At 4 am, at Soi Nana, observing protests

Spend enough time in Bangkok’s nightspots, and you’re sure to run into Dave the Rave. Living in Bangkok since 1988, Dave is a former Muay Thai boxer who fell in love with the country, eventually began managing bars, and now hosts a popular Bangkok nightlife entertainment website, now one of the most visited in Thailand. He regularly updates it with information relating to nightlife as well as the occasional political emergencies that affect Thailand’s capital city. 

About his early days in Thailand, Dave writes “I was 25 years old when I first visited Thailand in 1988.  I was sponsored by a company in my home town in England to live and train at a Muay Thai Camp in Thailand. It was Sityodtong Payakaroon Muay Thai Camp in Naklua village near Pattaya.  I lived and trained at Sityodtong for four months.   I have the honour of training with Former World Muay Thai and Boxing Champion Samart Payakaroon. Samart was a legend in Thailand and we became friends and training partners. In 1984 I become World Kickboxing Champion by defeating the USA Superteam. Life is tough on a Muay Thai Camp, but being a World Champion I was used to tough training. At my fittest I could road run 10 miles in under 60 minutes and then, complete 5 more hours training on top of that.  Nowadays, I struggle to dash to the bar for last orders!” 

We first met Dave at a book signing, and found that he was a big fan of the WoWasis article on the emerging literary genre of Bangkok Fiction. Dave’s enthusiasm about just about everything is infectious, as we were reminded the other evening when we ran into him during a Thai military operation in front of Bangkok’s JW Marriott Hotel. Even after a bomb exploded nearby, Dave enthusiastically followed troop movements, jumping animatedly into the action taking pictures and clearly enjoying being in the center of where the action was. Everyone from Marriott security to the Thai military was trying to persuade to go home to safety, but he wasn’t having any of it, reveling in the moment, and picking up news items. 

During his Muay Thai days, 1988

Dave is a veteran bar manager whose familiar haunts include Sukhumvit Soi 4 Nana and Soi Cowboy, and he can be found in those areas most nights. And within minutes of meeting him, you’ll understand how he picked up that moniker. He’s willing to share an opinion about most anything, including dancers and stage performers. Waxing eloquently on viewing a well-endowed stage performer recently, he raved “Will you look at that… they’re massive, simply massive!” Dave’s a fun, energetic guy who’s one of the thousands of expats that contribute to making Bangkok one of the world’s most unique cities.