Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok

[RhinoTusk 4,901]

Pics from the farang ghetto, the 'Hood. Ideally situated half way between Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, an oasis in lower Sukhumvit. Upscale restaruants (17% added to your bill is the norm), trendy discos, but you can still find bar girls (Hillary 3 Bar) and Climax Disco in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel is one of the best places in town for freelancers. For the budget-minded traveler, there's the Soi 11 Guesthouse and Cheap Charlies, a Bangkok institution for 30 years. Bed supper club has closed and the Federal Hotel will soon be replaced by expensive condos, the neighborhood is changing. But there's something for everyone on Soi 11, I call it home.

 

VW minibuses take over the parking lanes and every night is like a block party

 

 

A quiet and tranquil Sunday morning

 

 

What's left of the Bed

 

 

Even the Thai restaurants add 17% surcharges

 

 

But not off the street

 

 

Where you can have your sox mended

 

 

Here's a self-portrait, and there are spas and lots of tug shops

 

 

 

Climax Disco, in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel, has live bands and 250 baht cover (includes 1 drink), gets started after midnight

 

 

Hillary 3 has bar girls

 

 

Angel City Diner is in the ground floor of The Prime, rent for a one bedroom condo starts at 40,000/month. The sign says 24 hours, but they close at 4:30 AM.

 

 

The Cheap Charlie cul de sac

 

 

I've never eaten at this Indian restaurant, just assumed they were trying to warn me.

 

 

Chez Pape has among the most reasonable prices in town for french cuisine. Weekend lunch specials feature 3 courses with a glass of wine for just 650. (that's 550++)

 

 

Farang women can have a difficult time attracting attention in this neck of the woods, but I've been in LOS for a decade and can't recall what it means to be sexually frustrated.

 

 

Q Bar

 

 

Apotheke features live blues bands, starting around 9:30. No cover, but a Jack & Coke will set you back 250. The open-air bar with the huge brick wall reminds me a bit of Bourbon Street in N'Orleans.

 

 

Oskar Bistro: Is it a bar or restaurant?

 

 

Soi 11, it's a nice place to live, sure better than farangland.

[MC_Ldop 40]

Thanks for the great photos! I quite like Soi 11. Aloft is a nice hotel that's relatively inexpensive. Bed Supper Club and the various bars at Le Fenix are good fun. Climax disco is a nice spot to find late-night freelancers.

[Samsonite 181]

Great photos! Thanks for the memories!

[Sailfast 503]

Grand Business Inn was a great place to stay 3-4 years ago. Very clean, affordable and g/friendly. Always had a blast.

[papillon 695]

What's the name of the Arab hotel with the disco in the basement? I went there once. A shithole. I see photos of Ambassador hotel but I'm thinking it's another hotel. fuck I needs to stop drinking my memory is getting hazey.

[jacko 8,814]

What's the name of the Arab hotel with the disco in the basement? I went there once. A shithole. I see photos of Ambassador hotel but I'm thinking it's another hotel. fuck I needs to stop drinking my memory is getting hazey.

Grace?

[MM 6,562]

A well-done pictorial and guide thru Soi 11.

 

Thanks!

[Samsonite 181]

Grace?

Sounds about right. It is over on Soi 3.

[Zidane 11]

Great photos.....I've stayed on Sukhumvit 11 on quite a few occassions and always enjoyed it.

A bit surprised at the Bed Supper Club closing.It was one of Bangkoks trendiest venues.I wonder if it has re-opened at another location ?

Q Bar is another good place on the soi.

[RhinoTusk 4,901]

Thanks for the comments. Here are a few more, mostly from this afternoon

 

[Fatboyfat 361]

Excellent photo-set as ever RT. I was trying to remember whether the Ambassador had one of the notorious "coffee bars" annexed to it in the 60s. We visited one, which I was sure had that name, and had a whale of a time. Prior to that we had tended to frequent the Mosquito bar and others around that dock area. Altogether a far sleazier experience.

[papillon 695]

jacko, on 23 Dec 2013 - 03:30 AM, said:

Grace?

That's it.

[blackrabbitz 0]

i am still a fan of 7/1 - after all theres only one Eden Club

[nadia 6]

great piccies

[Fatboyfat 361]

What is that tube construction thingy in the last set of photos?

[CheshireTom 1,377]

What is that tube construction thingy in the last set of photos?

 

It was Bed SupperClub.

 

 

[RhinoTusk 4,901]

"It's a cookbook." Still looks like an alien spaceship.

[teelack 9,639]

Thanks for reminding me that I need to spend a night in Bangkok the next time I am in Thailand. Your essay is very tempting.

[jacko 8,814]

Thanks for reminding me that I need to spend a night in Bangkok the next time I am in Thailand. Your essay is very tempting.

Not in the near future I hope, what with the Skytrain being broke and the protests I think straight to Pattaya works best for many!

[teelack 9,639]

Jacko. Tell me more about the Skytrain being broke. I have missed this piece of news.

 

PS. Since the upgrade I still cannot use 'quote'using IE and I am too lazy to change to Chrome.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Jacko. Tell me more about the Skytrain being broke. I have missed this piece of news.

 

 

[jacko 8,814]

Jacko. Tell me more about the Skytrain being broke. I have missed this piece of news.

 

PS. Since the upgrade I still cannot use 'quote'using IE and I am too lazy to change to Chrome.

There were bombs in the south too.... Sadao in Songkla province and a truck packed with explosives found in Phuket.

They fixed the Skytrain but you can imagine the chaos that would cause... I bet all the meters on the taxis broke too!

 

Pattaya looks like it is going to be crowded..... being a quick drive from chaotic Bangkok.......

Good news, Baht under pressure so more of them for your £/$/Euro etc.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

There were bombs in the south too.... Sadao in Songkla province and a truck packed with explosives found in Phuket.

They fixed the Skytrain but you can imagine the chaos that would cause... I bet all the meters on the taxis broke too!

 

Pattaya looks like it is going to be crowded..... being a quick drive from chaotic Bangkok.......

Good news, Baht under pressure so more of them for your £/$/Euro etc.

 

Bangkok will empty out during what is effectively a 4-5 day holiday. It's actually a good time to visit the capital.

[Jack Scagnetti 502]

great pics....thanks

[ikkrang 490]

I used to stay at Grand President during the first five years of this century. Memories of many different but the same rooms in B wing, with a stream of different but the same girls , usually from Soi Cowboy, sometimes Nana, occasionally different places.

 

. A seemingly respectable Massage shop, near Cheap Charlies, where an initial nailcut morphed into an oily massage into a wild steamy ride.

 

A tiny hole in the wall bar opposite that started with a cold Singha and ended with the waitress in my bed at GP for a ST.

 

Breakfast on the terrace of a new hotel nearer Sukhumvit, with Oy, a new girl from the Bar with No Name in SC, who got a call from Mae during the meal, and insisted I'd have a chat with Mae.

 

I look at the pictures I took of her lovely body after breakfast, which led to another roll in the hay, and the memories all come flooding bed.

 

Pictures of Nut, who made me come six times in 24 hours, sitting on top of me, then getting up, standing in front of the mirror with one leg lifted on a chair, insisting I try her other orifice, "just for a change"

She later married a retired English Oil worker and opened a bar in Hua Hin....

 

Soi 11, I have a lot of history there.....