Review: King’s Castle 1 in Bangkok, Thailand

King’s Castle 1 is one of the longer running go go bars in Thailand. Located in the Silom section of Bangkok the bar is part of a larger group of bars. Hence the number 1 at the end of the name. These places don’t seem to get the notoriety they once did. But that could also be said of nightlife in Patpong as a whole.

King’s Castle 1 has no relation to the previously reviewed King’s Club in Pattaya. King’s Castle is located on Bangok’s Soi Patpong 1 near the Sala Deang BTS station.

I have been a repeat visitor of King’s Castle 1 for some time. But I don’t think I have actually been inside of the place for probably 10 years. This only occurred to me on a recent visit to Patpong. So I decided to enter the bar and give it a good look in the interest of publishing an up to date review. I have to admit that I liked what I saw.

King’s Castle go go bar is very easy to find. Especially these days. Patpong is not nearly as popular as it was in times gone by. Now the place tends to look dark and even a little lonely. There are people in the street. But the throbbing crowds that once filled this alley have gone. While I am sure the remaining adult businesses in Patpong dislike this the new normal does at least make it easier to navigate the area. And at certain times there can still be a number of people found in the area.

King’s Castle Patpong

King’s Castle is located about half way up Patpong 1. It is on the right hand side if coming from Silom Rd. The name of the bar appears on the wall in large white English letters. Several scantly clad women stand outside of the bar during business hours in an effort to drive customers through the doors too. In case that was not enough there is also a gaudy LED sign that flashes “King’s Castle” in English.

For those who don’t know and haven’t visited the Patpong Museum this area was one of the original adult entertainment zones in Bangkok. Westerners (including the CIA) set up shop off of Silom and everything else followed. Some of the first modern agogos in Thailand started right in Silom.

Now Patpong has a bad reputation due to things like the ping pong bar scams that once ran rampant. Those scams were always easily avoided by simply refusing to follow touts with signs into unknown venues. But these days things have really cooled down. The scammers have slowed to a crawl and at times are not even visible at all. Legitimate adult businesses continue to operate though with a seemingly customer base. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing for said customers. And it hasn’t slowed the efforts of King’s Castle!

Inside King’s Castle 1 is a pretty standard if spacious agogo. There is a center stage where dancers get busy in their bikinis and hot pants. The ladies are of course there to make money. But they do it the right way. While the dancers will gladly accept invitations for lady drinks most will also do barfines with customers at what are basically standard rates for the area. There isn’t much pressure to buy drinks or leave the bar though. Even from mamasans. So a punter can spend an enjoyable time without getting stressed out or breaking the bank.

Staff, services and summary

King’s Castle could be described as old school. I prefer to say that it is well run. For example they have customers sign off on drinks. So when you order a 170 Baht beer the waiter will show you the price on a receipt. You sign the receipt if you accept the price and the drink. This makes it easy to avoid any drink scams or bill padding and it’s a nice touch.

There are lots of women working at King’s Castle 1 too. We are talking several dozen. On busy nights there may be sixty or seventy gals around though to be fair I wasn’t able to count them all. What is clear is that there are several shifts of ladies that take turns working the stage. And work it they do complete with actual dancing! The incredible thing in this day and age is that most of the women working the bar are slim and quite attractive too. We’re talking about fit women in their early twenties. Very little fat and very few tattoos. This reminds me of the good old days. If it is considered “old school” than so be it.

You might expect a bevy of beautiful go go dancers to be aggressive gold diggers. While these gals are clearly doing a job they don’t come off as mercenaries at all. In fact they are really laid back with most having really upbeat attitudes. This extends all the way to the top. Drink prices at King’s Castle are still pretty fair. Plus the barfine is 800 Baht ($23 USD) which is not much more than agogos were charging several years ago. Compare this to some newer Thai go gos which ask for barfines of up to 2500 Baht!

With lots of attractive and friendly dancers King’s Castle can be a fun place to spend time. Some long time dancers will occasionally put on a show for a crowd but this is not a particularly raunchy bar. Still there are lots of options for customers seeking company of the short time variety. Most of the ladies working here are eager to go for 1500 Baht or so. Plus the immediate area around the bar contains several short time hotels.

I actually think King’s Castle 1 is a pretty good go go bar. This may not be a popular opinion these days. But I am not sure how many of the people who pooh-pooh Patpong have actually even been there in recent times. King’s Castle has a large staff of mostly attractive women. The place is straight forward in its business with no trickery or schemes. Prices are in keeping with the local norms. And there is plenty of room for punters. I can’t complain. But sometimes I still do. Three-and-a-half stars.

King’s Castle 1. Soi Patpong 1, Silom, Bangkok, Thailand. Click here for a map. Open every day from 8:00 PM until 2:00 AM.