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Silom nightlife

Silom is the centre of Bangkok's LGBTQ+ nightlife, concentrated around Soi 2 and Soi 4, alongside a business-district bar scene that runs earlier in the evening. Soi 4 starts early; Soi 2 runs latest.

Silom nightlife at night — illustrative artwork, not a photograph of the area
Illustrative image — not a photograph of Silom.

Silom vs RCA

Silom is the only district here organised around a community rather than a format. It is Bangkok's LGBTQ+ nightlife centre, and that shapes everything about the night — the venues, the crowd and the reason people travel across the city to be there. RCA is a mixed, mainstream club strip and does not have an equivalent scene. Structurally the two are similar: both are walkable clusters where you move between venues on foot. The difference is who the night is for.

Who goes

The core of the sois is LGBTQ+ and both local and international. The surrounding area is a business district, so early evening carries an after-work bar crowd that thins out as the sois pick up.

What it costs

Broadly comparable to RCA and well below Thonglor. Some venues charge entry and some do not, and it varies more between neighbouring venues here than it does along the RCA strip.

How the night runs

Two overlapping evenings. The business-district bars run early and finish early; the sois start later and run latest of the two. Soi 4 gets going before Soi 2, so the usual pattern is one then the other.

Getting home

The easiest of the non-Sukhumvit districts. BTS Sala Daeng and MRT Si Lom are both a short walk, though they stop before the latest venues close — after that Grab is straightforward, since Silom Road is wide and easy to be collected from.

Pick Silom for

  • —LGBTQ+ nightlife, which no other district here covers
  • —A walkable cluster rather than a spread-out corridor
  • —Starting early with an after-work drink
  • —Public transport at both ends of the evening

Go elsewhere if

you specifically want large-format EDM rooms — that is RCA, and Silom is not trying to compete with it.

Getting there

BTS Sala Daeng or MRT Si Lom, both a short walk from the sois.

Questions

Is Silom the gay area of Bangkok?

Silom is Bangkok's main LGBTQ+ nightlife centre, concentrated around Soi 2 and Soi 4. The wider area is a business district with a separate, earlier bar scene that is not specifically LGBTQ+.

What is the difference between Soi 2 and Soi 4 in Silom?

Soi 4 starts earlier in the evening and is the more bar-led of the two. Soi 2 runs latest and is the more club-led. Most nights move from one to the other rather than staying in one place.

Is Silom or RCA better for clubbing?

RCA has the larger club format — bigger rooms, bigger sound, more DJ bookings. Silom's draw is its LGBTQ+ scene, which RCA has no equivalent of. Which is better depends entirely on which of those you are looking for.

What this page does not cover

This is an orientation page. We list individual venues for RCA, where we cover 14 of them in detail, and not yet for Silom — so this page describes the area rather than naming bars we cannot yet stand behind.

See the RCA venues

Other Bangkok nightlife areas

  • RCA (Royal City Avenue)

    A purpose-built nightlife strip of large clubs on one road in Huai Khwang.

  • Thonglor

    Upmarket bars, rooftops and speakeasies along Sukhumvit Soi 55.

  • Sukhumvit

    The long spine of Bangkok nightlife, from Nana to Ekkamai.

  • Khao San Road

    Backpacker nightlife, street bars and the cheapest drinks in the city.

  • Ekkamai

    Design-led bars, rooftops and one serious club, on Sukhumvit Soi 63.

  • Yaowarat (Chinatown)

    Street food until very late, and speakeasies behind shophouse doors.

By the RoyalCityAvenue.com editorial team. Last updated . Venue details change often — how we verify.