Thanon Sukhumvit

Thanon Sukhumvit is Bangkok’s longest road – it keeps going east all the way to Cambodia – but for such an important artery it’s way too narrow for the volume of traffic that needs to use it, and is further hemmed in by the overhead Skytrain line that runs above its entire course. Packed with high-rise hotels and office blocks, an amazing array of specialist restaurants (from Lebanese to Laotian), tailors, bookstores, and stall after stall selling cheap souvenirs and T-shits, it’s lively place that attracts a high proportion of single male tourists to its enclaves of girlie bars on Soi Nana Tai, Soi Cowboy and the Clinton Entertainment Plaza. But for the most part it’s not a seedy are, and is home to many expats and middle –class Thais.

Although this is not the place to come if you are on a tight budget, Sukhumvit has one exceptional mid-priced guest house; its four- and five-star hotels tend to be oriented towards business travelers, but facilities are good and the downtown views from the high-rise rooms a real plus. The best accommodation here is between sois 1 to 21; many of the sois are surprisingly quiet, even leafy, and offer a welcome breather from the congested frenzy of Thanon Sukhumvit itself – transport down the longer sois is provided by motorbike-taxi (mohtoesai) drivers who wait at the soi’s mouth, chad in numbered waistcoats. Advance reservations are recommended during the high season and 3 days before arrival in low season.

Staying here, you are well served by the Skytrain, which has stops all the way along Thanon Sukhumvit, while the Sukhumvit subway stop at the mouth of Soi 21 (Thanon Askok Montri) makes it easy to get to Hualamphong Station and Chinatown. On the downside, you are a long way from the main Ratanakosin sights, and the volume of traffic on Sukhumvit means that travelling by buss across town can take an age if possible, try to travel to and from Thanon Sukhumvit outside rush hour (7-9am & 3-7pm); it’s almost as bad in a taxi, which will often take at least an hour to get to Ratanakosin. Useful buses for getting to Ratanakosin include #508 (air-con) and #25 (ordinary). Airport Express bus AE3 from Sukhumvit make stops all the way along Thanon Sukhumvit and public bus #554 runs from Suvarnabhumi to On Nut Skytrain station. A much faster way of getting across town is to hop on one of the longtail boats that ply the canals: Khlong Saen Saeb, which begins near Democracy Monument at Phan Fah in the west of the city, runs parallel with part of Thanon Sukhumvit and has stops at the northern ends of Soi Nana Nua (Soi3) and Thanon Askok Montri (Soi 21), from where you can either walk down to Thanon Sukhumvit, or take a motorbike taxi. This reduces the journey between Thanon Sukhumvit and Banglampu/Ratanakosin area about thirty minutes.