Jam, the little Sathorn bar-gallery bursting with art and music, will celebrate its sixth anniversary this Jun 2.

Over half a decade since opening Jam as a humble daytime cafe, Dhyan Ho and Napanarit “Butter” Savantrach's ramshackle Surasak shop-house is now well and truly established on Bangkok's art and culture circuit. 

Drinking next to an expressway is rarely as fun as at this compact bar, where subversive art lines the walls, cheap wine pours from the cardboard cask and two chill resident dogs patrol the vicinity.

The bar’s earned its arty outsider chops through weekly cult movie screenings, recurring retro gaming nights (watch our video) and gigs from both local up and comers and international underground stars in the making who often serve up the unexpected.

"One of the craziest recent shows was electro artist Lydmor from Denmark," Ho says. "Her art director Oscar did the lighting live as well—he brought like two suitcases of lighting gear with him, and the fluoro body paint and UV lights brought another element to what was already an amazing show." 

To celebrate six years, there will be a fittingly eclectic mix of music covering techno, dub, hip hop and drum n' bass starting from 4pm, as well as a barbecue by “grillmaster” Jonny Votek with Asahi in full flow.

Among the names soundtracking the event will be Gishiyama, African Dub Pushers, Hexer from Rebellious, K9 and Woken, Bang Sue Electrix, and Sweed, Goo Jiving Tribe, D Goose and Vivian.

Even with the impressive milestone, Ho isn't about to get carried away. When asked the hardest thing about running a bar, he told us, "I find it really hard to dance when I'm at Jam, even if the music is really good and everyone is dancing. I think it's because to dance, you have to turn off part of your brain that is analyzing and processing and just let go and be a conduit to the sound."

Also showing until Jun 8 is “Abandonia,” American Dax Ward’s photography series on abandoned urban spaces all over Thailand.

41 Charoen Rat Soi 1, 089-889-8059. Open Tue-Sun 6pm-12am. BTS Surasak. See the Facebook event page