10 Best Nightlife Experiences Around Khao San Road

The Club Khaosan Bangkok offers the full-on hands-in-the-air 'rave' experience (complete with complimentary glow-sticks). It’s the sort of sleek, snazzy joint you'd expect to find in Europe. What it also has is a big dancefloor with high ceilings, agitated lasers, UV lights, oversize disco ball, and a raised DJ booth with trippy visuals working the backdrop.

Laserbeams flicker through louvred Mediterranean doorways, while travellers high on life and Thai whisky bounce through clouds of dry ice. Do come here to dance like a lunatic or for one of their full-moon beach parties, when this often half-empty venue comes alive with sand, deck-chairs and bigger crowds.

Adhere The 13th Blue Bar strips it down to the raw essentials with bar, tables and instruments. It’s a diminutive blues and jazz spot that never fails to make a big impression on those who find it. Only on weekends, when the earthy sounds and people spill out on to the street would you notice it on passing – it's a tiny hole in the wall.

Despite the bare, bohemian feel, there's a warm, welcoming atmosphere that attracts Thais, discerning tourists and expats in equal numbers. A resident blues band with a loyal following usually plays from around 10pm. Occasional special events and frequent jams by other locals ensures a bit of variety for the regulars. The beers are also reasonably priced.

Bombay Blues is a popular little Indian restaurant on Soi Rambuttri. Occupying a vibrant red-and-yellow house with luxurious interiors, it's a great place to bring a date or friends for delicious food and after-dinner entertainment. 

The menu at Bombay Blues is extensive, from buttery paneer to some of the tastiest mutton Bangkok has to offer, and the waiter is happy to make recommendations should you want to try something other than tikka masala. 

Dark, cavernous and with its signature red brick walls, Brick Bar has a distinctly European air that's matched by some serious attention to music. With low lighting and a live music policy that skirts deftly between jazz, blues and ska, this intimate venue is a real magnet for boisterous locals. Best of all, the resident band is a colourful Thai outfit that's renowned for their original songs.

Superflow is billed as the first-ever day and nightclub on Khao San. If you’re coming early for drinks, you can expect a more subdued atmosphere. It takes on a funky beach theme, with real sand, sun loungers, palm trees, and bamboo hut-style bars dotted around the enormous venue. 

The party really starts to kick in when it's closer to midnight. House music is pumped out from the central DJ booth, and along with cheap cocktail buckets and skimpily-dressed tourists, there’s a real beach party vibe in force – check out their Koh Phangan-inspired ‘full moon’ parties on weekends.

Mollybar is a bar and club towards the top end of Soi Rumbuttri, a street running parallel to Khao San Road. It’s set in a beautiful whitewashed house with twinkling fairy lights, offering a great place for chilling and watching the world go by. Still, many prefer to arrive a little later, when most people move inside. 

A band plays standard covers to a mixed crowd of Thais and tourists on the ground floor, while upstairs, there’s a DJ playing anything that gets you tapping your feet and shaking your body. To get here, cut through Soi Suzie that connects Khao San Road to Rumbuttri, and Mollybar is a few bars to the right.