Royal City Avenue

Every cab puts on the English station when I get in.

After weeks of chilling at home, saving baht and watching internet TV, we finally broke out and experienced a little taste of Thai nightlife. We visited the club district know as RCA (Royal City Avenue). Since RCA isn’t near public transit we had to cab it over. Lucky for us it is a little way east of our apartment so the fare each way was about 65 baht ($2.00).

The cab dropped us off on the opposite side of the street, so to get to RCA we had to cross six lanes of heavy traffic. It was like playing a posh version of Frogger as groups of decked out Thai people hopped across lanes until they safely reached the goal. For all the Chicagoans out there, RCA is a stretch of road closed off to traffic (unless you are some sort of VIP) that combines the loud and trashy flare of Weed and Rush Streets back home. Imagine mega clubs elbow to elbow along one side of the street and on the other side is a mish mash of some smaller bars, noodles stands and 7-11s.

We think this place looks like the Admiral/Crazy Horse.

We did a quick stroll to get the lay of the land, check out all the clubs and watch the people. It was about 10PM and for the most part it was a ghost town. One end of the strip was capped off with Route 66 a huge expansive club with at least three different areas of music. The sides of the building were open and there was a large amount of outdoor seating. It was kinda like an upscale bottle service club turned into a beer garden. I think the cover was 200 baht and that would get you one free drink once you got in.

I thought Route 66 only ran east and west?

Take note of the chandelier and glowing outdoor bar. High class!

On the other end of the strip was a club that only admitted girls….no boys allowed. It has this nice hot pink neon sign and blaring out from inside was the hardest gangster rap I have heard since being in Thailand. I guess the Thai ladies love Jeezy! Who knew.

Anyone's guess what the "e" stands for.

We stopped in the middle at Cosmic Café, a little bar across the street from 808. 808 is one of the few venues that regularly books big name out of town talent. We went to Cosmic to meet up with a friend from a DJ message board I had been writing who was eventually heading over to the Grandmaster Flash show at 808.

This is one of the few places where you can't see what's going on inside.

Cosmic was laid back, we sat outside, had some bottles of Singh Ha (100 Baht each, RCA prices!) and relaxed. It felt much like being in the states, dudes talking about records and music, Sandy being kinda bored. Eventually our friend left and we stayed for another drink.

Over the course of the night we were treated to two Thai cover bands playing an eclectic mix of rock and indie rock with a wide range of songs and hits from Guns and Roses, Franz Ferdinand and even Green Day. They were actually pretty good. Several times we though a CD was playing only to look up and see a group of skinny long haired Thai boys belting out forgotten Western jams. This live rock also seemed like catnip for the other random Farangs there, and while the tables of young Thai people relaxed and sipped their beers and pints of rice whisky, tall blonde foreigners could be seen dancing around wildly in their tacky summer dresses.

Sweet Child of Mine...

The Killers...

Can you spot the white person in this photo? The love handles may be a dead giveaway.

808 eventually got bumpin’ and at one time had a really long line. But for the most part it was kind of a surreal place. The road never really got packed; none of the clubs looked super full.

Not pictured: Thai tumbeweed

As we headed to catch a cab home, we walked past Route 66 again, and this time it was in full on Lady GaGa mode. Poker Face was blaring, and the live MC was yelling over the music “This one’s for all the ladies!” Hands were in the air. It could have been any cheesy club in the world.

Looking for a cab, we were at first turned down by a few drivers looking to score a bigger fare from some drunk foreigners heading to riverside hotels. Eventually we grabbed a cab down the street and headed home.

Home sweet home late at night.