Bangkok Nightlife
Bangkok has a huge variety of nightlife for everyone. There is great markets around for the shoppers and great bars and clubs everywhere.
Khaosan Road
As mentioned above, busy street with a lot of bars and clubs. The street really comes to life at night. Most of the places on Khaosan road will close around 1am or 2am. Khaosan Rd is a very touristy area and many foreigner come to this street to have a drink or eat some great food. The road is blocked off so only predestrians can walk down the street. You will also see a lot of entertainment along the street, ranging from magic shows to stunts.
Khaosan road also has a good night market which sells almost everything you can think of.
Sukhumvit Road
Is a well know party area for foreigners, all the main pubs, clubs or gogo bars are in the soi’s all along Sukhumvit road.
Thong Lo (Soi 55) and Ekamai (Soi 63) are full of trendy bars and night clubs, mostly catering to the moneyed Thai and expat crowd.
Night Clubs
Witch’s Tavern Thong Lo (Sukhumvit Soi 55). Between Soi 8 & Soi 10, this is Bangkok’s original English pub. Live music every night. Free drinks for ladies Wednesday 17:00-21:00. At least 5 English/Irish brews on tap.
Ana Garden Thonglor Soi 3 (Sukhumvit Soi 55). Lovely garden restaurant and cool and cozy club hidden at the rear.
DuDe, RCA (Royal City Avenue). Open from 1am until very late just opposite to Route66.
Narcissus Club, 112 Sukhumvit Soi 23. A dance club full of shiny disco balls. Renowned DJ Paul Oakenfold’s venue of choice.
Q Bar, 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11. A hip two floor bar often likened to a New York cocktail lounge, renowned for its massive drinks list, generous pourts and always packed dance floor for nearly 10 years now. Cover charge includes 2 drinks
Silom Soi 2 and 4: Soi’s 2 and 4 are the center of gay nightlife in Bangkok, although these days Soi 4 packs in a mixed crowd with plenty of bars that aren’t gay by any stretch of the imagination. On weekends Soi 4 is cordoned off and valid ID is (theoretically) required to enter. Soi Surawong, across the street from Patpong, is Bangkok’s largest gay go-go bar strip
DJ Station, at the end of Silom Soi 2 (just beside Sala Daeng BTS). The most famous gay nightclub in Bangkok and busy almost every night, starting with a reasonable ladyboy show at 11.30PM. Admission is between 100-200 baht which includes one or two drinks. Opening hours vary but usually closes around 03.30AM.
GOD Club. Short for Guyz on Display and there’s many of them! Usually open until 5 am.
Home. Silom Soi 4. Home is another famed hip-hop bar spread over three floors, yet somewhat small. For a first time visit or once-in-a-while visitor, this place is a good find. However, if you go there too often, you may find their repertoire of songs somewhat repetitive. Cocktails are not remarkably special and prices are about average for the area. Comfy seats downstairs as well as on the third floor. Or take a seat outside, where tables make a good spot to people watch.
Speed. 80 Silom Soi 4. Put Speed on the top of your list if hip-hop is your scene; this is where you come to witness young Thais in baggy clothes getting down with 50 Cent and his ilk. Several floors but the ground floor is where the action is located.
Tapas. 114/17 Silom Soi 4. On your left immediately as you enter the soi, this is more of a groovy club than a Spanish snack joint, with two stylishly decorated floors and a people-watching terrace. Entrance B100 (no drink), open 8 PM to 2 AM daily.
Go-go bars
Soi Cowboy (off Soi 21 Asoke) and Nana Entertainment Plaza (Soi 4) are packed full of go-go bars much like those in Patpong. Soi 33 is packed with hostess bars, which are more upscale than the Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza bars and do not feature go-go dancing. While the places all operate with more or less the same concept, the following two have been around for a while and are unlikely to rip you off.
Rainbow 4, Nana Entertainment Plaza 2F, Soi 4. Squeezes two stages into a small space, and is always packed with girls and punters. Beer 125 baht.
Suzie Wong, Soi Cowboy. Small and unprepossessing at first sight, the only hint of a Chinese theme are the cheongsams of the waitresses, but this go go and its sister operation Sheba’s across the street are famed for putting on some of the best shows in Bangkok. Beer about 140 baht.
NIght Markets
Suan Lum Night Bazaar (Subway Lumphini) Is a popular night market with restaurants, bars and has a lot of artsy pieces that might actually look good back home. The quality of goods and displays are generally high standard, but so are the prices. However, the stalls are modern, thoroughfares are wider, and there are many good dining options here. A money changer and ATM is located right in the middle of the market area, but it closes two hours earlier than the rest of the market does. The bazaar is open nightly until midnight.
Soi Patpong: You might want to take a deep breath and down a few shots before heading into the insanity of Patpong, which in fact consists only of two small soi’s (Patpong 1 and Patpong 2). It’s a short walk from BTS Sala Daeng station, deserted by day but jam-packed and overflowing in all directions by night. The throngs of middle age tourists shopping for sarongs and chopsticks just makes the sex shows going on in every open door seem that much more surreal.
Prepare to be harassed by touts armed with laminated ‘menus’ of acts you can order up. If you follow the touts, you might end up spending a ton of money on drinks to watch sad looking girls perform acts with various garden-party accessories (lawn darts, ping pongs, etc etc) in one of the upstairs bars.
If you instead try one of the bars on the lower level, you can safely watch girls dancing on stage, but will occasionally be asked by one of the girls if you could buy her a drink. She will get upwards of 50% of the drink price as a bonus and will join you at your table for some conversation in exchange. As a rule of thumb, only trust bars that already have a fair number of customers
