Where Should I Stay in Bangkok: Sukhumvit or Riverside?

Bangkok is a vast city – like, really huge. However, it’s safe to say that most visitors – and a good chunk of Bangkok’s expats – spend much of their time within a relatively small area.

Within this square, many of Bangkok’s best hotels, restaurants, malls, cinemas and tourist attractions are located, and if they’re not, it’s a good bet that transport to them will be.

Two of Bangkok’s most densely packed hotel areas are along Sukhumvit Road and along the Chao Phraya River, and we often get asked which one is better. Well, how long is a piece a string? It’s a good question to ask, but a hard one to answer. Both places offer their own unique settings, have their own hidden corners and great hotels, and both places have drawbacks and compromises that will have to be made. Let’s look at them in greater detail:

 

Sukhumvit Road

Sukhumvit is one of the longest roads in the world, and goes all the way to the Cambodian border! However, most of the action is stuffed between soi 1 and soi 71-ish (Soi is Thai for road). A hundred years ago it wasn’t much more than a dirt track but today it’s Bangkok’s Broadway. Lined with tall office towers and five-star hotels – and in between those countless restaurants, massage shops, tailors and stores – it’s pretty easy to stay on Sukhumvit and have a great, if not very adventurous, Bangkok escape. With even-numbered sois on one side and odd-numbered sois on the other, it’s easy to navigate. On top of that, each soi is its own little community, and no two are ever the same. It’s a great area to explore!

Pros: The biggest one is the BTS skytrain running right down the middle of Sukhumvit, which makes it a snap to get in and out, and avoid Bangkok’s famously bad rush hour traffic. Lots to eat, lots to drink, and English is widely spoken.

Cons: No matter where you think you are, this ain’t really Thailand. With light from McDonalds and Starbucks logos lighting up the sidewalk, some of Bangkok’s most notable red light districts, and plenty of touts begging you to buy a suit or gems or have your cards read, saying you experienced Thailand on Sukhumvit is like saying you saw Star Wars on your iPhone.

Chao Phraya River

Called the River of Kings, the mighty Chao Phraya has been Bangkok’s lifeblood for centuries. Before the roads and highways and airports, this was Thailand’s link to the world. The riverside communities that line it go back centuries, and are responsible for Bangkok becoming the city it is today. The Bangkok (east) side is where most of city’s best known luxury hotels are (including The Siam and the Mandarin Oriental), while the Thonburi (west) side is largely undeveloped, at least in terms of tourist infrastructure, although this is changing fast with the opening of the lavish Icon Siam complex. But no matter where you stay, daily life on the river is a unique and bustling experience, and it’s easy to spend a few hours simply sipping a drink and watching it all play out.

Pros: Great views, constant breeze, and a great opportunity to take the cheap and scenic river taxi, not to mention easy access to those lovely khlong tours that are always a fun afternoon. Easy access to interesting areas such as Chinatown and Rattanokosin Island (for the Grand Palace, Wat Pho etc). Lots of little sois and streets to explore, and if you’re staying near Saphan Taksin Bridge, you might even get a great fireworks show for no reason.

Cons: Unless you know where the MRT and BTS stations are and how best to get there, it’s often a pain getting in and out of the area to see things. Similarly, unless you know how to find the good, authentic restaurants, you might be stuck eating at more expensive restaurants that cater to lost tourists. Also, lots of one-way streets around here – if your taxi driver gets turned around, it’s often an adventure getting back to where you started!

Ready to plan your Thai adventure? Contact Us and one of our adventure travel consultants can help you plan the perfect vacation and recommend great hotels in either of the two key areas!

The post Where Should I Stay in Bangkok: Sukhumvit or Riverside?​ first appeared on Smiling Albino.

And no – it’s not that Soi Nana, with the red lights and wide-eyed tourists and a female-to-male ratio of about 5:1, but rather, a street with the same name and a far funkier, more welcoming vibe, just a few minutes’ walk from Hua Lamphong train station.

It never used to be like this. Just a few short years ago it was another dusty soi (alley) in a greasy ‘hood with old, uninhabited and – so the locals say – haunted buildings. But that all changed when the descendants – grandchildren, usually – of the owners of the townhouses that line the street began to realize the inherent value in something that most saw as nearly worthless.

Returning to Thailand after years working or studying overseas, they were brimming with new ideas – not only about making old new again, but how to make it interesting. Important. Introspective. And most of all, fun. The renovations – or rather, reinventions – began.

If someone invited you out for drinks at a place called Teens of Thailand, you’d probably raise an eyebrow – but we actually think that’s part of the chaotic charm of this now-legendary place. Push open the small but heavy-looking double doors – ripped right from a Terry Pratchett novel – and you’re suddenly inside a dim and funky establishment that boasts one of the largest selections of gin in the country. We’d recommend a drink, but the extensive menu changes weekly.

The whimsical persona of this place has sort of oozed into the soi itself (or perhaps the whimsical persona of the soi oozes into the buildings, who knows). Just across the soi is Asia Today, which has a pink neon sign behind the bar saying, “This bar is better than Teens of Thailand.” They have the same owner, but still – a bit cheeky, don’t you think?

Beautiful Ba Hao is just up the street, with lights so dim and expertly placed that the bright red paint on the walls seems to glow from the inside. For an intimate music performance, you can stroll down a little sub-soi (even smaller alley) to Tep Bar, past the signs asking for quiet, because, you know, this is still a residential neighborhood, after all. How intimate will the show be? Well, you’ll likely be close enough to rest your drink on the ranat ek, but don’t; traditional rosewood percussion instruments don’t react well to that.

There’s more. Craft beer at Pijiu, contemporary art and photo exhibitions at Cho Why, Spanish tapas and Sangria at El Chiringuito, homegrown herbal alcoholic kombucha tea at Pure Luck, and bottles of bubbly or 17-year-old scotch on the rooftop of Wallflowers. An evening spent on Soi Nana is a veritable Venn diagram of learning, drinking, and cultural growth.

Finally, if you’re one of those funny people who get tired of whimsy, you can class things up by visiting Ban Maitrichit, just around the corner from Soi Nana proper. It’s a gorgeous restored mansion in Chinese style, with a wonderful little rooftop that overlooks the buzzing Hua Lamphong intersection.

Peering out from this vantage point is like looking at the world’s biggest metaphor: the musty classicism of Hua Lamphong train station anchors the area, but just out of site, underneath the road, construction is nearly finished on the extension of the blue line subway.

And that’s Bangkok for you – always changing, but not always obviously. New and old, gritty and sleek, staid and funky, one big happy family. Just like Soi Nana.

Here at Smiling Albino, we have our finger on the pulse. If you’d like us to show you around Bangkok, contact us!

The post Old Town Bangkok Renaissance first appeared on Smiling Albino.