City of Angels & Bangkok Nightlife
Parts
of the City
By and large, Bangkok is a one-city metropolis that has grown radially
from a small centre, the original Bangkok fishing village that later
became the Rattanakosin part of the capital (the area of the Grand
Palace and the immediate surrounding). The further away one gets
from this area, the less urban the infrastructure.
This
is in sharp contrast to other countries in which several cities
have grown into one, with several downtown areas a considerable
distance from each other.
While
Bangkok has specific districts dedicated to specific functions,
these districts all are part of inner Bangkok. There is the old
centre on the Rattanakosin island formed by the Chao Phaya River
and the Banglamphu Klong; adjacent to this, is Chinatown, which
is mainly a trade area; adjacent to Chinatown is the New Road /
Silom Road area which is the modern financial centre of Thailand;
then there is the Silom Road area and the Siam Square area which
is the capital’s prime shopping district; to the northwest
of Siam Square most of the national government buildings are located.
Downtown
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 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.
Chinatown
Chinatown
could be considered part of downtown as it lies in the bend of the
Chao Phaya River, south of the Democracy Monument area. The main
traffic artery of Chinatown is Yaowaraj Road. As in any Chinatown
anywhere in the world, an above average density of population characterizes
Bangkok’s. As a shopping area, especially for foreign visitors,
Chinatown is widely overrated. Most of the items to be found are
not only cheap to buy but also tend to be of poor quality. For those
who have never been to a Chinatown, it still makes for an interesting
visit.
Silom Road Area
The
Silom Road area is a modern business and tourist district with many
banks as well as the some of the finest hotels in the city.
It
is not a main shopping area and in spite of many tourist-oriented
hotels, it is not the main area for tourists on package tours. For
shopping, Siam Square has many advantages over the Silom Road and
a newer area for visitors on package tours is along Sukhumvit Road.
For
the business traveller, Silom Road is convenient because banks and
offices are close by.
This
area also has the oldest nightlife district for foreign visitors,
called Patpong. Here you will find all night shopping, girlie bars,
shows and discotheques.
Near
Silom Road is Lumphini Park, which is a pleasant walled garden about
one square kilometre in size, with an artificial lake. Here one
can row a boat or jog along the special track that is furnished
with structures designed for exercising. Lumphini Park closes at
about 20:00.
Sukhumvit Road Area
The
Sukhumvit Road area is the largest modern tourism district of the
Bangkok and also the area by far most preferred by foreign residents
in Bangkok.
Sukhumvit
Road is a long 6 to 8-lane road. Except for a few, all side streets
are dead-end streets. This is a major advantage of the Sukhumvit
Road area as a residential district there is no passing traffic
and in some of the streets one can live as peacefully as one might
in a small village.
While
the lower Sukhumvit Road tends to be touristy, the upper part is
where many foreign residents live. Near the middle of this lengthy
street are a large supermarket, cinemas with English films as well
as many other shops to suit the locals and tourists alike.
Siam Square Area
Siam
Square Area is the main shopping district of Bangkok. There are
several large department stores. It’s primarily a shopping
district for up-market locals but foreign visitors will find many
of the items they would want to buy - and at prices lower than in
tourist districts and much lower than in the Silom Road area.
Thonburi
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.
In
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.
Bangkok Noi, Bangkok Yai
The
foreign visitor may find it irritating but these two districts are
not in Bangkok but in Thonburi.
Klong Thoey
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.
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
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