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Tuesday Open mic @ North Gate Jazz Club
Tuesday night: the best night at North Gate Jazz Club. Located inside the North Gate, you’ll find this club. About 50% locals and 50% travelers gather here — a very easy place to meet other ...
Night Life in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai has a vibrant nightlife scene. Every evening somewhere in the city you’ll find live music, partly because Chiang Mai has a conservatory. There are many bands in varying line-ups, playing everything from authentic jazz and blues to cover groups that perform Red Hot Chili Peppers songs very well.
But there are also plenty of cozy little bars where you can enjoy a beer and strike up a conversation with fellow travelers. And last but not least, there’s still Zoe in Yellow: the place to be for party!
Zoe in Yellow
Zoe in Yellow! Before 10 PM, things are pretty calm, but around that time all the backpackers in town gather here. Party every night. Zoe in Yellow is the heart of a complex with about 20 bars.
Tuesday Open mic @ North Gate Jazz Club
Tuesday night: the best night at North Gate Jazz Club. Located inside the North Gate, you’ll find this club. About 50% locals and 50% travelers gather here — a very easy place to meet other travelers. Sometimes it can be a bit too crowded because it’s very popular. The musicians are of a high standard.
Thursday Night Live @ Paapu House
Originally started as a response to the quiet city during Covid, it is now one of the best-attended live music nights in Chiang Mai. Music from old and young rockers playing Rock & Blues to Didgeridoo bands. Also occasionally traditional Thai instruments. A good mix of locals and expats.
Rambar Ladyboy Cabaret
Part of Thai culture: the Ladyboy! In Chiang Mai there are a few clubs like these that put on several drag shows every evening. The whole thing is highly entertaining—think ladyboys dressed as Tina Turner performing lip-sync shows with good lighting and sound, often accompanied by synchronised dancers.
It works like this: the entire bar is open on two sides to the street, with shows around 9:45 PM, 10:45 PM, and nowadays also one starting around midnight. Entrance is free, but a large Singha beer costs 240 THB... it has to come from somewhere. If you’re not into it, you can leave after 15 minutes, but at least you’ll have a good story for back home.
Mahoree, Den of Drinks, Charoendee & Wingman
Just a stone's throw from 'The 3 Kings Monument' is a street with a handful of bars in a row, all featuring live music every evening. None are too large, somewhat cocktail bar-ish, and not too touristy. Chiang Mai has a conservatory, so bands made up of students often play here, naturally bringing along their own student crowd.
These are the names: Mahoree, Den of Drinks, Charoendee, and Wingman.
Deaf Shop
You wouldn’t expect it, but Chiang Mai has its own ‘alternative’ scene. Alternative in quotes, because what exactly it entails is for you to find out. Where? At ‘The Deaf Shop’: a small café near one of the South gates, where this whole scene gathers, both inside the café and outside on the sidewalk.
Run by a Dutchman and his Thai girlfriend, serving eccentric cocktails, and with several hundred LPs lined up against a wall—vinyl, that is. Pick one, and the owner who DJs every night will play a track for you.
Note: open Thursday through Saturday until midnight, and Sunday afternoon until 6:30 PM.
Wine
But there is also good news for wine lovers. In Chiang Mai, there have been more and more specialized 'wine booths' in recent years. Small businesses that have an extensive range of wines from all over, run by real enthusiasts. And then it turns out that the better French, Italian, Spanish wine is not even that much more expensive than the cheap one. Here are a few tips.
- Our Wine Club and "Moment & Wine" (in Tha Phae road Gate)
- Somm Wine & Dine (on the street towards Zoe in Yellow)
- Meilleur Wine
- Bacco (a bit south of Night Bazar)
- Tops Wine Cellar (you can buy a bottle in the shop and drink it on their terrace, right next to Tha Phae Gate)
- 'And then we drink wine bar' (in Chang Moi)
- Ivy's Wonder Wine Bar (in Nimman)
A night at the Movies - Movietheaters in Chiang Mai
There are a handful of cinemas in Chiang Mai, all located inside the large shopping malls.
SF Cinema
https://www.sfcinemacity.com/showtime/cinema/9936
Major Cineplex Central Festival:
https://www.majorcineplex.com/cinema/major-central-festival-Chiangmai
Major Cineplex Kad Suan Kaew:
https://www.majorcineplex.com/cinema/Kad-Suan-Kaew
Major Cineplex Central Chiangmai Airport:
https://www.majorcineplex.com/cinema/major-chiangmai
Loi Kroh Road
We cannot not mention it: Chiang Mai also has its own small Red Light District. Just one street long, Loi Kroh Road, ending in a semi-open-air area with several dozen bars, each with a pool table, and behind that one of Chiang Mai’s boxing stadiums.
Not really "safe" for a man alone — sometimes you literally get pulled inside one of the bars by the arm. Or at least you’ll hear “Hey Mister, Hey Handsome, where are you going” quite often. But if you’re curious about Thailand’s reputation, you can also just quietly have a beer there and watch the world slowly pass by...
Thapae East
Small but super cozy live music bar. They describe themselves as a 'Venue for Creative Artists'. Indeed, a place with an artistic vibe.
Troubadour
Open every night from Wednesday to Sunday, sometimes also open mic on Sunday. Nice place to have a cocktail, just around the corner from Tha Phae Gate.
Check out the current music program on their Facebook page.
