Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [71]
Starting from the river ferry at Tha Saphan Phut (Memorial Bridge Pier), walk north along jam-packed Th Chakraphet, past the Constitutional Court and into Phahurat, aka Little India. If it’s already lunchtime you could stop for a curry, or plunge straight into the retail madness of Trok Huae Med.
2 Trok Huae Med
There’s no sign, but the old stores, street stalls and mass of people reveal you’re at the beginning of Trok Huae Med, a largely Indian extension of Sampeng Lane. After 50m cross a klorng (or wander right for more informal curry houses) and continue.
3 Sampeng Lane
You’ll soon be in Sampeng Lane, signposted (if you can see it) as Soi Wanit 1. This is Chinatown’s oldest shopping strip, where the Chinese first set up shop after being moved from Ko Ratanakosin in 1782. Today the sky is completely obscured and bargains lie in ambush – that is, if you really want 500 Hello Kitty pens. This initial stretch is now dominated by Indian fabric merchants.
4 Chinese Shophouses
After a few minutes you’ll come to Th Mahachak, where to the right dozens of battered old Vespas wait for their next delivery job (there’s no space for trucks around here). Turn left (northeast), walk about 30m and turn left again through a covered passage. On the far side are rows of photogenic, stuccoed yellow Chinese shophouses. It’s pretty peaceful here, so a leisurely circuit makes a refreshing intermission in the market tour.
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WALK FACTS
Start Tha Saphan Phut (Memorial Bridge Pier; river ferry N6)
End Marine Department (river ferry N4) or Hua Lamphong Metro
Distance 4km
Duration Three hours
Fuel stops Hong Kong Noodles or the streetside kitchens on Th Plaeng Naam
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5 Bangkok Bank
Return to Sampeng Lane and continue east. This stretch is dominated by a mind-boggling array of cheap plastic stuff from China; a thousand different varieties of hair-pin, anyone? When you come to Th Mangkon, find somewhere you won’t be run over by a trolley full of overstuffed boxes and admire two of Bangkok’s oldest commercial buildings, a branch of Bangkok Bank and the venerable Tang To Kang gold shop, both more than 100 years old. The exteriors of the buildings are classic early Ratanakosin, showing lots of European influence; the interiors are heavy with hardwood panelling.
6 Trok Itsaranuphap (Talat Mai)
Turn left (north) on Th Mangkun and walk up to manic Th Yaowarat, Chinatown’s main drag. Turn right past the street’s famous gold shops (gold is sold by the bàht, a unit of weight equal to 15g, and prices are good). After 100m or so, gird your loins and cross Th Yaowarat, then head straight into a tiny lane known variously as Soi Charoen Krung 16, Trok Itsaranuphap and, more commonly, Talat Mai (New Market). There’s no sign, but you’ll know by the queue of people shuffling into the alley one at a time. If you thought Sampeng Lane was busy, this crush of humanity will have your head spinning like Linda Blair in The Exorcist.
7 Talat Leng-Buai-la
A bit over halfway along the lane, look for a turn to the right for Talat Leng-Buai-la. A spry 80 years old, it was once the city’s central vegetable market but today sells mainly Chinese ingredients such as fresh cashews, lotus seeds and shiitake mushrooms. The first section is lined with vendors purveying cleaned chickens, plucked ducks, scaled fish, unnaturally coloured vats of pickled food and prepackaged snacks – hungry yet? Hong Kong Noodles, back in the heart of the lane, does a rollicking business catering to appetites aroused by such sights.
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GOING WITH THE FLOW
For a day of sightseeing, you’ll need a good map, comfortable shoes, coins and small notes to buy water and snacks, and a decent reserve of patience. Don’t bring your Western concept of pavement etiquette. You’re in Asia now, and the rules of personal space – not to mention the laws of physics – are completely different. Human traffic in Bangkok acts like flowing water: if there is an empty space, it will quickly be filled with a body, regardless of who was where in some unspoken queue. With an increase