Open Decks in Bangkok - Recommendations for Afro House, Afro Tech, Tech House & Deep House?

Check out the Wednesday nights at Glow on Soi 23 and the rotating guest slots at De Commune in Thonglor. De Commune is a small listening-bar type room and they're genuinely open to Afro and deep house, but you need to catch the promoter, usually a guy named Tor, in person on a slow night rather than DMing. Since your mate lands the 19th, aim for a Tuesday or Wednesday rather than Friday, the bookers actually have time to talk and you'll likely get 45 minutes instead of a rushed 20.

One thing nobody mentioned yet, the BKK DJ community runs a lot through Line groups, not just Instagram. Ask any bartender at a house-leaning spot to add you to the "Bangkok Underground" Line chat, that's where last-minute slot swaps get posted. Bring two USBs anyway, some of the smaller bars are still on CDJ-2000NXS2 and Rekordbox 5 exports can be fussy.

arrow_drop_up 5 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

afro house in bkk is kinda niche so the nights are scattered, not weekly. your best bet is Carnation on a saturday, they've been doing afro & organic stuff lately, and the booker there actually listens to demos. also keep an eye on what Kolour crew is throwing, they pull deep & afro sounds and sometimes do open call for support slots on their socials.

since u have no connects yet, go to a night first as a punter, talk to whoever's on the decks after their set, that works way better here than cold DMs. thonglor venues rotate promoters fast so who's running a room in dec might not be the same in jan, ask around in person

arrow_drop_up 4 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

There are a couple of Facebook groups worth joining, "Bangkok DJs" and "DJs in Thailand" are where promoters actually post open deck calls and last minute slot fills. I've seen Afro house and deep house nights at places like Violett on Sukhumvit 39 and the occasional Sunday session at Opposite on Soi 51, both tend to be more receptive to those sounds than the techno rooms. Bangkok Social Club also runs rotating guest DJ nights where they book by genre, so a direct message to their page with a SoundCloud link works better than turning up cold. One practical tip: bring your tracks on a couple of USBs formatted for Rekordbox, since some smaller bars still run older CDJ-2000s and won't read newer exports cleanly.

arrow_drop_up 1 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

Krua Dok Mai Kao is solid but I've always found their som tam a bit tame on the pla ra. If you want the real funky version, try the shophouse spots along Soi Udomsuk 26, near the night market end. They pound it fresh with fermented fish that'll clear your sinuses, and it's like 60 baht. Different style from the On Nut places, more Lao-leaning.

arrow_drop_up 5 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

for som tam specifically i'd say the Isaan spots in Chatuchak are underrated, weekdays only though since the weekend crowd ruins the vibe. there's a stall near gate 2 that does tam pa with fermented bamboo shoots, super sour and funky, not something you see much in On Nut. if you're already heading north for Or Tor Kor anyway its worth the detour.

arrow_drop_up 4 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

honestly the som tam at Krua Dok Mai Kao is good but what got me hooked is their nam prik pla raa dip with the raw veggies, that funk hits way harder than the papaya does. think most people sleep on it cuz they just order the som tam and gai yang. also pro tip, go before noon on weekdays, after that teh pla ra gets milder cuz they batch it for the lunch rush

arrow_drop_up 2 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply