Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Drinking & Nightlife
Despite what your dodgy uncle told you, having a good time in
Bangkok does not necessarily have to involve ping-pong balls or the word 'go-
go'. As in any big international city, the drinking and partying scene in Bangkok
ranges from classy to trashy and hits just about everything in between.
The Scene
Bangkok is a party animal - even when on a tight leash. Back in 2001, the Thaksin admin-
istration started enforcing closing times and curtailing other excesses that made the city's
nightlife famous. Since his 2006 ousting, the laws have been conveniently circumvented or
inconsistently enforced; several years on, the post-coup party scene has shown signs of
restoring Bangkok to its old position as Southeast Asia's fun master - a role uptight Singa-
pore almost usurped. But it's not uncommon for the men in brown to switch on the lights in
clubs and bars way before most folks' bedtime, or at least before dawn.
Bars
Bangkok's watering holes cover the spectrum from English-style pubs where you can com-
fortably sit with a pint and the paper to chic dens where the fair and beautiful go to be seen
more than imbibe. Bangkok is one of the few big cities in the world where nobody seems to
mind if you slap a bar on top of a skyscraper (although it's worth noting that most rooftop
bars enforce a dress code - no shorts or sandals).
But many visitors associate Bangkok with the kind of bars that don't have an address -
found just about everywhere in the city. Think streetside seating, plastic chairs, auto ex-
haust, and tasty dishes absentmindedly nibbled between toasts.
Bangkok bars don't have cover charges, but they do generally enforce closing time at
1am, and sometimes earlier if they suspect trouble from the cops.
If you want to drink your way through Bangkok's best nightlife zone, take our
Banglamphu pub crawl (
Click here
)
.
Nightclubs
Bangkok's club scene is as fickle as a ripe mango, and venues that were pulling in thou-
sands a night just last year are often only vague memories today. Clubs here also tend to
