NIGHTLIFE
clubs
Before you go clubbing in Bangkok, know that stand-alone clubs are required by law to close at 1am, hotel clubs at 2am. The legal drinking age is 20, and all patrons must carry proof. No ID, no entry, and absolutely no smoking inside lend a fairy-tale vibe, while the lasers, visuals and UV lighting hark back to the halcyon days of trippy psy-trance. Music-wise, it’s a loud, banging house serving up the full range of 4/4 beats, usually cranium-rattling electro house and techno. Dancers entertain on Friday and Saturday nights. The drink prices are kind to your wallet and UV glowsticks handed out for free.
Bed Supperclub
เดอะคลับ ขาวสาร
BED SUPPERCLUB (map D3) 26 Sukhumvit Soi 11, 02-651-3537; www.bedsupperclub.com. Daily 7.30pm-1am With its uber-modern oval spaceship design, Bed Supperclub is a hugely successful hybrid, and a Bangkok icon: fine dining on what may be the world’s largest sofas on one side, and an adjoining bar on the other. For the past eight years, Bed has attracted a fashionable crowd, and with its a-lapage white interior is definitely a place to see and be seen. The food is worldclass on the cosy restaurant side, and the sleek design extends to an all-white bar on the club side, where bartenders blend cocktails using everything from local herbs to cutting-edge foams and sorbets. Bed has talented resident DJs and brings over top-notch talent (including some very eclectic art) for special events. Tuesday’s hip-hop party Pop Champagne packs them in while Wednesday’s Model Night throbs with Latin house music. Big-name DJs tend to spin on Thursdays, house and mash-up hip-hop rules on Friday, and Sunday mixes 1980s pop hits with house music. It’s time to go to bed.
เบด ซัปเปอรคลับ ถ.สุขุมวิท ซ. 11
70
august 2011
CLUB CULTURE (map B3) Ratchadamnoen Klang Road (behind Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall), 089497-8422; club-culture-bkk.com.WedSat 8pm-late Club Culture comes from the same brains behind the city’s annual dance music festival, Culture One. After being evicted from its original home, a former Thai theatre on Phaya Thai Road, it relocated to this gritty four-storey warehouse in the Old City in early 2010, much to the relief of its regulars – a cross-cultural mix of hipster Thais and discerning expats. Like the old days they promote new talent, while still bringing in the big guns, ensuring an eclectic roster of indie rock, drum n bass and house music of all genres.
คลับ คัลเจอร ถ.ราชดำเนินกลาง (หลังนิทรรศรัตนโกสินทร)
THE CLUB (map A3) 123 Khaosan Rd,Taladyod, Phranakorn 02-629-1010,www.theclubkhaosan. com, B100 (incl. 1 drink) The walk-in crowd of young Thais and backpackers must surely be amazed to find they’ve entered a techno castle on Khao San Road. The sky-high windows and raised central DJ turret nightlife
DEMO (map E4) Thonglor Soi 10 (next to Funky Villa), 02-711-6970. BTS Thong Lo. Daily 8pm-1am. Entrance free. Easily the grittiest discoteca in the swish Thonglor area is Demo – a former tenement building turned graffiti daubed brick warehouse. Featuring a terrace and bar outside, and lots of dark corners inside, not only does it look like a venue you’d find in East London or some other hipster-ville. It sounds like one, too: instead of the usual mainstream hiphop and live-bands, Demo’s DJs blast zeitgeisty nu-disco, house and electro through a kicking sound-system.
เดโม ทองหลอ ซ.10
GLOW (map D3) 96/4-5 Sukhumvit Soi 23 | BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit | 02-261-3007 | www. glowbkk.com | 6pm-1am This boutique club/bar challenges Bangkok’s biggies when it comes to delivering innovative music from the world of underground electronic pleasures. An intimate, stylish cave is decked out in dark walls, funky seating, innovative lighting and a dramatic bar. The music palette changes night-tonight but always excludes hip-hop (hurrah!). For details and regular updates, check Glow’s cool website.
โกลว สุขุมวิท ซ.23
INSOMNIA (map D3) Sukhumvit Soi 12 (between Times Sq/ Soi 12) | www.clubinsomniagroup.com www.bangkok101.com