[6] In its prime during the 1970s and 1980s, Patpong was the premier nightlife area in Bangkok for foreigners, and was famous for its sexually explicit shows.

In the mid-1980s the sois hosted an annual Patpong Mardi Gras, which was a weekend street fair that raised money for Thai charities.

[7] In the early-1990s, however, the Patpongpanich family turned the sidewalks of Patpong 1 Road into a night market, renting out spaces to street vendors.

Patpong became a designated "entertainment zone" in 2004, along with Royal City Avenue (RCA) and portions of Ratchadapisek Road, where the largest commercial sex venues are found.

The privately owned museum was located on the 2nd floor of building 5 opposite Foodland supermarket and below Black Pagoda.

[citation needed] In Swimming to Cambodia, Spalding Gray discussed the red light district of Patpong and its prostitutes, saying there wasn't much else to see in Bangkok save the Gold Buddha during the day and the whorehouses at night.

The song complains that Farang tourists (Westerners) are often attracted to the sleazy side of Thailand (the sex tourism of Patpong and Pattaya).

[13] The 1994 book Patpong Sisters: An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World by Cleo Odzer describes the experiences of an anthropologist doing field research in Thailand.