Pink Lady Chamoix is a typical Asian-style “gentleman’s club” with friendly hostesses, plenty of drinks and live music – if you don’t want to spend a few hours in the privacy of a private karaoke room.

The 25-30 hostesses – also called “bar tendys” in Thailand – will chit-chat with you, play bar games or join you for a karaoke session in one of the rooms. The hostesses are very friendly and most of them speak basic English as well as Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Most visitors pay an annual fee, which includes liquor, but walk ins are also welcome.

And while Patpong has been sitting on its laurels and stagnating, Soi Cowboy has been up-grading and tinkering with new layouts and designs to put it ahead of the competition.

A 200-metre long pedestrian-only strip located off Sukhumvit Soi 23, Cowboy has more than 30 places of entertainment and is now considered to be Bangkok’s premier zone for heterosexual go-go bars. With the exception of a pharmacy, a couple of pool halls, a general provisions shop and a pub called Old Dutch, every establishment in Soi Cowboy is a go-go bar or a variation of the same.

There are no sex shows and therefore, mercifully, no "sex-show" touts. Instead the street is lined by "greeters", female employees of the establishments who are there to coax you into their bar. This in itself can be fun, and has none of the high-pressure strategy that you get from the aggressive male touts in Patpong.

There is not a lot to choose between the bars. Nearly all the pole-dancers are the dark-skinned daughters of rice farmers from one or another of 13 provinces in an area of northeast Thailand called Esarn.

There are no entry charges to any of the bars, and some of them lay on special shows free of charge. Among the best of these are Long Gun and its sister bar next door, the resurgent Rawhide. Tillac Bar has just been refurbished at considerable expense, and although it is probably the most comfortable, pleasant and professionally run bar of its genre in the whole of Bangkok, it doesn’t provide much in the way of entertainment.

Other bars that are popular with expats and bar-savvy visitors include Baccara, Déjà Vu and Suzie Wong.

In addition to Soi Cowboy, Soi 23 is also home to several interesting clubs of the non go-go variety. The most Western in style is the swish but small Bar Glow, which attracts an upscale clientele who still rave about the décor and the excellent DJ music that is played there nightly.

Also in Soi 23 is one of Bangkok’s finest gentleman’s clubs. The Narcissus has been there for decades, but has only recently begun to attract the attention of Westerners looking for the company of a more sophisticated hostess than can be found among the sisterhood of rice-farmers daughters who rule the roost in Soi Cowboy.

Sophistication in Thailand comes at a price, and because of the rather complicated system of pricing drinks, visitors are well-advised to make their first visit to such a club in the company of an educated Thai, by which we do not mean a taxi-driver or a tuk-tuk driver, nor the "full-of-advice" guide who showed you around the Grand Palace or Wat Pho.

Pegasus is right next to Narcissus, and is one of the only clubs in Bangkok where you do have to be a member or be invited by a member.

Access by public transport to Soi Cowboy and Soi 23 is good. Take Exit 3 from BTS Skytrain Asok Station (E4); or Soi 23 Exit from MRT underground Sukhumvit Station.

Thonglor is a 2.5km-long tree-lined boulevard featuring wedding studios, flower shops, design studios and up-market boutiques. Set back from the street are luxurious condominium and apartment blocks. It’s a genteel environment.

In stark contrast, Ekamai, less than 1 km from Thonglor, is run-down and unfashionable, but in fact it is more interesting than Thonglor when it comes to nightlife. Together, the two streets house about 60 places of entertainment ranging from gentlemen’s clubs, to discos, bars, clubs and pubs.

But don’t expect these outlets to be all in a clustered row like Patpong or Soi Cowboy. They are spread-out over a large area and not all of them are within walking distance of each other. This is a zone where you need to identify beforehand what you are looking for and then go there directly.

The Thonglor Ekamai area is home to some very good pubs. There are three completely different styles of pub here: traditional European with good food, like Witch’s Tavern (near Thonglor Soi 10); Thai-country style pubs like The Log Cabin (Thonglor Soi 18), or Best Room (between Soi 20 and Petchburi; and thirdly there are the Thai contemporary-style pub-clubs like Song Saleung (Thonglor Soi 21), Raz Bar (Thonglor between Sukhumvit and Soi 2), Nung Len (Ekamai between Soi 5 and 7), Blog 9 (between Soi 7 and 9), Booze Club (off Ekamai Soi 7) and Y50 Pub on Ekamai Soi 21. All of these have live music, beer and whisky at sensible prices, and a local atmosphere. Foreigners are very welcome, but the pubs are not known as pick-up places.

Many of the growing number of gentlemen who have had enough of the seediness of go-go bars are nowadays heading for gentlemen’s clubs (G-Clubs) such as Sherbet (near Ekamai Soi 1) or the Piano Bar . These two establishments are within walking distance of each other and are under the same ownership.

The Piano has been running for ages, but Sherbet opened in March 2007 and is already considered to be one of best G-clubs in Bangkok. Both places encourage the customer to buy a bottle of whisky for about Bt4,000, the price of which includes mixers and ice. Both establishments have sexy but tasteful dancing shows at regular intervals throughout the evening.

Eye candy at Sherbet and The Piano is of a high standard and many of the elegantly-dressed young hostesses and scantily-dressed dancers speak relatively good English and may be prepared to carry on a conversation after the clubs close, usually 2am. There is another G-bar called Exotica and it tends to favour Japanese customers.

If you yourself want to dance, as opposed to watching young Thai girls do their stuff, you should head for Santika near Ekamai Soi 11. This is a big place, packed out every night with university students and young professionals and staffed by a friendly crew who are as happy to serve you with a bottle of soda water for Bt50 as they are a top-of-the-range bottle of Chivas for Bt3,500. The music is live, and loud. People don’t go to Santika for a quiet chat.

Another place with a dance floor is We-Za (Ekamai, between Soi 21 and 23). It’s more down-market and much smaller than Santika, but is a favourite with vocational-college students looking for loud music and beer.

The best live music in the Thonglor / Ekamai area is to be found at the Nung Len pub between Ekamai Soi 5 and 7. Be warned, the music is full-on and the place is absolutely jam-packed on Fridays and Saturdays. They do have a few seats but people stand on them in order to get a better view of the band which could be playing anything from Thai pop to hard rock or hip-hop.

As at November 2007 all nightspots in the Thonglor/Ekamai area are supposed to close at 1am but in practice they usually stay open until 2am or even a little later if there are plenty of paying customers.

For Thonglor take the Skytrain to BTS Thonglor (E6). Use Exit 3 and double-back before taking a taxi to your chosen venue. For Ekamai establishments get off the Skytrain at BTS Ekamai (E7) and take Exit 3.

Just around the corner is QBar, another of the capital’s most celebrated nightspots. Attracting some of the best international DJs in the world, QBar has a devoted following built-up since the opening of the club way back in 1999. Open daily from 8PM until late, it has a capacity of about 600 revellers.

Bangkok’s newest nightclub, Twisted Republic, is also located in Soi 11 and looks set to be one of the most popular. A london-style club in Bangkok, with a heavy emphasis on music spun by top international DJs, Twisted has all the makings of a successful venture and is already making its mark. Right opposite QBar is the soi’s only gentleman’s bar. Called The Ritz (recently legally forced to change the name to The Riti), it is one of the finest of its kind, and is a favourite of Japanese businessmen.

Closing times on Soi 11 are variable, but the clubs are not known for closing early or on time!

Nana (E3) BTS station is located very near the entrance to Soi 11. Sukhumvit underground station is about 1km away.

It all started about 20 years ago, when about three shop houses were converted into cocktail bars for the discerning gentleman having a night out on the town, and not necessarily with his wife and family.

Because of the nature of the clientele, Soi 33 is actually busier on weekdays than it is on Friday and Saturday when most patrons are out of town, playing golf or at home with the very same people they are trying to avoid when they visit the cocktail bars.

Many of the bars belong to the same owner who has a deep interest in the fine arts and has named his outlets after famous impressionist painters such as Vincent Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Monet, and Gauguin. Carrying on the artistic tradition, other clubs include Dali and Goya Club.

They are all quite similar, both outside, where the best of the goods may be on display wearing evening gowns and high-heeled shoes, and inside where seating and décor can best be described as being somewhere between Chinese Kitsch and Jewish Renaissance. The ambience of the clubs is supposed to be sophisticated and relaxed, but of course it doesn’t always work out like that!

The price of drinks and other items is of course higher than in a go-go bar or pub disco because everything is dressed up that little bit more and service is to match. A bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label that might only cost Bt1,200 in Hollywood Awards on Ratchadapisek Rd would be priced at up to Bt3,800 in Soi 33.

Rather different to the cocktail bars, but in the same area, are three relatively new establishments that may be of interest. Newest of the bunch is Mojo’s, where they have live bands, pool, good food, sensibly priced drinks, coyote dancing and a lively mixed crows.

Right opposite Mojo’s is The Office, which promotes itself as a sports bar. Just around the corner is Lookie Lookie Bar, a lively cosy place that attracts a predominantly expatriate crowd looking for fun at a sensible price.

The closing time in the Soi 33 zone is 1.0am, but quite a lot of bars stay open until 2.am if enough customers are still spending money.

To get to Soi 33 by public transport take the Skytrain (BTS) to Phrom Pong station (E5) and use Exit 1 before walking about 200 metres to Soi 33. The nearest MRT underground staion is Sukhumvit, and is about 2 kilometres away.

RCA is undergoing a resurrection. Five years ago (2002) it was dead and buried, because of a reputation for poor facilities, mile-long queues for toilets, and the belief that all patrons were under the legal age to drink.

But it has staged a spectacular recovery, and is now considered by young, and many not-so-young Thais, to be the best nightspot area in town, not least because of the choice of live music that is available every night of the week. Low drink prices, free entry everywhere, and the party atmosphere that pervades much of the strip are other factors that are bring patrons back.

The biggest and best-established of the nightclubs are Route66, Flix and Slim. The 90-metre long (yes, 90 metres) Route 66 survived the downturn and after a major refurbishment in December 2004 reopened with four zones, one of which, as if to answer the critics, has the fanciest ladies toilets in Thailand. Which other toilets offer customers a live band, racks of magazines, and a make-up room as well as the usual stalls and wash-basins?

Like many other clubs in Bangkok, Route66 has separate zones for different styles of music. For example the West Zone features mostly Thai pop songs, while the East Zone is hip-hop and by definition the loudest.

The equally large but much more contemporary and beautifully designed Slim Club is a two-zone place with live music and three different bands nightly in Room One, and Hip-Hop in Room Two. Its sister and next-door neighbour, Flix, is also very modern in design and plays some of the best Hard House music you are ever likely to hear, far better than what’s on offer in most UK or USA clubs.

The newest club in RCA is owned and operated by the highly professional Santika Company. Called Hobb it is modern and comfortable and offers clubbers some excellent local bands playing a mixture of Rock, House, Hip Hop and Thai Pop.

But there are also some specialist venues. In stark contract to the massive clubs we have already mentioned, the tiny Ezze (Greek for Easy) club plays nothing but Trance, and mostly courtesy of its DJ owner, Mr Aod. The very friendly Prop Bar, which targets 25 to 35 year-olds, has three different bands every night of the week and plays only Thai Pop.

For the purist there is The Overtone Music Cave. The only non-smoking club in Bangkok, it is a medium-size contemporary venue with all seats facing the stage so that enthusiasts can focus on whichever band is on. They attract some seriously good musicians.

RCA is also home to one of Bangkok’s best gentleman’s clubs (G-clubs). Called The Forte, it provides customers with excellent eye-candy in the shape of scantily-dressed coyote dancers. Like all G-Clubs in Bangkok, they encourage you to buy whisky by the bottle, and to also buy drinks at high prices for one of the girls. To offset the high cost of lady drinks, which have to be consumed within 45 minutes, The Forte is very reasonable when it comes to buying your own. Bt2,000 for a bottle of Chivas (including four mixers) is a bargain by any G-Club standard. As in all G-Clubs, the availability of the dancer after closing-time is by no means guaranteed, but may well be an option.

For most people, getting to RCA has to be by taxi. The nearest Skytrain BTS Station is Asok (E4), five kilometres away (use Exit 3). The nearest MRT Underground is Petchburi (use Exit 1) about three kilometres from RCA.

This is not an area to go for a quiet conversation, nor even for a loud conversation. Live bands, like the ones found in Rad Pub or Baku Pub are selected not only for their musical talents but also for their ability to pump-up the decibel level.

Nor is this area a place to sit down. Many of the pubs have a few bar-stools but most patrons stand up at navel-high cocktail tables, and although a few places have a designated dance area most people jig around wherever they are standing.

Beer is good value, averaging Bt100 for Singha, or Bt80 for Chang; but a high percentage of people choose to drink and share a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red which sets them back about Bt900 including half a dozen bottles of Coke, soda water or Sprite.

The clientele is young, not as teenie as it was before the ID law started to be enforced, but the average age is probably not much higher than about 22, and in the early evening it looks like a lot less than that.. They are a lively crowd, mostly getting to and from the area in groups of three or four.

And although they are happy enough to see the occasional visitor, most of them are not looking to pick you up, that is, not unless you are a 20-year-old pop star or your name is Brad Pitt.

The Soi 4 pubs open around 9.30pm. Closing time in this zone is 2am or sometimes a bit later if enough people are still spending enough money to make it worthwhile staying open. Rad, Baku and Zaleng are among the best of the bunch, but they all have a live band or constant DJ music and, with the exception of Jow Chou and Pure Bar, they are all busy nearly every night of the week and they are all a lot of fun.

To get to Rachada Soi 4 by public transport take the MRT (underground) to Thailand Cultural Centre and use Exit 2. Soi 4 is a 400-metre walk from the exit. The BTS Skytrain doesn’t go anywhere near here.

Today, Patpong is living off its fame but is also being forced to change because of negative media reports. So many people have been ripped off here that many pundits have told would-be clubbers to stay away. However, if you know what to avoid, you can still have a great time in Patpong AND go home with money in your wallet.

The thing to remember is never to go into an upstairs bar because this is where the rip-offs occur. Yes, you will have to suffer the disappointment of not seeing a live frog or a ping-pong ball pop out of that part of the female anatomy in which you may be most interested; and you will certainly disappoint the dozens of sex-show touts who will collar you in Patpong Soi 1 an effort to persuade you that there is no cover charge and beer is only Bt60 a bottle.

But you will avoid the nightmare of being held hostage and being told that you cannot leave until you have paid through the nose for dozens of drinks that you never ordered for girls whom you never asked to sit next to you.

But by all means venture into any of the ground-floor bars where you will find an interesting mix of ready-to-go pole-dancers, most of whom are female in the traditional sense but many of whom are post-op lady-boys. You can usually, though not always, spot the latter variety by their above-average sized chest appendages. Also, their hands and feet are invariably larger than those of the real thing. The biggest and best lady-boy bar is King’s Corner in Patpong Soi 1.

Establishments most favoured by straight heterosexuals include Kings Castle 1 (Soi 1) Safari Bar (Soi 1), and Club Electric Blue (Soi 2). Perhaps the most intriguing of Patpong’s is the area’s only fetish club, BarBar (Soi 2).

For those interested in music and jigging around in the company of nubile young strangers, Musik Café and Twilo – both in Soi 1 – are worth a visit, and they often stay open a bit longer than they should. The official closing time in Patpong is 1am.

Which brings us to the newly-opened King’s Lounge (Soi 1), which has been known to stay open until very late and is the only upstairs bar in the area that you should consider visiting. Great music, great clientele, great ambiance and fairly priced.

For sheer fun and nostalgia, there is nothing in Bangkok to beat Radio City (Soi 1). They open at 10pm with a hilarious but very competent 7-piece resident band that plays old classics (Rolling Stones, James Morrison, Beatles etc). But the "famous stars" show is what attracts locals and tourists alike. It starts at 11pm and comprises full-throated impersonators of Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and sometimes Roy Orbison as well. It’s a hoot! It is also a pointer for other bar-owners in Patpong looking for the way forward.

Public-transport access to Patpong is very good. The BTS Skytrain Saladaeng (S2) (Exit 2) disgorges passengers within 50 metres of Patpong Soi 1. Metro station Silom is only 150 metres away. If getting TO Patpong is easy, getting away after midnight can be a nightmare. Ignore taxi touts and don’t allow taxi drivers to quote you a price either in Silom Rd or in Surawong Rd. Instead, walk a bit in any direction and hail a taxi whose driver is prepared to switch on the metre. You have been warned!

Nana Plaza is a courtyard comprising three floors of mostly non-descript bars staffed by people who can’t get a job anywhere else, except perhaps at the even dirtier and more depressing area known as Washington Square.

There are of course a few exceptions, and in particular Carnival Bar where, night after night, a staunch crew of girls provide terrific entertainment by mounting and being thrown off a mechanical bucking bronco, apparently the only one of its kind in Bangkok. Customers are invited to join in, and many do.

To get to Carnival, visitors have to walk up the escalator that broke down in June 2007, but the climb is worth the effort. Drinks are no more here than anywhere else in Nana Plaza, but which are noticeably higher than in Soi Cowboy or Patpong.

An imminent increase in ground rents at Nana Plaza will probably lead to the further dilapidation or final closure of several bars.

The nearest BTS Skytrain is Nana (E3). Exit 4 brings you down in the right direction to walk about 400 metres to the entertainment zone.