Rating System

All reviews are based solely on my own experiences and impressions with each venue. You may or may not agree and may even take issue with some of my comments. Just keep in mind that I can be influenced.

Tunage
Basically what kind of music the place has. Many Thai bars have live bands which typically play the same assortment of Thai tunes. While the Thais love this the farang will likely find this tiresome. Occasionally some English songs can be heard but all to often the lyrics are "made up". If you want dependable tunes stick with a DJ.

Dance Floor
Most places around here don't have a dance floor. The Thai method is to encircle a small table with a group of friends and share a bottle. The gives the ladies a nice place to put their purses but it limits mingling since you become tied to your bottle and hence table. Many venues have very low seating which is uncomfortable at best for anyone over a meter tall. This setup seems to discourage dancers so if you're looking to boogie then stick with a place with higher seats like Santika or Cream.

Cocktails
Most places have the standard cocktail list which is as dull as a som tum knife. Some venues like Koze and To Die For offer premium cocktails which are made well. Dance bars push bottles and make very poor cocktails which should be avoided like a groin rash.

Drinks
This category may sound the same but I'm referring to standard drinks here like bottles of beer, whiskey and all the fun pre-mixed stuff like Bacardi and Nite. A minimal selection of beer can be found at all bars but the real push is Johnnie Walker who seems to have walked all over Thailand. Occasionally if you can tolerate the vacant stares you can track down a bottle of vodka, rum or gin.

Price
Most places have similar prices with a pretty obvious slant towards nicer looking joints. In other words a Thai style bar with Thai band and low seating will have the cheapest bottles with cocktail venues emptying your wallet faster than a fat kid on a Smartie.

Location
Duh...this should be obvious. If you don't know the area then check out the map. There are 2 BTS stations in the area (no MRT). They are, oddly enough, called Thonglor (Sukhumvit Soi 55) and Ekamai (Sukhumvit Soi 63). Unfortunately most of the bars are fairly deep into the Soi so be prepared to catch a taxi, motorcycle or song taew.

Seating
Personally I hate the mushroom style seating that dominates Thai bars. I have no idea who this was designed for but it is extremely uncomfortable and limits movement. Basically I try to target places with higher stools or at least normal chairs (very uncommon). Actually my preference is for a good old fashioned dance floor but the closest you'll find is a pack of a few hundred people struggling to keep their balance around a dozen irritatingly placed tables.

Ambiance
Clubs vary greatly with many of the popular venues just being refurbished. If you want modern then stick to the large dance places.

Pickup
Let's get to the point...we go to bars for 2 reasons: 1) to pickup and 2) to party. It's a lot easier to pick up in the dance places especially if there are people standing. The sitting venues are really designed for you and your entourage to chat or enjoy a drink together but are not ideal for mingling. If you're rusty here's a guide on how to pickup.

Overall
This is my best effort to provide an overall comment on the venue.

Mike Sightings
This is my own rating system where I provide you with my own personal opinion of each place along with the probability of having a Mike Sighting rated out of a possible 5 heads.