I have already made my case for The Tunnel so no reason to say it again but after work last night I wanted to see how Ladie’s Night was. I had heard that the ratio of girls/guys tends to be the best because every Tuesday the ladies get in for free and I think get one drink. I am not sure what the ladyboy policy is but I saw more than a few towards the latter part of the night but they just add to the overall dynamic. The Tunnel seems to be regularly staying open until 5 in the morning which is perfect. No really reason to head to Spicy in my mind unless you are having an all nighter.
I hardly have any quibbles about The Tunnel as of late. We have been writing about it since it first opened and most of my issues with it have gone away since they seem to be staying open to a consistent time and the service is pretty good. My only beef is that the individual DJs seem to play the same sets so going there often I sometimes feel like I am hearing the same sequence of tunes. In general this is one of the best after hours places going right now and it is so popular on Fridays/Saturdays that I mostly avoid the place.
I had plans of not staying long but you know how these things go sometimes. One of the service guys at The Tunnel is an ex-employee so he always says hello, makes sure I get a good stiff pour of whatever I am ordering and points me to where the hottest girls are without men. Perfect scenario. I suggest befriending some of the male staff and handing over some decent tips since they will ensure you are taken care of. After he got my drink he told me to follow him to where he saw 4 hotties hanging without a dude. So I did. He was right. They were hot and alone. Perfect. I hung close but not too close and after 30 minutes or so we started to chat. All was going swimmingly until the dude showed up.
At first I thought he was Japanese due to his mannerisms and style of dress. So I decided just to hold my ground and not worry about it too much. However I could sense pretty quickly that he did not like me there. I just smiled and kept chatting with one of the girls who I was sure was not his girl and she seemed to carry on as normal. So no drama. After 10 minutes or so I decided just to say hi to him and asked him something about his shirt. He was wearing a BAPE shirt, one of the reasons I thought he was Japanese, and it was a design I had never seen before. So I assumed it was a customized knockoff which is common in Thailand. The shirt was a black polo with a small BAPE logo in front but on the back was the large BABY MILO in a keystone cop outfit. That should have been my first clue.
His reply was, “Leave us alone I am a Thai policeman.”
He got right in my face to tell me this, close enough for me to see that his pupils were as big as his eyes and given his nursing of the water bottle I deduced that he was on some party drug or another. I told him I was sorry for talking to him and resumed my dancing. I could sense the girls were a little put off by it but they seemed to back away from me anyway. I got the hint and ignored them but I did not leave my spot. I did not feel that a Thai guy, high on something, claiming to be police was reason for me to high tail it out. Seems he wanted more of a response out of me unfortunately.
He walked back over to me and pulled out some official looking ID, not a badge, and reminded me that he was a policeman and that I should leave. I gently reminded him that I was just dancing at a club and having a few drinks and wondering why a policeman taking drugs in a club would have a problem with that. He smiled and understood the retort but asked if I would go to another part of the club. Believe me, I like to get my jabs in but I know when I am out of my league. So I said my goodbyes and went to the other side of the club. Who knows if he was a policeman but it would not surprise me. Welcome to Bangkok and remember that just about anything goes here.
I managed to meet a few girls from the Pent member club and continued to enjoy my night out but I did steer clear of his side of the club. Just seemed like the right thing to do.
Anyway. Ladies Night is every Tuesday at The Tunnel. Door charge is 300 baht and includes 1 drink. Drink prices for a vodka/coke or something similar is 200 baht. For vodka they pour Stoli which I am a big fan of.
Being that you are good buddies with the service dude… I’d be inclined to tip him a few hundred and give him a few ‘Laxatives’ for the cop with attitude?!
View all comments by Day walker
It does not sound as if the Tunnel club is too hot on ladies night if you were having to fight over the available women with a boy from Cops ‘R’ us.
View all comments by Mike Phillips
dw - sounds like a plan.
MP - place was rammed. I just happened to pick the wrong ones and I kind of liked winding the guy up a little bit. Don’t worry. The connection with the Pent girls should more than make up for it and there are still plenty of nights left before friday.
View all comments by smitty
Hanging out on the opposite side of the club - smart move…
Winding up a potential undercover cop in an afterhours joint - dumb move…
1st law of LIB (Life in Bangkok)- Live to tell the tale …
View all comments by psi100th
Tunnel sounds sweet! Cannot wait to hit the after hours scene, as my plane arrives in Thailand around 11:00 p.m. this Saturday. This will be my virgin visit to the LoS. Recently divorced and really want to do it up with lots of lovely lady love…definitely gonna visit the Mango! See you soon…
View all comments by iluvtigers11
Rule # 1: Don’t talk to Thai guys unless you HAVE to.
Rule # 2: Don’t forget rule # 1.
P.S. How long have you been here………..?
View all comments by Jack Dawson
So is it the kind of place that’s normally OK to go on your own? Not so much as in running into trouble, but in striking up conversations and making new friends?
View all comments by Combover
iluv - having been here 20 years I envy you (not for the last twenty years, definitely not), for the sheer novelty that you are going to experience!!!
JD - Don’t agree. I’ve had massive fun partying with thai guys - back in ‘87 when a farang in Ratchada was pretty rare they would introduce me to chicks as a look krung. One night i was out on my own and sitting next to a table full of hotties - the guy with them invited me to share his bottle and basically ordered two of the hotties to look after me - fun was had by all.
Having said that you have to be aware of what’s going on and I think, obviously, Smitty was, but these things can go either way. Depends on the moment…
View all comments by psi100th
Some of my most enjoyable nights have been spent drinking and chatting with Thai guys.
The most recent was on the beach at Cha’am around midnight. I was riding by on a motorcycle with another Ferang on the back. About 10 Thai guys were drinking beer on the beach and started calling hello to us in English. I stopped, and they started handing us bottles of beer. We talked and laughed for about an hour.
Before that, a band playing in a restaurant in Hua Hin invited me to go with them to a nightclub at the end of their set. At the club, the bass player asked me to tell him which girls I liked the best in the club, then he took me over and made the introductions.
About a year ago, after a night at Titanium bar I stopped at the whiskey cart in the alley for 10-baht shots of cheap sweet whiskey. Started talking to the motocycle drivers and the security guy at Titanium. When the all-girl band came out, they joined us and the security guy introduced me to the band. I stayed drinking and talking with the Thai guys until I was ready to go home and sleep.
If you speak a little Thai you’ll often find that Thai men are fun and funny, and love having the chance to try their hand at speaking a little English. Keep it light and be ready to buy the occasional drink and I reckon you can have a great time!
View all comments by werewolf
Me too. Though I thought they were girls at the time…
View all comments by Combover
psi100th…. I didn’t think ‘Potential Undercover Cops’ went round telling people they were ‘cops’? Where is the cover?
Smitty, I agree with you, just because you are a Farang, doesn’t mean you HAVE to take shit from a drugged up toy cop.
Maybe it’s different for the ‘older’ folk than it is for the younger Farangs?
View all comments by Day walker
dw … sure get your point - mine was; walking away from a potentially uncool scene was the smart move - but hey you’re still “young” so the next drugged up toy cop that pisses you off - let him know - and let us know how it goes…
View all comments by psi100th
Yeah, they leave us ‘kids’ alone… clip round the ear usually makes do.
Personally, I run away like a screaming little girl.
View all comments by Day walker
The best thing is to stay away from people high on drugs. You can never tell how they will react. Smitty was clever enough to walk away. It wouldn’t be the first time a Thai policeman shot somebody in a club for no reason.
View all comments by hanuman
psi - my guess is he is not a cop. Hence why he did not do anything official. I am sure he is a spoiled rich kid of someone connected and has some ID supporting that. He was money so I doubt he was a cop. I said my peace and moved way. Been here a while and consider myself club literate and did not push it.
i???? - saturdays are packed so go early and get a table or wait for sunday.
jd - you and I come from different parts of the planet. I speak thai, don’t mind talking to thai guys and have met many a girl through befriending and learning from smooth thai guys.
c - tunnel is great. mostly thai girls and farang. I just happened to talk with some girls who happened to be with a lame thai dude. shit happens. not the end of the world or my tunnel adventures.
psi & ww - totally agree
dw - like I said. I don’t think he was a cop but I was not going to find out.
View all comments by smitty
you should of headbutted him and seen what happened
i love tunnel, in my view some of the best music around and loads of hot normal TGs (and the odd freelancers)
only downside is middle-aged men pilled off there faces dancing like dicks, but hey……… this IS Bangkok!
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
my - will skip the headbutt but I agree with u about the Tunnel. Curious when this new club will open on Suk Soi 11. I don’t think it will be an after hours place but I am happy for someone to go head to head with Bed and the lame but ever popular q bar.
View all comments by smitty
yeh skipping the headbutt is a good idea
i never been qbar, whys it a downer, ive heard nothing but bad things about it, but read no actaul reviews
i heard a few peolple bitching about it being 200baht a beer in tunnel, but i dont see the drama - £3 for a beer in a topend club, plus u dont get there till 2-3am so by this point you should be fairly merry already, its not as if you will go in stone cold sober (i wouldnt of thought so anyway)
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
Prefer Cheap Charlies to Q Bar, not saying much!!!
View all comments by nampla69
my - just search for qbar on the blog. been hashed to enough to not warrant a repeat. if anyone bitches about the tunnel they should not go. Leaves more girls for us. The 5 that swung by the apartment last night come to mind…
View all comments by smitty
Well I hit the Tunnel on Tuesday night, and within 20 seconds was talking to a more than acceptable, articulate and nicely dressed freelancer.
Had a couple of drinks with her but felt the need to explore the joint further. So I decided to ‘twist’ and located myself at a table near the bar. Within another couple of minutes I’d smiled at a classy looking table of girls next to me and was chatting happily with a 30 yr old Harvard educated UNICEF employee. Very good company, offered to buy me a drink, and then she ‘twisted’ on me, and I didn’t see her again.
Ho hum. Never mind. Lots of eye candy, good tunes, half cut. Can highly recommend the venue for the mix of people alone. Twas nice to meet a proper girl in Bangkok for a change but quickly reverting to type found myself a couple of 40kg squirts and off we went to Spicy.
To be fair on that night Tunnel was better, but it all worked out fine. Got approached by a non-working blonde-haired pretty little chunky girl so I dumped the tiny ones and off we went. Top banana!
View all comments by Combover
I was also there on Tuesday night and the place was packed with girls from all different backgrounds. Good spot on a Tuesday night.
View all comments by bkk22
Got this interesting line at the Tunnel when I asked a girl what she did in Bangkok….
TG:”I’m like James Bond”
Me: “What?”
TG: “People call me, I do some work for them and then they pay me.”
Me: “Khao Jai krub”
Later in the night when she hadn’t left my side, I asked her why she wasn’t talking to any other guys since she was on duty. She told me I work til 2, then after that it is for fun.
View all comments by bkk22
I don’t enjoy being a complete idiot so I’ve avoided asking but I’ve decided to stow my pride and ask… Is “the Tunnel” the space between Soi 5 & 7 or is it a specific after hours bar someplace else entirely? I don’t know if I missed a memo somewhere? I tried searching the previous posts but my research failed to clarify.
View all comments by werewolf
The Tunnel we are talking about is located on Lang Suan Soi 5. There is another place between Suk 5 and 7 but not sure if it is still open.
View all comments by bkk22
ww: we used to call the place between Suk Soi 5 and Suk Soi 7, the Tunnel. Mostly because it says Tunnel on the entrance from soi 5. The place is actually called the Sanook Bar and still goes late but it’s no longer a scene. A couple of pool tables and no life really. It did have a good three or four month run as top of After Hours about a year ago but they couldn’t stay open. Same owners as After club in Patpong that closed recently as well. Owners can’t sustain After Hours I guess but it’s not easy since it’s all based on how good of relationship with the Police you have.
The Tunnell on Lang Suan Soi 5 also had it’s problems staying open but have finally figured out how to. The place is huge and packs em in now. Gets going around 2:30.
View all comments by pmmp
Lang Suan Soi 5… so it’s behind Lumpini Park? I’m guessing not too far from Brown Sugar?
View all comments by werewolf
Yep right down the street. Look for the line of taxis because the club itself is tucked away off the street. You have to walk through a car park to get to the door. Sometimes they have candles lit to help you along as it is really dark. It is right on the corner of lang suan and soi 5.
View all comments by bkk22
Just thought I’d add a quick update to this topic. Went to the Tunnel last night (Saturday night) and arrived there at about 2:30 am. The walk up to the door is still very dark, but kind of adds to the underground/after hours feel…as does the security guy checking you with the metal detecting wand - it’s so ’90s rave party but it’s cool. Entrance was 500 baht and included 2 free drinks. I had a few Heinekens but my buddy had a vodka/tonic and then a Long Island Iced tea, so there doesn’t seem to be much restriction on the drinks (unlike other places like CM2, for example).
The place was packed and there were a lot of very good looking girls inside! I was impressed. Actually, I wasn’t expecting too much since my previous visits were during the week, kind of late. The place is extremely smoky, but the a/c keeps it cool. In fact, by design or not, it actually snowed a few times inside the bar as the a/c kicked out a good amount of snow that looked like confetti. If that is the design, it is very unique. If not, don’t change a thing!
Given that the place was packed, it was kind of hard to move around, but move around we did. Talked to quite a few girls as we made a big circle around the place, but many of the best lookers were already taken. Still lots of smiles and looks, but no chance to pry them away. A group of girls seems to huddle near the entrance to the bathrooms, but really they were scattered everywhere. Of the crowd that I recognized, I saw a few girls from the Rainbow bars, lots of girls that were at Bed Supperclub earlier in the evening and a few that I’ve seen at Spicey in the past. On that note, one thing I really like about the Tunnel (other than the girls, the design and the music which wasn’t bad last night)is the fact that you don’t get the shorts-wearing, flip flop guys from Koh Sarn Road. No offense to them, but like at Bed Supperclub, there does seem to be a door policy that requires people to at least dress like they are not sitting on a plastic chair by the pool. As the night wore on, the place became super-packed, and the number of guys in the bar seemed to triple, it was just a little too busy to enjoy and we rocked out of there at 4:00. People were still arriving at that time.
I’m looking forward to checking out the Tuesday Ladies night if it is still happening. Any suggestions for a good time to arrive on Ladies night? Are there people in the bar before, say 1:00 am?
Powers
View all comments by Powers
p - I say go on tuesdays, thursdays and sundays. The best nights for action but not too crowded. Ladies night get there before 1 if u want to stake out a table. Starts to peak around 1-2. Thursdays are good for the DJ and some girls who like that kind of music and who like to get out before the weekend crowds. I pretty much never go there on fri or sat. Too busy.
happy hunting
View all comments by smitty