Patong, Thailand is on the west coast of the famous Phuket Island. Amazing beaches and beautiful water with CRAZY nightlife equals tourism! The scene is like no other….including, in our book, Las Vegas. The neon-lit Bangla Road is pure chaos and full of activities. Be careful what you agree to in Patong, Thailand.
Muay Thai fighting
We went to a place called Bangla Boxing Stadium. We purchased our tickets on Travelocity. There are 3 types of tickets; VIP tickets, Ringside tickets, and Stadium Seating tickets. We purchased the cheapest of the 3, Stadium Seating Tickets, for 1700 baht ($47).
The boxing stadium itself is set up so that all the seats are good seats. There is no need to upgrade to ringside or VIP. The fights are held on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights. We went on a Sunday night. There are typically 9 fights on the card, begin at 9:00 pm, and last approximately 3 hours. There are children between 12-14 that open the show, women, and men that fight during these fights.
Tradition is at the heart of all Thai boxing fights and you can hear the hypnotic Muay Thai Sarama music fill the air. The fighters also perform the traditional wai kru ram muay dance prior to each fight to show respect for each other and their coaches. The quality of the fighters escalates as the evening progresses.
Before, during, and after the fight, there are waitresses that will take your drink order and bring you a beverage to drink during the fight. There are also local bookies that you can place bets with.
Travel Tip: Sometimes you don’t want to take the good jewelry, especially during extended vacations or travel, but you still want to wear something to show others your relationship status. We tend to leave our rings, watches, and necklaces at home. In place of our wedding rings, we pack Travel Wedding Rings so we don’t get any unneeded attention. Find this and other tips on our Travel Tools page.
Bangla Road
Bangla Road is full of people, lights, music, street performers, and plenty of places to have a cocktail. The atmosphere is lively and fun. Most of the bars are outdoors and the different genres of music can be heard throughout the night skies.
The drinks are cheap and the high energy is contagious. Intermixed between the crowds of people walking from one destination to another amongst the patrons having a beverage and street performers tumbling and dancing there are also tailor shop salesmen, leaflet distributors, currency exchange handlers, street vendors and ping pong show solicitations. If you do not mind crowds and loud music and you want to experience sensory overload intermixed with a cocktail or two, Bangla Road is something you must try once.
Traveled March 2015