Bangkok Guide
Chinatown
Bangkok's Chinatown is the country's largest Chinese district, a sprawl of narrow alleyways, temples – including Wat Traimit and its famously heavyweight Golden Buddha – and shophouses plagued by thundering traffic and choking fumes. It's all packed in between Charoen Krung (New Road) and the river, separated from Ratanakosin by the Indian area of Pahurat – famous for its cloth and dressmakers' trimmings – and bordered to the east by Hualamphong train station.
Following centuries of immigration and intermarriage, there is now some Chinese blood in almost every Thai citizen, including the king, and Chinese-Thai business interests play an enormous role in the Thai economy. This is played out at its most frantic in Chinatown, whose real estate is said to be amongst the most valuable in the country; there are over a hundred gold and jewellery shops along Thanon Yaowarat alone.
For the most authentic Chinatown experience it's best to come during the week, as some shops and stalls shut at weekends; on weekdays they begin closing around 5pm, after which time the neighbourhood's other big draw – its food – takes centre stage. Much of the fun of Chinatown dining is in the browsing of the night-time hot-food stalls that open up all along Thanon Yaowarat, around the mouth of Soi Issaranuphap (Yaowarat Soi 11) and along Soi Phadungdao; wherever there's a crowd you'll be sure of good feed. The annual vegetarian festival is also a fabulous foodie experience.
Few visitors stay in Chinatown, though there is some good accommodation, and it's handy for train connections at Hualamphong Station.
Easiest access to Chinatown is either by subway to Hualamphong Station, or by Chao Phraya express boat to Tha Rachawongse (Rajawong; N5) at the southern end of Thanon Rajawong.
Chinatown Vegetarian Festival
Every autumn, for nine days during the ninth lunar month (between late September and November), Thailand's Chinese community goes on a meat-free diet to mark the onset of the Vegetarian Festival, a sort of Taoist version of Lent. Though the Chinese citizens of Bangkok don't go in for the extreme acts of self-mortification like their compatriots in Trang and Phuket, they do celebrate the Vegetarian Festival with gusto. Some people choose to wear only white for the duration, all the temples throng with activity, and nearly every restaurant and foodstall in Chinatown turns vegetarian for the period, flying small yellow flags to show that they are upholding the tradition and participating in what's essentially a nightly veggie food jamboree.
For vegetarian tourists this is a great time to be in town – just look for the yellow flag and you can be sure all dishes will be one hundred percent vegan. Soya substitutes are a popular feature on the vegetarian Chinese menu, so don't be surprised to find pink prawn-shaped objects floating in your noodle soup or unappetizingly realistic slices of fake duck. Many hotel restaurants also get in on the act during the Vegetarian Festival, running special veggie promotions for a week or two.