Ao Nang Nightlife

What to Do at Night in Ao Nang

If you’re looking for a mad night scene that encompasses partying until dawn then Ao Nang is not necessarily the best place to head for but if a mid-range, mellow groove is your thing then you’ve come to exactly the right place.

Ao Nang’s main esplanade is dominated by shops and restaurants and so it’s the out-of-the-way venues such as the southern end of the beach and down alleyways that are the places to look for the area’s nightlife.

Center Point

So called because it is at the centre of the main Esplanade, follow an alley down into this warren of noisy bars – each blasting out its particular music. Yes, it can get annoying but it’s all sort of fun with flirty girls, cheap beer and lots of laughs. Probably the best bar here is Rocky Bar – a venue that features live music, generally in the form of a lead guitarist and bassist accompanied by backing tapes and a drum machine. Expect the usual Sultans of Swing and the never-say-die Hotel California… Crazy Bar near the entrance is also a good place to celebrate the 365 ‘birthdays’ a year that feature there.

Opening Hours: 18:00 – late
Location: Central Beach Road near Burger King – look for the girls with flyers

O’Malley’s Irish Pub

An institution in Ao Nang, Sally O’Malley’s has been at it for years and is popular with local expats. Featuring an upstairs pool table plus balcony, several draught beers, pub and Thai food (including breakfast), four large-screen televisions and loud rock on the box, it’s got all the ingredients to make a good night out. The rest is up to you.

Opening Hours: 10:00 – 01:00
Location: Just off the main Beach Road, central part
Tel: +66 (0) 75 695 689

The Last Fisherman Bar

If you follow the beach path past the Golden Beach Resort towards Railey you’ll come to the Last Fisherman Bar. The bar employs a tried and proven formula – beach, stars, good music and a few drinks – and why not? It works beautifully. You can also eat well here.

Opening Hours: 10:00 – late
Location: Next to the many massage huts at the southern end of Ao Nang Beach

The Last Café

Using the above ingredients and soaking them in lilting reggae, The Last Café is run by dreadlocked Rastafarians who have a hard time saying ‘we’re closing, goodnight’. Nightly beachside barbecues, cool cocktails and beer, beachside breezes and a friendly ambiance make this a great al fresco nightlife venue.

Opening Hours: 10:00 – late
Location: Past the massage huts at the end of the beach

The Irish Rover

A cozy-looking pub with a regular clientele and resourceful management, The Irish Rover is the genuine stuff, with lots of beer on draught, a pool table, rocking music, good food (even Mexican) and crateloads of imported beer as well as the usual Thai suspects.

Opening Hours: 10:00 – late
Location: Airport Road, in the Soi facing the Police Box

The Soi

With a reggae bar at the end and loads of bars lining the street, The Soi is a raucous, colourful and sometimes earsplitting version of Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy or Phuket’s Soi Bangla but without the extremes. True to Ao Nang form, The Soi is more laid back than its bigger-city equivalents and even though there are girlie bars galore and a few glamorous individuals of questionable sexual identity there’s none of the raunchiness that’s associated with Bangla in Patong and Cowboy in Bangkok.

Opening Hours: 17:00 – late
Location: Airport Road heading out to Krabi – diagonally opposite McDonald’s

Bamboo and Thatch

Further up the Airport Road you will notice eight bamboo and thatch restaurant/bars on a corner of a soi containing more bamboo and thatch venues that were erected in late 2009. Again, this is mellow territory compared to its Phuket and Bangkok counterparts and again, you can party and eat here or vice versa. All open sided, there are plenty of breezes to keep things cool and a lot of confusion regarding which bar plays what music to remind you that you’re in Thailand and out for the night.

Opening Hours: 12:00 – late
Location: Right-hand side, Airport Road