Chiang Mai, Thailand: The Top 7 Nightclub Venues
Nightlife in Chiang Mai is world class, yet most visitors never see the venues worth seeing. Follow the usual tourist trail first, and then go see one of these clubs, and you will get an idea of how different Chiang Mai is to those who know where to go.
Two different worlds exist here–you just have to decide which you want to experience. Here is my list of top 7 nightclubs in town:
1. Warm Up Bar–A favorite among the university crowd, Warm-Up Bar is packed every night. When you first walk in there is a live band with a bar and restaurant in the traditional open air setting. A small lounge plays techno and trance, and in the back a big club has another live band and a hip hop DJ later in the night. The food is great and well-priced if you want to take a break from the crowd, and the party goes until just past one in the morning.
2. Monkey Club–This venue also has an open-air restaurant out front with a great menu, and the inside club features hard rock by a popular Chiang Mai band. Closes at one in the morning.
3. Mandaley–This wild night club seems to be making an effort to keep tourists away–farang are charged 300 baht for entrance but Thais pay nothing. Likely Chiang Mai’s biggest venue, Mandaley bar has a huge auditorium-sized club with a stage and coyote shows as well as girls dancing on podiums throughout the crowd.
Upstairs is a hip hop club and a house club. Mandaley is very gay-friendly, but the sheer quality of gorgeous women make it a place any guy would be crazy to skip. Closes at 3 in the morning.
4. Discovery–Situated across from the Centram Plaza Shopping Mall. Also open until 3 in the morning, Discovery attracts a good crowd seven nights a week. The crowd is a little more farang-friendly than some of the other spots on this list. Out front sits Chiang Mai bar, a smaller venue with similar music and outside seating. Open until three.
5. Fine Thanks–This fancy restaurant gets hopping later in the night and stays open until two in the morning. If you can, get there early for some dinner. The food and ambiance is some of the best in Chiang Mai. Closes at one.
6. V Club–This all-night spot is where Thai club-goers end up after everything else shuts down. It is adjacent to a few karaoke bars, and coyote girls dance on the stage for everyone to see, so it seems it caters to the Thai sex trade. Nonetheless, university students who don’t want to go to bed end up there, and it can still be more appealing than the farang-oriented night-spots.
7. Fabrique–This big club is located on the first floor of The President Hotel. Catering to the high-society crowd, Fabrique is chic and expensive to match. The only beer they serve is Heineken and it costs 150 baht per bottle.
There are two big clubs inside, one playing techno and hip/hop and the other featuring live Thai bands. Out back is a good restaurant that stays open late. Fabrique goes until five in the morning.
Wandering into these venues will not be always be the most welcoming experience in the world. They might be surprised to see a Westerner in the mix, but make an effort to talk to people and they’ll open up.
Chiang Mai nightlife is some of the best I have ever seen, and I have seen my share of nightlife around the world. If you do not make the effort to see these places, you will never have any idea what I’m talking about, so dress well and get out there to meet the locals in style.
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Comments and Responses
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Sounds great! You’ve described a side of Chiang Mai nightlife that I’ve never seen before, but now I know exactly where to go. It’s always great to get a glimpse of the “real” local night life, as opposed to hanging out at all the places that the tourists go.
It sounds like if you make some Thai friends, you might fit in more if you go to one of these hot spots with a group of your Thai friends. In any case, it seems like making an effort at integration is the way to go!
I’m from Long Beach, California and appreciate you posting this information. Hearing they charge non-Thai 300 baht to get into Mandaley means I won’t be going there. Discrimination ain’t cool..
Me and the lady were planning to hit Fabrique, which sounds pretty solid, but after hearing they only server Heiniken, I’d call that a deal-killer as well.
Guess we’ll opt for something a bit more eclectic, but again, thanks for the heads up!
Yeah, It’s funny how in Thailand it’s perfectly accpeptable to have two tier pricing. That would not be tolerated at all in North America!
Glad the info helped you out:)
Cheers
Fabrique also charges 300 baht to get in, but if you go by yourself the best thing to do is go around midnight and walk in as if you’ve already walked and and just say that you’ve already paid.
Yeah, you’re right–Fabrique started charging a few months ago. I think they’re only doing this on the weekends though, as far as I can see.
Thanks for the comment…However, my best advice to you if you’re coming to Thailand is to get used to discrimination and either accept it or consider going somewhere else. It sucks, but not everyone in the world thinks like we do back home, and you’re not going to go anywhere where you can avoid it. You might not pay 300 baht to go into the tourist bars, but I’ve seen foreigners really get beat down by the bouncers at some of the lower-class bars (and it was most certainly due to an undercurrent of racism)–probably not going to happen at these bigger clubs. That said, if you keep cool and don’t cause problems it probably won’t happen anywhere.
Also, even though you pay 300 baht at these places, it typically goes towards mixers if you have a bottle of whiskey or a couple of beers the same price as you would have paid anyhow. So, it’s really just a way to ensure foreigners pay. Backpackers are a lot more likely to show up at a club and not drink anything all night–for one because it’s more culturally acceptable to not drink at a party and two because they are on a strict budget.
Thanks for the comment, but just a warning that if you’re not already here you’re going to find that racial differences are an unavoidable part of being white in Thailand.
The V club has since closed down and is now called the cozmo club, i’ve been here 3 years and it’s changed hands about 5 times. It was way better as a karaoke place if you ask me. Also any place that charges white people to enter is just racist and there is no way i’d support that. Same thing in Bangkok as well, it’s plain discrimination and i’d love for one day someone to slap them with a class action suit.
as long as the 300 baht keep those annoying backpacker blondes with their pale, frecklish skin and saggy tits out, I am more than okay with the 300 baht …