After recently cleaning up its act, Patpong's become one of the 'must' night shopping destinations for avid shoppers. Found in the built-up area known as Silom, the place is always busy and chaotic with all the commotion from the GO-GO bars nearby and lots of foreign tourists. This market in Bangkok's notorious nightlife district is often the first and easiest stop for many tourists just arriving to Bangkok, whilst lodging at one of several mid-to-upper-end hotels in Silom.

Be warned though, the quality and prices of most items sold are about as real and trustworthy as the girls shaking their wares in go-go bars flanking the area. Both market and go-go bars seem to complement each other well, but remember not to be fooled by first impressions, and to bargain hard.

How to get there: Coming from BTS Siam station, depart at Sala Daeng station and exit down one of the right-hand stairs. Follow the increasing trail of vendors along the sidewalk, and after five minutes, you'll know you're there.
Items at market: Cheap 'brand-name' items, CD's, souvenirs, T-shirts, etc
Open: 18:00 - around 01:00 (every day)
 

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These pictures are of the Patpong night market in the Silom neighborhood. This was right near a Skytrain station, so we ended up going a couple of times. Again, not my pictures, I neglected to take any at the market. This was probably the most "authentic" market we went to as there were many local people there as well as tourists. Fake versions of just about any high end purse or watch can be bought here. You can see the fake watches in one of the stalls. I ended up getting some silk shirts here very cheap. Bargaining is expected. I had studied enough Thai before the trip to bargain in Thai. It worked well sometimes and other times my accent was evidently too thick to be understood. That was OK, everybody carries a calculator that the shop owner and buyer use to give offers back and forth. I even saw some of the Thai people bargaining this way. Betsy was a little intimidated by the bargaining aspect of shopping there, but by the second day, she was a pro. She often got better deals than I could.
The night market is a fun place to watch the Thai people working their stalls. It is clearly a social activity as well as business. I believe most of the vendors have day jobs and this is something they do for additional income. While you can't understand what they're saying, you can tell that people are catching up with each other, gossiping, and sharing jokes. There are some resturants that line the streets where the market is and during the evening you can see food being delivered to the vendors. It looks like that's how most of them get their dinner