Bangkok Chinatown at Night 2022 along Yaowarat Road in Thailand

Aside from Grande Centre Point Ratchadamri and Lumpini Park, the area I visited the most during my July trip to Bangkok would be the Yaowarat area, which is better known as Chinatown!

I love it so much that I even booked a hotel right at Chinatown for my next visit! Main reason for my obsession is that you can find plenty of things to see and eat, whether it's early morning or late at night. This post shall focus more on the street scene in the evening.

Unlike before the pandemic, the crowd was manageable and you see a lot more locals. So for those who prefer not to squeeze with other, it's recommended to fly to Bangkok before China opens its borders, with no restrictions.

For me, Chinatown is also the place for me to stock up on food souvenirs for family and friends. However, these two stalls didn't look like the store (Ha Kee Lim Jing Heang 合記林真香) that I frequently patronized before the pandemic disrupted our lives.

Whatever the case, I am buying later as it would have been tedious to carry the bags of snacks while holding on to a heavy DSLR for photo-taking. Planning is key and I am not too concerned that what I wanted to buy would be out of stocks.

Plenty of small bites but with Alex; I need HIM to select his cravings first as he is way pickier than I am and the worst that could happen is that I would have to stomach everything, which I am obviously not keen in given that I could no longer binge as much nowadays.

Roasted chestnuts; I love having these, especially when they are piping hot! However, Alex is no big fan and they sell by packets of at least 500 grams. For trying, I am willing to buy no more than five chestnuts.

These Thai sausages looked absolutely mouthwatering and with the sizzling coming from the grilled sausages; I turned to look at Alex for just that slight "wanting" expression. No, it didn't happen.

Pricing; small for 50 baht.

100 baht for large.

Fruits for sale; for someone who loves fruits (thanks to my dad who always ensures we have fruits every day), I wouldn't buy fruits from street stalls when I am overseas as I am unsure if I would be paying the "correct price" or that fruits are really that fresh.

Getting crowded but there's something I seriously needed to do before it were to get out of hand. I was in severe need for a washroom!

I was wondering if I could get a clean enough toilet as Chinatown has a lot of older buildings. Turned out the ones at Pichaiyard Building were pretty decent. Picture taken after I had managed my "business".

A beautiful wall mural with a real tuk tuk! 

In addition to a supermarket, you can also find a Mr DIY and also restaurants like the Michelin Go Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice, which I tried at its original stall a long, long time ago, and wasn't impressed.

Hitting the street again! 

Fried bugs for the fearless individuals! My last insect snack was fried grasshoppers from the now defunct Neon Night Market. What I would love to eat again would be fried honey bees, which I had in Yunnan in 2007.

Grilled cuttlefish, priced between 200-400 baht! Just the other day, a friend was just warning me about trying food like seafood at Chinatown as a few of her friends had food poisoning before. That was a surprise for me as I never had food poisoning when I was in Bangkok, despite having a sensitive tummy.

However, I do exercise some caution as I would hesitate purchasing when things didn't appear too fresh or food that appeared to have been cooked and left out in the open for extended period of time. Or maybe I was just lucky.

Street buskers! 

Support if you could.

This was like a cross between youtiao (Chinese doughsticks) and donut although from the picture,  the final product would be dusted with sugar and sesame seeds. 40 baht! 

Random photos just to give you a feel on what's available along the street. I reckon it's impossible to go through all the stalls in one night. Hence, do your research well.

Or just follow the queue! The above was the longest I saw during my trip and if I am not mistaken, it should be for the toasted buns that were oozing with fillings! I would love to try but it's so much carbohydrates there...

 

Laoteng - it means upstairs in Hokkien / Teochew by the way. Commanding a pretty high review rating of 4.3 on google, let me check out this dim sum restaurant in my next trip! 

Ah.... this is the correct store that I always buy the Thai snacks from! Surprisingly, I found an old post about this before and you can click here for the location and more information.

Alternatively, just look out for the statue of the mascot!

As with anywhere else, inflation has caused prices to spike! To put things in perspective, the small bah of dog shit had increased from 150 baht in 2018 to 190 baht in 2022; an almost 30% surge.

Lek & Rut Seafood - the red shirt eatery that's always competing with the green shirt across the small street. I have been wanting to check this out for the longest time! 

Lobsters looked so tempting! However, if I could choose, I would go for crabs anytime. Not the signature big headed prawn though; while meaty, the taste wasn't as nice as prawns we can get in Singapore. 

The green shirt - T & K Seafood! Can you imagine that I first reviewed it almost 12 years ago!? I did return back in 2014 and felt that standard had dropped to the extent it's not worth a revisit. 

Chinese grilled lamb; quite expensive at 50 baht per stick.

I doubt it's per lamb, as depicted on the notice.

Last photo to conclude my night walk at Chinatown! 

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Click here for my 7 Days 6 Nights Papazao Itinerary to Bangkok