Yaowarat after dark: a Chinatown food crawl

Neon signs, sizzling woks and queues for the best noodles in town in Bangkok's Chinatown at night.

Area

Chinatown

Start from

MRT Wat Mangkon

Distance

in the city

Time needed

one evening

Best season

All year (some stalls close on Mondays)

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

MRT to Wat Mangkon

Tickets & rules

None

Why go

By day Yaowarat Road is a frantic market of gold shops, dried seafood and herbal medicine. At night it becomes one of the world's great street-food streets: grilled seafood, roasted chestnuts, rolled noodles in peppery broth, and Thai-Chinese desserts.

The best approach is to graze: one dish here, another there, wandering under the neon signs in Chinese characters that make the street look like a film set.

Beyond the main street, the side alleys hold some of the city's oldest businesses: coffee shops roasting beans in the back, herbal shops with walls of wooden drawers, and Chinese shrines where families light incense after work. Even if you came only to eat, take ten minutes to wander away from the main road.

Food highlights change with the season, but the classics stay: crispy pork, duck noodles, oyster omelettes, grilled squid, and bird's nest soup for the curious. Prices are higher than in some neighbourhoods but still modest.

The story

Chinese traders and labourers, many from the Teochew region, settled here when Bangkok was founded, after being moved from the site of the Grand Palace. Over two centuries they built the commercial heart of the city.

Nearby Wat Traimit houses a solid gold Buddha weighing about five tonnes. For centuries it was hidden under a plaster coating, and its true nature was discovered only in the 1950s, when the statue was dropped during a move and the plaster cracked.

The neon signs that make Yaowarat famous are a newer addition, from the twentieth century, when the street became Bangkok's commercial heart and shops competed for attention. Today they're so iconic that the city protects their look.

Chinese New Year is the biggest festival in Chinatown: lion and dragon dances, red lanterns and huge crowds fill the streets for days.

Getting there

Take the MRT to Wat Mangkon station and walk a couple of minutes to Yaowarat Road. Taxis struggle in the evening traffic.

Start around 6 pm when stalls set up.

A suggested plan

1. EveningWalk Yaowarat Road from end to end to see what's cooking.
2. SnacksTry kuay jab (peppery rolled noodles), grilled seafood, toasted bread with custard.
3. Side lanesExplore Soi Texas and the lanes around Wat Mangkon Kamalawat.
4. DessertFinish with Chinese desserts or fresh fruit.
5. LateWalk off dinner along Charoen Krung and stop for a drink in one of the new bars in old shophouses.

Where to stay

Several boutique hotels in old Chinatown shophouses; also convenient from Silom.

Good to know

• Popular stalls have queues; that's usually a good sign.
• Carry small notes and coins.
• Go hungry and share dishes to taste more.