Ratchada is a big place with many different venues - thai discos, massage parlours, clubs and eateries. I am going to start out right away by saying it may not be your scene at all but I think it is worth checking out both for some food, rubdowns and the partying. I have two suggestions for the best way to experience Ratchada to ensure you have a good time. Take at least one of your buddies with you so that it is at least two of you exploring together that way you will not feel like the lone ranger. In fact 3-4 of you is even better. Or barfine your favourite girl from one of the ICC and have her take you there. Usually they will have been before but if not they will actually enjoy going since it is more there scene anyway. Also this is a good oppurtunity to state one of the other angles for meeting chicks in Thailand. As you frequent your local 7/11, Department Store, legit massage place and so on you might find yourself chatting up a cutie who although is not a working girl is interested in meeting Farang men. If you happen to get some digits or have an oppurtunity to ask her out you can say that you want to check out Ratchada Soi 4(2,6,8,10) and you need her to take you. If things have been progressing nicely she will probably say okay. Get on it.
Basically jump in a cab and tell the driver you want to go to
Ratchada Soi 4 - to say 4 in Thai it is like saying "cee". This will
take you away from the Sukhumvit area towards Ratchada. If you are
hungry I would suggest hitting the seafood place on the left hand side
as you proceed down Ratchada away from Sukhumvit. You can tell the
driver you want to eat seafood and tell him to take you to where the
Giant Lobster sign is. In this seafood eating complex you should go the
first eaterie on the right. That is my favorite one - good service,
good food and reasonable prices. Be patient about ordering since many
of the service people barely speak english and usually the head waiter
or waitress will take your order but the people are very friendly.
These places stay open very late and many people in the Thai service
industry(massage girls) and characters from the Thai mafia like to go
here after to work to eat and drink. Yes - you can drink at these
places all night since the so-called curfews rarely apple to large Thai
eating/drinking establishments. At some later post I will dig into this
more since it really bugs me. If you look closely around you while
eating at these seafood places you may notice girls from the ICC or
various other spots around town either eating with their girlfriends,
co-workers or their Thai boyfriends they swear to you that they don’t
really have. Right. Anyway this is a good place to chow and people
watch.
So back to Ratchada Soi 4. As you enter the main complex you will
have to wind around a bit to take the whole place in but it is a bunch
of stand alone or joined together bars/clubs all with a similar theme.
Live music or DJ music or both on some nights, tables, and a bar. Most
Thai places like this don’t really have a dance floor so to speak or a
big bar since you tend to take a table with your friends, get a bottle
of whisky(plus mixers) and dance around your own table. That is the
Thai scene for the most part. Some of the music can be pretty good or
lousy so you have to walk around and poke your head in a few places to
see what you like. Some of the bands are pretty good and even famous
Thai bands like The Clash play soi 4 but generally you will only hear
them play Thai music. I suggest checking out places like Snop, Zaleng
or Rad. Just walk around though and check it all out. There are tons of
people on the weekends, lots of girls but keep in mind it is generally
a younger crowd so don’t be suprised if the girl sitting next to you
drinking a beer is only 16 or 17. Probably the best place to roll into
is Snop which is in the far right corner of Soi 4 closes to Ratacha if
you are facing it soi 4 from Ratchada. Snop is one of the busier clubs
there and is a destination in and of itself. Outdoor areas, multiple
indoor areas, food, cocktails, bottle service and okay tunes. It is
well lit and the design is pretty cool so it tends to attract the
higher end clientile that visit Soi 4.
So go with some buddies or have some Thai girl you know show you
around but check it out sometime for a proper change of pace. if you
get too frustrated, bored or are not able to connect you can always
jump in the cab and make your way to Poiseden for some relief.
…
Thanks for that, there are very few farangs there so its even better to go with a good thai girl!
View all comments by toby
I had no idea there were massage joints on ratch soi4
I need names and reports
View all comments by Young Penfold
This report is two years old. I’m happy to be corrected but I’ve been to Rachada Soi 4 several times in the past 6 weeks and the place is DEAD except for two lady boy bars with cabaret shows and a couple of quiet Thai restaurants that close around 10 p.m.
There is some action to be had on Soi 6 & 8 (forming a large U from Rachadapisek Road) but that’s really nightclubs, not massage joints.
The seafood place on the left hand side that is referenced in this piece was torn down about 4 weeks ago. I have photos of the demolition if anyone is interested in seeing them
I reckon this post is well and truly out of date.
View all comments by werewolf
ww - I know the other side of ratachada soi 4 is pretty much gone but places like snop and all the clubs are still there - this is the other side of the seafood place - across the street under the big spi 4 sign.
View all comments by smitty
smitty — dunno how recently you’ve been there. I live across the street and I know exactly where you’re talking about.
Snop may be open, but it looks closed (quiet and dark). There are two brightly lit bars that look to be ladyboy cabaret bars behind it (one called Pure and I think the other is called V or something like that). Aside from that and a couple of small restaurants it’s a ghost town of small empty single shops with chairs and tables piled up in front.
The sign out on the street makes it look like there’s a lot going on, but inside it’s deathly quiet. I’ve gone there several times since moving to Ratchada two months ago, but never found anything happening.
I wrote a blog about it 6 weeks ago, complete with enough photos to establish that I know the location if nothing else.
http://bargirlsrpeople2.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/exploring-rachada/
Last time I went there I had a Thai girl with me and I had her ask the waiter in Thai about the nightlife in the area. His answer was consistent with what I saw and have described.
If you know what else is open there (soi 4) to attract a farang out for a fun night then let me know, because I can’t find any reason to go there except for the inexpensive Thai restaurants on offer in the early evening.
View all comments by werewolf
Sorry, just to be clear, in the blog that I linked to I mentioned being on Soi 4 at 7 p.m. In subsequent trips I went back later in the evening, with my latest visit being at 11 p.m. On that trip, all the restaurants were closed except for one, and I could only identify two clubs that were open and operating.
Soi 6 & 8 of course are very lively.
View all comments by werewolf
Places like zaleng and rad are way in the back and last I heard from the bartenders at silom they are still open but I have not been back in a while. I was invited to a semi business meeting at snop just a few weeks back but could not make it.
soi 4 has been declining for a while. the owner is essentially one guy and he even owns or partly owns some of the places. he wants a big land deal but it has yet to come because he has to buy out all his tenants first and some won’t go.
obviously in bangkok spaces like this will become condos, shopping malls or business towers over time.
View all comments by smitty
Much of Ratchada from Petchuburi Road to Soi 6 (on the even side) and to Esplanade (on the odd side) is a ghetto of empty and under-utilized space serviced by very good and still-improving infrastructure. If I was a large land developer with capital I would option all the available land along this short corridor from Petcheburi station to Thailand Cultural Center station and do a bit of town planning.
Of course, maybe it’s already been done.
The old seafood restaurant site between the Chinese Embassy and Esplanade has been ripped down and work is moving rapidly on improving the land, but I dunno what they’re building.
View all comments by werewolf
from my chats with the guy who owns the soi 4 area - a lot of the land around the area u describe is owned by crown property and thaksin. I think the big TOT building is owned by Thaksin as well in some weird way. Supposedly though - apart from the condos and such - the malls have not done well. Esplanade is under performing and one big project was already canceled - which was a mall project on CPL.
I still say if every nook and cranny is either a mall or a condo - the area will lose its charm and the people. soi4 is a bad example cause it is very mismanaged - but soi 6 and soi 8 do okay.
It is a shame that the bars. clubs and restaurants can’t keep pace with the malls, condos and government buildings.
View all comments by smitty
smitty: Esplanade sucks, which is why it isn’t doing well. It’s a badly planned mall with a crap mix of shops, confused as to who the customers are, and lots of wasted square footage. Whoever is responsible for the design and management of the space simply doesn’t seem to know much about the job.
I chose the phrase “town planning” intentionally when talking about this area. With three MRT stations (Petchaburi, Rama 9 & Thailand Cultural Center) the public transport is top notch. The road access is as good as it gets in Bangkok, with an expressway on-off ramp and N-S, E-W trunk roads. Now the new BTS line is being constructed E-W through the area.
I agree that soi 6 - 8 does very well… I’d suggest that more farang guys could spend time there and enjoy the Bangkok experience more fully. Personally I like Hollywood in particular, though I have friends who don’t like it at all. That’s what makes the world go ’round.
This ‘corridor’ could handle medium to high density housing, a lot more restaurants, even a nice green park could fit in the available space. There’s so much unused land here that it could be developed into a really top-notch community. Fortune Center is okay… it is what it is. Esplanade could be saved by a creative manager with a vision.
I guess, simply put, I’m agreeing with you.
If the Thai people aren’t gonna use it properly, though, I reckon we should grab some land next to the Petchaburi train station and build Soi Cowboy II or relocate Nana Plaza and all it’s go go licenses
View all comments by werewolf