an ode to Bangkok's Old Town
There are as many sides to Bangkok as there are deities being worshiped in its gilded temples. There's big-business Bangkok, all gleaming high-rises and sharp-suited salarymen. There's mall-mad Bangkok, a glossy confusion of designer boutiques and never-ending escalators. And firmly on the tourist trail, there's royal Bangkok, with its pompous stupas and palaces dripping in gold. But it's Old Bangkok, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, where the city is at its most Bangkokian.
Stretched between the Grand Palace and the erstwhile embassy quarter of Charoenkrung (and gobbling up districts like Chinatown and Talad Noi in between), Bangkok's Old Town unfurls into a cacophonic jumble of rattletrap tuk-tuks and shouty merchants hawking skewered meat and bootleg CDs. From between its timeworn shophouses, serpentine alleys lead to tiny vegetable markets and shrines draped in jasmine and marigold. Everywhere, the air is thick with incense and exhaust fumes. Greasy, curried smoke wafts from the open-air kitchens that line the roads.
But at the same time, this slice of blast-from-the-past Bangkok is one of the Thai capital's most forward-thinking corners. The arrival of design institution TCDC, which took over the 80-year-old General Post Office building in 2017, kick-started a creative renaissance in the district. Over the following years, next-gen galleries such as ATT19 and Over The Influence set up shop, offering a platform for both homegrown talent and artists from abroad. The area became a backdrop to art festivals (the Bangkok Art Biennale and the annual digital art festival Awakening Bangkok among them), while clued-in creatives revamped the district's ramshackle real estate into boutique hotels (seek out Ba Hao's snug upstairs bedrooms) and community hubs (The Warehouse Talat Noi and multi-faceted hangout Charoen 43 opened just last year).
Today, Bangkok's Old Town stands as a testament to Thailand's entrepreneurial ingenuity. Between the oil-slicked car workshops of Talad Noi, third-wave coffee shops deal in pricey pour-overs made with exotic beans. Natural wine bars abut clandestine ya dong (herbal Thai moonshine) counters, while the district's award-after-award-winning cocktail bars – Tep Bar and Mahaniyom – mix the throat-scorching liquor with locavore ingredients to create inspired drinks.
And then there's the food. This is prime grazing ground for Thai food aficionados. At night, hungry punters flock to the Old Town's legendary street kitchens like moths to a flame. Michelin Star-chasers wait for hours for a taste of Jai Fay's legendary crab omelette – but there's so much to try without an endless queue. In the lanes around nearby Phraeng Phuthon Square, vendors sling some of the city's best gravy-soaked rat na noodles and coconut ice cream. Along Yaowarat, Chinatown's neon-glowing main drag, street food carts selling peppery kuay jab pork soup, hoi tod oyster omelettes and gem-like Chinese desserts turn the sidewalk into an open-air buffet that goes on for almost a kilometre.
More recently, Bangkok's young-gun chefs have also taken notice. Hot-ticket Charmgang Curry Shop books out night after night for chef-proprietor Aruss Lerlerstkull's punchy takes on classic recipes from around the country (and became such a success, in fact, that the team opened a wine-focused sibling, Charmkrung, down the street). At Choen, chef Mew Mesaengrilverakul grills, roasts and torches Thai ingredients into tasting menus featuring Surat Thani oysters with wagyu fat and smoked coconut ice cream with pork crackling and pickled madan fruit. And fine diner Potong, which Thai-Chinese chef Pichaya Soontornyanakij launched in her grandparents' century-old former herbal medicine dispensary, bagged almost every conceivable accolade in the culinary realm (including a 50 Best recognition and a Michelin star) within two years of opening.
The bristle of silvery skyscrapers on the skyline might be expanding at breakneck speed, but Bangkok's historic quarter proves that old is still gold.
Chris Schalkx
With words and images in Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest and Bloomberg Pursuits, our friend Chris is undeniably in the know. From luxe camping in Antarctica to two unforgettable weeks in Bhutan with a toddler in tow, he’s done it all. When he’s planning trips, Chris starts with a killer hotel and lets things unfold from there. It’s about the journey rather than the plan for him. With his nearly indestructible Rimowa carry-on and camera in tow, this culture fiend is perfectly suited for discovering the undiscovered.
