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70's Bar
A tad too small to be a club proper, this retro-themed bar spins all the hits from the Me generation in the ultimate Me city. Like much of the strip, the clientele is mixed, but often verges on the pink side of the fence.
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808 Club
Named after the infamous beat machine, this club fills the space previously occupied by Astra and looks to follow the tradition of big-name DJs and insanely crowded events.
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Ana's Garden
Ana's lush garden of broad-leafed palms and purring fountains attractively masks the fact that you might have turned into a lush while living in the tropics. Funky house music, an occasional breeze and a table filled with dishes to peck at will melt into a sensory tapestry.
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Babylon Bangkok
This four-storey gay sauna has been described as one of the top 10 of its kind in the world. Facilities include a bar, roof garden, gym, massage room, steam and dry saunas, and spa baths. The spacious, well-hidden complex also has accommodation.
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Bacchus Wine Bar
Wine bars are still a new and relatively uncommon concept in Bangkok. Bacchus was among the first, and still sets the aesthetic standard with exposed brick walls, floating stairs and sculpture seating. Despite the slightly upscale setting, it's a friendly enough place to down a glass or two of one of the 400 varieties of wine, or a cop nibble from the lengthy menu of tapas and appetisers.
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Balcony
Instantly recognisable by its perky T-shirt-and-shorts clad staff, Balcony is a lively bar with dancing and karaoke inside and chill-out tables on the terrace.
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Bamboo Bar
Rubber-plantation barons and colonial mansions are not exactly part of Bangkok's history but Bamboo Bar, in the historic Oriental Hotel, exudes oodles of bygone charm. Internationally recognized jazz bands hold court within a brush's stroke of the audience to set a mellow lounge mood.
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Barbican Bar
Decked out in slate-grey and blonde wood, this upscale-ish pub is an oasis of subdued cool in a strip consisting mostly of Japanese-frequented massage parlours. Where else could you suck down a few cocktails with friends from Thailand, Singapore and Norway, and then stumble out to find a line of Thai women dressed like cheap prom dates reciting 'Hello, massage' in faulty Japanese?
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Black Swan
Liable to bring a tear to the eye of a homesick Brit, the combination of supping mates, dining families and bad décor make the Black Swan the most authentic of Bangkok's numerous English pubs. Come on Fridays when you can enjoy your draft bitter with fresh fish flown directly from Scotland.
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Bua Sa-Ad
Named after the elegant house that contains it, this streetside bar is one of the few in the area serving imported beers.
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Buddy Bar
Clean and cool colonial-themed bar for folks who find Bangkok too dirty.
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Bull's Head & Angus Steakhouse
Worn wood panelling, imported draft beer and admirable pub grub take the Bull's Head just beyond the realm of the 'theme' pub. With friendly management and staff, and more events and activities than a summer camp, this is a good place to meet people, particularly those of the British persuasion.
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Cheap Charlie's
You'll have a mighty hard time convincing your Thai friends to go to Th Sukhumvit only to sit at an outdoor wooden shack decorated with buffalo skulls and wagon wheels. Fittingly, Charlie's draws a staunchly foreign crowd who don't mind a bit of kitsch and sweat with their Singha.
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Club Astra
Credited for diversifying teen-scream RCA, Club Astra pulls in the Thai indie crowd, backpackers and expats for international DJs sans gimmicks. If the joint isn't jumping then check out the surrounding RCA clubs blasting radio rap and commercial pop.
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Club Culture
Housed in a unique 40-year-old Thai-style building and run by the same folks who ran RCA's popular Astra, Culture is the biggest and quirkiest recent arrival on Bangkok's club scene. Come to enjoy internationally recognized DJs and the best sound system in town.
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Cosmic Café
Cosmic calls itself a café and looks like a club but in reality is more of a bar… Despite the slight identity crisis, this is a fun place to drink and meet Thai-style. Come on Wednesday nights when the DJ spins Thai music from the '80s.
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Coyote On Convent
Coyote serves decent but pricey Mexican nosh with a relatively light dose of kitsch. But what really keeps people coming, in particular Bangkok's female half, are the 75+ varieties of margaritas. Come Wednesday evening the icy drinks are distributed free to all women who pass through the door. On other days the frosty drinks are buy-one-get-one-free.
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Dance Fever
Like taking a time machine back to the previous decade, Dance Fever is a holdover from the days when a night out in Bangkok meant corny live stage shows, wiggling around the whisky set table, and neon, neon, neon.
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Deep
If you're willing to wait out the perpetual queue, inside you'll find a dark den packed to the gills with young Thai hipsters.
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Diplomat Bar
Moguls, models and media types toast their good fortune of being 'fabulous' at one of Bangkok's leading incarnations of conspicuous consumption. The bubbly and grapey spirits are raised in grand toasts while the diva-led lounge band serenades. Those unmatched by bottle's end, traipse over to Club 87, the hotel's dance club, to seal the deal on the night's bedwarmer.
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DJ Station
Massively popular with the younger crowd and among the most well-known gay destinations in town, this place has pounding dance music, flamboyant costume parties and kàthoey cabaret.
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Foreign Correspondents' Club Of Thailand (Fcct)
A bar-restaurant, not to mention gathering place for the city's hacks and photogs, the FCCT also hosts art exhibitions ranging in genre from photojournalism to contemporary painting.
Read more about Foreign Correspondents' Club Of Thailand (Fcct)
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Freeman
Reputedly the best lady-boy cabaret in town, Freeman's midnight shows are a little raunchier than the typical tourist-oriented shows of Broadway homage and pink prom dresses.
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G.O.D. (Guys On Display)
The former Freeman has been reincarnated as this popular after-hours destination. Open late and, as the name suggests, not averse to a bit of shirtless dancing. Located on the tiny alley between Soi 2 and Soi Thaniya.
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Gazebo
Like an oasis above Th Khao San, this vaguely Middle-Eastern themed pub draws backpackers and locals alike with fun cover bands, mist-blowing fans and fez-topped sheesha attendants. Its elevated location also appears to lend it some leniency with the city's strict closing times.
