Bangkok Chinatown A Complete Travel Guide
Bangkok’s Chinatown is one of the best places in the city to explore, but most people stick to the main street and miss the hidden temples, incredible street food, and nightlife spots that make it unique. I spent the last 24 hours here exploring one of Bangkok’s coolest areas.
Hong Sieng Kong and Talat Noi in Bangkok Chinatown
Rather than arriving only at night, when Yaowarat Road is at its most hectic, I started the day in one of the lesser-known but most photogenic parts of Chinatown. One reason to come here in the morning is the number of excellent coffee shops. I found one right on the riverside, in a really beautiful setting.
This was one of the coolest finds we made all day, and it’s one of the best cafes I’ve ever been to in the whole of Bangkok. It’s set inside a completely refurbished old warehouse building. Banyan trees have intertwined with the old bricks where the roof had fallen in. It’s called Hong Sieng Kong, and the space has been filled with incredible artifacts from Bangkok’s historic Chinese community, giving it a really unique atmosphere.
Get here early so you can grab a seat by the stunning Chao Phraya River and watch the boats go by.
Talat Noi is one of Bangkok’s oldest and most underrated neighborhoods. More than 200 years of history are packed into a few little streets, with old Chinese shrines, hidden temples, and traditional shop houses that most people never see because they only come to Chinatown at night. One of the big highlights is the Chao Sue Kong Shrine, one of the oldest Chinese temples in Bangkok.
Part of the fun here is exploring the smaller temples. I stepped into the temple behind me, which I think is called Chao Sue Kong Shrine. The guy was really friendly, invited me in, and I watched a ceremony with people chanting. He even gave me a cup of tea. It was really cool. Talat Noi’s alleyways are an outdoor gallery with murals inspired by the neighborhood’s Chinese roots and old river trade days. Don’t stick to the main road; cut into the side alleys and take your time because the best artwork is hidden just around the corner.
The quirkiest aspect of the area is the old machine shops and scrapyards tucked into the narrow alleyways, sometimes right next to small shrines and temples. This mix of gritty industry, historic buildings, and modern street art gives Talat Noi a uniquely Bangkok feel. The Talat Noi Neighborhood Museum is worth a look if you want to learn more about the area.
Soi Wat Road and Ba Hao in Bangkok Chinatown
Soi Wat Road is the hipster district of Bangkok’s Chinatown. It still has historic shop houses, but many have been restored and turned into cafes, little boutique shops, and creative studios, so the street attracts a much younger crowd.
The street is decorated with stunning graffiti and artwork. When I visited, I could see the elephant parade, with beautifully designed elephant statues scattered throughout the neighborhood. Soi Wat is also where the food starts to get seriously good. You’ll find steaming Chinese dumplings, traditional street food stalls, and even a few Michelin Guide spots.
Soi Wat has huge queues of people lining up outside. We stopped at Ba Hao, a beef noodle shop, for a break and some air conditioning. The food looked really delicious. It was a little cleaner than other parts of Chinatown, so if you’re nervous about trying the food here, I think it might be a good place to start.
What made the place unique was the little donuts you put into the beef noodles. We tried them with the noodles, and it was a fun change from the usual bowl.
Sampeng Market and Wat Mangkon in Bangkok Chinatown
Just behind Yaowarat Road, Sampeng Market is one of the oldest trading areas in Bangkok. Back in the late 1800s, this area had a wild reputation, filled with gambling houses, opium dens, and brothels hidden inside the narrow alleyways.
Nowadays, it’s one of the cheapest markets in Bangkok. You can find some of the best deals on cosmetics, phone accessories, clothes, toys, and souvenirs in the city. What makes the market stand out from others is the Chinese Buddhist artifacts, like red lanterns, incense bundles, and lucky charms stacked from floor to ceiling.
You’ll also probably smell the Thai Chinese wet markets nearby, filled with raw meat and fish. These are some of the most interesting markets in the city, and it’s worth looking out for the Chinese medicine stands filled with mysterious dried mushrooms, herbs, and other items. Sampeng Market is unlike any other in Bangkok.
Wat Mangkon is the biggest Chinese style temple in Bangkok and one of the most fascinating temples in the city because it doesn’t feel like a typical Bangkok temple. This is the city’s most important Chinese Buddhist temple. Instead of golden spires, you’ll see red lanterns, dragon sculptures, and intricate Chinese detail everywhere you look.
Even if you’ve already done a few temples in Bangkok, this one feels completely different. Inside, locals light incense, make offerings, and pray for good fortune at different altars dedicated to Chinese deities. During Chinese New Year, the temple becomes a spiritual hotspot, with crowds coming for good luck and prosperity in the year ahead.
Staying at Shanghai Mansion in Bangkok Chinatown
If you’re going to spend a full 24 hours here, you need a place to stay. We checked in at Shanghai Mansion, one of the most beautiful hotels in Chinatown, right at the end of Yaowarat Road. It’s a very convenient location, and we chose it because it’s beautifully designed.
From the entranceway, there are Chinese red lanterns and a strong Chinese Qing Dynasty aesthetic. The hallway outside our room was one of the most interesting hotel designs I’ve seen in Thailand. We upgraded to one of the suite rooms, and it had a huge open space with Chinese style paintings.
There was a living room area with traditional Chinese beds, old school lanterns, and a cool little chair. The bedroom was beautifully designed, with Chinese dragons and flowers in the background behind the bed. I actually lived in China before I lived in Thailand, and it almost looked more like China than China does in some ways.
There was also a huge bathtub, although the bathroom was a bit see through. If you’re in the bath, you can see who’s on the toilet, so that’s not ideal.
The beautiful Chinese design continued into the breakfast area, one of the most stylish breakfast rooms I’ve seen anywhere in Bangkok. It had an elegant old Shanghai aesthetic with vintage decor, rich colors, and old Chinese posters lining the walls. The bar area felt like stepping into a 1930s Shanghai speakeasy, with dim lighting, plush seating, and intricate Chinese details. They served Chinese inspired drinks and creative cocktails, and most nights there was live music. You don’t need to be staying at the hotel to visit the bar, so it’s worth stopping in for a drink.
After two nights at Shanghai Mansion, I saw many positives: the beautiful design, the excellent location, and the cool bar area. The drawback is the hotel experience between outings. In Sukhumvit or the riverside area, newer hotels often have nicer places to relax, mainly around the pool. There are a few hotels with pools in Chinatown, but I don’t think they have the nicest pool areas. When we came back between exploring, our room was quite dimly lit, with not too much to do. Compared with skyscraper hotels and rooftop pools elsewhere in town, the hotels in Chinatown are not as nice to come back and relax in.
Yaowarat Road at Night
Yaowarat Road is one of the craziest and busiest streets in Thailand. The first time you hit Yaowarat, it feels like walking into a movie set. Neon signs are stacked on top of each other, tuk tuks squeeze through traffic, shopfronts blast light onto the street, and the smell of sizzling woks and grilled seafood hangs in the air.
As you walk, you’ll notice restaurants advertising shark fin soup and bird’s nest, two old school Chinese luxury dishes that you see a lot in this area. Between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., the street hits peak chaos and is absolutely packed.
Even though Yaowarat is one of the most famous food streets in the world, I don’t recommend trying to sit down for a full meal right on the main road. Unless you’re part of a food tour, it can be almost impossible to get a seat, and even if you do, crowds squeeze past you every few seconds.
If you want to eat here, you have two options. The first is to head into one of the traditional Chinese restaurants, usually upstairs, for classic dumplings and noodles. We went into a place called Shanghai Dumpling, or Shanghai something like that. We ordered sheng jian bao, pan fried Chinese dumplings filled with soup, one with pork and one with shrimp, plus a shigua salad, a spicy cucumber salad.
The shigua salad had that spicy mala flavor, which is a numbing spice. I’ve had it in a few Chinese places recently, and it was never as good. Here, it seemed like the most authentic version. If you don’t plan to visit China, Thailand is a lot easier to visit, so definitely eat some of the food around Thailand’s Chinatown. I think it’s the best Chinese food I’ve had outside China.
Soi Yaowarat 15 for Seafood and Dumplings
Yaowarat Road is one of my favorite streets in Chinatown and Bangkok, but it can be hectic if you’re trying to eat there. I like to hop down the side streets because they have a more relaxed vibe and are more likely to have somewhere to sit and eat.
Near the end of Yaowarat Road, Soi Yaowarat 15 is loaded with food. Unlike the main road, you can grab a seat and enjoy it. The headline here is the seafood: giant prawns on the grill, fresh lobster, and piles of seafood cooking over open flames.
It’s not just seafood. There is wonton noodle soup, dumplings, and sizzling satay skewers packed into one strip. Most stalls are set up in front of old shop houses, and inside, rows of woks run nonstop with chefs cooking at full speed. The smell is absolutely unreal, and the street is a bit more relaxed than Yaowarat Road itself.
Plaeng Nam Street for a Slower Evening
Plaeng Nam Street is my favorite street off Yaowarat. It’s a bit more relaxed than Yaowarat itself, with street food vendors, neon lights, and a few places to grab a drink.
It’s not as food focused as Yaowarat, although you can still grab a bite to eat. This is where I come to slow things down. It’s still super photogenic with neon glowing everywhere, but the vibe is more relaxed and you can actually breathe a little.
Walk a little further down and you’ll find massage parlors, which are perfect after a full day of exploring. If you want to try something a little weird, there are fish foot massages. You put your feet in a tank and tiny fish nibble away the dead skin. It feels strange at first and a little gross, but it does leave your feet incredibly smooth afterwards. Plaeng Nam Street is also a great place to grab a beer and listen to live music.
Soi Nana and Chinatown Cocktail Bars
Chinatown is not just about street food. It’s also one of Bangkok’s best bar districts. Everyone talks about Khao San Road, Soi Cowboy, or Sukhumvit, but Chinatown has some of the coolest and most refined bars in the city. If you’re into creative cocktails with Thai and Chinese flavors, Soi Nana is one of the best places in the city to experience them.
I stumbled upon Chinese Alfie Bar, a cool neon lit bar in one of the old Chinese shop houses. Outside, there was a great view of one of the Chinese gates. I tried some Chinese style cocktails and had a drink with a view of Chinatown Gate before heading to a more established cocktail bar.
Teens of Thailand is one of the coolest bars in Bangkok and helped kick off the craft cocktail scene in Chinatown. It’s Thailand’s first gin bar, with a huge selection of gins from around the world. In fact, it doesn’t serve anything else but gin. The bar is tucked away in a narrow alley with a gritty atmosphere, dim lighting, concrete walls, and an open bar where you can watch the bartenders mix drinks in front of you.
The owner of Teens of Thailand has opened a cluster of cocktail bars nearby, each built around a different key ingredient. Just around the corner is Asia Today. Where Teens is all about gin, Asia Today is known for honey based cocktails using different types of honey sourced from around Thailand. It’s a small, buzzing room, and the bartenders constantly experiment with new flavors.
The wildest concept is Tax Bar, a cocktail bar with insect infused drinks. Some of the spirits are infused or distilled with grasshoppers, silkworms, and even spiders. I ordered the grasshopper margarita, served with a side of crickets and mayonnaise. It was exactly as unhinged as it sounds, but it was actually really good. This is one of the craziest cocktail bars I’ve ever visited, and a must try if you’re brave enough.
