Bar 23: Cult dive bar celebrates ‘almost 10’ years with party this Saturday

Longtime local favorite dive bar Bar 23 & Gallery is hosting a party on Saturday to celebrate the watering hole’s “almost tenth” birthday.

“Almost ten” and not exactly ten, says owner-DJ-party starter Mongkol Sanla, because: “The truth is I can’t remember exactly when we first opened Bar 23 in Sukhumvit, but I do know it was about this time 10 years ago.”

The old Bar 23.

Sanla tells Coconuts that he didn’t bother recalling the exact date the beloved cheap drinks spot opened since he didn’t expect the place to last for more than a few months, or a year at most.

He said that keeping a bar open in Bangkok – even an adored one like his — can be a struggle, noting that busy places like Cheap Charlie’s and Tapas Bar are not immune to rocky patches and forced relocations.

His own bar moved across town three years ago and changed their name from Bar 23 to Bar 23 & Gallery after losing their lease. He says the bar is stronger than ever today and he hopes to keep it going that way for many more years.

Bar 23 spent its first seven years tucked away in Asoke on Sukhumvit Soi 16, behind an unappealing facade of metal grating and papered over windows so dingy and unnoticeable that you might never know the pleasures inside if someone didn’t lead you there.

Which pleasures? Stuff like cheap drinks, even cheaper beers, beat-up lanterns, graffitied confessions on the walls, and a random library in the corner. But, perhaps the true draw of Bar 23 has been Sanla himself: always laughing, dancing, taking shots, standing on the bar, and DJ’ing the Britpop classics that foreigners — from backpackers to NGO directors — cram into the bar every weekend to hear.

A crowd on a weekend at the former location.
Sanla DJ’ing.

When they lost their lease, Sanla saw a bunch of things starting to happen and moved his bar to Old Town’s Soi Nana, a newly emerging neighborhood of art galleries and creators.

That’s where the bar sits today, with several of the same trademarks that made the Asoke location so loved, but with less of a raucous vibe. They’ve also added regular art exhibitions.

The new Bar 23 & Gallery

Sanla, who is also a painter, said “There is a lot more focus on art in Nana and like my life, it’s a lot less hardcore than the Sukhumvit days. I’m older and have a daughter now so I wanted to have a calmer lifestyle, but we still know how to party in Nana. I wanted to keep the same atmosphere, a happy, lovely, different place where you can come alone and make new friends, and listen to music you don’t hear anywhere else in Bangkok.”

Sanla in front of his newish location.

Though the leap to Old Town might have seemed crazy three years ago, these days, Soi Nana and its surrounds contain several hip, high-end, and history-referential bars and restaurants, as well as cafes, hotels, and co-working spaces.

Interior from the Soi Nana location.
Graffiti is still welcome in the Old Town spot.

Sanla was smart enough to see that change coming. “The Bangkok nightlife scene is always changing and it changes so quickly. Bars and clubs that were popular 10 years ago are mostly gone and it will be the same in 10 more years. Bangkok nightlife goes through cycles, sometimes it’s free and easy to party until the morning, other times it’s strict and difficult to find the underground late night places — it all depends on who is in charge of Bangkok. I hope that the underground, alternative places like Bar 23 never die.”

Images courtesy of Bar 23 & Gallery.

FIND IT:
Bar 23 & Gallery “Almost Ten” party
92 Soi Nana
8pm-1am
MRT Hua Lampong



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