Neighborhood Bar Chiang Mai

Here I'll tell you all about one of my favourite bars in Chiang Mai - Neighborhood. It's more up-scale than the lovable Bus Bar, and right in the middle of the action on Nimmanheiman Soi 17, but it's also a great place to unwind and sip on some fancy German beer for a reasonable price. There's a regular band comprised of a very talented guitarist and a lovely singer, who like to belt out Michael Bublé and Dido covers after singing their whimsical rendition of Happy Birthday (of course). The atmosphere is one that I crave on a regular basis - not too hectic, not too mellow, not pretentious, but not totally scruffy either. Neighborhood has a lot going for it, and feels like a much more established bar in the area, despite only being around for 3 years.

Neighborhood Bar Breakdown:

Drinks:	There are numerous specials at any given time, although many of them are before 9pm (which is why this is a good bar for pre-drinks). There are also plenty of imported beers for great prices and in all sizes, from small glasses to enormous jugs. There is also another menu just for cocktails, and of course, the usual spirits are also available.
Food:	The food at Neighborhood is authentically Thai, which is great, although there are few vegetarian options. But there are also food carts that hang around the area, as well as the wandering hawkers selling snack foods like quail's eggs and nuts. - The prices of individual dishes start at a cheap ฿59 for a simple dish of stir-fried vegetables. - Seafood dishes begin at ฿150 for squid and shrimp, and end up at around ฿249 for bass or red tilapia. - The menu is endless and includes plenty of local favourites, such as a number of famous Thai soups and spicy salads. - There are also a few Western snacks like French Fries for ฿89, and they recently added another page to the menu, filled with deep-fried chicken wings, onion rings, and other fatty farang favourites (I joke). I'd like to give special mention to Neighborhood's Yum Kai Dao (a spicy Thai salad made up of chopped fried egg, coriander, onions, garlic, lime, tomatoes, chillies) – it is the spiciest one I've had in Chiang Mai, and by far the most delicious. Try it if you dare!
Pros:	- Atmosphere is relaxed with upbeat live music. - The level of noise is perfect inside and outside, that allows for lots of conversation. - A simple, open layout that allows waiters to be able to see you at all times. - The service is always attentive and friendly even though the waiters mostly don't speak English. - Classy décor with a stylish, wooden interior. - A refreshingly mixed crowd of young and old, with a more “upmarket” style compared to other casual bars. - Plenty of outdoor seating for smokers. - Great drinks specials and lots of fancy beers – this is a big attraction compared to our local drinking spots. - The bathrooms are clean and functional. Yes! - No mosquitoes! Ever. - It should also be said that Neighborhood is in a fantastic area, full of places to get great food, go clubbing, or just to move on somewhere else for more drinks.
Cons:	- Food is on the expensive side, and the dishes might feel a bit overwhelming for people not used to proper Thai food. - Sometimes, it can be difficult to communicate with the waiters because of the language barrier. - Food carts selling intestines and other grisly bits like to park right in front of the place, probably just to make me queasy. Although, that's not really Neighborhood's fault! - Hence, there are not enough cons about Neighborhood, really. It's one of my favourite bars in Chiang Mai.

Some of the outdoor area.

Another shot of the outdoor area, with a singer in the blue corner.

Inside.

Cocktails! Yummy.



Note that these menus are incomplete - I get funny looks sitting around snapping menus.

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Bus Bar Chiang Mai (บัสบาร์เชียงใหม่)

There is an unassuming little bar that is nestled between the Iron Bridge, the Ping River and a high-rise hotel building. Bus Bar is an outdoor place with soft lighting, cheap drinks, and nostalgic 90's music. The atmosphere encourages long conversations with friends while watching tourists ride their bicycles across the bridge, or the groups of Thai students chatting, eating takeaways and taking photos of each other. The view of the river by night calls for photo-taking, as do the massive lights from the bridge which constantly drift from pink to blue to green to purple. And did I mention the bar itself is an old red bus? That's another reason to spend a relaxing evening at this little gem of a place.

Bus Bar Breakdown:

Drinks:	All the drinks at Bus Bar are well-priced. You can expect large beers to start at ฿70 for Chang Draft, and ฿75 for Leos. Buckets of ice are ฿20.
Food:	The food ranges between ฿50 - ฿100 per dish, and is typical Thai fare with plenty of seafood dishes thrown in. The usual dishes are authentically spicy, which is a welcome change from the dulled-down-for-foreigners food you find at many Thai bars or nightclubs.
Pros:	- Excellent ambiance. The coloured lighting in the area is beautiful, and it's hard to keep from zoning out at the views of the calm river and night-scenes on the bridge. - Service is laidback and not bothersome at all. It's nice to be in control of your table for once, and feels more intimate when you get to pour your own drinks at your own pace. - The bathrooms are clean and functional. - Location. Sometimes you just don't feel like going to the other side of the city for drinks. It's close to the river and the old city, but at the same time it's tucked away from the tourists and bustle. - Music. At times it can be on the cheesy side, but at other times you and your Western friends will be crooning along to old school tunes you haven't heard in ages. It's also a great opportunity for your Thai friends to make fun of you and question your music taste. - Mix of people. Some nights will oddly feature more falangs than other nights, when there might only be a few other tables with Thai couples or a few friends sharing food and drinks, like we usually do.
Cons:	- The location. If it rains, Bus Bar is a very unpleasant place to be. Also on the more chilly nights it can feel a bit miserable shivering at a metal table next to the river. - No drinks specials or promotions.  - Mosquitoes. Lots of them! However, the staff do provide mosquito coils.

Bus Bar, facing the Iron Bridge.

A view of the Iron Bridge and the river from our table.

Purple! So pretty.

The bar and its drinks trailer.

Another little drinks trailer.

Bus Bar.

A band playing outside the bus.

People with a tower of beer and some blue lighting. Lovely.

A busy night at the bar.

The Story of the Deranged and Drunken Dingo Dave:

One night at Bus Bar, a situation arose that involved a very intoxicated Australian man, his two Thai friends, and his British caretaker. The Australian man stumbled into the place while his three friends scurried after him, and us and a few other tables turned our attention towards the events that were about to unfold.

This is the part where I'll clear things up a bit. The Australian man had not only stumbled into the place, but had half-undressed himself in the process. He had also been confidently exclaiming how he had "battled deadly snakes" before and that "this Thai piss-water" doesn't phase him. On top of that, everyone in the vicinity had to hear multiple times that he was "****ing Australian", followed by a lot of indecipherable swearing.

I'm sure you can guess by now that this unsavoury character was intent on getting into the river, and had chosen the grassy banks of Bus Bar to trample through in order to do so. By this time, he was down to his flesh-coloured underpants, and was still shouting at the top of his voice about conquering the river, being Australian and afraid of nothing, and a whole lot of other nonsensical ranting. We discovered that his idiotic urge to jump in the river had arisen when his rather nonchalant British friend had bet him ฿1000 that he wouldn't. Of course, anyone could tell that making a bet like that with this Steve Irwin wannabe was rather cruel, if not plain sadistic.

So now we had the Australian man weaving his way down to the water, a Thai woman yelling at him to stop being stupid, a Thai man taking photos and giggling uncontrollably, and a British man sitting at our table drinking our beer. Here are the photos I managed to capture, which show how the story unfolded. And no, I don't feel any shame for chronicling the actions of a poor drunkard - in fact, seeing disrespectful foreigners make fools of themselves is one of my pet peeves, and I, along with Thai people, have no problem having a laugh at their moronic antics.

The Australian culprit. Notice how he is not at all focused on the Thai woman expressing her concern for him.

I actually find this shot quite graceful.

One last chance to change your mind. No? Okay then, carry on!

Like a calmly bobbing swan, in the murky waters of the polluted river. Lovely.

At least he had great lighting.

Clearly this Thai man should work for the paparazzi.

And lastly, the expression on my boyfriend's face once the culprit returned to land.

The story doesn't end in rainbows, however, as shortly after the man arrived back at the bar, he started yelling about his phone being missing, casually accused us of taking it, and was then dragged off by his friends to go back to the hole they had come from.

The End!

Anyway, here's my map of Bus Bar in Chiang Mai. If you're on Google Streetview, note that the green construction barriers are where Bus Bar is now.

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Chiang Mai Nightlife: My Top 10 List

Chiang Mai is a young city full of vivid, creative nightlife, which varies from live music bars and neon-overloaded clubs to dingy holes in the wall and local beer buffets. There is always a place to be entertained, every night of the week and for every budget. Of course, among all these options, there are a select few bars, clubs, and entertaining hideouts that I enjoy more than the others, which I'll tell you more about after the map.


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About Chiang Mai's Nightlife:

Class

Obviously, the better places to hang out in Chiang Mai are also the classy ones. That means no bathroom smells, no uneven floors, no plastic bags littered outside the entrance. If you can manoeuvre around the place in high heels, as well as sit down anywhere without landing on some toxic waste spill, you've found a keeper (think Chiq Bar or Monkey Club). But don't kick out the classic Thai experience of drinking round a rickety table outside a 7/11, or finding a mom and pop shop where some locals will force you in and pour liquor down your throats regardless of how much you object. Those sorts of places can also become keepers too!

Decoration

The whole venue has to look like it was funded by a reasonable budget, and that someone was ordered to go out and collect all sorts of arty knick-knacks, as well as a few pretentious arty lamps and spindly barstools. Nobody wants to fork out their hard-earned Baht to huddle in a cement-walled room drinking out of beer bottles, and throwing your money at overpriced menus just feels better when you do it from the comfort of a snazzy sofa, while gazing at a well-known pop art replica. There are tons of quirky little bars in Chiang Mai where the owners have made a creative effort, like collections of dominoes or walls adorned with inspirational sayings (Doggy Monster is a great little hideout with graffitied walls and clever colourful lighting).

Creative decor is always welcome.

Music

To be honest, most of the music you will hear in many clubs will be the same moronic radio tunes which you have heard over and over and over (one of the reasons we love Bus Bar is that you can sing along to Shania Twain followed by Eric Clapton and then get down to some James Brown - yes please!).

Chiang Mai nightclubs and bars seem to be stuck in a time warp created by an Evil DJ Overlord who only plays 90's American Pop Chart compilations, and orders all his underling DJ minions to do the same. On top of that, Chiang Mai youth seem to be hopelessly fascinated by Adam Levine's gyrating hips and waning talent (ahem, Neighborhood Bar - but we still love it there). If you are lucky enough to catch a live band in one of the popular pubs or more alternative haunts, you will start to hear the same Thai songs over and over as well, which makes me wonder if there is a Thai Love Song Overlord (and if he's buddies with the Evil DJ Overlord).

This does sound quite negative, but it's not meant to be. The music only adds to your entertainment, and I have been pleasantly surprised many times by the tunes at some places, and once in a while completely blown away by the talented local bands (if you haven't hit up Boy Blues Bar yet, do it now!). As I said before, Chiang Mai is known for its passionate creative types, and is a blooming bud of raw talent and potential.

Drinks

A good bar or club in Chiang Mai has to have some sort of beer promotion (eg: 3 large Singhas for ฿179), some sort of liquor promotion (eg: a large bottle of Sangsom + 5 mixers for ฿329), and a reasonable selection of alcohol. Some places focus more on foreign beers in big manly mugs (Beer Republic), while others focus on glowing blue cocktails in glass vases (Warm Up Cafe) or large jugs of watered-down shots that are great for drinking games with friends (Ta Chang, one of the many happening bars in the JJ Market area).

"The Beer Experience" at Beer Republic.

Bouncers (Optional)

These big bears who hover around the entrance add to the classy factor mentioned above. They'll never check a foreigner for ID, and a lot of the time they aren't so much big bears as slightly smaller, sinewy boxer-lookalikes. Nevermind that - they're still necessary for when things get out of hand (usually at the hands of the very foreigners they "forgot" to ID, unfortunately). Not all places in Chiang Mai have bouncers, but it always feels better to have them around. Then again, I am South African, so I might just be in need of someone to calm my paranoias about safety.

My Top 10 Nightlife List:

1. Bus Bar - unpretentious, great music, and cheap enough for it to be a regular hangout

2. Neighborhood Bar - delicious drinks, classy vibe, and a great pre-drinks place on Nimman.

3. Rod Sabieng Restaurant - not exactly a nightclub or bar, but it's my local beer buffet - don't judge!

4. Bar Fry & Jagajee - another goodie in the Nimman area, where you can snack on fries and tapas before going out for more drinks somewhere else.

5. "The Off-Licence" - not exactly an official name, but this little arrangement of chairs outside a Nimman bottle store is perfectly-suited to meet my cheapskate needs, and they have a great selection of booze too!

6. Warm Up Cafe - the most popular club in the city (let's not count the gross girly bars), full of young fashionables and plenty of opportunities to "get jiggy wit it", if you're that way inclined.

7. CNX Rooftop Bar - a sweet spot in the Old City overlooking some classic Chiang Mai rooftops.

8. Boy Blues Bar - this is the place you bring visitors to blow them away with musical genius.

9. North Gate Jazz Co-Op - another great place for music lovers.

10. The Square of Despair - Zoe in Yellow, Roots Rock Reggae, Babylon Bar and the rest of them are a haven for wasted backpackers fresh off the train and dodgy locals looking for a piece of the action, but somehow, we end up back here every few months - partly for nostalgia and mostly because it's a whole lotta fun. Make sure not to miss a takeaway from "Tacos Bell" on your way out!

If you know of a place you want me to write about, please leave it in the comments below!

See you soon!

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