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.