Demo: Glam Thonglor goes gritty

Nightclubs in Bangkok's Thonglor district are usually as slick as their rich-kid clientele (in other words, exceedingly), but Demo has dropped the razzle-dazzle in favor of a gritty NYC warehouse design.

Pop-arty moving images swirl across its decaying tenement building exterior; the brick walls are covered in cheeky graffiti; and a white vintage Toyata Celica gleams in one corner, seemingly for no other reason than it looks a bit "Starsky and Hutch."

But it’s the music policy that really kicks Thonglor's rulebook to the curb: DJs here spin zeitgeisty house, nu-disco and electro -- not MTV hip-hop. And there are no dull-as-ditchwater cover bands.

Weekends and one-off events are best, when the city’s young and street-hip (think "Cheeze Magazine" reading twentysomethings) glug Grey Goose on the patio before throwing shapes inside.