I've lived in Bangkok for years — this is its most happening neighbourhood

Times

23-05-2025

Along Yaowarat Road and its web of lanes, or sois, red paper lanterns and coiled incense swing in the breeze amid wafting aromas of star anise and charred pork fat. Four-storey neon dragons wink above apothecaries and gold shops. During the day old men play mahjong in front of faded teak shophouses, while by night hawkers sling oyster omelettes and barbecued pork and rice near the Chinatown gate.
I've lived in Bangkok on and off since the late Nineties and Chinatown has always been a fascinating part of town. And it seems to be drawing more attention than ever. The neighbourhood, known here as Yaowarat, made a prominent appearance in the latest series of The White Lotus and Lalisa 'Lisa' Manobal of the K-pop girl group Blackpink filmed her 2024 music video for the song Rockstar here, with the area's night-time neon on full display.
Founded in 1782 as a Teochew Chinese enclave, this historic quarter in the Thai capital stands as a living museum of Sino-Thai life, and is the world's largest Chinatown, in a city with the largest Chinese diaspora. Alleys still echo with Teochew and Hokkien dialects, and you can buy hand-rolled incense and joss paper from tiny family shops that have been here for generations.
Bangkok thrives on constant reinvention, and with most of the city now awash with modern high-rises, the crumbling shophouses and warehouses of Chinatown have become a haven where art, design and culture come together in unexpected ways, from street corners to rooftop spaces.
In recent years, several old Chinatown shop-houses have been reborn as stylish boutique hotels, waxing unabashedly hip about their heritage. Take W22 by Burasari, a new 123-room 'lifestyle budget' hotel on a quiet Charoen Krung Lane (room-only doubles from £36; w22hotel.com). Its rooms pair high ceilings and exposed beams with bright jewel-tone accent walls, distressed-wood floors and minimalist decor. Even the bathrooms have vintage Chinese-pattern tiles and waterfall showers. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook ancient temple roofs and pastel shophouses across the street, so you can sip morning tea to the soundtrack of tuk-tuks and temple gongs.
Nearby on Maitri Chit Road is the Mustang Blu, a wild mash-up of eras and sensibilities (B&B doubles from £134; fb.com/themustangblu). This 100-year-old neoclassical edifice — originally designed to serve as a bank — has been transformed into a ten-room baroque carnival château, all velvet couches, crystal chandeliers and taxidermy. You might find an ostrich skeleton and horse skull encased in antiqued glass, and pink neon signs over mahogany bars. In the airy French-style café on the ground floor, organic coffee (sourced from Sumatra) is served with lavish pastries.
A few blocks over on Yaowarat Road stands Shanghai Mansion, an icon of Chinatown cool (B&B doubles from £46; shanghaimansion.com). It's set in a 1908 Chinese opera house and the interior is a travel brochure for 1930s Shanghai. The Burasari Group renovated this massive building down to every carved wood panel. Today, arriving guests must cross a vermilion bridge over a koi pond to reach the lobby, and everywhere inside you see art deco lanterns and imperial-age antiques. The suites have thick brocade curtains, black lacquer four-poster beds draped in Chinese silk bolsters and freestanding clawfoot tubs under stained-glass windows. Despite its old-world glamour, Shanghai Mansion sits smack in the middle of big city chaos: guests can hear honking tuk-tuks and chopsticks clacking at noodle stalls outside their windows.
Not far from the high-rise Grand China Bangkok Hotel stands the Old Thai Heng Hotel(room-only doubles from £38; oldthaihenghotel.com), another heritage gem. This was originally Thai Heng Company's headquarters — the family business once made soy sauce and herbs. Today the structure is more than 60 years old and has been lovingly restored. Expect antique Chinese furniture in the lobby and carved wooden balconies that look out toward Wat Mangkon, Chinatown's most sacred temple. The style is quietly elegant: earth-toned silks, hand-painted tiles and vintage botanical prints. It feels like an old Shanghai townhouse tucked inside Bangkok.
What truly fuels Chinatown's resurgence is food. Not just the street stalls that have fed Bangkokians for generations but a new wave of restaurants blending respect for tradition with bold experimentation.
Charmkok Standing Bar is one of the most talked-about additions (mains from £7; 880 Charoen Krung Road). This homey eatery, which opened just a few months ago, and is tucked down a back lane off Charoen Krung Road, reinterprets Thai specialities as small plates to go with cocktails while drinking at the bar. Standouts include spicy smoked duck salad and smoked pork belly with sugarcane.
A few sois away, Khao Tom Jay Suay serves humble rice soup with cult-like reverence late into the night (mains from £2.50; 547 Pom Prap Sattru Phai). Don't be fooled by its dented metal stools and fluorescent lights — it serves the best congee in the district. The toppings are where it shines: crispy pork belly, pickled egg, smoked duck breast and a mysterious shrimp paste that regulars whisper about.
Seafood lovers swarm to Talad Noi Crab Fried Rice, a food cart that became a sensation on Thai foodie social media (plates from £2.30; 880 Charoen Krung Road). Its wok-tossed crab rice is buttery, golden and overloaded with actual crab — not just a few strands but whole chunks, secured from Pak Nam seafood market in the wee hours. Go early; they sell out.
If there's one must-visit, it's Nai Mong Hoi Tod, a street institution famous for its crispy oyster omelettes (mains from £4.50; 539 Phlap Phla Chai Road). Michelin has noticed, awarding it a Bib Gourmand. The crust is crackly perfection, the oyster's briny and sweet, and the chilli vinegar cuts through it all with elegance.
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Housed in a five-story ancestral pharmacy, Potong is Chinatown's most daring culinary adventure and a must for the fine-dining crowd if you can nail down a table (tasting menu £170; restaurantpotong.com). Its owner-chef Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij was named world's best female chef by World's 50 Best Restaurants this year, becoming the first Asian chef to receive this honour. The Thai-Chinese tasting menus here defy categorisation. Expect the likes of duck confit with Chinese five-spice or black garlic ice cream. Reservations are essential.
If that's a little out of your budget, Soontornyanakij last month opened the nearby Khao San Sek, a much more casual bistro where Bangkok creatives wind down over iced roselle tea, smoked beef tongue satay and southern Thai-style rice salad (mains from £7; khaosansek.com). The vibe is artsy and democratic; you might share a table with a fashion editor or a visiting monk.
Once quiet by nightfall, Chinatown now has some of the capital's best cocktail bars. The epicentre is Soi Nana, a narrow alley buzzing with bohemian energy. Teens of Thailand is the pioneer here — Bangkok's first dedicated gin bar (cocktails from £7; Soi Nana). The changing menu often features Thai botanical gins with infusions of lemongrass or makrut lime. The bar is tiny, candlelit and always full of locals.
Across the street, Wallflowers doubles as a florist and cocktail lab (drinks from £4.50; Soi Nana). Surrounded by dried lotus pods and wild vines, you sip house inventions like the Smoky Chrysanthemum while gazing out across temple spires from the rooftop. Further north along Soi Nana is Ba Hao, a vintage four-storey shophouse that has been lovingly restored with classic Chinese decor (cocktails from £9; Soi Nana). The mostly Chinese food menu here is as good as anything you'll find in the neighbourhood, but the long wooden bar is the star of the show. Forget about espresso martinis; the Yeunyeung cocktail — a concoction of spiced rum, Kahlua, coffee and black tea syrup — is the one to go for.
Song Wat Road, parallel to the Chao Phraya Riverandpoised to outpace Soi Nana soonwhen it comes to hardcore pub-crawling, is home tothe National, a newer indie dive bar with a mid-century Thai aesthetic: wood panelling, vintage prints and a menu featuring forgotten local spirits such as lao khao and sato (cocktails from £6; nationalbangkok.com). Well-known Bangkok DJs sometimes take a turn at the decks here, unannounced.
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Opium, above Potong restaurant, is a comfortable upmarket bar paying homage to old Chinatown dens, with apothecary drawers, chilled beats and drinks served in ceramic teacups (cocktails from £9; opiumbarbangkok.com). Try the Opium Oath, an impossible conflagration of toasted sesame, Montelobos mezcal, cucumber, citrus, agave, camomile, habanero chilli and more.
Chinatown is no longer just a heritage site or a destination for foodies. It's a neighbourhood that has continued to reinvent itself while keeping its soul. For those who wander through its alleys, it offers not just a glimpse of the past but a taste of what's to come.
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