Yaowarat (Chinatown)

Things to know

• Chinatown is an evening district. Most street vendors set up from around 5–6pm and many take Mondays off; arriving at 2pm gets you heat, traffic and closed shutters.
• Cash, in small notes. Street stalls almost universally take cash only and will not break a 1,000 THB note.
• MRT Wat Mangkon (opened 2019) puts you in the middle of the district and MRT Hua Lamphong at the eastern end near Soi Nana. Taking a taxi into Yaowarat in the evening is a mistake — the traffic does not move.
• The pavements are obstructed, uneven and sometimes nonexistent. Wear closed shoes you don't mind ruining, and expect to walk in the road.
• Chinese New Year (January or February) and the nine-day Vegetarian Festival (September or October) transform the district and make it close to impassable. Both are worth seeing if you accept the crowds.
• Vegetarians should time a visit to the Vegetarian Festival, when the whole district goes meat-free. Outside it, the street-food layer is almost entirely pork and seafood.
• The famous seafood restaurants at the Phadung Dao corner are the touristed part of Yaowarat. They are fine; the better eating is at the noodle shophouses one street back.
• Temple dress rules apply at Wat Traimit and Wat Mangkon — shoulders and knees covered, shoes off inside halls.