Good expat bar ?

[AngelsLariat]

1.Johns place on Moon Muang near the Top North Hotel,

A few months ago I walked past John's Place and, I kid you not, there sitting on a bar stool was an old geezer with a small tablet device posting on to ThaiVisa.

No great surprise. Lot's of people post on ThaiVisa post from bar stools..

[BlackArtemis]

What's the Riverside Bar like - I was thinking of heading over there later? Somewhere you can go alone and meet people, or more of a restaurant setup?

As a guy in my early 30's I love Riverside, the bar on the river gets jam packed, (meaning you can't really move) and is full of young Thai's, a handful of younger expats, and the odd tourist who managed to be lucky enough to arrive in time for a seat or standing room. The music used to be 50/50 Thai and English, but it has shifted greatly towards 90% western rock and pop, a disappointment.

It is loud, but the locals are friendly and willing to talk, especially if you can speak Thai. But the amount of locals willing to speak English is higher than many other bars.

Goodview is much the same, loud and packed at night, quieter but full of families or friends eating dinner during the earlier hours.

in short, not a place you are looking for.

Someone mentioned Sangdee, I practically live next door to this place, I don't know the schedule of this place, sometimes it's dead other times it is full of expats from 30-70yrs of age. I've stopped in a few times and I think this is much closer to what you want.

If you want to meet an older Thai crowd, check out White House bar, a bit past Duke's and practically next to Tara bar along the river. They play older Thai hits.

[bundoi]

I know the Goodview and Riverside well... actually I know most of the bars mentioned so far well, having lived a couple of years in CM a couple of years ago.

These days I live 99% of my time in a 100% Thai environment, so on the few occasions I take a break alone I like to go somewhere where I can have a good conversation with educated professional farangs, and especially any new bars, as I know most of the old ones.

[khwaibah]

2009 the last and only attempt to open a Bangkok style sports bar in Chiang Mai it failed. There is a YouTube clip in the link.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/305888-sports-bar/

[khwaibah]

That thing in the Youtube video was not a sports bar by any definition I'm aware of other than their own...!

It was a sports bar. What is not shown are the 3 pool tables and at least 12 very verge large lcd tvs. He had 3 satellite systems that were legal and 2 pirated systems showing every live sporting event you could imagine.This venue only lasted for about one year, reason,there were many but bottom line, what works in Bangkok does not necessarily work in Chiang Mai and vica versa.

[khwaibah]

That thing in the Youtube video was not a sports bar by any definition I'm aware of other than their own...!

It was a sports bar. What is not shown are the 3 pool tables and at least 12 very verge large lcd tvs. He had 3 satellite systems that were legal and 2 pirated systems showing every live sporting event you could imagine.This venue only lasted for about one year, reason,there were many but bottom line, what works in Bangkok does not necessarily work in Chiang Mai and vica versa.

By the looks of things it was trying to be a sports bar - as you said there are many reasons why the place didn't work but it doesn't have much to do with Bangkok or Chiang Mai style.

There is potentially a new sports bar in the pipeline for Chiang Mai, but this is not the thread for this - apologies for going off topic.

Was thinking about checking out Gecko or Sangdee tonight - are most of the bars open tonight or still closed for the elections (in other cities things tend to get rolling at around 6pm on election Sundays)?

If they have any brains they are NOT selling alcohol. If caught at least a 10k fine. But there are the bragging rights to protect.

[Chiengmaijoe]

By the looks of things it was trying to be a sports bar - as you said there are many reasons why the place didn't work but it doesn't have much to do with Bangkok or Chiang Mai style.

There is potentially a new sports bar in the pipeline for Chiang Mai, but this is not the thread for this - apologies for going off topic.

Was thinking about checking out Gecko or Sangdee tonight - are most of the bars open tonight or still closed for the elections (in other cities things tend to get rolling at around 6pm on election Sundays)?

If they have any brains they are NOT selling alcohol. If caught at least a 10k fine. But there are the bragging rights to protect.

Why do assume to know more than the business owners? Advance voting is not such a big deal and plenty of bars stayed open not out of stupidity or bravado but because they know that they won't have a problem, and not because they've paid to stay open either. Loi Kroh girly bars are always targeted but plenty of quiet places are left alone.

[khwaibah]

By the looks of things it was trying to be a sports bar - as you said there are many reasons why the place didn't work but it doesn't have much to do with Bangkok or Chiang Mai style.

There is potentially a new sports bar in the pipeline for Chiang Mai, but this is not the thread for this - apologies for going off topic.

Was thinking about checking out Gecko or Sangdee tonight - are most of the bars open tonight or still closed for the elections (in other cities things tend to get rolling at around 6pm on election Sundays)?

If they have any brains they are NOT selling alcohol. If caught at least a 10k fine. But there are the bragging rights to protect.

Why do assume to know more than the business owners? Advance voting is not such a big deal and plenty of bars stayed open not out of stupidity or bravado but because they know that they won't have a problem, and not because they've paid to stay open either. Loi Kroh girly bars are always targeted but plenty of quiet places are left alone.

Been down the road myself. Totally up to the owner and his pocket book.