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Bangkok nightlife - night life guide on Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:00 am
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Bangkok nightlife - night life guide
Bangkok bar girls await their next pickup
There’s a huge range of nightlife options in Bangkok and at night the downtown area can become a frenetic, pulsating, lively place. There are many Western-style expat pubs, cocktail lounges, go-go bars, hostess bars, huge super-clubs, street-side cheap drinks and many more options. There are also lots of gay and lesbian bars, with whole areas dedicated to gay or mixed crowds.
There are many areas in which you can bar-hop between close-by pubs, or visitors can take a taxi to a standalone club which will typically feature live music and lots of whisky.
Most places in Bangkok close at 02:00 at the latest, leaving you to either go home (the sensible option!) or continue on to find an illegal 'after-hours' pub, which often involves quickly ducking under a half-closed shutter and tip-toeing upstairs into a packed and sweaty room filled with other like-minded party-goers.
Some after hours places don't actually open until 03:30 or 04:00, meaning that the many pavement bars on Sukhumvit Road may be your only option for a few late night Chang beers before hitting the real party places later on.
Some recommended Bangkok clubs and discos
Q-Bar: very popular with Thais and, more recently, some expats, this expensive, fun place always gets busy. It's best to taxi there rather than trying to navigate the backstreets on foot. Nearest BTS: Nana. Open: 21:00-02:00; entry: Sunday to Thursday - 500 baht with 2 free drinks, Friday to Saturday - 700 baht with 2 free drinks; 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11, Klongtoey, tel: (02) 252 3274.
Bed Supperclub: famous throughout Bangkok, this popular and pricey venue always provides for an entertaining night. Nearest BTS station: Nana. Open: 19:30-02:00; entry: Monday to Wednesday - 600 baht with 2 free drinks, Thursday - 700 baht with 2 free drinks, Friday and Saturday - 800 baht with 2 free drinks; 26 Soi Sukhumvit 11, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey-nua, tel: (02) 651 3537.
Concept CM2: located in the basement of the Novotel in Siam, this is a lively and popular, centrally-located venue. It only gets going after 23:00 and is full of freelancing ‘ladies of the night’ (Thai and Eastern European). Open: 22:00-02:00; entry: Entrance - 650 baht with 2 free drinks, Sun to Thursday - 350 baht with 1 free drink (for women); Siam Square Soi 6, tel: (02) 209 8888.
RCA: not a disco but a whole area for clubbing, with nearly a dozen clubs on one pedestrianised street, pulling the young rich Bangkok Thai crowd every night of the week. It also attracts clubbers among expats and some tourists. Best bet for a guaranteed night of boogeying, but don’t expect any girls for hire. It's a 20-minute taxi ride from the city centre.
The Rock Pub: conveniently located venue for live music fans, showcasing Thai rock bands playing original and cover music nightly. Hollywood Street Building, Radchatewee (opposite of the Asia Hotel), tel: (02) 251 9980.
Where to go for different Bangkok bars
Budget: there are various clusters of bars in which tourists inevitably find themselves. Khao San Road has probably the highest density of bars per square metre, and they play a large variety of musical styles including hip hop, drum and bass, house, trance, chart music, rock and Thai music. Bars here are lively, cheap and draw a predominantly foreign crowd, although in recent years it has become a popular destination for more cosmopolitan Thais.
Sukhumvit Road is best for live music and pubs
Sophistication: Silom Soi 4 is also worth a look as it has a sophisticated mix of both gay and straight bars. Just nearby is the Langsuan area in which the bars have mainly Thai clientele and most also feature live music.
Pubbing: for the expat scene, head to Sukhumvit Road, along which you can do a pub crawl of the many British, Irish, German and American-style pubs. These are a bit pricier and there’s rarely a Thai customer to be found. Also in this area are many larger clubs, which have large dance floors and often very talented DJs spinning the tunes.
Clubbing: if big, banging clubs are your thing then look no further than RCA - six huge clubs next to each other, all playing hip hop, R&B, house, trance or drum and bass. These swanky places pull in moneyed Thais and a few of the more hip expats. Be sure to take a photocopy of your passport here though as absolutely everyone is checked on the door. You’ll find discos in the central tourist areas, too, that are full of punters and ‘pickup artists’.
Bangkok bar girls await their next pickup
There’s a huge range of nightlife options in Bangkok and at night the downtown area can become a frenetic, pulsating, lively place. There are many Western-style expat pubs, cocktail lounges, go-go bars, hostess bars, huge super-clubs, street-side cheap drinks and many more options. There are also lots of gay and lesbian bars, with whole areas dedicated to gay or mixed crowds.
There are many areas in which you can bar-hop between close-by pubs, or visitors can take a taxi to a standalone club which will typically feature live music and lots of whisky.
Most places in Bangkok close at 02:00 at the latest, leaving you to either go home (the sensible option!) or continue on to find an illegal 'after-hours' pub, which often involves quickly ducking under a half-closed shutter and tip-toeing upstairs into a packed and sweaty room filled with other like-minded party-goers.
Some after hours places don't actually open until 03:30 or 04:00, meaning that the many pavement bars on Sukhumvit Road may be your only option for a few late night Chang beers before hitting the real party places later on.
Some recommended Bangkok clubs and discos
Q-Bar: very popular with Thais and, more recently, some expats, this expensive, fun place always gets busy. It's best to taxi there rather than trying to navigate the backstreets on foot. Nearest BTS: Nana. Open: 21:00-02:00; entry: Sunday to Thursday - 500 baht with 2 free drinks, Friday to Saturday - 700 baht with 2 free drinks; 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11, Klongtoey, tel: (02) 252 3274.
Bed Supperclub: famous throughout Bangkok, this popular and pricey venue always provides for an entertaining night. Nearest BTS station: Nana. Open: 19:30-02:00; entry: Monday to Wednesday - 600 baht with 2 free drinks, Thursday - 700 baht with 2 free drinks, Friday and Saturday - 800 baht with 2 free drinks; 26 Soi Sukhumvit 11, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey-nua, tel: (02) 651 3537.
Concept CM2: located in the basement of the Novotel in Siam, this is a lively and popular, centrally-located venue. It only gets going after 23:00 and is full of freelancing ‘ladies of the night’ (Thai and Eastern European). Open: 22:00-02:00; entry: Entrance - 650 baht with 2 free drinks, Sun to Thursday - 350 baht with 1 free drink (for women); Siam Square Soi 6, tel: (02) 209 8888.
RCA: not a disco but a whole area for clubbing, with nearly a dozen clubs on one pedestrianised street, pulling the young rich Bangkok Thai crowd every night of the week. It also attracts clubbers among expats and some tourists. Best bet for a guaranteed night of boogeying, but don’t expect any girls for hire. It's a 20-minute taxi ride from the city centre.
The Rock Pub: conveniently located venue for live music fans, showcasing Thai rock bands playing original and cover music nightly. Hollywood Street Building, Radchatewee (opposite of the Asia Hotel), tel: (02) 251 9980.
Where to go for different Bangkok bars
Budget: there are various clusters of bars in which tourists inevitably find themselves. Khao San Road has probably the highest density of bars per square metre, and they play a large variety of musical styles including hip hop, drum and bass, house, trance, chart music, rock and Thai music. Bars here are lively, cheap and draw a predominantly foreign crowd, although in recent years it has become a popular destination for more cosmopolitan Thais.
Sukhumvit Road is best for live music and pubs
Sophistication: Silom Soi 4 is also worth a look as it has a sophisticated mix of both gay and straight bars. Just nearby is the Langsuan area in which the bars have mainly Thai clientele and most also feature live music.
Pubbing: for the expat scene, head to Sukhumvit Road, along which you can do a pub crawl of the many British, Irish, German and American-style pubs. These are a bit pricier and there’s rarely a Thai customer to be found. Also in this area are many larger clubs, which have large dance floors and often very talented DJs spinning the tunes.
Clubbing: if big, banging clubs are your thing then look no further than RCA - six huge clubs next to each other, all playing hip hop, R&B, house, trance or drum and bass. These swanky places pull in moneyed Thais and a few of the more hip expats. Be sure to take a photocopy of your passport here though as absolutely everyone is checked on the door. You’ll find discos in the central tourist areas, too, that are full of punters and ‘pickup artists’.
