Where Not to Stay in Bangkok Red Light Districts
Some of Bangkok’s most popular places to stay are actually the worst for tourists. I’ve lived in Bangkok for five years now, and I’ve seen some of these areas turn into overcrowded tourist traps with scammers lurking on every corner. There are mistakes most tourists make when choosing a place to stay, as well as some places that I would actually recommend.
Let’s start with the areas that you should absolutely avoid. These are the parts of town where you are most likely to get scammed or beaten up, with the least to offer culturally or historically, as well as some of the grimiest hotels in town.
1. Why Bangkok’s Red Light Districts Are a Bad Place to Stay
Bangkok has a reputation as a sleazy city, but after five years of living here I can honestly say that’s not the case. Bangkok is a city with amazing temples, stunning natural landmarks, and some of the best food in the world. But then there are Bangkok’s red-light districts.
Whilst I kind of get the attraction to visiting these areas to see what they are all about, I really don’t think you actually want to book a hotel here. The main issue is that they are some of the least safe areas of town. Just recently, there was a gruesome video that went viral of two British tourists who refused to pay their bar tab because they believed they had been overcharged. They were taken outside and beaten up by security, and the video ended with one of the bouncers kicking one of the tourists in the head, knocking him out cold and leaving him with severe head injuries.
Because this is a red-light district, don’t expect the best of what Bangkok has to offer. The people who like to come here aren’t interested in quality street food or Buddhist temples. Rooms can be rented by the hour, “if you know what I mean”, so if you stay here you might want to bring some earplugs.
The worst areas of town for this are around Nana Plaza and Patpong, and I would avoid staying here at all costs.
2. Why Siam Is Convenient but Culturally Empty
Bangkok is a huge city, and this makes it extremely difficult to choose the perfect place to stay, especially for first-time visitors. On top of that, Bangkok isn’t a particularly well-organized city with a traditional city center, and some of the more interesting parts of town are actually spread out far away from Siam.
This misunderstanding leads people to choose Siam, which is one of the most boring places to stay in the whole of Bangkok. At first glance on a map, it appears that this area is the center of the city. On top of that, it has one of the most recognizable names of any location in Bangkok, one that evokes ideas of a rich history in an ancient kingdom.
The problem is that, despite its links to Thailand’s ancient past, this area actually lacks any real Thai culture and has now become an area for overpriced shopping malls and international brands. The area shares its name with the ancient Kingdom of Siam, and in the past this was the location of some of the royal palaces, but it is now home to the shopping mall known as Siam Paragon, which isn’t even the best mall in the city.
There are far more interesting places to stay in Bangkok, and personally I think the only advantage of staying here is that it is near the BTS line, meaning you have easy access to other, more interesting parts of the city.
3. Sukhumvit Road Has Nightlife but Little Thai Culture
Now I want to focus on parts of the city that I actually do recommend and that you should definitely consider staying in, but I also want to look at why they might not be perfect for you.
There is one area of Bangkok that is known for its metropolitan vibe, has the best nightlife in the city, and is extremely well connected to other parts of town. This area is known for having some of the best restaurants in the city, as chefs have flown in from all over the world to open restaurants here. It is also known for its amazing sky bars, which are the best places in the city to watch the sunset.
It is one of the safest areas of the city. There is pretty much no such thing as a scammer here because most people exploring this part of town aren’t tourists and therefore won’t fall for their tricks. The area is known as Sukhumvit Road, and the stretch from Asok to Thong Lo is the cosmopolitan heart of the city.
But there is a catch. Whilst this area is an excellent choice in so many ways, it falls short in traditional Thai culture and is actually far away from landmarks such as Yaowarat Road, Wat Arun, the Grand Palace, and the Chao Phraya River. In fact, I would recommend that most first-time visitors to the city do not stay in this part of town.
4. The Riverside Is Best for Bangkok’s Landmarks
There is one area of town that undoubtedly has the most important cultural landmarks in the entire city. This area is like a living postcard of Bangkok, and it is home to the Grand Palace, the Reclining Buddha, and some of the most important temples in the whole city.
Staying here not only gives you easy access to these sites, but it also gives you a completely different perspective of them as the crowds disappear at night and the place lights up. This area is the VIP lounge of Bangkok and is home to some of the most luxurious hotels in the entire city, making it a great choice for romantic getaways.
The best views in the entire city are those looking towards Wat Arun, where you can stand on your balcony and watch it light up at night. Not only that, but this area also contains the Chao Phraya River, which presents a much more serene and beautiful side of the city. Forget the sound of honking horns and tuk-tuks: you can wake up to a much more peaceful atmosphere on the Chao Phraya River and watch this unique way of life unfold each day.
However, there is one thing that this area of town is really lacking, and it is one thing that thousands of people come to the city each day to experience: nightlife. Believe it or not, monks are not big drinkers, so naturally the nightlife areas are situated far away from these temples. There are a handful of bars and restaurants nearby overlooking the river, but nothing to the same extent that exists on Sukhumvit, in Chinatown, or on Khao San Road.
On top of that, this area is one of the most touristy parts of town. That means you are a lot more likely to be hassled to buy souvenirs and more likely to be tricked by scam artists.
5. Chinatown Is the Best Area for Bangkok Street Food
The next location is one of the most historically iconic locations in the city. It is an excellent choice for first-time visitors because there is so much to explore and experience. This area is home to some fascinating temples that are much less explored than those on the riverside and differ a bit from the traditional Thai temple style.
Wat Mangkon, for example, showcases the influence of Chinese culture on the region, and the Golden Mountain has a stunning golden tower overlooking the city. But for me, the main reason to stay here is that this area is the best area of town to experience Bangkok street food.
Yaowarat Road is today the center of street-food culture, and in the space of just a few hundred meters there are thousands of street-food stands, each with its own unique dish. Personally, I could spend weeks exploring this area and trying different dishes.
However, if you’re the kind of person who isn’t adventurous when it comes to eating or you have dietary restrictions, this is not the place for you. You’ll find it quite difficult to get hold of vegetarian food or Western dishes in this part of town.
On top of that, Yaowarat Road is one of the most hectic places that you’ll ever experience on Earth, and it can easily overwhelm you at night. The streets fill up with people, motorbikes, and tuk-tuks, and it can be a lot to take in. I know there are a lot of people who are quite intimidated by visiting Bangkok for the first time, and they would find this overwhelming. This is Bangkok at its most intense.
6. Khao San Road Is Bangkok’s Most Overrated Base
Did you come to Thailand to be surrounded by other tourists? Do you want to be hassled by scam artists every 20 seconds? Do you want to miss out on the city’s best sights in favor of a more gimmicky and touristy part of town? No? Sounds like a nightmare, right?
Well, I’ve actually just described the most popular place to stay in the whole of Bangkok, a place where thousands of tourists flock to every single day, and by far the most overrated place to stay in the entire city.
In the past, this used to be an important part of the city for any backpacker. In the 1970s and 1980s, this became the backpacker hub of Southeast Asia. However, in the modern day it is just not necessary to stay here to meet other backpackers.
On top of that, this area has become more and more commercialized and gimmicky. By that I mean it is now a place to buy cheap, tacky T-shirts and souvenirs. It is not that close to areas of town that are actually worth exploring, meaning that you’ll have to spend a lot of time in a taxi or a tuk-tuk. Beware: this is another area notorious for tuk-tuk scams.
The one thing this area is famous for is its nightlife, but even then I think there are far better parts of the city to enjoy it. The thing I dislike the most about the area is that every single bar, market stall, or stand has its own speaker blasting music. Not only can you not hear what the person next to you is saying, but you can’t even hear the music being played because it is competing with the speaker next to it.
You also have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. It is literally just one skinny road that gets extremely crowded at night and, obviously, everyone’s been drinking. It’s a pickpocket’s dream and the area where things are most likely to kick off. The area is known as Khao San Road, and it is one of the most famous parts of Bangkok. It’s the kind of place I would have loved in my early 20s, and it is possibly worth checking out for a night. But if you want to experience the real Bangkok, there are plenty of better places in the city to stay.
