Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [84]
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RIVERSIDE RAMBLE
Walking Tour
There’s more to the riverside district of Bangrak than large luxury hotels. Once Thailand’s gateway to the world, its quiet tree-lined soi retain enough of their past character – in the form of old shophouses, embassies and godowns converted into antique stores – for an interesting couple of hours of walking and looking. The starting point is one of the most accessible in Bangkok, at the end of the Skytrain and the main river ferry terminal. If you start after lunch it will be easier to justify regular drink stops in the hotel bars, and you can segue neatly into a rooftop sundowner.
1 Bangrak Market
Walk away from the river and turn left onto Th Charoen Krung. The street is lined with vendors selling all manner of fresh and fried food that make delicious snacks; turn left on Soi 42 to reach Bangrak Market for myriad fresh and dry goods.
2 Assumption Cathedral
Continue along Th Charoen Krung, past the monumentally ugly neoclassical State Tower at the corner of Th Silom. Turn left on Soi Charoen Krung 40 (aka Soi Oriental) and left through a gate to the red-brick Assumption Cathedral.
3 East Asiatic Company Building
Exiting Assumption Cathedral through the front door, walk through the small park and then right, beneath an overhead walkway linking two buildings amid what was once Bangkok’s centre of international commerce. Here, in front of Tha Oriental, is the fading, classical Venetian-style facade of the East Asiatic Company, which was built in 1901. Much of Thailand’s foreign trade was conducted through this building, with goods coming and going from the surrounding godowns.
4 Mandarin Oriental
Walk east down Soi 40 and turn left into what is now known as the the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s oldest and most storied accommodation. Have a wander around, stop for a drink in Lord Jim’s, and be sure to check out the Authors’ Wing (note that the ‘smart, casual’ dress code bans open shoes but they usually aren’t too strict).
5 Old Customs House
Exit the hotel, head away from the river and turn left past the Oriental Plaza (OP), built as a department store in 1905 and now housing expensive antique shops. Pass the walls of the French embassy and turn left; local Muslim restaurants offer cheap, delicious curry lunches here. Head towards the river and the big, decrepit Old Customs House. Rehabilitation plans seem to have stalled and it remains a fire station, but it’s OK to take a look around.
6 Haroon Village
Leave the way you entered and immediately turn left down a narrow lane behind Old Customs House. You’re now in Haroon village, a Muslim enclave full of sleeping cats, playing kids, wooden houses and family-run stores selling essentials (including drinks and ice creams). Make your own way through Haroon and you’ll eventually come to a larger street running away from the river.
7 Naaz
Follow this road, turn left at Th Charoen Krung and cross the street opposite the imposing art deco General Post Office. Walk down Soi 45 (directly opposite the post office entrance), turn right at the T and just around the bend is tiny Naaz, home to the richest biryanis in town.
8 Bangkokian Museum
Continue along Soi 45 and turn left, walk under the expressway and turn right onto Soi 43 to the Bangkokian Museum for a taste of the Bangkok of a bygone era.
9 River City
Head back to Th Charoen Krung, take your life in your hands crossing the street and once across turn right. Continue to the next corner and turn left on Soi 30, aka Soi Captain Bush. Follow this road past the tacky ‘antique’ shops and the walls of the Portuguese embassy, Bangkok’s oldest. You could finish your tour here, and take the river express boat from Tha Si Phraya, which is down a lane before the Sheraton Hotel. Alternatively, continue to River City to view historical artefacts from across Southeast Asia. It’s worth noting that anything flagged as being of Cambodian origin might not be strictly kosher, as Cambodian law prohibits the export of