NIGHTPROWL – In a little while, Bed Supperclub’s famous spaceship structure will be nothing more than a pile of dismantled parts. It’s a difficult concept to understand, because over the past 11 years so much has happened between those walls. Evenings of salsa and beautiful people, rappers spewing intricate riffs and the best damn DJs the world has to offer. There were a myriad of theme nights, performances and art exhibitions to boot. But, now the nightclub is folding up its white mattresses and closing the doors for good.
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OPENING NOTES
Bed Supperclub didn’t become Bangkok’s most talked about venue overnight. Eleven years ago, it was the new kid on the block. Q Bar was the established nightclub on Sukhumvit 11 and Paris Batra, who would later become the founder and managing director of Bed, was a regular there. He saw an opportunity in Bangkok’s slowly blossoming nightlife scene.
“I used to go out quite a lot, but I was getting bored of going to the same places,” Batra reminisced. “It was time to come up with an idea that wasn’t here.”
Batra’s concept was anything but simple – he wanted to make a stylish, premium venue that was a restaurant, art gallery and nightclub all rolled into one. It was a risky venture, considering so many high-concept clubs – especially those touting exclusivity and membership –had recently fallen flat.
“They were in and out, they didn’t last long,” he said. “But we learned a lot from the new club openings and restaurants because the service was terrible.”
Batra’s partner in the venture was Sanya Souvanna Phouma, and he later expanded her role to head up Bed’s creative team. Together, they began assembling a team to create a venue that was “underground, cool and a little over-the-top.”
Construction began and meanwhile, 80 new staff members were recruited and trained right out of Batra’s apartment. The majority had never worked in the food and beverage industry before.
“That first day, I was very nervous,” Batra laughed.
CHORUS LINE
When Bed opened, it was packed every night. That’s not to say that everyone was getting in – rather, there was a strict door policy right from the get-go.
“We used to turn away celebrities at the door,” Batra said. “One of our strategies to create longevity was to create this image of, ‘It’s hard to get in.’ So that generated a lot of media and write-ups without instigating or engineering it. There were times when celebrities would come in and the staff would say, ‘There’s somebody who wants to get in.’ Then I’d have this celebrity in my face.”
The nightclub eventually lightened up the rules after a few months, but continued to keep an exclusive membership system. In the beginning, membership was signified with a real key, later on becoming the “Bed World” card.
The nightclub peaked interest with its extravagant, and at times, bizarre dinner entertainment. In the early days, the creative team changed the theme every two weeks. There was “Come Fly With Me” with Pan-Am décor and staff dressed in ’50s airline uniforms serving tea and coffee, or another evening where a 70-year-old guy splashed paint on a canvas and a bikini-clad woman as everyone ate. Batra remembers another occasion where a blind man wandered in the white room with a walking stick and a Polaroid camera strung around his neck, asking diners if they wanted their picture taken. The guests would have to help him position the camera. At that time, even having a live DJ play in a restaurant was something of a rarity in Bangkok. These days it’s ubiquitous and according to Batra, Bed was at the head of that trend.
Then there were those legendary anniversaries, like the seven-year “My Pimp is Rich” party where billion dollar bank notes fell from the second floor like snow and “Invasion of the Space Pirates” for the nine-year. Pretty soon, Bed became known for bringing in the biggest names in international DJs and acts like Calvin Harris, Diplo, Laurent Garnier, Kelis and Maya Jane Coles.
August 31, 2013 marks the end of Bed’s lease in the Sukhumvit 11 location. Batra said that management did have the choice to carry on, and even toyed with the idea of making costly renovations earlier this year. But ultimately, the decision to close – although a difficult one to make – came from the changing landscape of Sukhumvit 11, which Batra said has lately become “cheapened.”
“The reason we want to change is because Soi 11, for all of us, has become overcrowded,” he explained. “A lot of other venues have sprung up and made it more competitive. Being a premium brand in an overcrowded, lower to mid-range environment has made it hard for us to operate.
“Levels and Bash came on the scene and that’s how it started getting a bit more crowded. We have gotten some of the crowd from there … but it’s not really the crowd we want.”
PUTTING THE RUMORS TO BED
For Batra, closing up shop is more simply about making a change.
“I’ve seen this structure for 11 years now,” he laughed. “So we plan to do a much better job on the next one.”
He insists that Bed Supperclub isn’t shutting down in a definite sense of the word, but rather the club is looking for a new location to support the upscale restaurant and nightclub concept that’s become so successful.
The team has “been looking actively for quite awhile in Bangkok, but we haven’t found a site yet,” Batra said. “Nothing has grabbed us yet, not that we’re in a hurry.”
He hinted that possible other locations could be Pattaya and Phuket, “areas where beach meets urban.”
As for the “spaceship”, it will be deconstructed and moved from Soi 11 by the end of the year. The structure consists of four rings that can be bolted together and resurrected again somewhere else.
“We have five interested buyers that want to take it from us, but we’re not sure yet,” said Batra. “We may move it to another location or scrap it, or one of the owners will take it.”
It’s not clear what could happen to the property that Bed was formerly sitting on. The popular rumor is that it could become the home of another Bangkok high-rise, but nothing’s been confirmed.
Management has also helped Bed’s staff find new jobs at other venues around town. Some of these people have been around since the nightclub’s inception and Batra said when Bed makes its return they will certainly be welcome back.
Bed Buzz, the nightclub’s marketing and communications agency, will also stay in operation. Bed Buzz currently manages brands like Beervault, Aloft and Ambar.
Bed Suppercub’s farewell party titled “Bed Takes Off” is on the evening of August 31. The team has remained tight-lipped about the details, but Batra promises all the elements that have made Bed famous on overdose – “shows, performances, decorations and food.” According to the Facebook event page, it will be an “outrageous and celebratory” evening featuring a surprise emcee who happens to be a prominent figure in the local nightlife.
The team is also working on a series of on-location “Bed Invasion” parties across the region, the first of which is next week at the upcoming F1 Grand Prix 2013 in Singapore. Bed will take over the Tanjong Beach Club in Sentosa to throw a happening ’50s Miami Beach Party. Bangkok’s resident DJs Fred Jungo and Eddy Frampton are also flying down to man the decks. Batra said possible locations for the next parties could be (but are not limited to) Sydney, Manila and Jakarta.
Batra’s original partner, Sanya Souvanna Phouma, is now at the helm of two other venues in town, Quince Eatery & Bar and Maggie Choo’s. Right now, Batra is in the process of scoping out his next projects. He’s excited for the future, but while Bed’s closing isn’t emotional, it does come with “more sadness than relief.”
“It’s a good time to end it,” Batra said. “I want to go somewhere new, it’s time for a new generation Bed. There’s still a lot of creativity left in us.”
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