Beer Garden is a well known, some would say ‘infamous’, bar on Soi 7 on the Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. This bar has been running since the 1970s and it is popular, unique and seedy in equal measure. Love or hate it you have to go there and you will probably end up visiting it again.
Beer Garden has no Garden
The first thing to note about Beer Garden is that there is no garden. The second thing to note is that there are no particularly special beers on offer.
Beer Garden Sukhumvit Soi 7What Beer Garden does have though is large open space with lots of tables, a large circular bar in the middle, some pool tables, large TV screens showing sport, some toilets in a moderately bad state of disrepair and lots and lots of Thai women wanting to meet Western men. They also serve food.
Good Time Girls
A few years back Thai women used to go here on a night off from their normal job for a good night out often ending with meeting a Western man for some nocturnal gymnastics in their nearby hotel room. There are still some girls like this who go there (or so I am told) but it appears now to more about part time prostitutes looking for business. This is not to say that this is not a fun place to go and have a drink, even if you have no interest paying for sex with Thai girls (please note many aren’t girls even though they wear dresses). This place has a great atmosphere. People talk to each around the bars and you can have a joke and laugh with the ‘working girls’ who aren’t as aggressive as the bar girls who harass the unsuspecting tourist in other places.
Relaxed Place to Drink
The service here is prompt, fair and professional. There is never any trouble and nobody will ever demand money for overpriced drinks. For this reason it attracts a middle age male crowd, many of whom are ex-pats. I often come here for a drink when I am in Bangkok because it is a safe and friendly place to go. The beer isn’t expensive either.