Save Us!

I wish I had more to write about these last few months but to be frank the nightlife scene around Ekamai Thonglor hasn't been the same since the Santika incident. I've tried several visits to Curve, Muse, Jet, Witch's, Funky Villa and Groove Kitchen but they're either packed with loud Thai bands or completely empty like a fat chick's birthday party.

In the last few weeks I paid a couple of visits to Groove Kitchen. Of course on the first attempt I arrived on a Saturday night and it was empty. We stayed for one drink more as a courtesy to the owner who assured us that normally Saturday is packed (NOTE: lying to customers is a surefire way to lose them). They are pushing theme nights and the owner pointed out that Thursday night is Hip Hop and gets a solid crowd. A few weeks later we checked it out arriving at a fashionable 12:00am and yet again finding the bar empty. A large sign out front and stacks of event pamplets clearly indicated this was Hip Hop night but the DJ was playing the same standard house music that they've been playing since I got off the boat. I inquired and was met with a gleeful smile and a head shake no indicating that I was just a crazy farang and didn't understand that marketing and reality are 2 different things. This time we again stayed for one drink as a courtesy and then promptly left quite pissed off. I had high hopes for this place but they can't seem to get out of their own way.

I also tried going back to Witch's Tavern which used to have a pretty decent ladies night on Wednesdays. We arrived just after 10pm which would normally put us in the hot zone but the bar was less than half full and the clientele was sub-par. It didn't take me long to realize that the band was a contributing factor to driving me out of Witch's in the first place. Is it too much to ask for just one night without obnoxious 70's tunes at ear-bleeding volume?

The Jet, Curve and Muse circuit hasn't changed much but I did discover the nice rooftop bar at Muse. You'll have to navigate through the spillover of Thais trying to cram into the ground floor but once you reach the staircase it's easy going. Cocktails are surprisingly ok and the atmosphere is great although my thin skinned friends complained about mosquitos.

Funky Villa is one of the most interesting looking bars I've seen and lives up to it's name although with one caveat...it's empty. When we were there we stayed long enough for a loop around the place and counted no more than a dozen customers. We caught it at just the right time since the band was off-stage and decent music was playing which probably added to the deceptive coolness of the place.

Xperience bar, a new entertainment venue, was set to open in February but as with most things in Thailand was caught up in delays meaning it still isn't open. I'm not quite sure what to expect at this stage but I'm eager to check it out to see if it can fill the huge void now so obvious in the ET zone.

For now and against my better judgement I've been hitting Slim/Flix at RCA and Bed Supper Club at Sukhumvit Soi 11. With the ET zone being such a trendy place how is it possible that no one recognizes its potential and opens a killer place. Please for the love of god give us a venue with a dance floor and hip hop music and I'll pledge my allegiance. If something doesn't change soon I'll have to get married, pack my bags and move out to the suburbs where I can spend evenings driving to big box stores and watching American Idol with my neighbors.

Finding a Needle in a Haystack of House

In the last 6 weeks I've been asked repeatedly where the next hotspot will be in the ET Zone. I've put a fair bit of effort into trying to track one down but as it stands there is nothing positioned to take over the nightlife and party feel left behind by Santika. Interestingly there are 4 venues along Ekamai that all have dual bar configurations that I would have expected to jump into the scene. Nang Len, Jet, Curve and Muse all have secondary rooms that stand to position themselves uniquely in the zone. Unfortunately they are all afterthoughts with little creativity and definite lack of focus. All 4 play house music which I've said a hundred times before does not get people out. I'm not saying house music isn't good...it is...but locals here take to it like tequila as a hangover remedy.

That said it amazes me that while all 4 remain empty like a fat kid's birthday party, none of the owners have even attempted to change it up. If even one of these started a local Hip Hop groove it would pick up where Escudo and Santika left off. Granted it would take some marketing to reverse the tainted image most farangs get while visiting the main venue halls but I would definitely help market this and we could take over the ET Zone as the Hip Hop kings!

So which bars have the best potential for this? There are three that come to mind and here they are in order.

Groove Kitchen
Groove Kitchen is located on Thonglor between Soi 1 and 3 and has been open since I moved to Bangkok. It has however always struggled to draw a crowd. For starters there is no indication at Ana Garden that this place even exists, but hidden in the back like a highschool couple at a Hugh Grant movie, lies a real gem. They have even been neglected on their own mother's website with the link to Groove Kitchen from the Ana Garden homepage broken (welcome to Thailand). Now like every bar sans Thai music they play house. With a bit of marketing, signage and hip hop thunder this baby could rock and the atmosphere is perfect for this market.

Jet Metropolitan Life Phenomenon
Jet's neglected brother is a far cry from a phenomenon. Shockingly the type of crowd that is drawn out to live Thai music venues just isn't interested in the monotonous drone of obscurity that house offers. In this case, as with most dual venued establishments, the impenetrable density of Thai zombies wins and keeps most interested clubbers out. The house half does occasionally get some traffic but this spillover from customers in the main room is more like undesirable heartburn after cramming down a full pizza. It would take a bit more work but with some solid marketing catering to a more affluent crowd and a dedicated hip hop night this place could be a winner.

Escobar
There was a time when I thought Escobar had the potential to be a local Q Bar. Lately the house half of Nang Len is just an extension of the main crowd complete with low mushroom chairs and buckets of ice and Johnnie. They have maintained their house heritage which is odd as it obviously doesn't work with a crowd who insist on sitting in the middle of the dance floor babying whiskey cokes all night. A few times I have tried to go late and dance and in all cases was thoroughly annoyed trying to dance through a mindfield of unstoppable fungi growth. Note, cocktails here are the worst.

My concern with the last two options is simple proximity. The owners are driven by business models that cater to zoos filled with Thai teenagers. Any attempt at sophistication they may have had has been drowned in endless shelves filled with Black Label. These crowds just deter many club goers on principle and slowly but surely even Jet's sluggish sibling will start to be taken over by the inevitable need of Thais to fill empty spaces with tables.

I look at Q Bar, Twisted, Bed Supper Club, Route 66, Slim, and every after hours bar in the city and they all enjoy great success when they play Hip Hop. How is it the local owners of Ekamai Thonglor nightlife can't see this? For less cost than adopting an Ethiopian kid they can simply change the CD.

Until these sleeping giants wake up, keep supporting the ET Zone and give Groove Kitchen a try. It's a bit hard to find but just walk through the main entrance of Ana Garden on Thonglor between Soi 1 and 3 and head through the candlelit garden path. Once you see it I guarantee you'll immediately recognize the potential and start spreading the word yourself.

Picking up the Pieces after Santika

There's speculation everywhere about what started the inferno, who's to blame, and how Thailand needs to adopt first world standards of safety. I have a few opinions on this which I'm sure will start a war but living here like I do I am aware that I am taking a risk. It's true that I am willing to forgo the service, standards and safety I have in Canada in exchange for the privilege of living in a culture full of amazing experiences.

For those commenting on what started the blaze...leave it to the authorities before you speculate. Granted they may not provide the answer you personally expect but it won't change what happened. Let's not forget there are still thousands of bars and restaurants in the world that allow open flames and burning ash indoors in the form of little cancer sticks.

For those commenting on who's to blame...yes it appears that Santika didn't have the correct permit and no one seems to be able to contact the owner. Patrons entered at their own risk and while this is a tragedy surely some amount of responsibility needs to lie on the people that make the decision to spend an evening in a bar like this in the first place. This isn't the western world where big brother babysits your every move and is held accountable when things go south. Most Thais want to know who is responsibile purely so they can recover financially from the incident. For many, medical bills of even a thousand USD could be devastating.

For those commenting on safety...Thailand is not a first world country and as such it cannot be held up to the bar we expect in the western world. Corruption is being dealt with slowly and with it proper licensing will be imposed and enforced. For now Thailand, rightly or wrongly, may have other priorities for its time and resources.

I'm certainly not trying to downplay what happened and of course I hope it will lead to some changes. Regardless of what started it, who's responsible, and how safe the bar was I can't help but think when I'm visiting my friend in the hospital with burns on his face and having his lungs flushed every day that we can't funnel some of this energy into something more creative.

In 3 days his medical bills are already over $4000 USD and he's expected to be there for another few days. In the same ICU are two other foreigners in worse shape. Santika didn't have insurance and as of yet no one is stepping in to assist financially. I urge you to contact your embassy in Thailand and ask how you might be able to help. Stuffing $20 in an envelop is much more helpful than adding another comment about a country you have only seen sensationalized on CNN and FOX.

Thailand is a beautiful country with even more beautiful people. Please think twice before passing judgments which may be unproductive and disrespectful to families and friends of the victims.

Fire at Santika

Just after 12:30am on January 1st, 2009 Santika burned to the ground and took with it 61 people and injured over 200. I was there first hand with friends ringing in the new year and know all too well the firetraps these things are. Santika is a large venue with a pit area in the center below the band and a balcony that sweeps around the upper level in a U shape. Last night was a special event on account of it being New Year's but also the second last night before the bar shut it's doors for good.

The celebration brought out a huge crowd, easily a few hundred more than a normal Friday or Saturday night. I was separated from the other half of my group and was standing on the stair landing mid-way between the main floor and balcony when I felt a blast of heat and looked above the stage to see huge flames. At first my friend and I thought it was a special effect but the heat was too strong. At that point people had already started to move outside and we were carried by the crowd out the main front doors.

Outside I made a detour back to the smaller front door that opens onto a veranda and helped several others lift people over a walled water feature about 1.5m tall. Within minutes I recognized my other friend being helped out and I immediately jumped up and swept her across the feature out into the parking lot.

Her friends followed in worse shape and I had to carry the friend's boyfriend about 100 meters after which I stood and watch the sea of helpless patrons standing over dozens of barely conscious bodies. My friend and I then began scouting the area for our third who wasn't answering calls. After a painful 10 minutes he called and had managed to walk down the street to 7/11 where we met up and took him to the hospital for treatment of minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Commenting afterwards my friend and I were shocked at how fast the place became engulfed in flames. From the time we witnessed the first flame until we were outside was only 30 seconds yet when I circled back I was seeing people passing out as they were being helped out the front. Relatively speaking Santika is probably less of a fire hazard than the other mega clubs along Ekamai which tend to be packed beyond humanly possible with little regard for safety.

I have many friends that work and frequent Santika and I've read that most of the deaths occurred in the pit area and washrooms. My sincerest condolences to all the friends and families affected by this tragedy. I hope that in the coming months I will once again see the countless smiles I came to recognize from friends I've made during Santika's run.

Goodbye Santika

Well we knew it was inevitable. My spidey senses have been tingling for awhile about this and it is finally confirmed. Santika will close its doors December 31, 2008. Looks like the value of all that dirt, newspaper and garbage is worth more to the condo developers. A new location will open in RCA and I'll definitely keep you posted but since it moves outside the theme of this site I'll have to fill the void with boastful stories of sexual conquests, bad jokes, and annoying viagra advertisements.

For those who never went, Santika was a diamond in the rough catering to the best mix I've seen of Thai and farang styles. High ceilings, a live band that plays farang tunes, and tables at standing height helped create the atmosphere necessary for making cross-cultural friends. In it's place will be yet another 30 storey condo catering to rich kids that all moved here for the amazing nightlife unaware that their very own 15 sqm luxury pad is what trampled the social beacon underneath.

Here's a video tribute to Santika's 5 year run courtesy of some anonymous friends.

Santika will be missed and I truly hope the new version will retain the same charm as the old one and not get sucked into the "me too" void so common in Thailand. In the meantime there are still a few more nights for you to check out this legend before the flame dies.

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