The 5 Best Streets to Visit in Bangkok

The 5 Best Streets to Visit in Bangkok

Posted by Mark Philip

Image by Takeaway sourced from wiki media commons

Bangkok is full of interesting streets and roads to visit, some of them well known and others less so.

Of course the word interesting is open to interpretation according to personal preference, but Thailand’s capital city is a place where you can find completely different vibes according to the street or road you are on, and really you can never be too sure what might be just around the corner if you don’t fully have your bearings.

This obviously means that the best streets to visit in Bangkok will depend on what you like doing most, but it is possible that anyone visiting only the popular tourist places might be missing out on the true ‘flavour’ of the city.

It is also true that the chaos of Bangkok can certainly seem more than little overwhelming sometimes, especially on a first visit or if you’re not that sure where to go or how to get there.

The Thai capital city of Bangkok has a wide and sometimes conflicting range of flavours, energies and attractions, from a plethora of impressive, high-class shopping malls to more organic, grass-roots markets, community malls, historic, ancient monuments and temples, and everything from gourmet dining to street food, along with its infamous, significantly more ‘seedier’ underbelly.

Always expect the unexpected though, as there is hardly ever a dull moment on the chaotic, humid and incredibly noisy streets of Bangkok.

The still-expanding public transportation systems such as the BTS Skytrain and the MRT Subway make it relatively easy to get around most (but not all) major areas and beyond.

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Other options include the network of river ferries, along with buses and taxis, which, it has to be said, are all slightly less user-friendly to varying degrees.
This is mainly down to language and cultural barriers that still widely exist, even in the capital, when it comes to communication and the conveying of information.

This article then aims to provide some ideas to guide the discerning visitor towards some of the best streets and roads in Bangkok that might be a good place to start discovering the city – which is no mean feat.

It does need to be noted, however, that in Thai there is the word ‘soi’ which loosely relates to streets or their networks of offshoots in the form of smaller lanes (‘yaek soi’) and then there is the word ‘thanon’ which is more in line with road, especially the larger ones.

‘Thanon Yai’, for instance, means main road, and most of the places featured in this article fall into this category, as they are large areas – and all have many corresponding sois, the exploration of which is part of the adventure of being n Bangkok.

Sukhumvit Road Bangkok

Image by Clay Gilliland sourced from wiki media commons

Sukhumvit Road is not only considered to be one of the main Roads in Bangkok, it is also one of the longest. It begins in the city’s Central region and ends at the border on the Southeast side of the country next to Cambodia.

So, if anyone tells you that going to Sukhumvit Road is a good bet, you might well ask them if they could be a bit more specific.

The street is actually a ‘Thanon Yai’ (meaning main road in Thai) which is much different from the smaller ‘sois’ (streets or backstreets) that form part of most Thai addresses. This means much of what might be considered the main stretch of the road (between Phloen Chit and Ekkamai) is accessible by the BTS Sukhumvit line.

There are actually two main lines of the BTS, namely the Silom Line and the Sukhumvit Line, and they meet at the well-known, central hub of Siam Station.

Sukhumvit Road is a veritable melting-pot of an area that contains most of the main, often conflicting elements that are to be found in Thailand, across a broad and contrasting spectrum, which includes some of the major 5-star hotels, boutique (and ‘not-so-boutique’) guest houses, condominiums, top restaurants and international cuisine, luxurious and quirky shopping malls, office blocks and plazas, pubs, bars, beer gardens, parks, markets, massage parlours, slums, street food and then the downright seedy areas containing what might be considered ‘red-light’ districts (although there are actually no ‘red lights’ as such used for this particular trade in Thailand).

Image by Bjoervedt sourced from wiki media commons

And while it would be impossible to include an exhaustive, in-depth guide to the entire Sukhumvit Road here, we can offer a few pointers on top of the above ones which may involve somewhere in the region of the stretch of the main road somewhere between the two previously-mentioned BTS stop areas of Ekkamai and Ploenchit.

Ploenchit (BTS Ploenchit) will start you off at around Soi 1 (close to one of Bangkok’s premier international hospitals, Bumrumgrad), and following the BTS line towards Ekkamai (BTS Ekkamai) will allow you to take in some of the sights and sounds of the hotspots between Nana and Asok (the BTS Sukhumvit stop), across the main intersection towards Phrom Pong (where 2 of the main ‘luxury’ malls, Emporium and Emquartier are situated along with a nice park, at the BTS Phrom Pong station), and up into Thonglor, a more ‘hi-so’ area for restaurants and bars for the trendy young elite, something that will obviously be reflected in the prices (BTS Thonglor).

The Ekkamai (and beyond that Bang Na) stop on the BTS line pretty much signals the end of the ‘central zone’ of Sukhumvit Road, and goes more towards areas of the city with a slightly more local or suburbian element to them.

Maha rat Road

Those not wishing to miss out on some of the more traditional, ancient and historic tourist attractions that Bangkok has to offer may consider a day out on Maha rat Road.

Image by Wolfgang Holzem sourced from wiki media commons

This is a large road that runs along the Chao Phraya River, and is where many of Bangkok’s major temples and attractions are to be found.

In fact, within quite a short distance of each other are the landmark Bangkok tourist attractions The Grand Palace (home of ‘The Emerald Buddha’) and Wat Po (where the huge ‘Reclining Buddah’ is located).

Image by Cicoc o sourced from wiki media commons

Another impressive temple on this road is Wat Kalayanamit, which is just across the river, as is the famous Wat Arun, another landmark that features on many scenic pictures of Bangkok and looks particularly impressive once ‘lit up’ after the evening has drawn in.

There is also a museum and many other monuments and such like on this Bangkok street which has much to explore in cultural terms, and makes for a good day out for those inclined towards a more historical view of the

Rama I Road

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Every kind of shopping experience you could imagine is available in Bangkok, and if that’s your thing – particularly in terms of humungous shopping centres, then head for Rama I Road.

Once you find Rama I Road you will see massive shopping complexes dotted all around in close proximity of each other, each one seemingly bigger and more extravagant than the last.

All manner of goods are on offer in this vicinity, both local and otherwise, from high end luxury imported designer brands, to stalls trading in counterfeit designer bags and clothing brands including sportswear.

Image by Sry85 sourced from wiki media commons

Some of the main shopping centres in this stretch of Rama I include CentralWorld, MBK Centre, Siam Discovery, Siam Paragon and Siam Square One, and just to give an inkling of the size of these kinds of places, some of them even have smaller shopping centres located inside of them!

Needless to say, if you have the energy for this kind of activity and it sounds like your idea of fun, it might be an idea to put aside a whole day or even more just to get around all of these places.

Silom Road

Another Thanon Yai as a pose to a mere street, Silom Road, another road in Bangkok that should be visited at least once, is a long stretch of inner city not dissimilar to some parts of Sukhumvit, although probably more established with tourists (and a little more of a compact and contained area unlike the constantly changing and expanding Sukhumvit Road).

Image by Khaosaming sourced from wiki media commons

On the main long stretch of road, situated in the heart of Bangkok’s downtown business district, food stalls, various merchants’ stands selling clothes, souvenirs, statues, hats, shoes, accessories and more are liable to be found.

There are plenty of renowned restaurants on Silom Road selling local and international fayre along with the usual gamut of street vendors, and the backdrop is comprised of shopping complexes such as Central alongside huge office towers.

Image by Trungy Dang sourced from wiki media commons

Plenty in the line of nightlife is also on offer in this area in the form of bars, pubs, and clubs, including the networks of small sois and other backstreets in and around some areas of the main road, many of which fall into the category of the seedier variety.

The main strip of these side and backstreets is the infamous Patpong which has go-go bars and such like that line either side of a night market of the same name. In the daytime the area is largely unrecognisable from the night time scenario in that there is little to no activity.

Silom’s diversity is apparent from its transformation between day and night, as in the morning and daytime the area is more suited to business people as it is one of the main business districts in the city, although at night it clearly becomes more of an entertainment haven.

The BTS Silom Line, the second stop from Siam Station (Sala Daeng) will get you to Silom Road, although it can also be reached by the MRT subway. The station is located on the corner of Silom Road next to the green expanse of Lumphini Park.

Just a little bit further along from Silom Road, the left side, is also a very famous and colourful Hindu temple called Sri Maha Mariamman, which you are usually welcome to enter as long as you take off your shoes.

Khao San Road

Image by Marcin Konsek sourced from wiki media commons

Khao San Road in Bangkok has long been renowned as a back-packers haven for travellers. This is not entirely untrue, but in typical Bangkok fashion, things and places change quickly and often, and Khaosarn Road is no different in that respect.

The world of tourism in Bangkok owes something of a debt to Khaosarn Road (among others like Silom), which began to become popular with Western travellers in the 70s, becoming (somewhat stereotypically) something of a ‘Hippies Haven’ and after that it began to slowly develop, with budget guest houses and hostels opening.

Today the Street is a world away from those hippie days, a fact that sometimes surprises people who come with the mistaken idea that Thailand is somehow ‘Bohemian’ – it is not – and certainly not in the city of Bangkok.

Khaosarn Road is a place traditionally favoured with younger visitors to Bangkok, and it is not uncommon to find young folks under the age of 30 in the area.

But of course with ever-increasing exposure and the more recent developments of boutique hotels and guest houses, along with a few more upmarket and trendy bars and restaurants, the area is becoming more accessible to visitors of all ages and from all walks of life, rather than just the stereotypical dread-locked backpacker on a budget.

The street is characterized by many stalls and shops of all varieties, selling clothes, souvenirs, food, books and a variety of other items.

Image by Marcin Konsek sourced from wiki media commons

Khaosarn Road itself is a pedestrian zone, and in the evening it becomes more of an entertainment zone with the plethora of cafes, bars and restaurants, many of which have tables and chairs on the street. There are also a few nightclubs that open up later on.

In terms of getting to Khaosarn Road, it’s possibly best to consider that a taxi is the best option, as there is no BTS or subway line running anywhere that near. Siam BTS station is in fact the closest one to the Khaosarn Road, but it is still a fair distance. The better option might be to get the MRT subway to Hua Lamphong station and then get a taxi from there. This will at least bring you into the general vicinity. Tuk-tuks and taxis without meters are to be avoided in these areas.