Thailand Gateway - Nightlife & Airts

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Jul 30th

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Nightlife & Airts

The law requires that bars and nightclubs close at 2 AM, but Bangkok never sleeps, and many restaurants and street stalls stay open for late-night carousing. The city is awash with bars catering to all tastes, from the Oriental Hotel's classy Bamboo Bar right down to the sleaze of watching sex acts while you drink.

Watch out for scams if you indulge, including aggressive hostesses, touts that promise a lot for little money, and the copying of credit cards (it's best to pay with cash).

Soi 55 (also called Soi Thonglor), off Sukhumvit Road, has several good bars and nightclubs. Soi Sarasin, across from Lumphini Park, is packed with friendly pubs and cafés that are popular with yuppie Thais and expats.

Only in Bangkok would you ever find a phenomenon like Royal City Avenue (called "RCA"). This area is packed with drinking and music joints, as well as several good dance bars.

The most lurid forms of nightlife are geared to the male tourist. Live sex shows, though officially banned, are still found in three areas of Bangkok. Patpong is the biggest, and it includes three streets that link Suriwongse and Silom roads. Patpong 1 and 2 are packed with go-go bars; sex shows are generally found one flight up. Patpong 3 caters mostly to gays but also to lesbians. Note that Patpong is quite safe and well patrolled by police.

Soi Cowboy, off Sukhumvit Road at Soi 21, is a less raunchy, more easygoing version of Patpong. The bars are considerably tamer; some have go-go dancers; others are good for a quiet beer. Nana Plaza, at Soi 4 off Sukhumvit Road, is popular with expats. The plaza is packed with three floors of bars.

There's plenty of other kinds of entertainment in Bangkok -- jazz bars, cabaret, theater, and dance. Thai classical dance is tremendously graceful. Themes for the dance drama are taken from the ancient Indian epic, the Ramayana. The performance is accompanied by a woodwind called the piphat, which sounds like an oboe, and percussion instruments.

For a relaxed evening, try a boat cruise. Boats built to look like traditional Thai houses or refurbished rice barges serve a Western or Thai dinner while cruising the Chao Phraya River. Hotel staff make reservations, as these two-hour evening cruises are usually strictly for tourists.

The English-language newspapers, the Bangkok Post and The Nation,, have good information on current festivals, exhibitions, and nightlife. TAT's weekly Where also lists events. Monthly Metro magazine has an extensive listings section and offers reviews of new hot spots.

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It is red holiday for Abhisit

IT is 10pm on a Wednesday night in Bangkok. And there’s a picnic in front of the residence of General Prem Tinsulanonda, the 88 year-old chief adviser to the Thai king. A “picnic” if you disregard the phalanx of riot policemen standing guard along the concrete fence of Prem’s home, the red-shirted protesters shouting “ok pai Prem (Prem get out in Thai)” and a poster depicting Thaksin Shinawatra as Superman. Free food - fried noodles and bottled mineral water - is flowing. Most of the protesters are sitting picnic-style on the road listening to stinging speeches condemning Prem.

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