One Night in Bangkok or More? Thailand Nightlife

World famous Thailand nightlife. The first thing someone might notice once spending some time in Bangkok is the overwhelming Bangkok nightlife. Love it or hate it's there and in your face.

However, if you prefer a quieter more relaxing night then you might want to have a look at all the wonderful restaurants which make for a nice evening and the night time shopping which is also a little calmer.

If you're still reading then you're looking for the livelier Thailand Nightlife.

The Bangkok night life is something to behold.

You have the beer gardens which are actually open all day, pubs, the Go-Go girl bars, the restaurant bars, pool halls, discos and night clubs, high society clubs, and the list makes my head spin.

You also have nightlife beach parties like the Full Moon Party. The various whiskey companies like Chivas and Jonny Walker (which practically has an alcohol monopoly strangle hold on Thailand) also throw parties at various locations through-out Thailand on certain dates. Walking Street in Pattaya and Patong in Phuket, both near the beach, are very popular Thailand nightlife scenes as well.

To start off here's a great tip to save money.

If you plan on going to the same bar or club more than once or if you have a few people in your party then it's best to buy a bottle of your favorite poison. A bottle of Johnny Walker Red, Absolute, or similar costs about 1200 baht to 1500 Thai baht and you get some free mixers. That's not too much of a mark up from the corner store. Having a bottle on your table is great way to share a drink with new friends as well.

The best part of all is when you finish the evening but couldn't finish the bottle, the server marks the level of the bottle and gives you a card which lets you back in with up to four friends and free mixers again. I once came back to the same club for almost a month on one bottle before. Try doing that in the West!

Do you have any friends who are active in the modeling business in Thailand? If so you don't even have to pay for your liquor. I was good friends with a popular Bulgarian male model in Thailand and he would pick a club, call up a group of friends and get in for free not paying a dime for anything.

The bars and clubs in Bangkok are fighting "the look" and "the crowd" and they use models to do this. The models and their friends go anywhere for free and the club in return gets "the look" and the "in crowds". I think I went for almost a year with-out paying for any kind of night club activity because he would always call me up.

Bangkok has just too many night clubs to list so I'll just list some of the ones I know about and some of the ones I've been to.

I'll mainly mention Bangkok night clubs and discos here

Bangkok Night Clubs

1. The all famous Q-Bar. This place will probably be a land mark one day. This is arguably the most famous Bangkok night club. This place is busy and they keep expanding it. I think you can even eat there now during the day.

The owner of this club is a guy named David; he's and older, short gentleman who walks through and introduces himself every once in awhile. I believe the original Q-Bar came from Vietnam. This place is very popular with foreigners and is filled with mostly freelancer Thai women, some high society Thai women, and a few Thai women who got dragged along with their friends to go to the club. You also have some tourist couples as well.

This place is two level, plays Hip Hop, pop, live euro and trance D.J.'s and packed most of the time. It's very close to The Bed Supper club.

2. The Bed Supper Club; a few doors down from Q-Bar. The entry fee is 600 baht for one. This is definitely one of those places you should buy a bottle to save money. They are starting a hotel and night club expansion development throughout Asia and the world. They also have a location in Siem Reap, Cambodia of all places.

The Bed features a pricey lay down or recline dinner restaurant on one side and a night club on the other. When it gets late the dinner side turns into another club that plays different music. They mostly have live D.J.'s here that play euro trance and the latest Hip Hop.

They use a lot of light and projection here and the sound system is one of the best I've heard for a Bangkok night club. The crowd is similar to Q-Bar but a little more international and more tourist.

Both the Bed and Q-Bar get famous international D.J.'s on certain nights so prices can be high at those times. Both of those bars are also easy to get to from the BTS Sky train on Sukhumvit soi 11.

3. Narcissus Night Club. This place looks and feels like someone's classy mansion home. I t's a large white disco with a high ceiling that they use for lasers lights, drop balloons and confetti from when it gets late and the music rocking. The Bangkok night life here is a good mix of Thais and foreigners but mostly Thai. This club is almost strictly Trance and House music and is mid-Sukhumvit area.

4. Royal City Avenue, a.k.a. RCA night club and disco area. A long road with every kind of club music you can think of from R&B, House, to whatever you like (but sorry no country). International models dance at various clubs here and gets the crowd going. It's a little more upscale than say Ratchada and is very similar to the Thonglor, Ekamai area crowd.

Slim bar is probably the most popular club here. Many young Thai's go here, mostly university students. I feel old whenever I go, so now days so I never stop by. This place is kind of far from the BTS and MRT so you'll need a taxi.

5. Thonglor and Ekamai night club discos (Sukhumvit Soi 55 and 63). Thonglor and Ekamai area are little more upscale and some younger Thais with new money. Escudo Bar in Thonglor has two floors and two buildings connected by a small walkway. This place gets absolutely, uncomfortably packed. Escobar in Ekamai plays mostly hip hop and also gets very busy.Thonglor and Ekamai have many more clubs and bars and these are just a couple.

6. Ratchada night club area discos. If you'd like to see a little more culture in your Thailand nightlife then I think this area is good for that.

Most people that go here are common Thai and new foreigners and has a more relaxed dress and atmosphere. The most famous bars within this group are Hollywood and Dance Fever.

Many of these bars play uniquely Thai pop and trance music. If you've never heard it, it's not to be missed. I can't even explain it, it's like a regular pop song but a lot faster and stronger. You need to have a great deal of energy to dance to that beat but those slender Thai girls do it. This area also has some night time restaurants and beer gardens for eating late after you've danced and drank up an appetite.

7. Khao San Road Clubs. The backpacker's international meeting area. Clubs like Gazebo, which is really laid back, has a roof top view and feels like your in Egypt or the Middle East. Gazebo plays live music some times and they have those Hookah shisha tobacco pipes. I actually like using those pipes with a bunch of friends when going out. The shisha tobacco is very smooth and smells good. You also have Lava club which plays hip hop and such, it's another club among millions. Plus many more bars and clubs up and down Khao San Area.

Khao San Road also has some pretty good day time shopping as well.

8. Silom Clubs. Silom area always seemed a little strange to me. They have quite a mix of people here. This is one of the first areas were I saw a Brazilian style club let people beat real drums to the sound of the music, very interesting indeed. If you can't clap your hand to the beat then drink a few more beers and they might let you play the drums.

You also have places like Nana disco, Glow, Mystique, Titanium, Flyers pool hall, Gullivers restaurant bar and pool hall, and tons of other bars as well.Many clubs are inside hotels too. CM2 in Novotel at Siam Square has a popular underground hotel night club. Like I said there are just too many Bangkok night clubs to list.

Now for a few pointers

Getting to these places on the weekend is nuts, the traffic is horrendous. So be prepared for that. Go early if you must.

Most of these clubs have bathroom attendants. For the men, some of the attendants will come up behind you when your standing up doing your business and give you a back massage. Don't be alarmed! Just tell them if your not interested or if you are then let them massage and chiropractor your neck and back. They are actually pretty good at it but only give them 20 to 100 baht. If they ask for money for the other attendants just walk away.

If you stay at any of these clubs or after hour clubs past 1 or 2am you risk being raided by the police and spending most of the night and morning giving a urine analysis and filling out Thai documents which make no sense to you.

Believe it or not Thailand is a lot more reserved than it used to be. It was out of control wild but the police have cracked down a lot on that recently.

If you do something wrong and the police catch you, you will be publicly displayed and humiliated in the papers and T.V

Also Look for an exit when you go to a night club. I know it might be the last thing on your mind when you step into a club but the most famous night club in Ekamai called Santika burned to the ground when the stage fireworks went haywire and many people died. I used to go to this club and knew someone who got injured in the fire.

Play it safe, don't over do it, and have fun.

By the way, the song, One Night in Bangkok, is actually banned in Thailand because of the way it talks about the Royal Family, not because of its overtures. However, they still play a dance version of this song in some bars and discos.

Thailand nightlife or Bangkok nightlife doesn't necessarily mean going to a disco or a night club.

There are plenty of other nightlife activities as well. A major part of Thailand nightlife is just a simple as eating out, having a beer, and chatting with friends, basically just taking it easy, kicking back and having some fun.

Some of my best times were just going down the street to the corner outdoor restaurant with my wife and friends and ordering some fresh fish, papaya salad, various delicious Thai appetizers, some beer and just chilling.

If you have a chance check out Suan Lum Lumphini Night Bazaar, it's a great place to shop and eat food from around the world. They also have a beer garden and some live music.

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