The Rise of Ekamai

With the party centre of gravity moving, Ekamai is replacing Thong Lor as the prime area to see and be seen for the young hi-so crowd.

Driving through Thong Lor on a weekend night has never been a pleasure. With trendy local nightspots like Escudo and Song Saleung, not the best parking and loads of taxis, overtaking people walking is not the norm.

For pure transit purposes, Ekamai was always a better bet and allowed for fairly easy cruising at night. However, these days that is hardly the case, as moving at all on Ekamai is something of a privilege. This has come to pass as Ekamai has emerged from the shadow of trendy Thong Lor to actually take over the party throne for the trendy young hi-so crowd and their followers.

Ekamai has basically witnessed an explosion in the number of venues as good trendy Escobar and Santika has been supplemented by the likes of Curve and Jet Metropolitan to make Ekamai into the newest hippest nightlife Mecca in Bangkok.Jet Metropolitan itself is a multi venue with live music, Hip Hop and house, as well as a wine lounge for those so inclined. Curve is more traditional and consists mainly of a large room with loud music and a high consumption of bottles.

But they both contribute into the launch of Ekamai as a night life centre and both attract the same type of young, trendy and often hi-so crowd. From the old days of Taurus to Thong Lor to Ekamai, the cool nightlife does seem to be moving ever closer to ABAC university, which has of course also always been good source of happy party goers over the years.

Expect real estate prices in Ekamai to perform better than average in the coming years as more restaurants and cafes will also pop up and further consolidate the areas appeal. But don't try to drive through on a weekend night unless you have no other choice. There will be traffic.