Nana Plaza
Building in Bangkok, Thailand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nana Plaza (formerly Nana Entertainment Plaza) is an entertainment complex and red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally built as a shopping center, Nana Plaza occupies a three-story commercial building in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok about 300 metres (330 yd) from the BTS Skytrain's Nana Station.[2][3] It describes itself as the "worlds largest adult playground".[4][5][6] Its name originates from the influential, property-holding Nana family, Lek Nana being the most prominent member.
Nana Plaza entrance sign, 2017 | |
  Nana Plaza Location within Bangkok | |
| Address | 3-3/1 Sukhumvit Soi 4, Sukhumvit Road[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Coordinates | 13°44′28.9″N 100°33′11.4″E |
| Owner | Paul Hayward |
| Public transit | Nana BTS station |
| Website | |
| nanaplazabkk | |
Along with Soi Cowboy and Patpong, Nana Plaza is one of Bangkok's three most concentrated red-light districts. All attract primarily tourists.[2]
History
The plaza's U-shaped building is roughly square-shaped, with a single opening on the west side, and consists of a ground floor and two additional floors arranged around a courtyard.[2] The plaza opened in 1983[7] and by the mid-1980s around twenty go-go bars had opened in the three-level court, taking advantage of the expansion of tourist hotels in the area.[6]
In 2012 Nana Plaza was sold to a Thai JVC company Nana Partners Co Ltd., co-owned by Fico corporation and Panthera Group (formally known as Eclipse group) – one of Thailand's largest bar and nightclub operators.[8] Panthera Group renovated the complex, becoming the landlord and providing the management and security services.[8]
Facilities
On the plaza's three floors there are thirty go-go bars, one beer bar and three small short-time hotels that rent out rooms by the hour. Soi 4, the street outside the plaza, is a venue for street prostitution and contains beer bars, massage parlors, and hotels of the conventional and short-time variety.[7] Short-time hotels are rented to patrons taking a bargirl for sex. Most bar girls in Nana Plaza will leave with customers upon payment of a bar fine. Smoking is banned indoors.[3] There are two elevators, one on the north side of the building and one on the south.[citation needed] The building closes at 03:00 and lies dormant until the following evening.[3] In 2016 two waitresses in the plaza's Bangkok Bunnies go-go bar said that they received monthly wages equivalent to £130 (US$165) and daily tips equivalent to £11–16 (US$14–20).[9] This compares with a 2016 average monthly wage in Thailand of around 13,800 baht (US$388).[10]
As of July 2019, there were seven kathoey ("ladyboy") bars in Nana Plaza;[11][12] Several other bars have a few ladyboys in their line-ups mixed with their regular go-go dancers.
Gallery
Entrance to Nana Plaza when it was a shopping center
Entrance to Nana Entertainment Plaza showing the old overhead signage
Nana Plaza, May 2004
Ladyboys, Cascade Bar
Nana Plaza, November 2015
Nana Plaza, November 2025
