Bangkok Nightlife This Week: A Witchy Chinatown Bar, Sugar Ray's New Home, and a Swing Ball at Lumphini
Hex Bar goes full witchcraft in Chinatown, Sugar Ray relaunches on Sukhumvit, and swing dancing takes over Lumphini Hall this August in Bangkok.
This Week in Bangkok Nightlife
A pair of new bars grabbed attention this week, one hiding behind a bookshop in Chinatown and the other giving a beloved secret bar concept a polished second act on Sukhumvit. Alongside those openings, August is shaping up to be a strong month for live music and events, with a swing ball, a festival warm-up show, and a snooker legend turning up in a local pool bar. Here is what you need to know before the weekend.
Hex Bar: Chinatown's New Witchcraft Cocktail Bar
By day, Hex Bar operates as a quiet Chinatown coffee shop. By night, it flips into a witchcraft-themed cocktail bar hidden behind a spooky bookshop-style entrance. The dual-identity format is well-suited to a neighbourhood already full of hidden staircases and layered histories, and the theatrical concept gives it a clear personality in a city where themed bars need to work hard to stand out.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Sugar Ray Relaunches with a Sleeker Look on Sukhumvit
Sugar Ray - one of Bangkok's better-known secret bars - has moved to a new Sukhumvit address and arrived with a noticeably cleaner, more refined fit-out. The original built its reputation on the hidden-bar format, and the question now is whether the upgraded surroundings keep that sense of discovery or tip it toward something more straightforward. Either way, fans of the original have a reason to visit again.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Swing Partout: A Grand Ball at Lumphini Hall
Jelly Roll Jazz Club is transforming Lumphini Hall into a classic swing ballroom for Swing Partout: Lumpini Grand Ball, with international jazz acts, beginner dance classes, and a friendly competition element. If you have never tried swing dancing, the beginner class format removes most of the barrier to entry, and the Lumphini setting adds a certain occasion to it. This is a good pick for anyone who wants a proper night out that feels different from the usual club or rooftop formula.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Jimmy White Is Coming to Play Pool in Sukhumvit
Snooker legend Jimmy White - nicknamed "The Whirlwind" - is heading to Sukhumvit this August, and you can challenge him to a game of pool. Beat him and you walk away with a B500 bar voucher. White is a genuine icon of the cue sports world, so this is more novelty event than competitive threat, but it is a fun reason to get out on a weeknight. Details on the specific venue and dates are in the source link below.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Road to Melt Festival: Matt Maltese and Phum Viphurit Share a Stage
Indie singer-songwriters Matt Maltese and Phum Viphurit are playing a joint show billed as Road to Melt Festival, described as an intimate evening for fans of both artists. Phum Viphurit is a local favourite with a strong international following, and pairing him with Maltese makes for an interesting double bill that should appeal well beyond the usual festival crowd. If you follow either artist, this is worth prioritising early in August.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
I Wanna Bangkok: The Silom Shop Worth Knowing
I Wanna Bangkok is a Silom flagship store whose name came from an offhand exchange at a Berlin party. The backstory is a good one, but the shop itself is the point - it occupies a neighbourhood that already rewards slow exploration, and it sits close enough to Silom's bar strip to fold into an evening out rather than requiring a separate trip.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
The Wellness-Bar Crossover Keeps Growing
Three venues caught attention this week for blending recovery culture with the social side of nightlife. RECHILL in Thonglor (also in Asok) runs a full contrast circuit of ice bath, sauna, and steam room in a clean, social setting. ARAH, tucked inside the Marriott Executive Apartments on Sukhumvit 49, takes a calmer, more resort-style approach to the same hot-cold format. The most unusual entry is Socials Sukhumvit, which pairs a cocktail bar downstairs with a sauna upstairs - a combination that sounds stranger than it plays in practice. Together, these three reflect a clear shift in what Bangkok's going-out crowd wants: recovery and socialising in the same building, often on the same evening.
Source: Time Out Bangkok - RECHILL | Time Out Bangkok - ARAH | Time Out Bangkok - Socials
One to Skip This Week
The GMM TV festival scuffle story - involving a security incident at the International Novel Festival at Samyan Mitrtown - is a news item rather than a nightlife one. The Chinese Embassy called for further investigation after footage of the incident circulated online, and both the guard and the fan involved subsequently dropped their complaints. It has no direct bearing on Bangkok's bar and club scene, so we are noting it briefly and moving on.
Source: Thaiger Bangkok
Plan the Rest of Your August
Between the new bars in Chinatown and Sukhumvit, the swing ball near Lumphini, and the live music coming through, August has more going on than a typical mid-year month. If you are figuring out where to base your evenings, our rooftops directory and cocktail bars list are good starting points, and the area pages for Thonglor, Silom, and Sukhumvit break down the full venue options neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
Contributor at Bangkok Venues covering the city's nightlife, bars, and hospitality scene.