By Dave Stamboulis
Bangkok Local Expert

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Bangkok's Chinatown is an enthralling place, one of the most authentic and unchanged spots in the city, and one of the most enjoyable and only spots left for walking. There are so many tiny lanes and narrow alleyways which are ripe for exploration. Start your visit here off with a stop at the informative Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Centre, followed up by checking out the impressive golden Buddha statue in Wat Traimit. From here, you can make your way down Yaowarat Road, exploring the vibrant markets in Trok Issaranuphap and Sampeng Lane before breaking for coffee at the atmospheric Eiah Sae. Other highlights here include the extremely colorful shrine of Guan Yin, the pilgrim filled Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, Bangkok's most important Chinese temple, and the beautiful Pak Klong Talad Flower Market, which sits just off the edge of Chinatown back out on the Chao Phraya River. Don't be in any hurry to leave Chinatown though. It gets even better on Yaowarat Road at night, with hundreds of delectable food stalls and restaurants opening up and an electric atmosphere filling the air. If you come here during holiday times, you may be lucky enough to see a Chinese opera, a dying tradition but one well worth making time for.

Yaoworat Road at night
Bustling Yaoworat Road in the center of Chinatown becomes a culinary hotspot at night, with restaurants spilling off the footpaths onto the street itself. Most are open only at night and serve great food -- most places specialize in seafood and the activity equals the quality of the food. The bright neon lights, red Chinese lanterns, and huge crowds that come here to eat, drink, and wander make Chinatown very lively, and the atmosphere at night is far different than the bustling market feel that pervades here during the day. Make sure to get off of Yaowarat and wander through some of the tiny side streets which are very atmospheric and home to some great hole in the wall eateries. (none)

Eiah Sae
While Eiah Sae also gets mention in the Eating and Drinking section of any guide, this atmospheric gem deserves a visit as a sightseeing stop as well. If you are looking for authentic, this is the real deal. Over 60 years old, Eiah Sae has been churning out the owner's great grandparents' coffee recipe to an endless array of chain smoking regulars, ranging from old Chinese men to hip young couples looking for an excellent cup of joe. With its Art Deco purple walls, vintage photos of the Thai king playing the saxophone as a young man, and 25 baht cafe Boran (old style coffee), you can't go wrong here. Even if you aren't a fan of the strong coffee laced with plenty of sweet condensed milk (no, they don't do espresso or cappuccino here) it is still worth coming just for the ambience. (02-221-0549)

Trok Issaranuphap
Trok Issaranuphap is vintage Bangkok, and we don't mean shopping malls or glitzy highrises. Trok Issaranuphap is a lane connecting Charoen Krung Road and Yaowarat, the main thoroughfares in Chinatown, starting just south of the Mangkon Kamalawat Temple. This narrow alleyway contains a wonderful wet market and just about every type of food one can imagine in Chinatown. There are plenty of take out opportunities here, and the small lane is one tremendous shopping and photo op spot. It might be worth it to go through here with a Thai guide, just to be able to know what all the strange products and foods are available for sale. Every type of crispy pork skin seems to have made its way to this spot, and there are plenty of other stalls and shops besides just food. The lane is very atmospheric, and a real ode to what Chinatown is all about. (none)

Guan Yin Shrine/Thien Fah Foundation
The Guan Yin Shrine, despite not being listed in most guidebooks, is actually one of Chinatown's most colorful attractions. Guan Yin is the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, and her 900 year old statue stands on the altar inside the shrine. Thousands of locals come to pray here, and especially at holiday times, the shrine is a riot of incense and smoke and the atmosphere is extremely otherworldly. The shrine is part of the Thien Fah Foundation, which is Bangkok's oldest charity group, and the buildings surrounding the Guan Yin Shrine are actually hospital facilities, as the organization provides free medical care to the poor and homeless. (02-2372191)

Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Centre
This well laid out modern museum was added to Wat Traimit recently, and details the history of the Chinese migration to Thailand evolving to the present day Thai Chinese. The presentations in the museum use a variety of nifty audio visual and hi tech displays to make the historical journey of the Chinese and the rise of Bangkok's Chinatown an interesting and informative experience. There are photos of early Chinatown, scenes of typical Chinese homes, a well simulated view from the deck of a Chinese junk making its arduous way to Thailand in a storm, and plenty of life size models doing hard labor as coolies, which gives a very realistic portrayal of just how difficult life was for the first immigrants. (02 623 3329)

Wat Mangkon Kamalawat
Also known by its original name of Wat Leng Noei Yi, Wat Mangkon Kamalawat is the most important and revered temple in Chinatown. The temple contains Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian deities, and is absolutely thronged with worshipers during major holidays such as Chinese New Year and the Vegetarian Festival. Devotees float flowers in small pools, wave joss sticks and incense in the air, and stand in long lines to enter the temple's inner sanctum to be blessed by the attending monks. From the entrance on busy Charoen Krung Road, the temple doesn't look like much, as it is set back through a driveway, but it reveals itself once inside.Visitors are welcome here and there is no charge, but make sure to respect local sensibilities and don't interfere with the merit making activities and people's personal worship. (02 222 3975)

Sampeng Lane Market
Sampeng Lane is a very narrow alleyway running parallel to Yaowarat Road and is famed for hosting a cheap accessories and clothing market attracting hordes of young people. The alleyway, whose proper name is Soi Wanit 1, was actually full of opium dens and brothels way back when, and it is easy to imagine why, as you feel like you're in a rabbit warren when wandering through here. The narrow lane can barely fit two people abreast, and if you add some motorcycles making deliveries through here, combined with 1000 people, well, you get the picture. Despite the chaos, the market actually is divided into sections, with its eastern end concentrating on accessories like jewelery, shoes, and watches. The middle section of Sampeng Lane has ceramic toys, lanterns, and all sorts of Chinese goods, while the eastern end of the market features Indian run stalls selling silk and other fabrics. (none)

Wat Traimit
Not only is Wat Traimit Chinatown's number one attraction, it is the site of the world's largest seated golden Buddha, five and a half tons of gold, actually the largest gold statue in the world, and worth some 250 million dollars! The statue's origins are unclear, but it supposedly comes from the Sukhothai period and was made somewhere in the 14th Century. Thousands of worshipers come here daily, and the temple has a mystical aura to it, especially around holiday periods like Chinese New Year or the Vegetarian Festival. There is now an excellent new museum on the premises detailing the history of the Thai Chinese, well worth a stopover in addition to having a look at the golden Buddha. (02-623-3329)

Pak Klong Talad
While Pak Klong Talad technically falls outside of Chinatown, it is near enough that it ought to be combined with any walking tour visiting the area. This is Bangkok's flower market, where the majority of the capital's flowers are brought to be sold. The 60 plus year old market is extremely colorful, and is a bustling old style part of Bangkok many visitors never see. In addition to flowers, there are also large sections of the market selling vegetables. The ideal time to come here is after midnight up through the wee hours of the morning, as Pak Klong Talad is open 24 hours and late night is when most of the fresh flowers arrive, via boats and trucks. Despite being written up in all guidebooks, you won't find too many tourists here, and will get a very friendly reception from the locals. (02 223 2377)

Chinese Opera
With roots going as far back as the Tang Dynasty, you are in for a historical and cultural treat if you can catch a Chinese opera performance while in Bangkok. Chinese opera is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Combining literature and musical performance, the operas are an engaging visual spectacle, with an astounding attention to detail being a vital part of the show. Performers spend hours elaborately making up and going into character, and the shows can run for hours, combining myth, moral, and plenty of old fashioned entertainment. The shows are free, and are not attended much by young people these days, making the spectacle a dying art, so make a beeline for a performance if you happen to be in Bangkok during any festival or holiday periods. (none)

About Dave Stamboulis

Dave Stamboulis is a travel writer/photographer based in Bangkok. Born in Athens, Greece and growing up in Berkeley, California, Dave first discovered Bangkok while on a 40,000-kilometer bicycle trip; he moved there for good in 2005. Dave's photos have appeared in publications around the world. He is the author of Odysseus’ Last Stand, which received the Silver Medal for Travel Book of the Year in 2006 from the Society of American Travel Writers.  In addition to working for Fodor’s Guidebook to Thailand, his travel stories appear in publications throughout SE Asia. Dave is also Trip Advisor's Oyster.com's photographer for Thailand.

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