Chinatown (Yaowarat Road)

By day, the district is ripe for exploring Buddhist temples, hunting down street art, and shopping up a storm with cheaply priced clothing, jewelry, toys, accessories and more. At night, the district's center becomes a sea of neon lights as food vendors set up the famous Yaowarat Road Street Food Markets. Are you brave enough to eat a fried scorpion?

Look Around

Sidewalks may be non-existent, requiring careful walking on the road

Side road

Fried eggs for sale

Fresh seafood for sale

Freshly squeezed juice

Around Chinatown

Fried grasshopper on a stick - full of protein

Something to try at least once

For the more adventurous... scorpions on a stick

And many more fried bugs if one is not enough

Eating insects

Red iconic archway surrounded by telephone cables

After dark Chinatown lights up

Vendor selling mango sticky rice

Walking through Chinatown

Who Will Like Chinatown

Food Connoisseur

Visit at night to taste some of Bangkok's most delicious (and most quirky) street food at Yaowarat Road Street Food Market. Try seafood, noodles, dumplings, and even fried crickets or scorpions. Less adventurous diners can retreat to one of the more modern Chinese restaurants along Yaowarat Road.

Culture Buff

See the difference between Thai and Chinese Buddhism by visiting a few of Chinatown's temples, like Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan and Wat Mangkon Kamalawat. Explore the district's art scene at the Kung Thai Art Gallery or hunt down street art at Talot Noi.

Retail Therapist

Chase down bargains on clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, gadgets and nick-knacks at Sampeng Market, Khlong Thom Flashlight Market, and the Old Siam Plaza, to name a few of Chinatown's most popular shopping hubs.

Bucketlist Bandit

Try a scorpion or grasshopper on a stick at the Yaowarat Road Street Food Market. Apparently they taste like chips.

Insider Tips For Chinatown

• Most vendors at the street food market open around 6:30pm. Visit at night for the best variety of food stalls.
• The best way to explore Chinatown is to simply walk down its narrow alleys and soak up the atmosphere. Use Google Maps on your smartphone to get back to the center of Yaowarat Road if you get lost.
• A lively street art scene has popped up in Chinatown since 2016. The best wall murals are located around the southern outskirts of Chinatown, on small alleyways off Song Wat Road and Talot Noi.
• Watch your bags and pockets as pickpockets are known to frequent the district.
• While there are a few shops located along Yaowarat Road, the best places for serious shopping are Sampeng Market, Khlong Thom Flashlight Market, and the Old Siam Plaza.
• Chinatown comes to life during Chinese New Year when it's filled with colorful lanterns, fireworks, and other decorations.

Video

How To Get There

Tech & Photography

Food & Drink

There is no shortage of food and drink in Chinatown - expect to see lots of seafood, pork, and insects. Yaowarat Road is lined with a range of dining options from a street food market with vendors selling fried insects, noodles, and dumplings, to casual Chinese restaurants with set menus, to western-orientated Chinese restaurants usually attached to hotels. Thai food like green curry, tom yum, and mango sticky rice are also available.

Backstory

The presence of Bangkok's Chinese population dates back to the late 1700s, when, following the fall of Ayutthaya, King Taksin sought the aid of Teochew merchants in establishing his new capital in Thonburi. In return, he gifted them a large parcel of land on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River. Being highly skilled trade merchants, Bangkok's Chinese population thrived and more Chinese immigrated to the shanty town to share the wealth.

When the district was severely damaged by a series of fires during the mid to late 1800's, several new roads were constructed, including "Yuppharat Road", now Yaowarat Road, the district's center. By the early 1900s, Chinatown had become Bangkok's commercial center and also operated a thriving red-light district with nightclubs, gambling, and opium dens.

In the late 1900's many businesses began to move to other districts within Bangkok and Chinatown's wealth gradually declined. Most businesses choosing to remain around Yaowarat Road were those with strong Chinese roots like Chinese restaurants, temples, and craft stores.

Etiquette

Scorecard

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