
7 of the Top Chinatowns Around the World
All the saucy dumplings you can handle. Plus a few dragons.
Sukhumvit Road (Thanon Sukhumvit) runs almost all the way from Bangkok to the Cambodian border. But for most Bangkok visitors, the term “Sukhumvit” means a downtown strip of Sukhumvit Road, spanning sois (alleys or side streets) numbered from 1 to 60-something. Soi numbering runs east to west. Odd-numbered streets head northeast, while even-numbered alleys point southwest. Nana is the most central of Sukhumvit’s districts, with Asok then Phrom Phong and Thonglor as you head further east.
Sukhumvit Road starts about 5 miles (8 kilometers) east of Bangkok’s Royal Palace and runs onwards to Pattaya and beyond. The easiest way to get around Sukhumvit is on the Sukhumvit line of the BTS SkyTrain service.
Most travelers opt to visit Bangkok between November and March, when the weather is normally cooler and drier than at other times of year, although climate change is making weather patterns less predictable than before.
Two of Bangkok’s most notorious red light areas are in Sukhumvit. Soi Cowboy, a strip of go-go bars that featured in The Hangover Part II and dates back to the early 70s, runs between Soi 21 and Soi 23. Nana Plaza is a 3-story emporium of strip joints and transgender cabarets on Soi 4.