Ping pong at Pat Pong
Expect to pay a 500 baht (10 euro) cover charge. Expect to pay 500 baht for your first drink. Expect to be charged 300 baht for the few drinks you're almost forced to pay for some of the girls.
Now, keep the above in mind when you enter any pingpongpussy club on Pat Pong. It will only get better.
It's hard to ignore the touts/proppers and once you give in, you'll be fooled into thinking a beer is 100 baht, the same as the cover charge. You'll get in, you'll get your first drinks and the show will start. Then the madame will come up to you and explain that, really, cover is 500 baht and the first drink is 500 baht. Colas for the girls are 300 baht, but every next drink is only 100 baht.
Obviously, if you can keep your cool and decide not to walk out, this is where your bargaining skills come in handy. If you're part of a group, you stand a better chance of getting a good deal.
These are the shows you can expect:
+ Shooting darts from a pipe to pop balloons. You can hold the balloon.
+ Shooting ping pong balls, but only a meter's distance or so.
+ Smoking a cigarette.
+ Pulling a string of flowers from that dark spot.
+ Pulling a string of very sharp razor blades from that same dark spot.
+ Popping a raw egg in and out.
+ Blowing out the candles on a cake.
+ Opening a bottle of water in a very unusual way.
In the end, during the bargaining round, I got the price 'down' to 500 baht entry and 100 baht per drink. I was irritated for having to bargain down a price I did not agree to, but in the end, the deal wasn't too bad. The show's interesting, but in no way sexy or hot. It's a series of circus acts, designed to optimize its financial return.
"I'm lady boy, give me money."