Chinatown Bangkok

Yaowarat Road is home to Bangkok's Chinatown. Located in the Samphanthawong khet, a southern district along the east bank of Chao Phraya River, it is one of the Bangkok's most popular tourist attractions and a true heaven for shopping lovers and gourmands which come here to enjoy the Chinese street food cuisine. In Yaowarat area lives one of the oldest Chinese communities in Thailand, a settlement precedent the founding of the Thai capital in the city, who still continue their own traditions and religious ceremonies. The history of this Chinese community dates back to the late 1700s, when poor peasants from Chaozhou region migrated to find work in Thonburi on the west bank of Chao Phraya River, which at that time was the capital of the Siam. Soon they became great traders and they operated most of maritime junk trade between Siam and China throughout the Rattanakosin period. Afterwards, was King Rama I that asked to the Chinese traders to move to Rattanakosin Island, on east bank of river, where he had begun the construction of the new capital of kingdom. By the end of 1891, King Rama V ordered the construction of many roads, among them the Yaowarat Road. Modern Chinatown now covers a large area around Yaowarat and includes also Charoen Krung Road, Mungkorn Road, Songwat Road, Songsawat Road, and Chakkrawat Road. A massive door in classic Chinese style, delimits the entrance in the district, which is the center of any business done by the Chinese population of Bangkok. Bangkok's Chinatown is chaotic and full of colors like all Chinatown in the world, teeming of life in the day and illuminated beyond imagination by the red advertising signs in the evening. Nakom Kasem Market and Yaowarat Sampeng Market are the main shopping areas, but the whole district is a succession of narrow streets and frenetic market areas full of shops selling clothes, textiles, silk, stationery, souvenirs, second-hand parts and equipment, electric goods, computer parts, antiques, imported musical instruments and typical Chinese delicacies. Yaowarat is full of jewelers, some old over a hundred years. If you want to buy a jewel in the typical Asian gold, bright yellow, 24-carat you are in the right place. Chinatown is a neighborhood to explore on foot; its narrow streets are passable only by pedestrians. Most of the tourists, unlike the Chinese, do not come here to buy dried fish and herbal medicines, but they are mainly attracted by the colors of this historic road open as a window on the past, visit one of the shops of Chinese herbal medicines and you will find yourself in an ancient world, with a completely different culture from ours.
Getting there: Due to its location along the Chao Phraya River, most of the visitors to reach Yaowarat use the Chao Phraya Express Boat Service. The most useful pier is Rajchawongse Pier served by all lines. The rates of one way ticket from all piers are very cheap and super affordable compared to taxis costs; they vary depending on the distance covered and line, from 10 THB to a maximum of 25 THB. You can buy tickets at all piers. If you're in the city centre the easy way of getting to Chinatown is to use the Bangkok Subway, the nearest stations is Hua Lamphong MRT Station, located just few hundred meters from Yaowarat Road. The single tickets for MRT are bought in the form of tokens at Ticket Offices and Ticket Vending Machines, located in all stations adjacent to the Automatic Fare Collection Gates. Single Journey Token is valid for a single trip, the fare depending on the number of stops, starting at 16 THB up to 42 THB.Read More