Bangkok's longest-running art-bar hybrid.
23 Bar & Gallery sits halfway down Sukhumvit Soi 23, a small lane off Bangkok's main Sukhumvit Road in the Asok area. The bar opened in 1995, founded by a Thai painter who wanted a working bar that would also function as a permanent gallery for emerging Bangkok artists. Thirty years later, the dual identity is still the bar's organising principle.
The room is medium-sized: a single-storey concrete-floored space with exposed brick walls, a long wooden bar along the right wall, and a back gallery space with rotating exhibitions. The walls of the bar area carry a permanent collection of approximately forty paintings by Bangkok-based artists, most donated to the bar over the years. The back gallery hosts a new artist's solo exhibition every six weeks. The bar treats the gallery as its primary identity.
Why this matters. 23 Bar is the rare Bangkok dive that has held its 1995 art-bar identity through three decades of Sukhumvit gentrification, including the area's transformation around the Asok BTS station.
The Friday jazz trio.
23 Bar's Friday night live music has run continuously since 2003 with the same Bangkok jazz trio: a saxophonist, a bassist, and a drummer who have played the bar's Friday slot for twenty-two years. The trio plays from 9pm to midnight every Friday, with a single break between sets. The musicians are the bar's quiet anchor.
The format is unbroken: standards, light bossa nova, occasional Thai jazz fusion. The trio has a small tip jar at the front of the stage area that the regulars contribute to between sets. The bar pays the trio a guarantee plus the jar. The arrangement has been stable since 2003.
Singha, Beer Lao, and a Thai whisky soda.
- Singha: 110 baht. The Bangkok lager standard.
- Beer Lao: 130 baht. The Lao import, a regional alternative.
- Mekhong soda: 150 baht. The Thai whisky highball.
- Margarita: 250 baht. The bar's house cocktail since 1998.
- The thing nobody knows: the bar serves a small bowl of complimentary Thai peanuts with the second drink. Salty, peppery, addictive.
Friday at 9pm. The jazz trio peak.
23 Bar opens at 6pm and closes at 1am. Friday at 9pm is the canonical jazz hour: the trio starts, the bar fills to 70% capacity, the regulars settle in for the three-hour set.
The peak hour is Friday and Saturday between 9pm and midnight. The Tuesday at 8pm hour is the secret experience: the bar is half empty, the gallery has the most viewers, and the bartender pours slowly.
The gallery rotates exhibitions every six weeks. Opening nights for new exhibitions are usually Thursdays at 7pm and include a small Thai catering spread. The opening nights are free and open.
Why the back room matters.
The 23 Bar gallery has hosted approximately 250 solo exhibitions over thirty years, primarily by emerging Bangkok artists. The exhibitions are unjuried but curated by the bar's owner, who selects artists from her network of Bangkok art schools and small studios. Several exhibition graduates have gone on to gallery representation in Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The gallery's role in Bangkok's emerging art ecosystem is documented in two academic papers. The bar is referred to in Bangkok arts circles as "Soi 23" rather than by its full name. The shorthand reflects the bar's neighbourhood identity.
For two, six hundred baht across an evening.
Plan for 500 to 800 baht per pair for a three-hour visit. Three Singhas at 110, two Mekhong sodas at 150, plus a tip jar contribution to the jazz trio. A pair of friends drinks for around 700 baht total. The bar is the cheapest serious dive on Sukhumvit.
Cards are accepted but cash is preferred in Bangkok. Tipping is uncommon at Thai bars; the trio jar is the exception.
Bangkok artists, Sukhumvit residents, the Friday jazz regulars.
23 Bar draws three populations. The first: Bangkok's emerging art scene, including painters, photographers, and gallery staff from the surrounding Sukhumvit galleries. The second: long-tenure Sukhumvit residents, including a contingent of older Thai academics. The third: the Friday jazz regulars, perhaps thirty Bangkok jazz fans who follow the trio's schedule.
You will find some Bangkok expat crowd, particularly on Friday nights. The bar's price point and the gallery identity filter for an art-first audience.
How not to be the worst person at 23 Bar.
- Do not photograph the gallery exhibitions without permission. The artists retain rights.
- Do not request specific jazz songs from the trio. They play their set.
- Do not skip the trio tip jar. The jar is the deal.
- Do not bring a stag party. The gallery context will not accommodate.
- Do not haggle on the painting prices in the back gallery. The prices are the artists' prices.
- Do not request food. The bar serves only Thai peanuts.
- Do not, ever, ask whether the bar is for sale. The owner has rejected multiple offers.
Soul Food Mahanakorn, 23 Bar, Q&A.
The classic Sukhumvit evening: dinner at Soul Food Mahanakorn on Soi 55 at 8pm, the regional Thai restaurant. Take the Asok BTS to 23 Bar for 9pm Friday jazz. End at Q&A on Soi 23 at midnight, the Thai cocktail bar two blocks east.
For more bars in the area, see our Bangkok city guide, the Bangkok cocktail bars guide, and the Sukhumvit hidden gems.
Yes. Bangkok's most preserved art-bar dive.
The gallery is the bar.
23 Bar & Gallery is the rare Bangkok bar that has held its 1995 art-bar identity through three decades of Sukhumvit gentrification. The exposed brick. The 110 baht Singha. The Friday jazz trio. The 250 exhibitions. Order a Singha, watch the jazz set, walk through the back gallery between sets. 23 Bar will reward you with the most preserved Bangkok art dive that exists.
Rating: Number fifty on our 50 best dive bars list. Best Bangkok art-bar hybrid.