as the Walt Disney Land for grown ups. And that's what keeps them coming back again and again.

So if you're planning to visit Soi Cowboy for the first time here's what you'll learn:

• 5 Best Soi Cowboy Go Go Bars to Visit
• Best Hotels to Stay Near Soi Cowboy

For the sake of brevity I included some links below that will help you along in your exploration of Bangkok's red light districts and you can find this wealth of information below.

Here's a must read for all newbies to Bangkok's red light districts and it's called Bangkok Bar Girls, Freelancers and Escorts Oh My!. That's where you'll find answers to some of the most popularly asked questions.

To be quite honest now is the best time to visit go go bars in Soi Cowboy. Awhile ago a majority of the go go bar owners got together and agreed on spending some money on renovating and upgrading their establishments. A few went as far as shutting their doors for a few months just to perform some major renovation.

In 2008, just recently many of the doors have opened again and the results are louder neon lights, polished mirrored go go stages and much needed newer furniture. However, the price for drinks have increased on average about 20 Baht. Which is really nothing to cry about about as it's chump change for most Westerners. But enough about that. Here's a list of go go bars in Bangkok that you just can't miss. All of them have happy hour drink specials to start the night off.

What Spice Girls so special is the huge stage with mirrored floors. What's even better is there are at least 50 scantily clad Thai ladies dancing on the stage. When you're here make sure you check out the Coyote Girls, who are basically choreographed dancers with some pretty good moves. There is a pool table on the second floor where you can match skills with your lady of the night. The happy hour drink specials are between 6:30pm to 9pm.

Shark go go bar is one of the places my friends and I frequently hang out. A lot of beautiful bar girls work here and I find that the staff here are not as pushy in trying to make us buy drinks. The place is pretty big and plenty of places to watch the ladies dance the night away. Happy hour here starts at 7pm and ends at 9pm. Do yourself a favor and don't miss this place.

Deja Vu Go Go bar is one of the newest go go bars which is why you don't see it listed on the map. As one of the newest venues on the block it has seen loads of customers every night and very popular with the expat community in Bangkok. What makes this joint unique is that there is that the ceiling is a glass floor where you can watch attractive Thai ladies dancing in short skirts. Happy hour drink time is 6:30pm to 9pm.

Tilac go go bar in Soi Cowboy is another all around popular venue. It's also the biggest on the soi with multiple dance stages filled with an above average amount of attractive Thai bar girls. Drinks here are quite reasonable compared to the rest of the go go bars in the area. I'm a big fan of Coyote dancers or showgirls and Tilac has some of the prettiest ones though they are upmarket so expect to pay a bit more if you want to bar fine one.

Baccara go go bar is also relatively new to the area. Drinks here are a bit on the pricey side but the ladies here are fun to be with in my opinion so they're really worth mentioning. Though the quality of the ladies here are inconsistent the atmposphere itself is worth a visit.

Let's face it. Most guys who visit Bangkok's sex districts want to bring ladies back to their hotel rooms. Before you do that you should make sure that the hotel you're staying in is "Guest Friendly". If you don't you're going to get hit with a 500 Baht joiner fee.

And don't worry, guest friendly hotels are not plain sleazy run down sex hotels. All of the guest friendly hotels in Bangkok are legitimate hotels with all varieties of guest such as tourist and business travelers. They generally don't hassle a guest if they bring one lady back to their rooms. They may have a problem if you bring two or more, then they will charge a joiner fee. No matter who you bring back your make sure your guest leaves an I.D card at the front desk, which security will normally request anyways.

With that said, here are the 5 Best Guest Friendly Bangkok Hotels near Soi Cowboy:

1. Westin Grande Sukhumvit
2. Livingstone's Lodge
3. Sacha's Hotel Uno
4. Citadines Sukhumvit 23
5. City Lodge 19

There are many more hotels are the are of course and you can check them out at Bangkok Guest Friendly Hotels.