Bamboo Bar Rocks On In Bangkok, Thailand

The Bamboo Beer Bar has been on Sukhumvit Soi for about seven years now if I remember correctly and it’s a basic Bangkok farang bar. There’s lots of women, some pool tables, live entertainment that varies in quality, food and plenty of beer. I’ve been here on a number of occasions and know the owner, John, who’s the only Maltese I’ve ever known, although I’ve never asked him about the falcon. He’s a good guy and the atmosphere of the bar is pretty relaxed. Actually, just about every bar in Bangkok like the Bamboo Bar is pretty relaxed. Anyway, it’s a good place to drink not-so-expensive beer, play pool and listen to the rock and roll that’s played every night by one of two bands. On Fridays and Saturdays the Fox Band plays and I think they’ve been here since the place opened. These guys seem ageless (they’re probably in their 50s by now) and they play every rock song from the 60s and 70s that you could ever hope to know. Of course, if you’re young enough maybe you don’t know any but if you’re old like us (me and the Fox Band) then you know a lot and these guys can play them all passably well. The one thing you have to realize about Thai cover bands is that they can generally get the music down very well and there are some talented musicians here. However, the vocals are another story. They memorize the lyrics, even though many times they don’t speak English well, so they don’t necessarily always understand all of the lyrics and the results can sometimes be surprising. Anyway, they do a good job of belting out the classics and Sunday through Thursday the Hormone Band takes over. They’ve got a more varied repertoire with a couple of chick lead singers who don’t have great voices but plenty of moves and the results are the same. They get the energy level up in the place, the girls get livelier, the punters get THEIR hormones going and the whole thing just kind of works. If you’re hungry, there’s an Italian restaurant outside around the back with a basic menu of Italian dishes and there’s an even more basic Thai and western menu inside the bar that includes soups, sandwiches, pies and pasties among other things. Suffice it to say you won’t go hungry so you won’t have to leave and get something to eat; you can keep on drinking here. For a basic place this is worth checking out. It’s not far from Sukhumvit Road on Soi 3, placing it close to the main entertainment spot in the area and it’s a comfortable place to kick back and down some suds.