Royal City Avenue RCA
Royal City Avenue, or RCA as it is known to taxi-drivers and clubbers, is a 1km strip of retail outlets, offices and clubs located in central Eastern Bangkok, off Rama 9 Rd.. By day you will find hairdressers, several excellent motor-cycle shops (including Triumph), company headquarters, a bowling alley and an indoor karting track on top of RCA Plaza, several restaurants, a Starbucks, and about 16 nightclubs, discos and bars.
RCA is undergoing a resurrection. Five years ago (2002) it was dead and buried, because of a reputation for poor facilities, mile-long queues for toilets, and the belief that all patrons were under the legal age to drink.
But it has staged a spectacular recovery, and is now considered by young, and many not-so-young Thais, to be the best nightspot area in town, not least because of the choice of live music that is available every night of the week. Low drink prices, free entry everywhere, and the party atmosphere that pervades much of the strip are other factors that are bring patrons back.
The biggest and best-established of the nightclubs are Route66, Flix and Slim. The 90-metre long (yes, 90 metres) Route 66 survived the downturn and after a major refurbishment in December 2004 reopened with four zones, one of which, as if to answer the critics, has the fanciest ladies toilets in Thailand. Which other toilets offer customers a live band, racks of magazines, and a make-up room as well as the usual stalls and wash-basins?
Like many other clubs in Bangkok, Route66 has separate zones for different styles of music. For example the West Zone features mostly Thai pop songs, while the East Zone is hip-hop and by definition the loudest.
The equally large but much more contemporary and beautifully designed Slim Club is a two-zone place with live music and three different bands nightly in Room One, and Hip-Hop in Room Two. Its sister and next-door neighbour, Flix, is also very modern in design and plays some of the best Hard House music you are ever likely to hear, far better than what’s on offer in most UK or USA clubs.
The newest club in RCA is owned and operated by the highly professional Santika Company. Called Hobb it is modern and comfortable and offers clubbers some excellent local bands playing a mixture of Rock, House, Hip Hop and Thai Pop.
But there are also some specialist venues. In stark contract to the massive clubs we have already mentioned, the tiny Ezze (Greek for Easy) club plays nothing but Trance, and mostly courtesy of its DJ owner, Mr Aod. The very friendly Prop Bar, which targets 25 to 35 year-olds, has three different bands every night of the week and plays only Thai Pop.
For the purist there is The Overtone Music Cave. The only non-smoking club in Bangkok, it is a medium-size contemporary venue with all seats facing the stage so that enthusiasts can focus on whichever band is on. They attract some seriously good musicians.
RCA is also home to one of Bangkok’s best gentleman’s clubs (G-clubs). Called The Forte, it provides customers with excellent eye-candy in the shape of scantily-dressed coyote dancers. Like all G-Clubs in Bangkok, they encourage you to buy whisky by the bottle, and to also buy drinks at high prices for one of the girls. To offset the high cost of lady drinks, which have to be consumed within 45 minutes, The Forte is very reasonable when it comes to buying your own. Bt2,000 for a bottle of Chivas (including four mixers) is a bargain by any G-Club standard. As in all G-Clubs, the availability of the dancer after closing-time is by no means guaranteed, but may well be an option.
For most people, getting to RCA has to be by taxi. The nearest Skytrain BTS Station is Asok (E4), five kilometres away (use Exit 3). The nearest MRT Underground is Petchburi (use Exit 1) about three kilometres from RCA.