Ao Nang is quite quiet after dark despite the amount of tourists that pass through here. There’s plenty of bars scattered through the town, some more raucous than others, to investigate
Although Ao Nang is a busy resort area, it has none of the neon lit nightlife mania of Phuket. This is partly because it is quite a Muslim place and partly just the way it has developed. There are plenty of restaurants and a few pubs, but not the ghetto like concentration of seedy ‘hewo, wayecumm hansum main’ hostess bars that seem to mushroom in Thailand at the first sign of a foreign tourist industry. Ao Nang is, in fact, downright sleepy after about 9.30pm.
Ao Nang Nightlife On The Beach
Beach-wise one of the nicest places (in the day as well as in the evening) is the ‘Last Café’, so called because it is the final structure at the end of Ao Nang before you hit rock face. Afternoon sun, morphs into great sunset views and then transforms into after dark beachside barbecues, cold beer, cool cocktails and laid back music, all right on the sand and far away from what passes for the bright lights in these parts. A similarly laid back place at this end of Ao Nang past where the road ends is the Last Fisherman Bar – another relaxed place of barbeque, sunsets and cocktails right on the sand.
Bar Beers And Transvestite Cabaret In Ao Nang
There are a number of low key little ‘bar areas’ in Ao Nang. One about half way up the beachfront and down a small soi that opens up into an esplanade with a two floored ‘entertainment centre’ at the back. This is ‘Center Point’ and it hosts a variety of bars both outside and inside – Airplane, KR Bar and Pub, Smile Bar, Rocky Bar, Chang Bar and Cave Bar to name a few. They mostly, although not all, have the usual complement of bar girls with the odd transsexual cheekily thrown in amongst the stout farm girls.
There is also a small transvestite Cabaret show at the back of the complex on the second floor. Further up the beach on the main corner is another little soi with the blindingly original name of ‘Walking Street’ where there are a number of little restaurants and bars, the main one being Crazy Gringo. There are live musicians around this area on occasion.
Further up the hill opposite the giant MacDonalds is Soi Bamboo – a few rustic bamboo built bars line this rustic soi. These rustic bars, in their rustic location are peopled by rustic girls, offering rustic conversation; although the rusticity ends at the drinks prices which are distinctly urban. There is another pocket of bars on the hill that divides Noppara Thara and Ao Nang centred around a late night music venue called ‘Luna’. This area is actually pretty quiet a lot of the time and catches the breeze, with muted music and no real hustle or hassle.
Ao Nang Irish Pubs
There are a couple of Irish pubs in Ao Nang and both sport the usual international trappings of Irish pubs the world over. The Irish Rover is up the hill a little from the main junction and into a steep sub soi on the left. Live music, imported beers and heavy wood furnishings all complete the usual picture. O’ Malleys back a little from the main drag half way up Beach Road provides similar fare. It is a popular hangout for local expats, featuring an upstairs pool table and a balcony.
Things To Do In Ao Nang, Railay and Krabi Town
There are lots of excursions and activities in Ao Nang itself, but also in nearby places like Railay Beach and Krabi Town.
