From coming to Bangkok as backpacker and falling in love with the City of Angels, to now being the manager of world-renowned Khao San Road’s most internationally recognised nightclub, Tony Karlsson now finds himself right where he feels he belongs – also reaching new heights in his career after some challenging years.
This Swede’s F&B career so far is not without ups and downs within the thriving restaurant and entertainment scene in Thailand. And it forms an interesting perspective on the challenges and successes of building a career in the nightlife and hospitality industry in Bangkok.
It’s an appropriate name for a nightclub: The Club – open for 18 years already, but only officially rank in early 2025 among the Top 100 nightclubs in the world by DJ Mag! And it’s something of a dream come true for the Swede: Tony had thought of how he could find a way to live and work in Thailand ever since he first set foot in the country.
Back and forth to Thailand
So, let’s rewind the clock and find out how he succeeded in realising his dream – and what lies ahead. Tony first came to Bangkok in 2004 and continued to come back to Thailand on six-month trips through to 2009, paired with working in Sweden to save up money.
“I fell in love with Thailand, to the extent that I cried during the airport taxi ride when having to return home. The contrast from my life in Sweden was total. I always used to be so restless and had too much energy at home, living in a small town; Ljungby. And I was always social and wanted to be where the action is. So, I first moved to Halmstad – a bit bigger town, where I worked for my dad’s company.”
Tony also got a job as a foreman in a dairy business factory. Going back and forth to Thailand he started thinking about how he would possibly be able to settle down in Bangkok and make a living there.
“Back then, the only opportunities for foreigners were basically as DJ, English teacher or diving instructor – unless you had higher education.”
In Sweden he had studied to become an electrician. Eventually he took the decision, along with a friend, to enrol for a bachelor degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management at Stamford International University.
“You studied for three months and then you were off for a month, all year round. So, you got a lot of free time, of which I spent a lot in Phuket and travelled frequently. I lived well as a student here, based on Swedish student loan from the state,” he describes the studies years as a young adult.
“I went for it, and it turned out that I was good at studying – although I had had plenty of doubt – And got good grades. The studies at this university also led to lots of networking.”
When it was time for doing the final internship, he was simultaneously offered a nightclub job at Sukhumvit 11 – the focal point for entertainment back then. They offered Tony a management role and he was able to do his educational training at the same place.
“From then on it was many long days with school during daytime and working at the club during the nights.”
At this stage Tony’s effort from early on to learn the Thai language also paid off: “At the university, I took a course where you learned the alphabet – though I did not to read. You were kind of forced into it in a way, because we had 80 staff, of which back then only a few spoke a bit of English. But anyway, it was a learning curve – that’s for sure. Then they were forced to closed down the business in 2014 due to street protests in downtown Bangkok, so I lost my job there.”
Impact Muang Thong Thani offer
Next, he was offered, via one of his university teachers, a job for Impact, Muang Thong Thani and their four Flann O’Brien’s Irish Pub and Restaurant outlets in Tong Lor, at Asiatique The River Front, Silom and in Muang Thong Thani – first as pub manager and then area manager.
But a new challenge loomed; and one that tends to repeat itself: skyrocketing commercial property rents. Once a street or area becomes the talk of the town this phenomenon comes along.
“It was a million baht in monthly rent in Silom. Then you have to sell enormous amounts of drinks to make a profit on that. It’s so sad; In the city centre, it just gets more and more expensive, so you can’t get a profitable F&B business in the end. We end up with the nice hidden gems moving out from downtown,” says Tony.
After three years with Impact that stint was over, while suddenly England was calling for Tony – through an Irish friend.
“He owned a virtual reality company in England and Dublin and asked if I could manage them. Right then I had nothing to do, and thought: ‘Why not!’ You learn new things by moving to a new country.”
Thong Lor adventure
But after a while living in Northampton, Thailand was again on Tony’s mind, and another contact was asking for his advice on opening up a new venue in Thong Lor. This led to them deciding to open it together, despite Tony’s negative experience regarding the rents.
“We built up everything from bare shell and this time I had to do everything by myself, without any big administrative organisation backing things up. I ran the pub for two years, until another job offer came along from the network that was hard to say no to.”
He was now being offered a role as Brand Ambassador with Danish-managed Laiba – a bottled cocktails brand launched from Shanghai.
This was a complete game-changer for me and a great position; a daytime job working only five days per week. It didn’t last long, though, because the Covid situation arrived. This was very sad as I had just reached the top that I had been fighting to reach,” reflects Tony.
During Covid he ended up in Spain, working for a Scandinavian call centre service, and where he had the opportunity to recap some time with his mother owning a house there, after many years apart.
The job enabled a lot of freedom, but sitting in an office, in Spain, was only fun for a while. I started learning a bit of Spanish too. and if you travel from Sweden to Spain, you think Spain is good. But if you’ve been in Thailand for a long time, something is missing,” thinks Tony. “So, I just wanted to come back, waited for the opportunity to do so, while saving up money in Spain.
Looking for the next adventure
Once he was able to do so, Tony even had a brief stint in Hua Hin, where he started up a place, and sold it again after six months, after realising that the seaside resort was mainly a retirement-oriented place.
“There was no drive there. So, then I went back to Bangkok, looking for a new adventure.”
And with that we are back in present times, as the Swede was offered a management role with Buddy Group to oversee The Club Khaosan – a large nightclub with a 1,000+-person capacity, staging international DJ acts & party nights. It’s described as a monumental dancehall equipped with extended top-quality lightning, led screens and other more.
When asking around Tony also found that this group had a good reputation. “We’re a team of three at the club, plus the owner representative, who talk about everything, and we get suggested improvements approved. They invest to make it better, basically; the owner upgraded the sound system to Funktion-One Evolution-X, which offers one off the best club speakers in the world.”
And this has paid off by entering into the 100 Clubs in the world, ranked 76 – a true gamechanger for the venue. Other changes since Tony came on board has also led to significantly improved revenue.
“Based on the public’s votes it’s actually very difficult to get on that list. We have a LED screen outside marketing this ranking, and then passersby get it and don’t have to check the Google rankings anymore to understand what kind of place this is.”
“As a nightclub it differs a lot from all the other places; first because of its location, which creates a lot of variation of people – both in ages and where people come from. It’s like 30% Thai, 30% Western, and then the remaining are other Asians. Second is that its energy and vibe are higher than other clubs, with new guests and regulars mixed together.”
As the manager in charge of this operation, Tony describes himself as the conductor of an orchestra. “I mainly have to think about the bigger picture; constantly taking a lot of notes about suggestions for changes and improvements, as well as all the smaller and bigger issues – and to make sure that all the customers and crew are doing well and everything is taken care of.”
“I don’t have to be there all the time. I can even go on holiday for a few days without the roof falling down. So, I’m very happy with this position. Coming here on a daily basis is nostalgic in a way – to Khao San road, which remains how it was when you were younger. So, you always get a bit of energy from it. Although past nine pm the street gets almost a bit too lively for my taste; the whole street is almost like a nightclub.”
As for future career steps Tony says he could fancy a Director of Food & Beverage role with one of the big hotels, while he stayed away from hotels so far due to things being very “structured” there.
“It would be a very big challenge if you got such a F&B role. I can also imagine starting a hospitality consultancy company later on. That’s another goal I have. But right now, I’m not thinking of doing anything else.”
As for Bangkok’s nightlife development Tony thinks that it is much more spread out.
“Before, there were certain areas you could go to, but it’s not so concentrated any more, except for on weekends, when you can feel that there’s a buzz in certain places. That’s why Khao San is good, because whether it’s Monday or Saturday, we always have guests; always at least 500. Other than that, I really don’t know where to go anymore, because there are so many places!”
All photos by: Dennis Thern
