There are opera performances here almost every night. The stage is set up at a Chinese temple underneath the Krung Thon Bridge (better known to locals by its Chinese name Saphan Sang Hi). There are a couple food stalls and people come for snacks or dinner. Others join later. People arrive and leave whenever they want. Many of them chat...

Behind the stage hangs a giant, sepia portrait of Charlie Parker that is turning toasty brown with age. Circling the stage is a counter where some like to sit close to the band. Others lean over the railings of the wooden balconies above, or tuck away in one of the many musty corners and try to talk over the music....

On the top floor of a mysterious, narrow building across from Century the Movie Plaza is a bar with a view of the nearby Victory Monument Skytrain station. After walking up a spray-painted stairwell you step onto a terrace, where there’s usually a good pop, (not jazz, as the name suggests) band playing. There are low tables and seats in...

Before Kaosan Road, there was a foreign traveler scene on the sois off Sathon Road around Malaysia Hotel. Wong’s Place dates back to that era. Although the original owner died, a relative (his brother?) who knows and loves rock as much as he did has since taken over the bar. Almost everyone here is not Thai, including the house band....