Exploring Yaowarat: Bangkok’s Chinatown District

Yaowarat or Bangkok’s Chinatown is a lively and vibrant district that is best explore on foot. 

Located in one of the oldest areas in Bangkok, Yaowarat is a paradise for those who crave for exotic and traditional Chinese cuisines. The streets are filled with restaurants and sidewalk food stalls that cook Oriental delicacies such as dumplings, noodles, shark’s fin and bird nest soup, etc. 

Yaowarat is also famous for gold products and jewelry. In fact, you can see hundreds of gold shops lined up along Yaowarat Road. No wonder why it is also known as the “Golden Road.” Cross the road to Siphon Han and Phahurat if you want to go shopping. You can find lots of stalls in this area that sell various goods, ranging from jewelry, clothes, electronics, cosmetics to souvenirs.

Numerous shrines and temples, as well as old architectural structures, are scattered around Chinatown. One of them is Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, also known as Wat Leng Noei Yi in Chinese. This temple is the center of festivities during the Chinese New Year and Vegetarian Festival. It is accessible through a passageway from the main road. This famous temple features Chinese iconography and dragon adorned roofs.

Another temple worth visiting is Wat Traimit, located at the end of Yaowarat Road. This small temple houses the largest solid gold Buddha image in the world measuring nearly five meters in height and weighing five and a half tons. Entrance fee costs 40 baht.

How to Get to Bangkok’s Chinatown District

Yaowarat is only a few minutes away from Hualamphong Train Station and can easily be reached by public transportation (tuktuk or taxi). To get there, ask the driver to drop you off at Traimit Road (east) or Charoen Krung Road (north). These are good starting points to begin your walking tour of Chinatown. 

You can also reach this area by boat. Alight at the Ratchawong Pier and head towards Ratchawong Road to Yaowarat Road.