The Lebua at State Tower: The Hangover's Bangkok Summit

A golden dome 63 floors above Bangkok, the world's highest open-air bar, and a cocktail named after a hangover.

The State Tower rises 68 floors over Bangkok's Silom Road, capped with a golden dome that makes it unmistakable on the skyline, and inside it operates the Lebua, the luxury hotel that became a movie star in 2011. Its crown, two floors below the dome, is the Sky Bar and the adjoining Sirocco restaurant: an open-air ledge 63 storeys up that markets itself as the highest rooftop bar of its kind in the world, with the Chao Phraya river glittering below.

The Hangover Part II

When the Wolf Pack's Bangkok misadventure needed its skyline moment, the production shot it here: the rooftop scenes where the trio finally pieces the night together play out on the Sky Bar's ledge, with the city sprawling behind them, and sharp-eyed viewers can spot the abandoned Sathorn Unique tower, Bangkok's famous ghost skyscraper, in the frame. The hotel leaned into the fame without shame: the bar still serves the Hangovertini, the cocktail created for the cast and crew during filming, and the film remains the best marketing the building ever had.

The pilgrimage, priced honestly

In Bandit terms the Sky Bar is a masterclass in venue economics: the view is the jackpot, the dress code is the wagering requirement, and the drink prices are the house edge, roughly triple street level, which is the toll for drinking on top of the world. Pay it once, at sunset, eyes open. That is the correct way to buy any glamorous experience, cocktails and casino bonuses alike: for the experience itself, at a price you read before you ordered.