Soi 33 Sukhumvit is also known as the Soi of Dead Artists for a very good reason. 

At least 75% of the bars and clubs here are named after European artists, who are no longer with us. 

Monet, Van Gogh, Goya and the rest are all names of the clubs which line the street. 

To get to Soi 33 the quickest way is by Skytrain to Phrom Pong, walk along the skywalk to Exit 5 and Soi 33 is on the right. 

At the corner of 33 is a big English style pub, The Londoner. The food here is good, and they have regular live music and sports TV. 

It is big and a bit impersonal, but for a decent western meal before hitting the bars, The Londoner is an equal match for any of the English and Irish pubs in Bangkok. 

They also have Wacky Wednesday when the offer is 2 drinks for the price of 1, all night. That's not a bad offer. 

There is also a big hotel, right in the heart of Soi 33, The Novotel Lotus. 

So, if getting from hotel to bar or club is something that needs to be kept to the minimum time, then this hotel could not be nearer the action. 

Soi 33 is quite a busy through road so it's advisable to try to walk on the sidewalk. However , there are the street vendors on the pavements selling food,- very good barbecued chicken or fresh fruit, amongst the other delicacies from the north of Thailand, making a walk on the sidewalk quite difficult too!. 

The clubs line each side of the road, and the first thing any visitor will notice is that unlike the girls of Cowboy and Nana whose attire could be described as provocative, these girls wear expensive looking full length dresses. 

In keeping with the idea that this is of a higher class than its counterparts in Soi 23 and Nana Plaza, the girls of Soi 33 like to appear to be from a more sophisticated breed. 

Whether this is true or not is open to debate, but certainly the drinks are more sophisticated and of a higher price. 

Most of the clubs here are drinks clubs, with fewer go go bars around. 

Typically there is Mojos , located n a small side Soi - very good music every night, pool tables and coyote girl dancers on stage – that is they are there to dance and cannot be bar fined. 

On this subject, the bar fines on Soi 33 are higher and some are as much as 1,500 Baht. Drinks are an average of 125 for a small bottle of Heineken, and a drink for a lady companion from the bar 160 or more. 

In the side Sois off the main road visitors will find some very good small bars, and one of the favourite expatbars in Bangkok, The Office, which is not small by any means. 

It gets quite packed, especially when there is a big sports event on. 

Live football, rugby, Formula One and all the American sports are shown on the various televisions in the pub, and here too, there is good food, both Thai and Western. 

Soi 33 could be described as a place to go if you are looking for a spot of refinement and perhaps a classier type of company. 

There is no doubt that the bars here are very nicely decorated, have decent seating and the ladies are more likely to have a god command of English or a European language. 

Some bars have a time control on drinks, so that after 20 minutes or so another drink is served, even though you may not have ordered it. 

The idea is to stop a customer sitting with one bottle of beer for 2 hours – this is a business after all, and those types of customers are not really valued in any bar. 

Closing time is more regular in Soi 33, where 1am would be the norm, but as with everything in Bangkok there are exceptions, so it is a matter of luck. 

However with plenty of alternative entertainment nearby, with hotel discos and live music venues, then an early finish on 33 is not a problem