Thai nightlife is significantly different sure. circling around a whiskey bottle with friends doesn’t stop one from meeting those at the next table.

besides, thais prefer to meet potential dates through friends.

finally, thais don’t really pick up girls as much as they pick up numbers.

a kway tiao meeting and an invitation to the next night out with the guy’s group finalizes the relationship.

So it’s like any club in the world.

If you really want to wear shorts then you may try some
‘clubs’ in Samet, Samui or Phuket ;-p

So, these places then seem to have the same values as university libraries, where knowledge gathering also depends on your clothing.

Primary reasons are:
- No ID. Some clubs enforce a strict policy. Even if you look 35, if you don’t have an ID, you don’t get in. From what I heard clubs get fined in case they get checked and someone doesn’t have an ID (sufficient already, even though they might be old enough)
- Shorts or Sandals. The only clothing check that I have seen performed in “young” Bangkok nightlife are no open shoes and no shorts for men (no flipflops either). However, this is usually only the case in finer / dance venues.

Those observations are based on a broad range from clubs – from “working class” drink holes to “hiso” ones like Bed, Narcissus or Scirocco and maybe a 100 nights out in Bangkok (I guess I do enjoy nightlife). I got no idea about massage parlours / hostess clubs / etc. though.

Intoxitated? A guys only group? Harassment? I’ve seen that tolerated and unless it’s violence haven’t seen anyone getting kicked out.

Maybe the existence and acceptance of “massage parlours” make it less important for clubs to draw in girls, since guys are more likely to come in here than in the west if there are few girls. After all, they can and might get that somewhere else if they want.

A big dancefloor like in Europe? And who would be the self-confident people who are the first to dance in the middle of it (or the drunks, or the ones who linger around close to it with a beer in their hand…).

The architecture of these places is different – no dance floor: I’ve heard this is because previously (1960s) dancing places were illegal, or needed a different license, but I’m not sure if this is true.

People gather around tables and not bars – because people always come in groups, part of the more communal culture, and also because normally one person pays for the whole table, part of the pervaisve hierarchy.

I’m not really sure what a “not big spender” looks like. In a place like Bangkok, you don’t have to spend that much in order to look nice. I’ve gone shopping with girls who spent 150 baht (50 for a tank top, 100 for a skirt) and still ended up looking like a million bucks.

– On busy nights, I get hit on like mad at 70’s Bar on Langsuan. But then again, 90% of the people on the floor there are either girls or gay. I do not look like a model.

But I understand what you’re saying, Nick. The whole “go with friends, get a table and a bottle, and dance around the table or dance with your friends on the floor”-thing puts some constraints on meeting up with new people.

The trick to having fun is making sure you invite the “right” group of friends. If everybody knows everybody else, that sort of makes things a bit boring, so it’s best to invite a bunch of people who might be meeting each other for the first time or might not know each other too well.

Another trick is to jam one group of friends with some other friends who just happen to be in the same club. The two groups mingle, and new friendships are made (or not).

And I’ve had very good results buying drinks for others. Not the whole western style “can I buy you a drink”-cliche. I’m talking about seeing a table full of nice girls, asking the waiter to send them a bottle of something nice, and then being ready if any sparks fly. This usually works best if one table is mostly full of guys and the other table is full of girls.

I’ve had very very good results getting lady friends at my table to help me hit on girls at other tables. This helps a lot.

If it’s pickup clubs that you’re looking for, I’m sure that they exist somewhere or another in Bangkok. But it’s Bangkok – I’ve never found the need to go to one.

– Bed Supper Club used to be fun, but these days is filled with sikh, farang, and expensive whores. Same with Q-Bar. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t want to bring lady friends there anymore.

http://www.bedsupperclub.com/ Is this the sort of place you are referring too? As the club is seemingly quite elitist, wouldn’t an appropriate social etiquette apply?

From my perspective, the social maturity of newer-young people over the last 10-20 years (not that I am old, but I am affable) has decreased with more social restraints inhibiting self-determination to the point that few people are able to engage in conversation that would place them outside of their box (myspace profile).. especially with those that have something to loose (which I find elites often believe).

Whilst this interpretation is a sweeping generalisation, there are clubs in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong quite similar to what you have described.. and even taking into account the ‘new social constraints’ my opinion is that the club atmosphere is dictated by the people in it… and if people choose to go to a segregated bar with a selection policy in order to avoid “riff-raff” then this cannot really be said to be a new phenomenon in that there has always been elites in Thailand

This is probably far too simplistic in that I am not aware of Thai club culture so much… However, I feel that you are outlining a transnational situation…

Maybe someone from the Bullingdon Club (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullingdon_Club) could offer more analysis!

ps.. sorry for the repeated submission!