Bamby Supapit Watcharapanit

After work, I tried to figure out the best way to reach Poison Door from Salaya, on the other side of town. It took a while, and I arrived just after dusk, as the doors were opening. Run by Bamby, one of my former students, and her team, Poison Door is a goth alternative bar named after a famous song by The Sisters of Mercy. Located near Ban Thap Chang, a few kilometres from the airport, the bar was quiet that night, with no events scheduled. But when concerts are organised, the place fills up with young artists, musicians, and students craving goth, post-punk, and darkwave music, despite the distance from downtown.

Bamby’s venue has become a small haven for her community, a place where people who mostly know each other online finally meet in real life, and sometimes even form bands together. After graduating, Bamby helped her mother run the family restaurant, SRP Garden. One of the buildings already had some gothic elements, and she began imagining how it could become a venue for alternative music. Discovering Bar Dusk near Ari was a turning point. It was her first real encounter with Bangkok’s underground scene and gave her the confidence to propose the idea to her family.

Soon after, Poison Door opened a year ago. I actually discovered the place the same way many others did: through Bamby’s Instagram videos. She quickly understood that reaching her audience meant using social media. Active on TikTok and Instagram, she says many people first hear about the bar online, especially those who already love this music but never realised a space like this existed. Bamby was quiet during the shoot. Behind her, her friends were headbanging and singing along, as if the two of us had disappeared. The place was theirs that night. Outside, only the swans and I could hear them.