Close enough to Bangkok’s international airport to allow drinking while plane-spotting — but far enough away from the city center to be pretty inconvenient — sits Sky Bar 64, a rooftop watering hole whose main selling point is its two kilometer distance from Suvarnabhumi and up-close view of planes arriving and departing.
Though I’d never heard anyone mention it, this place came to my attention when I was searching online for a bar inside the airport that was anywhere other than Bill Bentley’s Pub, Suvarnabhumi’s main watering hole and one of the most depressing places ever.
For a perplexing ten minutes or so, I thought that Skybar 64 — which is confusingly attached to a hotel called Suvarnabhumi Ville and comes up on the first page of Google results for “Suvarnabhumi bar” — was somewhere in (or on) the airport, which would have made it awesome. However, it’s actually a ten minute cab ride away, making it just inconvenient enough to not visit until six months later.
However, the idea of this airplane-viewing bar, with its tacky fluorescent decor and location just out of reach of the airport, stayed with me. The intrigue never left.
The chance to visit finally presented itself this week. I hoped to hear the roar of jets overhead while eating and drinking, but the flights don’t actually come as close to the bar as that, instead flying perpendicular to the establishment while still offering a decent view.
The Thai-style skybar is perched on top of the hotel, which has rooms in the THB2,000 (USD60) range. If you’re only in Bangkok overnight, or want to be near the airport for an early or late flight, this hotel seems like a viable option and, once there, there’s no reason not to amble upstairs for a bite, sip, and see.
Though this place isn’t an over-the-top charmer, it could have a certain surreal charm if you were very jetlagged. Aside from the view of the occasional plane taking off or landing, it would be hard to say it’s worth the THB300 (USD9) cab fare and 45-minute ride from downtown Bangkok, but if you need to kill some time out by the airport, this might be your best bet.
I could not help wondering what most of the other people there were doing there. Early on a Saturday night, the crowd was made up of groups of Thai friends and several Thai-farang couples. Did they live nearby, were they guests at the hotel, or, like us, had they stumbled on the place online and thought, oh what the hell, let’s check it out?
The multi-level space offers an upper deck with traditional tables and chairs for dining and a stage where cover bands play. But the real action seems to happen below, if the photos on their Facebook page are any indication. On this level, guests can perch on lit-up stools and bathe in the glow of disco lights while sipping unnaturally blue cocktails and having an absolute blast.
We started with drinks, ordering a Manhattan and a glass of white wine. The cocktail, for THB250 (USD7.5), was well-made, balanced in flavor, and offered a nice buzz — though that was dampened by the novelty martini glass it was served in. When ordering wine, the helpful server steered me toward one that was on happy hour promotion for half-price at THB140 (USD4.2). It was a bit sweet, but hey, a big pour for a good price.
We just wanted something to nibble on, and ordered a krapow gung (basil shrimp), THB250 (USD7.5), and homemade potato wedges, THB170 (USD5), to share.
Since the bar is Thai-style, we weren’t surprised that the shrimp was delivered a full 30 minutes before the potatoes. But it didn’t much matter since we were (kind of) enjoying the atmosphere and our drinks. My friend declared the large, plump shrimp perfectly prepared. They were dressed in a standard Thai basil sauce.
Though we thought the potatoes had been forgotten, they arrived after we checked in with the server about them. They, too, were hot and freshly made. The wedges were well-done, but not quite something you’d remember after finishing them off.
As the sun was setting and the Thai cover band was warming up onstage, we decided to depart without ordering a second round of drinks.
And yet, after it all, we’re still wondering why there isn’t a decent bar inside Suvarnabhumi Airport.
FIND IT:
Sky Bar 64
9/9 Moo 7 Soi Kingkaew 64
Samut Prakan
Open daily, 6pm-1am
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