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S.P. Publishing Group Co., Ltd.
11/1 Soi 3 Bamrungburi Rd., T. Prasingh,
A. Muang., Chiang Mai 50200
Tel. 053 - 814 455-6 Fax. 053 - 814 457
E-mail: guidelin@loxinfo.co.th
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Chiang Mai Pub Crawl A Shock and Awe Campaign Text: Colin Hinshelwood Images: Karin
Disco at The Dark
Man About Town takes his duties seriously, you have to
admit it. Editor suggested he take a look at a couple of Chiang Mai's pubs,
and he's come up with twenty two, no less. Our advice is you cut this
first instalment out and paste it on a bit of cardboard and spread the visits
over a couple of months of pub-crawls. Not all of us have heads
and constitutions like our correspondent, and we wouldn't want to be
responsible for the state of either brains or livers if you tried to do them
all in too short a space. Good luck out there, anyway! And another
instalment next month, probably.
Welcome to Chiang Mai - "Rose of the North". Tonight's
tour will take in some, but not all, of the city's great nightspots.
The emphasis here is on "pubs" or bars, so get ready for some
heady drinking action. We've also taken the word "crawl" quite literally,
so all the bars are within walking/ crawling distance of each other
for the benefit of visitors who have no transportation; and by the end
of the night, you will most certainly be crawling and not walking.
This Pub Crawl has been tried and tested by our staff - themselves
no sheep when it comes to mixing it up. Sections of the Pub Crawl
have been highlighted to suit backpackers or bachelor(ette) parties.
Otherwise it's every man for himself. The tour starts at Chang
Phuak Gate, just inside the northern side of the moat, zig-zags its way
to Thapae Gate, tries gallantly to bypass the girlie bars on Loi
Kroh Road, on to the Night Bazaar, and finishes with a choice of all
night dancing or live music by the river. Fantastic! Let's get going!
1. Queen
Victoria (252/13-14 Praproklao Road /
053-418-266/ Open daily 24 hours (!)) As good a place as any to
start your pub-crawl, the Queen Victoria is one of those authentic
"home-away-from-home" pubs that attracts grumbling old expat men
and few others. Has good pub food, so you should have a bite here,
for you've got a long night of drinking ahead of you. Victoria has
John Smith's, Guinness and cider on tap and a 10% discount for
group bills. (Highly recommended carvery on Sundays.)
2. Le
Barfly (204/2 Ratchapakhinai Road / 089-432-578
/ Open Mon- Sat: 17:00 - 24:00) Turn left out of the Queen Vic,
left again at the next soi (lane 13), walk 250m to Wat Lamchang,
and turn right. Le Barfly is on the other side of the street. One for
those with a French disposition. A small, unassuming bar with a
French-language library and French liqueurs such as Armagnac and Pastis.
Dining at the famous River Side Bar
3. Heaven's
Beach ("the Rasta Car Park" / Open
daily: 18:00 - 01:00) Keep walking along Ratchapakhinai Road for
300m and you'll see an untidy car park full of tattoo parlors, karaoke
joints and reggae bars on the left hand side. There are several bars here which are always popular with dopey young female
visitors. Heaven's Beach is probably the pick of the bunch, if for no
other reason than you can lie down on cushions and they have a
sandy floor. Live music every night helps dispel the echo of Bob
Marley classics coming from every other bar.
4. The U.N. Irish Pub
(24/14-1 Rajawithi Road / 053-214-554 / Open daily: 09:00 - 01:00) Zig-zag your way out of the
car park and you'll find Rajawithi Road, which has a few choices:
The Wall pub, Chiang Mai Saloon, (with free pool table, free air
hockey and free snacks!) and the U.N. Irish Pub, where there's
usually some live music or a pub quiz happening; and if you're a sports
fan, you can catch all big games live.
5. Mike's
Burgers (corner of Kotchasan / Chiang Moi
Road / Open daily: 15:00 - 03:00) Time for a time-out. Everyone seems
to love this greasy Joe's cafe and it's also a good meeting point
as Mike's is one of the best-known central locations in Chiang Mai.
Hot dogs, burgers and fries.
6. Santia's Grotto (Thapae Road Soi 2 / 053-234-436
/ Open daily: 11:00 - 01:00) continue from Mike's down Chiang
Moi (not "Mai") Road for 400m to find this cozy little cave, one of
the city's best-kept secrets. Voluptuous hostess Santia welcomes
everyone personally. Often has live music.
Live DJ
7. Inter
Bar (271-273 Thapae Road / 053-276-653 /
Open daily: 13:00 - 02:00). Leaving Santia's Grotto, continue along the
soi until you come to Oasis 'Restopub'. If you have a motorbike
you'll be delighted to know that you can park it inside the restaurant;
on the other hand, if you're eating dinner you'll be disgusted. Only
stop at Oasis if you can tolerate impolite service or you have a
passion for Belgian beers (Leffe and Duvel). Otherwise, turn right on
Thapae Road and head for the gate. On the opposite side of the street,
just before the T-junction is Inter Bar, a perfect meeting place for a
mini-Pub Crawl as it's very easy for visitors to find and is perhaps
the only visible bar around Thapae Gate. Inter Bar is open-air
and offers the dodgiest live music outside of Tennessee.
8.THC (19/4-5 Kotchasan Road /
086-729-3583 / Open daily: 17:00 - 01:00) Low-ceilinged little rooftop
bar with sultry staff doing their best not to serve you.
This joint is a backpackers' favourite, but if you are
not a backpacker and have no desire to discover which
is the cheapest guest house in Laos, then give this
place a miss. Too bad, coz it's a great location. Option B
is Spotlight Bar (47 Kotchasan Road / 053-276-012 /
Open daily: 11:00 - 02:00) If you are on a bachelors'
party, then you'll be glad you came here instead of THC.
Ladies out on the town have to decide whether they want
to watch chubby, lethargic hilltribes girls
pole-dancing or, even better, observe how goofy men who look like your
father appear when they are in the presence of half-naked
schoolgirls. However, as go-go bars go, Spotlight is not intimidating and no
rip-off.
9. Cozy Corner / John's Place
(27 Moon Muang Road / Open daily: 12:00 - 01:00) If neither the backpackers' gaff nor
the go-go bar appealed to you then just cross the road and have a
drink at John's Place. This is an open-air triangle of two bars [sic] with
a few telltale signs of sex for sale. In fact, bachelorettes might want
to skip 9 to 12 altogether, because we are definitely entering
bar-girl zone. However, you are all feeling a wee bit merry now, so
you might just say To Hell With It!
10. Mad Dog
(19/1 Moon Muang Road / 053-273-002
/ 08:00 - 24:00) is slightly off the Pub Crawl loop, but worth it if
you want to avoid the bar-girl scene. A British-style pub, well-known
for its homemade pizzas.
11. Cherry
Bar (Loi Kroh Road / 086-992-8400/ Open
daily: 15:00 - 01:00) Loi Kroh Road - Chiang Mai's answer to Patpong -
is fairly mild mannered and is friendly towards lady visitors. There
are no cover charges, so feel free to stop in on at least one of the
dozen or so girlie-bars which line the street.
12. Red Hot Chilli
(66/4 Loi Kroh Road / 053-284-289 / Open daily: 09:00 - 12:30) Everyone still standing? Or are we
crawling now? Let's keep going on down Loi Kroh Road away from the
girlie bars and you'll find a selection of small bars on the right side of
the street. Red Hot Chilli has imported beers, including
Erdinger, Paulaner, Weihenstephaner and Beer Lao.
13.
O'Malley's (149/14-15 Changklan Road /
053-271-921 / Open daily: 09:00 - 02:00) At the foot of Loi Kroh Road,
you find yourself at the Night Bazaar. Try not to stagger around here
too much as you might get arrested or cause an accident. Time for
a choice: if you are still fairly sober, head to Anusarn Market and
pop into O'Malley's, an authentic Bostonian-Irish boozer with good
pub grub, comfortable seats and a selection of drafts, including
Kilkenny's, Erdinger and Guinness. This pub attracts a mix of expats,
families and shoppers, so it's not really the place to fall into if you are
already three sheets to the wind. Better save it for a breakfast
hangover and go straight to 14.
Ed. Whoa! Hold yer horses! Let's take a break
and continue `crawling' next month.
(Text & Images © 2007 Colin Hinshelwood)
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