There is no better way to experience Bangkok’s Chinatown than simply getting lost. The three roads you need to know are Song Wat, Soi Wanit 1/Sampeng Lane, and Yaowarat. Between these three parallel roads are networks of small streets full of markets, street foods, local businesses that will take up an entire of afternoon to explore.
Song Wat primarily caters to locals. Businesses here that have lasted generations continue to sell very specific consumer/industrial wares. Unless you need weighing scales or aluminum kitchen ware, head on over the Soi Wanit 1/Sampeng Lane. Here is where the real market action is for a curious visitor. Shop til you drop and enjoy viewing old shophouses that run endlessly on both sides.
If you time things right and you emerge out onto Yaowarat in the evening, get ready to join some locals for some of the most well known street foods in town. Seafood, noodles, fruit juices, desserts, you name it. Best way to get the most out of this food heaven? Taste hop. Snack on whatever catches your eye and keep on moving.
