Bangkok Nightlife Areas

Bangkok has a reputation for wild and rowdy nightlife. In fact, ’sanook’ or ’fun’ would be a better description. The city’s nightlife is relaxed, safe and very enjoyable. You don’t need to dress up, and you won’t break the bank. The city’s nightlife goes way beyond the over-worn naughty image from the Vietnam days. And it really does go on around the clock.

For tourists, the main centers for evening entertainment are concentrated around Silom Road (Patpong, Thaniya, Silom Soi 2 and 4), Sukhumvit (Soi Nana, Soi Cowboy, Soi 33) and most recently Khao San Road. First-class hotels are often good centers for nightclubs and discotheques, which are generally quite cheap and of very good standard. Pubs and bars can be found all over the city, many specializing in live music and usually offering food as well.

After the sun wanes, Bangkok gets its second breath. The heavy traffic subsides, the mad rush is over. This energized city bustles with things to, be it shopping, clubbing, bar flying, fine dining, a cinema, bowling or a cultural show. Tracking these venues down can be a daunting task for first-timers and, so, here we’ve compiled five nightlife prime areas and descriptions of all that’s found within each one. All these areas can easily be reached by using either the BTS (Skytrain) or MRT (underground system). Planning that legendary night out doesn’t get any easier than this!

Sukhumvit: Nightlife

Sukhumvit’s nightlife is exciting, ever-evolving, cosmopolitan and can be reduced to three main hedonistic pursuits: drinking, dancing and debauchery.

Khao San Road: Nightlife

Khao San Road takes off at night: neon signs flicker into life, music begins blasting from streetside sound systems, while the masses begin mapping out the long, alcohol-soaked night in front of them.

Silom: Nightlife

Thailand’s ’Wall Street’ is by day a place of financial institutions, law firms and multinational corporations.

By night however, Silom slips out of its suit, transforming into a bustling shopping street and frenetically paced hedonist’s playground. Alongside a cramped but creatively stocked night market (think bootleg DVDs, tourist trinkets, T-shirts, fake watches), sit some of the city’s most renowned and raucous streets, namely red-light district Patpong, Soi 2 and Soi 4.

Ratchadapisek: Nightlife (including RCA)

Young partygoers, or those looking to recapture their misspent youth, should head straight for Royal City Avenue. More commonly known as RCA, this long, rather soulless road is one of a few government-designated nightlife zones. This means that the clubs found along it have the modest honour of being allowed to stay open, legally, until 02:00.

Siam: Nightlife

Shopping, cinemas, bowling, karaoke, some live entertainment and that’s about it. Siam doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife. However, there are a few pubs, clubs and bars scattered around, most catering to young fashionable locals.

Chidlom - Ploenchit: Nightlife

This area’s well heeled mix of post-office suits, expat executives and hi-society Thais makes for a nightlife scene that falls firmly in the upmarket bracket. Think high-class restaurants and lavish wine bars, with an atmosphere that matches (see Thailand Tatler’s Ploenchit reviews for ideas). Don’t come here if you’re after the sensory bombardment found in the city’s more frenetic areas – there is no night market, few street-cart vendors and certainly no dens of sin.