If nightlife is your thing, then Soi Bangla, Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand is your place. The neighbouring resorts of Karon, Kata, Rawai and Surin cater very well for visitors looking for a little entertainment in the evenings, but Patong is party central.

Soi Bangla runs from the beach road for only around 400m until it reaches Rat-U-Thit road, but it packs an awful lot into those metres. Several distinct strips run off Bangla and are packed with clusters of ‘Beer Bars’.

Soi Tiger is different; a primeval structure designed like a Flintstones movie set, Soi Tiger has dozens of beer bars at street level and also hosts one of the most popular late light venues in Patong in the Tiger Disco.

Soi Seadragon, a little further down from Tiger, has been there forever, or at least it seems that way. Seadragon is also unique in having bars around the outside, mostly go-go bars, and beer bars down the centre.

Further along Bangla still you will find Soi Eric, another large cluster of beer bars. Next comes Soi Crocodile, or Soi Kathoey. Kathoey is the Thai word for ‘ladyboy’, beware the ladyboy! Beyond Crocodile is the Dragon Entertainment Complex, with bars at ground level and a huge go-go bar above, and finally just beyond Dragon comes Soi Easy, the quietest and most laid back soi of all.

The nightlife scene changes all the time in Patong, bars come and go and there seems to be a new bar strip squeezed into the area every season. The latest are Soi Lion and Soi Sukhumvit Road.

Bangla itself has some great bars that have been there for years; Shipwreck, Blue Lotus, U2 and Kangaroo bars all have a wonderful ‘lived in’ feel to them. Whilst, over the road, the Aussie Bar has invested heavily in satellite TV and shows just about every game you could wish to watch.

If you hanker for a pint or two of Guinness, Scruffy Murphys just along from the Aussie Bar can help you with that and they often have live music too. Bangla has become a ‘walking street’ in the evenings and is closed to traffic, which gives it something of a carnival atmosphere. It also gives you a little room to out-manoeuvre the kathoey at the end of Soi Crocodile; never a bad thing!

For disco divas, there are a few places to choose from. Apart from the already mentioned Tiger Disco, just across Rat-U-Thit sit Baya Beach and Taipan. On the beach road, Patong’s original Banana Disco is still very popular and the famous Safari Disco is a little way out of town on the road to Karon.

Karon itself has a couple of nightlife areas, Luang Poh Chuan road, Karon’s version of Soi Bangla, and Chalong Circle. The scene in Karon is certainly more low-key than Patong, but it has a funky, laid back feel that many will find to their taste.

Beyond Karon, the nightlife scene is quieter and more geared towards locals, though ‘locals’ in this case are generally expats or longer stay / budget travellers.

For a real flavour of how the locals do nightlife, Phuket Town is the place to go. Don’t expect there to be a strip though, the nightlife in Phuket is scattered all over the town. If you aren’t going anywhere specific, it can make sense to hire a taxi or a tuk-tuk for the evening and ask to be shown around the local hotspots.

In nightlife terms, Phuket has something for everyone. For a raucous, hedonistic party try Patong. For a slightly less full-on experience, but with hedonism just over the hill should you need a fix, Karon should fit the bill. Backpackers, surfers and hippies will travel further south and find that Kata, Rawai, Nai Harn and Chalong are ideal, and anyone lucky enough to find themselves in Surin will surely come to believe that Paradise exists and it lies on Thailand’s Andaman coast, just North of Patong.