What are the neighbourhoods to avoid in Bangkok?
Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is in my opinion one of the most amazing cities in the world. Bangkok is a cosmopolitan city, full of contrasts and it is Thailand’s main commercial and cultural center.
Bangkok, also call the “City of Angels” is located around the Chao Phraya River, close by the Gulf of Thailand. It enjoys a wonderful year round weather of about 28 degrees Celsius and high humidity levels.
Bangkok main attractions are the so called “wat” and that is, the temples! There are more than 300 temples of traditional Thai architecture and decoration and give the city, the exotic vibe that we all dream of when we think about Thailand.
Bangkok receives millions of visitors a year, and this is no coincidence, when you visit Bangkok for the first time, you quickly understand why.
The food in Bangkok is a highlight, local food, restaurants with views, street food, drinks are just mind blowing. No less are the skyscrapers, cultural activities and upscale malls that complete the picture of an incredible city.
When it comes to accomodations in Bangkok, you can get incredible hotels, even hostels, at a ridiculously cheap prices and you will still be received with Thai hospitality.
Lastly, what would be of a Bangkok trip without a taste of its nightlife.
When it comes to safety, Thailand in general and Bangkok in particular, is relatively safe. Bangkok is relatively safe for foreigners, even solo women. Just like any other big city, trouble can take place and Bangkok is no exception. Whilst, being aware of the issues and concerns that can get you in trouble during your trip is important, it is also crucial, not to get manipulated by the media, which tends to sensationalise the crimes in the news.
It is because of all that media exposure and the Hollywood movies, that I get asked constantly, is Bangkok safe? Bangkok safe at night?
Yes, Bangkok is safe at night. There are some things to be aware of to ensure you are safe when going out. Those things are, ping pong shows scams, where you will be forced to pay a big bill after the show and you will be forced to do so by the local gangs. Also, there are areas of Bangkok to be avoided by tourists, as they are mafia governed, like Soi Sukhumvit and Soi Phaholyothin streets. Tourists should also, pay attention to drink spiking, getting drugged up and having commercial sex, as these, can lead to robbery, diseases and even fatal outcomes. Lastly, watch out for ATM, card and gem scams by friendly locals, who will lie and cheat to get your money.
National statics do point out at Bangkok being a safe city and violence against foreigners and tourists is rare.
Of course, it is not a perfect world and there are some areas to be avoided, some things and activities to be avoided and to be cautious about, but none of them should put you off when thinking of visiting Bangkok.
As mentioned above, just like any other big and highly populated city, taking extra care of your belongings and behaviour is essential, but also, common sense like you would do in New York, for example.
Keep reading this post to learn more about, if Bangkok is safe at night, which areas to be avoided and things that are an absolute no in this country to ensure you have a wonderful trip.
What are the safety concerns in Bangkok at night?
Although, Bangkok is generally a safe city to travel to for tourists and visitors, there are certain safety issues worth knowing when in Bangkok.
During the daytime, most of these issues are related to small crimes, tourist scams and petty thefts.
One of the best examples of pickpocketing when in Bangkok is crowded street markets, such as, the Chatuchak Market or even the floating market. There are locals paying attention to distracted tourists, to get their hands on them. It must be said that most of these places, do have signs around the walls warning of "pick pockets” but they won’t put much attention in surveilling these activities. Simply, be cautious, keep your belonging with you at all times and do not go out with a lot of cash or important documents and you will be fine!
Another very common tactic of petty theft in Bangkok is the” drive-by” bag snatching. Essentially, a driver/s in a motorbike would approach a tourist, really quickly, and would pull the bag from the shoulder and drive away with your belongings. These acts have increased in the last couple of years, although, they are usually non violent.
My advise here would be, to not resist or hold on to your bag, as they would keep driving and they would drag you around the road and you could result badly injured. Also, keep your bag tight to your body and don’t show off valuables that can call for attention.
Lastly, there is a general issue with scams and tourist traps in Bangkok. This can be easily identified in the overpriced food that you pay in certain restaurants catered for tourists.
The queues for these actions are, the waiters rudeness will be apparent, they would be hesitant to give back change, they won’t provide you with a printed bill, suddenly, you will get charged for dishes you haven’t eaten and other things along these lines. Simply, try more local places, where the food is actually more authentic. Also, ask to pay right after ordering your food.
Other scams include, but no limited to, tuk tuk rides, “organised tours”, temple clothe rentals, etc.
Whilst, those general issues described above usually happen during the day and they normally don’t entail further violence or big problems, it is during the night, that you have to pay attention to.
Violent assaults, rape, other sexual abuse and theft do happen in Bangkok, but it is not the common rule, particularly, for foreigner visitors. Same occurs with murders, although, from 2019 the numbers have gone up a bit, they are still a rare event, especially, towards tourists. That being said, there are a number of specific issues to consider about Bangkok at night time.
Bangkok Nightlife Warnings
Ping Pong Shows
Bangkok is famous (or infamous) for its shady nightlife, human and drug trafficking gangs, illicit gambles and other issues. Whilst, it can be very fun, make no mistake, there are things to be aware of as Bangkok at night can have a darker side.
One of the most famous shows in the world and obviously, populated by tourists are the notorious Ping Pong Shows. These are sex shows, exhibited women (who obviously are there due to poverty), essentially, inserting and/or ejecting objects out of their vaginas to amuse tourists. Usually, ping-pong balls, sometimes live animals, sometimes, razors and endless other objects.
The way the whole Ping Pong show starts is by tourists being enticed and engaged by a “fun” and “charismatic” man on the street, right in front of these clubs. Tourists, who most of the times, just want to experience these shows “only once”, to tick it off out of their bucket list of things to do in Thailand, agree with these men, to go inside the clubs.
The shows, usually, take place in the upper part of a club of what is called go-go bar, upon a 300 Baht promise of having the best night of your entire life.
Now, the dangers and scams of these shows reside in the fact that, most customers won’t be allowed to leave the club until they pay for a huge bill that they were not expecting, including tipping the dancers, tipping the waiters, not enough drinks were bought and so on. I have met a guy, who went in to one of these shows with a group of other friends, who experienced this skimming activity. When they tried to leave the place, they were stopped and threatened with the mafia showing if they refused to pay what they were claiming.
Some tourists, do take it further and things can escalate really quickly and your dreamy and fun holiday can suddenly become a nightmare that can cost you expensive. If you really must go to one of these shows, expect this behaviour, and prepare to pay extra. Be kind and polite with everyone and do not confront.
Nightclubs and bars
Nightclubs and bars in Bangkok is a whole world in its own. Many of them don’t even fulfil the necessary safety standards according to the law. Besides loud music and alcohol, in most bars around the party areas will be loaded with prostitutes, normally, female escorts and “ladyboys”.
Just like the ping pong shows, these bars are experts in scamming drunken tourists with a huge bill. Instead of paying one drink at the time some of these visitors let the bill racking up, normally, behind the bar and when they realised the bill is inflated with an unexpected total price. Without mentioning, that those prostitutes and “ladyboys” game up their loveliness to get free drinks that would add to your bill at least double that what you paid originally.
When the tourists get angry at this situation, this only get worse, because usually the owners of the bar would threaten with violence, they even become aggressive and some people do get badly injured.
“Ladyboys”, are fortunately openly accepted in Thai society in all circles. However, some of the ones governing the nightlife can get tourists in trouble.
They can be by themselves or go on a small group of ladyboys to rise up their charms and get the wallet, cash and other valuables from those tourists.
Not only,“Ladyboys”, but also, prostitutes and “other friendly people” working in those bars or nightclubs can be problematic. There are increasing cases of drinks spiking and assaults afterwards, where they leave tourists absolutely ripped off and ill.
In nightspots in Bangkok is an excellent idea to be safe and take precautions around what you drink. Never leave it out of your guard and also get bottled drinks, where you can see they have just been opened new in front of you. Do not share drinks with anyone, not even those” friendly sexy ladies” that will make you feel amazing and do not get premixed drinks from punchbowls.
One of the very common questions you will get in these places are “Want a taste?”, coming from some with an exotic looking drink. Whilst, this might sound like a warm gesture, I would recommend for you to always say no.
I know of tons of cases from people I have met over the years travelling in Bangkok (Thailand in general), who have experienced nasty cases of “ladyboys” or prostitutes spiking their drinks with sedatives and other drugs, and they have woken up hours later, not only, very sick, but also, without their belongings.
There was a very notorious case, not long ago, of six women acting as a gang, working around the local nightlife area in Bangkok, where they were drugging the tourists right there in the club for other people (usually males from their exploiting gang) to rob them when going back home.
Or whether they were offered a sexual proposition. The ladies or ladyboys convinced the tourists to go back to their room with them to have “a last drink” and they used to use a mix of Alprazolam, Atarax and Chlorphen-Y pills to knock them out. Then, they would rob every single thing in their rooms.
Unsafe personal encounters
It is prominent and well known that the nightlife of Bangkok leads many if not most of the visitors to some personal encounters of different sorts.
It has been reported recently, that Bangkok has the highest STD infection rate of Thailand, particularly, HIV with a 30.8% of prevalence in Bangkok. Homosexual relations and Ladyboys sexual contact, rise up to almost 50% of the total data.
There is an absurd high number of terrible STDs, such as, HIV infections in Bangkok, which thousands of people live with. From which, many of them are sex workers.
Be aware that, in the last decade the numbers of HIV infected Western tourists, have increased dramatically, with European visitors heading the list. Most of those infected people acknowledge in a study, to have practiced sex with commercial sex workers, without using a condom as protections against STDs like HIV.
This is a big safety concern when going out at night and engaging in personal relationships with strangers and/or hookers in Bangkok.
Also, be aware that HIV treatment (and other STDs) is a free service for Thai nationals, not for tourists (unless, you hold a working visa). Most international insurances policies do not cover these sort of treatments, leading you to go to a private hospital with expensive bills out of your pocket to treat your disease/s.
Less common, but still very prevalent in Bangkok amongst visitors is HIV and Hepatitis infection contractions, through shared needles used to shoot up drug, when partying at night.
This entails another issue of its own that we will describe below, as the drug policy in Thailand is harsh! Drugs are no no in Thailand.
Night Scams. Gems, jewels and card games.
Endless number of tourists and visitors have been victims of scams, some of the so bad that they have cost tons of money. Most of these scenarios occur after dark, when visitors are most vulnerable, like the Full Moon parties, touristic areas and even restaurants.
Gem Scams
You will notice that sometimes, walking in the evening around the temples or restaurants, you will be approached by a friendly fellow, well dressed, who will engage in conversation amicably. When asked where you are going, he will respond “oh no it is closed today”, and you will be offered (very persuasively) an alternative plan guided by him.
Watch out for this! It might sound really stupid and you might think “who would fall for this trick?” many people!
Those fellows, they seem to be just passers-by but they are scammers. They will convince you to visit a gem factory with super discounts and to make a lot of money back in your country.
There is a big gang in charge of these scams, even the tuk tuk driver get a commission for taking you to those “factories”. They take advantage of the later hours of the day to go under the city patrol radar and scam tourists mainly.
Do not take anything from strangers to take back home with the promise of making money, this can lead to serious consequences, first of all, you will lose a lot of money, secondly, sometimes, those gems contain narcotics inside, where tourists are mere mules (sometimes they don’t even know it) and that can cost you! So do not fall for this.
Card games scams
Be careful with the “friendly card games”. Around the most visited areas, bars and restaurants of Bangkok, especially, in the late evening and night time, there are many “lovely folks” trying to befriend you, telling you all their stories about how sick their sons are, how they have to pay expensive hospital bills and they convince you to have a good time playing cards with the locals.
This is a massive scam. There are violent gangs behind these situations, where tourists are dragged into a few games, they seem to be winning a couple of hands, but suddenly the luck changes! This can cost you a lot of money, these gangs even force tourist to withdraw a lot of money from ATM machines to pay those card debts.
Also, if caught by the police, you could end up in jail with charges of gang association and gambling, as the former is illegal in Thailand.
There have been cases of Westerners experiencing their fingers being chopped, some have been shot dead after they refused to pay more money in these card games. Very unsafe, simply, don’t engage in conversation and do not get involved.
ATM machine card scam.
This type of skimming procedure is very popular in Bangkok, particularly, in night spots, like clubs, bars and even small commerces.
Essentially, when trying to withdraw money from the ATM machines in those places, your card will get sucked up and a friendly local will come along to “help” you by asking you to re-introduce the PIN code again, that he will memorise and use with the card that his device has taken.
If confronting this situation, the local gangs can gather around and your evening can turn into a disaster. Simply, take money out of an ATM inside banks and hotels and pay cash when possible.
What are the neighbourhoods to avoid in Bangkok?
Patpong and Soi Cowboy
Patpong and Soi Cowboy are Bangkok’s red light districts. They are not dangerous themselves so much as how things can turn into if you decided to go into one of those ping pong shows described above. There can be some small crime around if they spot wasted westerners and also fights are common around that area. Just watch out for drunk aggressive people and never engage into a fight or reply back to a Thai. they can get very snappy and often times they can get their gang friends.
Khao San Road
Khao San Road is a well known district packed with backpackers, due to its budget and inexpensive accommodation. This area is to be visited with care, especially, at night, most importantly if you are staying in this area. Up until a couple of years ago, the area was mainly populated by young Western tourists ready to live the crazy Thai nightlife. But lately, there has been in increase of a strong Chinese presence, cause for the scale of pickpocketing and petty theft in the area.
Not only, Chinese gangs gather around the area, pretending to be backpackers, to then break in the rooms and steal everything, but also, Thai gangs and others. Especially, at night time, the area becomes dangerous for those who don’t extreme the precautions and just let loose on alcohol and other drugs.
The area is also famous for prostitution, harassment of tourists and drugs. In fact, recently, it has become a Marihuana hub, where gangs and mafia make a very profitable business with visitors, sometimes, leading to very nasty situations of violence and assaults. Others, do get drunk and put the guard down, getting robbed, drugged up and ultimately mugged.
Be very careful of those who will come super close and friendly towards you, even if they offer you drugs, promising that everything is fine and safe, it is not! Being caught with drugs or in a situation where drugs are involved in Thailand will just take you to jail.
Khao San area is also famous for the locals to be not so friendly, especially, when they drink. Thai people do drink a lot and they can become quite aggressive. This is even more so if they get confronted. Then it becomes like an honour problem, they call it “lose face” and that can lead to serious consequences.
As mentioned above, drink spiking and drugging are very common, followed by robbery. Police around this area, is quite corrupted, so I would simply, avoid this area and only visit it during the daytime watching out for your belongings.
There has also been a recent increase in a new type of scam around this area and extending to all touristic areas in the business district of Bangkok. This is the wallet scam. That is pretty ladies (usually, ladies working for the local gangs) targeting males or females to flirt, befriend and whatever it takes to then casually, drop their wallet or purse, expecting the tourist to have a good gesture and return the item to them.
They then, claim that money, around 6 thousand baht, was stolen from the purse or wallet. This is followed by a threat of police arrest of refuse to pay it back or mafia action.
Lastly, Thai police have released the most dangerous areas of Bangkok, where the most dangerous crime occures, most of them involving the mafias of drugs, sex and human trafficking. These areas are to be completely avoided, as serious crime occurs there. There was a tourist, who got his throat slit when getting his mobile phone robbed. These districts are:
- Soi Lat Phrao
- Soi Phaholyothin
- Soi Suphaphong
- Soi On Nut
- Soi Chalermprakiat
- Victory Monument
- Sanam Luang
- Ramintra Market
There you go! now you know what the night time dangers of Bangkok are and where the safety issues reside in this incredible city. Don’t let these problems put you off when thinking of going to Bangkok, as most tourist have a great time. Simply, read through this guide and you will be fine.
Just remember, to be safe when having personal relations with strangers in Bangkok. There are still, really high numbers of HIV infected people, as well as, other STDs.
Do not go to areas where the mafia is active, particularly, as a woman, don’t go to isolated places by yourself and generally, speaking don’t ever lose control when going out at night.
Drink spiking, drugging and robbing are a common tactic in Bangkok nightlife. Also, don’t do drugs voluntarily, as drugs possession and trafficking are a serious issue in Thailand and if caught you will fulfil a very long time in prison.
Lastly, be aware of the ping pong shows, gem and card games scams, as they can, not only, cost you a lot of money, but also, your physical integrity.