8 Best Nightlife in Chidlom and Ploenchit

The Speakeasy Rooftop Bar at Hotel Muse really is like no other rooftop bar in Bangkok. While most drinking spots perched on top of hotels and office blocks across the capital focus mainly on the views, The Speakeasy is all about the bar itself, which is truly inspiring.

Taking its name from the underground bars during the prohibition era in America, The Speakeasy has a 1920s theme running throughout. Classic cocktails are mixed to the sound of funky jazz in the background, with seating options either at the bar, around the edge, or on the garden terrace on the 2nd (and top) floor. Another real highlight to this rooftop bar is the smoking lounge, The Blind Pig, where you can purchase a Cuban cigar, don your very own smoking jacket, sit back with a vintage bourbon and pretend you’re Al Capone for the night.

Penthouse Bar + Grill at Park Hyatt Bangkok is an immersive drinking and dining complex occupying the top 3 floors of Bangkok’s hottest hotel. The grand idea of a visit to Penthouse is to move through the venues to experience the particulars of each – all grouped around a smart ‘Bachelor Pad’ concept. There’s a swanky cocktail bar which hosts DJs spinning lounge house and nu-disco and a ‘speakeasy’ bar that's found by following the passageway through a pine wall and into a whisky bar that has a live pianist from 9pm.

Diplomat Bar takes its name from the fact that it sits right in the heart of Bangkok’s Embassy District. With its sumptuous lighting, sexy silk couches and glitzy round bar, this place is the perfect spot for a passing ambassador, too. Although anybody can get in (as long as you’re not dressed for the beach), the crowd is comprised of mostly wealthy businessmen staying in one of the nearby luxury hotels, rich Thai couples and, of course, high-profile diplomats.

The elitist vibe is completed with some soft live jazz every night, high prices on rare wines and whiskeys and some 5-star customer service from the attentive wait staff.

This classy Italian restaurant inside Bangkok’s luxurious Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel may seem more like a place to indulge in delicious pasta or pizzas in the daytime, but this stylish space is most loved for its nightclub. Every evening from 10pm the level of sophistication is turned up a notch as a live band takes to the stage until 2am, playing international dance with a jazzy twist.

This place is well known for drawing in Bangkok’s prettiest people, as well as those with some cash to splash. Although that might put some off, the venue does boast a genuinely cool ambience with its flamboyant design, multiple seating options, including some towering bars stools where you can watch your mixologist create superb cocktails.

While this modern and upmarket complex of restaurants and bars at CentralWorld is better known for its culinary delights rather than its booming nightlife scene, most of the joints here stay open late, presenting a great opportunity for some post-shopping or post-work (or post-anything, come to think of it) drinks.

The best places to wet your whistle at Groove include the excellent HOBS (House of Beers) for its range of – you guessed it – beers, as well as the stylish Wine I Love You and Wabi/Sabi Japanese & Sake Bar (all on the first floor of Groove, open until 1am). If you’re hungry, the best spot for European food is 1881 by Water Library. If you want some fancy Thai food, head to Apinara Thai Cuisine and Bar on the 2nd floor.