The best bars in Bangkok

Bangkok’s best bars offer a remarkable breadth of drinking: day sipping by the river, expertly crafted cocktails at a rooftop bar, or an ice-cold beer with your street food are just a few of the opportunities for imbibing here. Embrace the city’s notorious nightlife in areas such as Nana, Thonglor or Silom, or sample award-winning serves in globally recognised drinking dens as a precursor to a night experiencing Bangkok’s lively music scene.

The Bangkok bar scene

In order to experience Bangkok’s drinks scene at its best, you need to know what you’re doing, and getting a local’s view of Bangkok is vital. Nondescript doors are a secret portal to elegant spaces where an affluent crowd quaff floral-scented champagne concoctions; dive bars ladle up homemade umeshu (Japanese plum wine); and reggae DJs set the mood for nights that last well into the morning. If you’re after the very best boozing that Bangkok has to offer, you’ve come to the right place. These are the best bars in Bangkok, ordered by neighbourhood.

Old Town

Stretching from the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok’s Old Town neighbourhood is as mysterious as it is intriguing. Every alley has something surprising to offer: some of them bustle with activity, while others contain centuries-old temples where the only movement comes from smoke drifting lazily from the joss incense sticks. In the last few years, this charming older side of the city has become the go-to destination for hip bars that favour vintage decor and cutting-edge cocktails. Though these drinking dens may be a bit harder to find, they’re well worth the effort. Old Town is also home to some of Bangkok’s most charming boutique hotels.

Mala

Best for: Natural wine and candlelit interiors
Location: 328/6, 43 Charoen Krung Road, Si Phraya, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500
Price: Natural wine by the glass

Mala is tucked away in Bangkok’s Charoenkrung district, known for its restaurants and independent boutiques. The rustic space is a flower shop by day, which transforms into an atmospheric natural wine bar in the evening. Warm, candlelit interiors are matched by an impressive and regularly rotating wine list, served with casual small plates including cheese and charcuterie boards and crispy gochujang potato chips. Step inside via our video here.

Tax Bar

Best for: creative cocktails
Location: 695-697 Maitri Chit Road, Khwaeng Pom Prap, Khet Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok
Price: Cocktails from 420 THB / 12.50 USD

Hidden away behind a concrete wall and up a set of stairs is where you’ll find Tax Bar. There’s no sign, but you’ll know you’re in the right place when you see the graffiti on the wall that reads, “Nothing is certain but death & tax.” Tax Bar opened post-Covid with a menu of vinegar-based alcoholic drinks in response to the harsh government taxes on traditional alcohol and the lack of support for bar and restaurant owners during the pandemic. The dark and moody space continues to serve this politically slanted menu, alongside more refined offerings such as the Chrysanthemum Fizz with a full bloom floating in the glass. Tax Bar is run by the team behind Teens of Thailand (more on that below).

Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar

Best for: daring drinks, inventive cocktails
Location: 104 Maha Set Road, Si Phraya, Bang Rak, Bangkok, 10500
Price: Cocktails from 420 THB / 12.50 USD

A sumptuous bar with souk-inspired decor, this otherworldly space offers creative cocktails with the utmost attention to detail. These perfectly complement the menu of edgy bar snacks provided by 100 Mahaseth, the nose-to-tail restaurant downstairs. The cocktails feature unusual ingredients like blue cheese air and beef fat and feel like a whole experience rather than a drink. For thrill-seekers, the Squid combines vodka, mezcal, mirin and dried squid before being topped with a black layer of squid ink. For those feeling less adventurous, the coffee cocktail is a sweet salvation that still packs a boozy punch.
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Tai Soon Bar

Best for: Homemade craft beer with a retro Chinese vibe
Location: 190 Maha Chai Rd, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Price: Cocktails from 200 THB/6 USD

This duplex bar is dotted with picturesque red lanterns, and sits directly across the street from the obscurely located Jay Fai, Bangkok’s only Michelin-starred street food joint, one widely considered one of the city’s essential restaurants. Pro tip: arrive at Jay Fai, put your name on the waiting list, then nip over to Tai Soon to while away the hours with Thai lagers, IPAs and stouts. The time is guaranteed to fly by.

Teens of Thailand

Best for: Gin cocktails in Chinatown
Location: 76 Soi Nana, Chinatown,  Bangkok 10100
Price: Cocktails from 250 THB / 7.50 USD

Ready to kick things up a gear? Kratom is a natural leaf with stimulant properties native to South East Asia that’s making its way into cool cocktails. Try it for yourself at Teens of Thailand, alongside unique juniper-scented concoctions and an excellent array of G&Ts. The bar is tucked away on Soi Nana, an alleyway in Chinatown.

Pijiu Bar

Best for: craft beer
Location: 16 Soi Nana, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Thailand, Bangkok, 10110
Price: Beers from 150 THB / 4.40 USD

A cosy, retro shophouse with unpretentious vibes, this address on the always-trendy Soi Nana concentrates on craft beer, with a well-stocked fridge of bottled artisanal ales, and a curation of current favourites on tap. Feel free to ask questions, as the bilingual team are well-versed on brews. Pijiu also features an interesting menu of Chinese bar snacks like spicy chicken knuckles and an Asian take on a charcuterie platter that includes smoked duck, sweet grilled pork, and liver hotdogs.

Tropic City

Best for: Rum cocktails
Location: 672/65 Charoen Krung Soi 28, Old Town, Bangkok 10500
Price: Cocktails from 350 THB/10 USD

It’s impossible to feel anything but outrageously happy in Tropic City, where a colourful design (think Miami Vice meets Southeast Asia) brightens even the dullest of moods, and drinking a rum cocktail out of a pineapple is cool rather than cringe. DJs spinning lo-fi hip hop reaffirms the bar as a hipster hangout, but the crowd won’t judge you (much) if you take a selfie.

Thonglor

A long-established hangout for both artsy and affluent city dwellers, Thonglor boasts a vibrant mix of cafes, experimental eateries, rooftop bars and an around-the-clock buzz, while its narrow side streets unearth gritty after-hours nightlife spots and late-night noodle stalls. Thonglor is where you can expect to find gallerists drinking alongside art collectors at a wide array of bars serving up variations on champagne cocktails, lemongrass-infused creations, and boozy concoctions you won’t remember the next morning — until you check your Instagram.

Untitled

Best for: Kowloon cocktails, nightlife
Location: 171 Soi Thonglor 10, Bangkok 10110
Price: Cocktails start at 420 THB / 12.50 USD

Unlike many other bars on this list, you won’t be able to pass by Untitled without noticing it. Covered in fluorescent lights and a brightly lit pawn shop sign, this ballsy bar was built to stand out. The bar presents solidly inventive drinks in a more celebratory environment than most of the area’s quiet, upscale offerings. With DJs from 9pm on most nights, this is a place to let your hair down while quaffing signatures like the highball-inspired AFS, which mixes scotch, apple and soda with barrel-aged fish sauce.

WTF Gallery & Cafe

Best for: An artsy crowd and unique cocktails
Location: 7 Sukhumvit Soi 51, Thonglor, Bangkok 10110
Price: Cocktails from 275 THB/8 USD

Billing itself as a ‘creative social club’, this small shophouse and bar sits on one of Thonglor’s quieter streets. The apothecary-inspired space (booze is medicine, right?) makes deliciously irreverent drinks and hosts art exhibits upstairs. This is the kind of place where you can expect to find off-duty artists, designers of all kinds, and Bangkok’s literati perched at the bar, come to soak up the surrounds in this bar-slash-gallery (one of Bangkok’s coolest museums and galleries, if you’re asking).

12 x 12

Best for: Beer bar with a twist, nightlife
Location: 22 Thara Rom Soi 2, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
Price: Cocktails from 200 THB/6 USD 

Tucked down a side street and behind a gate on a Thonglor side street, this hidden bar is worth finding. Expect to hear live DJs spinning a variety of genres, from soul to funk, reggae and beyond. Attracting a subversive mix of punks, expats and musicians, they make their own umeshu and serve it out of a barrel (we wouldn’t recommend drinking too much of it though).

Rabbit Hole

Best for: Fine cocktails (think fine-dining for drinks)
Location: 125 Thonglor Road, Bangkok 10110
Price: Cocktails from 375 THB / 11 USD

When it comes to Bangkok’s best bars, Rabbit Hole is one of our favourites. Aptly named, it hides behind an unmarked door in Thonglor – but what it lacks in exterior, it more than makes up for with its drinks, which mix ingredients like absinthe with smoked tea soda. King of the cocktails is Supawit ‘Palm’ Muttaratana, an award-winning Thai bartender that serves up his indulgent recipes to the city’s late-night glitterati. With such acclaim it’s no surprise the bar gets very crowded, but unlike many other upmarket establishments, they’ll let you order and stand with your drink rather than being turned away because there are no tables.

Silom & Sathorn

The riverside neighbourhoods of Silom and Sathorn made up the former mercantile centre of Bangkok, surrounding the ports of the Chao Phraya River. Once home to rich merchants and traders, the area still retains its cache and array of glitzy, high-end residences and restaurants. The Silom area hosts the city’s main LGBTQ+ nightlife area and a lively red light district with tiny bars tucked away in every corner, while Sathorn features envelope-pushing and award-winning drinking dens.

Vesper

Best for: Award-winning cocktails
Location: 10/15 Sala Daeng Soi 2, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500
Price: Cocktails from 400 THB / 12 USD

Friendly yet refined, Vesper offers heady, low-lit romance just steps from the crowds of Silom, perfect for getting your evening off to a sophisticated start before further revelry kicks in. The staff serve up signature cocktails that mix ingredients like yuzu sake with saffron sorbet, and offer advice in a way that hits the glorious sweet spot between knowledgeable and welcoming.

Smalls

Best for: Multifaceted nightlife
Location: 186/3 Suan Plu Soi 1, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Price: Cocktails from 300 THB / 9 USD

Smalls is, er, anything but small: multi-level, packed with locals, and buzzing with energy, it’s a Bangkok bar that just gets better as the night rolls on. It has a rep for being the place to go after-hours, when BKK’s other bars and restaurants close up shop – so you know it’s where a great night out begins (or ends). Get prepared to quite literally rub elbows with your fellow drinkers, too, because it’s never not busy.

Lower Sukhumvit

In years past, the lower Sukhumvit neighbourhoods of Asoke, Ploenchit, Chitlom and Siam were where Bangkokians went to work, run errands, and cross various tasks off their endless to-do lists. In those days, if you wanted a drink in these midtown neighbourhoods, you were relegated to hotel lobbies, girly bars, and faux Irish pubs. Today, drink entrepreneurs have caught on to the fact that everyone passes through here — and many of them could do with a drink.

Behind the Curtain (Phrom Pong / Lower Sukhumvit)

Style: dessert and drinks
Location: 30 Attha Kawi 1 Alley, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110
Price: Cocktails from 420 THB / 12.50 USD

Taking its name from its position hidden behind a dramatic floor-to-ceiling curtain at the back of the popular Mia restaurant in Phrom Pong, this stylish and intimate offering is making a name for itself with its reservation-only, five-course omakase dessert and drink pairing experience. If you’re not in the mood for eating, you can also walk in on any night to try their signature cocktail menu, which presents new twists on classic combinations. The Old Passion, made from a base of passion fruit laced bourbon, orange flower tea, agave syrup, and bitters, is finished with clove smoke and acts as a fitting accompaniment to the small plates on offer.

Bar.Yard

Style: Tiki cocktails and craft beer
Location: Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, 78 Soi Ton Son, Lumphini, Bangkok 10330
Occasion: with friends, date
Price: Cocktails from 300 THB / 9 USD

No visit to Bangkok is complete without a trip to a rooftop bar, and Bar.Yard is one of the best. A 40th-floor tiki bar with a menu that’s heavy on American-style bbq food (think brisket tacos and melt-in-your-mouth ribs), this sky-high destination inside the Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok hotel (one of Bangkok’s most beautiful hotels) bills itself as a day club, rooftop oasis and bar. Expect upbeat DJs spinning a curated mix of funk, disco and R&B, as well as regional craft beers, and several coveted corners to watch the sunset and get that perfect sky bar photo (you know you want to).