The wellspring of Siem Reap saloons, Angkor What? has been "promoting irresponsible drinking since 1998." Enabling prices ($1 for a Beer Lao and $4 for a "whisky bucket," a half-bottle of Mekong, a local swill, mixed with Coke and Red Bull) attract backpackers and budget travelers, who have covered the walls with graffiti—most of it scrawled after a few whisky buckets. It's a lively, albeit loud, place to watch the evening pageantry along pedestrian-only Pub Street. Across the street at Temple Bar, the Beer Lao is pricier ($1.25 a can), the music's even louder and more '80s, and there's a small dance floor, three pool tables, and an imitation bas-relief of Angkor Wat's Churning of the Sea of Milk (855-15-999-909).

The Thai-owned Dead Fish Tower Inn has a great airy bar with a nice loft seating area that serves dollar beers and delicious Thai food. It's one of the livelier spots in town, with nightly "entertainment" (free pool tables and its own mini crocodile farm).

For nightlife, try the self-consciously "funky" but perfectly decent Laundry Bar, 50 yards north of the Old Market. It attracts a friendly mix of hip locals, hot visitors, and guest DJs, and is sometimes open until dawn.

The town's only gay/straight spot is Linga Bar. Its execution is more contemporary and less Zen-like than owner Martin Dishman's other hot property, the One Hotel Angkor, which is just across the lane. The top-shelf drinks are priced right ($3 for anything from a Screwdriver to a martini to a Mojito), the Khmer spiced pork-rib tapas are freshly prepared, and the smattering of rent boys are unobtrusive. The 60/40 straight/gay crowd seems to mix it up quite happily.

For sophisticated atmosphere and classic cocktails, you need only stroll 50 yards west of Siem Reap's noisy Pub Street to find this stylish boîte. Named for a popular post-war portrait by the late South African artist, Vladimir Tretchikoff, Miss Wong seems lifted from 1930s Shanghai, with apple-red walls, Chinese lanterns, and dark wood furniture. The Singapore Sling quotes the original Raffles Hotel recipe, though the bar's signature Indochine martini (vodka, ginger-infused cognac liqueur, and a splash of pineapple juice) is a thoroughly modern tipple. The top-shelf booze and friendly banter supplied by owner Dean Williams, who's also a radio journalist, draws a loyal expat crowd.—Christopher Cox

Open daily 6 pm to 2 am.

Angelina Jolie's home away from home—or so the staff would like you to believe. The cast and crew of Tomb Raider were here so much during filming, the bartender created a drink—first sampled by Ms. Jolie herself—called, predictably, the Tomb Raider. It's a concoction of Cointreau, lime juice, and tonic water, and it's, well, not good. But the globally eclectic food—from Indian samosas to chicken cordon bleu—is, at least for nibbling on the second-floor veranda as Pub Street comes to life at night.

Siem Reap's dance scene, once centered on Martini, a riverside club clogged with Vietnamese sex workers that has thankfully closed, has shifted to this popular entertainment complex. On the western outskirts of town, it's replete with a disco, outdoor restaurant, karaoke rooms, and, indeed, "massage." The cavernous dance hall draws a local Khmer crowd (plus a few foreigners), swaying to hip-hop and Khmer beats until the small hours beneath the spectacle of strobe lights, smoke machines, lasers, and, yes, a mirrored ball. There's no cover charge, but relatively stiff drink prices—$4 for a bland gin and tonic—and a firearms pat-down at the door keep out the riffraff.