Located in Sukhumvit Soi 4, Nana Entertainment Plaza (Nana Plaza) is Bangkok’s sleaze central. Notorious for its racy themed go-go bars - from school-girl and leather dominatrix to ladyboy - it’s literally a ’sex mall’, with three storeys of eye-popping activity all focused around a square-shaped central atrium. Unlike at the better-known Patpong, Nana is a ’strictly adult’ scene. That means no families, no markets and few curious tourists strolling in for a look. It also means a lot more men hell-bent on renting bodies.

Walking down Soi 4 from Sukhumvit Road, you’ll know you’re approaching Nana when you spot the line of street vendor carts preparing an array of weird and wonderful bites. These include ’som tum’ (spicy green papaya salad), ‘kai tod’ (charcoal-grilled chicken) and fried insects, among other odd delicacies - comfort food for the bargirls who mostly hail from Thailand’s northeastern Isaan Province.
Young girls in halter tops and short mini-skirts can be found filling up bags of crispy invertebrates, which they chop up and eat with rice and a dash of ‘nam prik’, chili and shrimp jam (watching them refuel on these down-to-earth pleasures, even joining in, makes for an interesting diversion from the other sorts of pleasures found here).
