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Silom
- Surawong Half
a century ago, nobody would
have the foresight to predict
that the Silom-Surawong
area, then a remote district
with paddy fields around,
would become the most important
business and financial center
of Bangkok. Today, from
end to end, these two parallel
streets are full of big
blocks of multi-story buildings,
housing many banks, finance
firms, insurance companies,
export-import houses, hotels,
airlines offices, restaurants,
shopping arcades, department
stores, and entertainment
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establishments. The two
streets are busy not only
in the daytime, but also
in the evening, when people
come out to eat, to meet
business friends or to
seek enjoyment. There
is a small area in this
district, for about 30
years, which has been
very well known to foreign
visitors for its bars
and nightclubs. Known
as Patpong, this famous
place offers various kinds
of entertainment –
wine, beer, music, dancing,
shopping, etc.
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Siam
- Ratchadamri This
is the biggest and busiest
shopping district in Bangkok
where almost all kinds of
goods are on sale, including
cloth, clothes, jewelry,
handicrafts, books, antiques,
etc.
There are several large
department stores located
here, and also several shopping
arcades and countless smaller
shops as well as a dozen
cinema theatres and mini
theatres. So you can satisfy
all your needs if you stay
in one of over a dozen first-class
hotels in the area.
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Pratunam Market next
to the Indra Arcade, though
not a high-class shopping
centre, is worth visiting
if you want to broaden your
vision and to see more about
the ordinary Thai. It is
also the market of garments
for export. |
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Sukhumvit
Road is one of
the three longest roads
in Thailand, leading right
up to the Cambodian border
in the East. But what concerns
us here is the section from
the inner city down to Sukhumwit
63 (Soi Ekkamai)
The cream of this district
lies around the entrances
to the lanes (soi) off the
road, where there are numerous
fashionable residences,
hotels, apartment buildings
and guest houses, and also
a large number of really
good
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In the section from the
Soi Nana (Sukhumwit 3&4)
crossroads to Soi Sukhumwit
21 (Asok Intersection),
there are many shops catering
to foreign tourists, where
jewelry, leather goods,
ready-made garments and
souvenirs are sold and tailoring,
car rent and other services
are offered. |
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To the north of Sukhumwit
Road is the extension
of Phetburi
Road which's
rather quiet in the daytime.
After dark, however, the
long street's brightened
with colourful blacklight
signs and enlivened by
people going out to enjoy
themselves in dozens of
entertainment places scattered
along the street.
Royal City Avenue (RCA),
a 2.5-km street between
Rama IX Road and
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Phetburi Road, features
several pubs, discos and
restaurants. It was once
the hottest spot of entertainment
of Bangkok. It has attracted
teenagers and stylish people
to seek amusement in pubs.
Though its popularity is
reduced, nightlife here
is still lively.. |
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Old
Town - Chinatown
The old Bangkok town is
the original area of Bangkok
when it was first established
as the capital over 200
years ago. Here are located
the Grand Palace,
the Temple of the Emerald
Buddha, the Temple of the
Reclining Buddha, two universities
and several ministries.
The town was formerly surrounded
by walls. Now only a few
sections are preserved as
historic sites. It is from
this side of the Chao Phraya
River that |
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takes a boat to visit the
Temple of Dawn and the canals
nearby. Chinatown is located
just to the southeast of
the old town. It began to
take shape at the same time
of the establishment of
Bangkok, when the Chinese
inhabiting the old town
areas were moved outside
the city walls. The goldshop
street named Yaowarat, and
the Temple of the Gold Buddha
are in Chinatown. |
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Ratchadapisek
is used to refer to the
short distance between the
Lat Phrao Intersection and
the Rama IX Road Intersection,
which is a busy commercial
district containing several
big department stores, office
buildings, hotels and a
large number of pubs and
restaurants. Nightlife on
this road's very colorful.
A little way off the road
are Thailand Cultural Centre,
where shows and exhibitions
are held from time to time.
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Downtown
Bangkok is nestled
into a bend of the Chao
Phaya River that makes its
boundary to the west, the
northwest and the south.
Most of the old architectural
monuments of the capital
lie in this area, among
them the Grand Palace and
a large number of the most
interesting Wats (temples).
Aside from the Grand
Palace with its large walled
compound, the main landmark
of the area is the Democracy
Monument on Ratchadamnoen
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Klang,
an eight- to ten-lane road.
Near to the Democracy Monument
is the Khao San Road area,
preferred by Western budget
travellers for its large
number of low-price guesthouses.
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Pin
Klao was the
name of the last but one
deputy king (maha uparat)
in Thai history, who was
the younger brother of King
Mongkit (Rama IV) and whose
palace was in the area where
Thammasat University stands
today. The bridge was built
across the Chao Phraya River
near the place in 1973,
now the area on the western
side of the river has become
one of the most newly developed
area in Bangkok with several
department stores, many
restaurants and nightlife
establishments. |
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wide road starting from
the bridge leads to such
tourist spots as Samphran
Elephant Ground & Zoo,
the Rose Garden, Nakhon
Pathom, Phuttha Monthon,
and Thai Human Imagery Museum.
Along both sides of the
road are numerous fashionable
residences. |
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Ramkhamhaeng
When Ramkhamhaeng University
was founded on Bangkok’s
eastern outskirts as Thailand’s
first open university in
1970, the area was rather
remote and underdeveloped.
However, as the university’s
yearly enrolments increased
rapidly, the area soon became
a new satellite city of
Bangkok with ever-increasing
shophouses, apartment buildings,
restaurants, cinema houses,
department stores, hotels
and places of entertainment.
It is most frequently visited
by students and other Bangkokians. |
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Thonburi
encompasses all the areas
on the western bank of the
Chao Phaya River. Several
hundred years ago Bangkok
was a fishing village, located
mainly on the eastern bank
of the Chao Phaya. When
the settlement was upgraded,
the communities both on
the eastern and the western
bank of the river became
Thonburi. All of Thonburi
became Krung Thep in 1785.
Today, the part of town
on the eastern bank of the
Chao Phaya River is called
Bangkok, the part on the
western bank Thonburi.
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contrast to Bangkok, Thonburi
still has many canals (klongs)
and one can get around by
boat almost as well as by
car or bus. The major sightseeing
attractions of Thonburi
are Wat Arun and the Royal
Barges. |
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Dindaeng,
Ladprao
The Dindaeng district
is northeast of the
Siam Square area.
Because of its proximity
to the northern downtown
area where most of
the ministries of
the national government
are located, the Dindaeng
district has a considerable
infrastructure of
public offices.
The main traffic artery
of Dindaeng is Vibhavadi
Rangsit Road, a wide
road where traffic
flows better than
in many other parts
of Bangkok. Furthermore,
Vibhavadi Rangsit
Road leads directly
to the international
airport, 20 kilometres
to the north at Don
Muang. Ladprao
is the district north
of Dindaeng. The main
traffic road of the
Ladprao district is
Ladprao Road.
Klong
Toey The
port district of Bangkok,
along the left bank
of the Chao Phaya
River in the south
of the city, is one
of the poorest parts
of the capital. There
are no real slums
in Bangkok but squatter
areas in Klong Thoey
come pretty close
to qualify as such.
Best access to the
Klong Thoey district
is via Rama IV Road.
Phrakanong
Much of the Sukhumvit
Road area described
above, administratively
belongs to the district
of Phrakanong, a designation
which is, however,
not in use among foreign
residents in Bangkok.
In a more narrow sense,
Phrakanong is the
lower Sukhumvit Road
area. Despite its
closeness to the middle
and upper Sukhumvit
Road area, Phrakanong
is rarely frequented
by foreign residents
and even less by foreign
tourists. This may
change, as it actually
is a good shopping
area, especially for
household products.
There are several
department stores
and prices are lower
than in Siam Square.
Hua
Mark, Bangkapi
These are two districts
in the northeast of
Bangkok. Hua Mark
has the huge Ramkhamhaeng
University, one of
the largest in the
world.
Bangkapi is
a large northeastern
district of Bangkok.
The Hua Mark
area administratively
is part of Bangkapi.
Most of Bangkapi are
pleasant residential
areas with much less
air pollution than
more central parts
of Bangkok. It’s
not as industrial
as the extension of
Sukhumvit Road to
Bangna or areas more
directly to the north
of the actual city.
Many townhouses as
well as single house
villages for middle-income
Thais have been built
in Bangkapi in recent
years, and it’s
a good area to rent
a home for those who
do not have dealings
in central Bangkok
every day. Commuting
into the Silom Road
area will take around
two hours on an ordinary
day. |
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