About this blog: China Town in Bangkok is one of the oldest place to eat amazing street food. the Glass noodles served here is one of the best in the world! Bangkok’s China Town is one of the most intense local experience in Thailand, especially if you love food! Read on…


Read all the articles related to Thailand!


“In a city, you can be alone in a crowd, and in fact what makes the city a city is that it lets you hide the strangeness in your mind inside its teeming multitudes.”

Orhan Pamuk, A Strangeness in My Mind

yaowarat road: China Town Bangkok
China Town, Bangkok: best place to eat street food in Bangkok!

As the clock dons at the advent of year of rooster, I entered China Town of Bangkok for the fifth time. Reminder to everyone: no one should fool oneself by thinking life is easy by looking at the glitters of a citylight, namely china Town, neither that should discourage a person to take a walk in the district on the first night od Chinese New Year!

Yaowarat road or China Town of Bangkok possesses the illusive attraction of a crossroad of multitudes of trade techniques in organic form topped with Chinese glass noodles, much resembling the crocodile triplets from the pond at a temple nearby. They are known to be trapped for feasting on a young monk. The road feasts on denser experiences, settlers’ dilemma and if nothing else, great food at great price.

How to reach Yaowarat road (or China Town, Bangkok)

The dragon bent and settled still on the west bank of Chao Phraya River from time as old as Rama 1, the Thai King. Consecutive government have taken endeavours to embed steel on the land but not in the heart of it. I say this for I related most to this part of Bangkok with vibrant fabric of culture. My city Kolkata has a dedicated spot for migrated Chinese population who excelled in industries of tannery and food alike, also known a China town, Topsia.

Things to see at the China Town, Bangkok

Here is a Chinese temple, here is a gold shop and the fun road of chaotic Sampang, where people come to delve deep into the broth being cooked from history, here resides portraits of people whose heart throbs with the pulse of Bangkok, much unlike the made up theme park experiences Western world get the glimpses of. “Tsunami of salty soups, leaden dumplings, and clammy, glutinous sauces” as Adam Platt describes taste adventures in China Town, a self sustaining city.


Also read: Self Guided Heritage Walk at the Old Phuket Town, Phuket

Best time to visit the China Town, Bangkok?

Let not spooky stairway, burnished marble facades discourage your daunting spirit. The buzz subsidizes from 10 pm. I always visit China town post the frenzy of shopping mongers disperses. With tourism boom, new construction has taken a high tide everywhere with neon signs, never sleeping.

The Tea-shops are love!

Legends has it the green leaves of tea tree are the fallen eye lid of the wanderer king “Dharma” or “Jormo” as north eastern India calls him. He shed it off for the sin of sleeping while trying to mediate at Buddha’s feet in China. The eye lids, shrunken with industrial pressure, oozing varied flavours, are caged in glass bottles of antique stores on the china town, welcoming guests even at the wee hours.

All things sweet!

Fruit stalls: It might be problematic for vegans to indulge into what more traditional restaurants offer. However decked up fruit stalls will offer you many choices ranging from pick up what you like basket. Pomegranates, Dragon fruits, Rambutans, Durians, go on… Indulge…

Let’s dive deep…

The quirky charcoal ice cream with a hint of vanilla was the latest addition. Let alone be the dried jack-fruits in nearby 7/11 stores. But the quivering emotion for China Town grows at the sight of your sea food platters arriving. I will let the pictures do rest of the talking without further adieu.

China Town Bangkok
Seafood pics: Here hown Yellow curry with crab meat for whose wary of de-shelling crabs, curry contains coconut cream and on the sweeter note!
Mussels and crab curry in Yellow sauce
Some mussels!
Mussels in China Town Bangkok's Best food
I am eating mussels for the first time. They are known to be Geri-Googli in my native and not a food to be relished by flourishing households 😛
Why I love Bangkok
Come snapper! Here shown a red snapper in galore!
Crab Cakes in Bangkok
Much coveted fish cakes! They are very different than the ones sold on regular Thai food stalls.
Who can refuse a pomegranate when prepared like this?
Who can refuse a pomegranate when prepared like this?
China Town
Prawns cooked with burnt garnic. Tates the way they do in Kolkata China Town
Glass Noodles in China Town Bangkok
The best food from China Town escapades, arguable the whole Thailand trip too!
Charcoal ice cream, Dont try for it leaves your mouth with a sandy aftertaste. Ever tasted sand? I did, as a child.
You are lucky if you get a seat here.
Look at the rice and apparently innocent chilies soaked in viniger 😀
Bird's nest soup in Thailand
Bird’s nest soup, enough said ;P
Snapper grilled in a foil
Snapper grilled in a foil
Best Crab in Bangkok
Chinese ice tea, a certain delicacy!
River prawns curried with Morning Glory (water spinach)
Prawns grilled exactly to taste!

[To be honest, my China town escapades will be prolong as I age. I will update this space ASAP I can. Know this and know this for sure, without a visit to China town, Bangkok, you have not tasted half of Thai’s delicacies]

yaowarat road: Instagram places in Bangkok

And as I promised! I went back to China Town, Bangkok in 2019, with my family this time and was elated to be back!

The Grilled Prawn in Glass Noodles
Best place to eat at the China Town in Bangkok
Shark Fin Soup, Bangkok: Strange things to eat in China Town, Bangkok
Cafe in China Town, Bangkok
Old and legendary places to eat in Bangkok
Where to eat in China Town Bangkok
Streetside food in Bangkok
Streetside food stalls in Bangkok
Street side food in yaowarat road or China Town Bangkok
Pork dishes in China Town, Bangkok
China Town Bangkok: Best Glass Noodle of Thailand

How to reach Bangkok

Bangkok is one of the most well connected cities in the whole of South East Asia. It is easy to reach Bangkok through multiple modes of transports, including bus, ferry and private vehicles. Check here for multiple options to choose transport to Bangkok from the Thai islands (eg Pattaya, Hua Hin) as well as prominent cities of the region including (Vientiane, Phnom Pmen etc). Bookaway also lets you access multiple prominent islands from Bangkok easily, including Phuket, Krabi, Koh Phi Phi.

China Town Bangkok Travel Guide for food and shopping
Mural at the Chinese temples at Bangkok
yaowarat road: China Town Bangkok
how to get to chinatown bangkok: Travel guide for China Town Bangkok

To read more on Thailand, read here.

Pin it here!

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28 Responses

  1. Such beautiful affair !! This summons up my memories of China town experience in Kolkata city. A foodie like me is fond of a bona fide spread of Chinese cuisine. I’m glad that this blog was a lot to read and know about the place and tiny detailing, that’s why I’m a fan. ?? So much learn from you this is a great blog and I feel so refurbished with the vocabulary and choice of words that you construct your idea through !! ♥️♥️♥️ Sabah

    1. Much love for your kind words. If you plan a visit to thailand, do have a look to the streets of china town. The fried rice is an instant reminder of Kolkata one 🙂 The day has come we try and fine traces of childhood even in China Town. Truly we grew up in cosmopolitan world!

  2. This looks really interesting and tasty! I was in Bangkok last December, but we didn’t explore Chinatown, now I wish we had. ?

    1. It is really good. great to observe how Chinese settlement has retained its own culture even when Thai heritage has crawled in. I could relate with the existing one in Kolkata so fondly!

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