The Cheap Charly's bar in Bangkok that closed its doors in 2017 (Editorial credit: Kevin Hellon / Shutterstock.com)
Anyone who has been to Thailand for a long time will certainly have memories of certain bars and/or discos. Unfortunately, a number of iconic nightlife venues have closed in recent years. Maybe you met your current Thai partner there. We all know them: the Cheap Charly's bar in Bangkok, the Marine disco in Pattaya, Bed Supperclub in Bangkok and so on. Faded glory unfortunately.
Such nostalgia offers a sense of connection. We relive moments from our past that were often joyful or meaningful. Nostalgia also helps us understand our identity and life story. By looking back at who we were, we can better understand who we have become. Telling stories about that time is a way to cherish shared experiences with friends and like-minded people.
Here is a small list of bars and discos where many of us will have memories:
- Cheap Charly's bar in Bangkok: A famous one in Sukhumvit Soi 11, with low darn prices. The decoration of the outdoor bar was particularly striking.
- Q Bar Bangkok: Located in the Sukhumvit area, Q Bar was a popular nightclub and bar known for its stylish interior and diverse music ranging from house to hip-hop.
- Bed Supper Club: This iconic Bangkok club was known for its unique, futuristic design and a mix of eatery and nightclub. The club closed its doors in 2013.
- Marine Disco: In Pattaya, one of the oldest and most famous discos that finally closed its doors after 30 years.
- The Pier Pattaya: This bar and club in Pattaya was known for its large dance floor and regular DJ events.
- Spice Club: Located in Pattaya, this club was known for its lively party scene and was often visited by tourists and locals alike.
- hollywood awards: Also located in Pattaya, this bar was a well-known spot for live music and entertainment, but had to close due to various circumstances.
- The Tunnel: This underground bar in Bangkok was known for its intimate atmosphere and electronic music, but eventually had to close its doors.
This list is of course longer, so readers, supplement it with your favorite bar or disco that has now closed. And possibly also tell a nice anecdote.
Meeting Place in Nongkhai, by Aussi Alan Patterson in Soi Si Chom Chuen. Bar, restaurant and guesthouse where I have spent years on holidays. The clientele consisted mainly of Aussies who were very thirsty and then went for steaks, sometimes late into the night. Fights are also a regular occurrence, which would end automatically when people fell into each other's arms again, completely drunk...
Then The Danish Baker on Meechai Road, where, as the name suggests, Northern Europeans came to eat and drink. The Dane Kai, himself also very thirsty..., with his wife Mia from the C-Rai region who brought all her nieces to Nongkhai to find their husband and who went out late in the evening with a drunken farang. "She's got a fuck," we Dutch people would say to each other. The Danish Baker will still be there, I suspect, although Kai has gone elsewhere.
And then Nobbi, Norbert the German, restaurant and beer bar opposite the Vietnamese, who served beer in coffee mugs on closed alcohol days but later moved to Surin. He walked around the city late in the evening to see in which place his regular customers were drinking because he couldn't understand that 'infidelity'...
After a few years in Surin, where he was in the wrong place right opposite the entrance to the Speed disco, Nobbi moved back to Nong Khai, where he wanted to start a bar/restaurant again.
Joost, I read elsewhere that Nobbi (Norbert Schmidt) passed away in Nongkhai in the spring of 2022.
The Beer Garden in Sukhumvit Soi 7. It closed a few months ago and has now been converted into a complex with several smaller bars and connected to the new bar complex next door.
Recently I was in Pattaya again for the fireworks and a few days of beach holiday, I also went to Walking Street, 50 meters in Walking Street on the left was the Redcar Disco, which had also disappeared, that's where I met my wife, we are already there together for 5 years
CM2 in Novotel Bangkok, one of the best discos ever in Bangkok, packed with hundreds of women every day, Climax sukhumvit soi 11, club in basemrnt Grace hotel, Spasso
In the 90s, Phuket Patong Beach on Thawewong Road (Beach Road) in front of the Holiday Inn Resort, there was the popular 'Paradise Bar & Lounge' in those years with a very large bar in the middle of the bar/restaurant, it was always there ( especially between 17:00 PM and 20:00 PM) very nice.
Nana disco locally called chicken farm 🙂
Old Tony disco walking street,
Marine 1 Marine 2 Marine 3 (when the first closed, the 2nd and then the 3rd was still open at sunrise)
Disco Duck Second Road Pattaya, with breaks also sung by singers around the end of 1978
Den Beerput, Belgian Thai had a lot of fun years 1994 etc. Sai 3 near Buffalo Bar. Pattaya
Stan Snack Bar ,Noi Alex. 1978 to 1994. Soi Post Office Pattaya had a lot of fun and International company, American European, UK, Scandinavian, Japanese, Polish etc.
Wild Elephant Bar, Mexican Bar, Kee bar, Thai man was already cooking Belgian food such as fries, stew, cauliflower with white sauce with sausage and potatoes, all in Soi Post Office. 1978.
At that time, a Thai man was already cooking Belgian food such as frites, stew, cauliflower with white sauce, sausage and potatoes...
Our good friend Pitou (B) was a good teacher!
Where is the time!
indeed, but before the move to Soi Postoffice everything started in the bar on the beach just before the start of Walking Street. Unfortunately this had to disappear. Many Belgians have found a girlfriend and/or wife there
The Cheap Charlie bar is still in Bangkok but has moved to ON NUT.
It has the same decoration
The Bangkok bar in Rambuttri street Bangkok (2016-2021) unfortunately did not survive the Covid, A great music bar with a different band every evening, Cozy terrace, nice people, some of whom I still keep in touch with...I felt I felt at home there and even after all the years that I came there, I saw the staff as family and that was mutual. No change of staff, but the same staff for years with whom you build a bond.. also the Greenhouse Hotel in the same street where I always stayed and where I had the same experience also went bankrupt during the Covid. Places with memories that will stay with you forever
Jah Dub Club – Koh Samui, Chaweng beach (1994)
Reggae Pub – Koh Samui Chaweng beach (1994)
There was an alley in Bangkok Sukhumvit somewhere between soi 7 and 9 I believe.
I was never able to find that alley again after 2016. Sat halfway
singing strange Thai karaoke among the cats and parked scooters and a guest stirring a pot. At the back of the alley was a poolside café with permanent expats
came up with their own cue. There was also a live band playing.
I have seen so much change since 1994 that I no longer recognize certain parts of Koh Phangang (Hadrin beach), Koh Samui (Chaweng) and Phuket.
I frequented the Bestfriend beer bar complex on the Beach Road a lot. Always a good atmosphere, unfortunately that is no longer there.
I also spent many hours there at the bar at Jos 😉
The old Blues Factory in a bar complex near Walking Street Pattay, with “Guitar King” Lam Morrison, The Blues Machine and The Snowman.
And in one of those side streets the Camel Bar by Ad Dusee from Tilburg.
Club Thermea in the basement of a hotel on Sukhumvit. You had to enter through the hotel kitchen. Experienced legendary nights. I think it's the Ambassador hotel on soi 11.
That's absolutely right Jan,
When the normal bars closed at 2.00 a.m., customers as well as remaining staff members went to the Thermea in the basement of the hotel... to try their "luck" there.
It was very busy and large and went on until the early hours.
In the nineties it moved to the basement of the Ruamchitt Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit.
It still exists but also has to close at 2.00am, so it is much less visited than before.
Regards Joop