Chinatown, Bangkok
My initial experience with Chinatown, Bangkok was, to be honest, a little intimidating. Naive and alone in the city, I had taken it upon myself to explore the sprawling municipally upon instinct. That is, on foot. In the calming light of day this of course was a perfect idea, but as darkness sets in my almost always accurate internal compass tends to skew irretrievably. So there I was, unwordly enough to assume that Thai taxi drivers would recognise the decidedly English term Chinatown and wandering around dark backstreets alone. Fifteen minutes in and I was confronted with a feeling that I really didn’t like. I was scared. And frustrated. Each poorly lit street, plagued with somewhat shady characters and dilapidated warehouses seemingly led into another just like it, evoking the harrowing sensation of moving in circles. This can’t be Chinatown. This can’t be Chinatown. Distress overcame me completely. I cursed Thailand, I cursed Lonely Planet, I cursed quitting everything that was warm and familiar to set out into the world alone. And then, like a mirage in a desert, amidst the cursing and the brisk walking and the-trying-very-hard-not to-cry-with-anguish, there it was.
Unmistakeably. Chinatown was big and bright and neon-lit as I could have ever imagined it to be – overflowing with people and tuk tuk’s and lanterns and food stalls spilling out onto the road and writing that I couldn’t read. There I was, Alice in AmazingChinesefoodWonderland, falling gleefully and voluntarily into a rabbit hole full of giant shining slabs of crispy barbecue pork and clear broths afloat with fish dumplings. (and noodles and goodness knows what else but oh my word does it ever taste delicious) There were soft fried ducks cheeks and quail egg buns and lychee ice-cream and gargantuan crabs and durian and sticky rice and the whirlwind of it all nearly made me forget how tricky this place was to find. Basically, you should be like me and go very hungry. You should also be unlike me and find out that Chinatown is referred to as ‘Yaowarat’ before you set out blindly into the dark.
Chinatown, Bankok
Yaowarat Road, Sampthanthawong District
(Big bright street in the middle of nowhere)
I like how the woman’s head pops out in the fourth photo like a random piece of fruit.
Perhaps the most deadpan piece of fruit I’ve ever seen.
Haha that is so funny I was wondering if anybody else would notice that! I was there umm-ing and ahh-ing over what to buy when I noticed that there was a person in the mix!
I was going to say that anyone looking at the fruit had a hard choice ahead of them. Some of it looked so glossy, I thought they were in shrink wrap too.
Bangkok… it is a dream come true for foodies. Preparing, eating and talking about food is the national pastime. I hope you love it as much as I did when I lived there.
I seriously used to plan my days there around what I was going to eat. Oh I could seriously go back in a heartbeat. I used to live down on Koh Tao so coming up to the big smoke every few weeks was a massive deal, I used to count down like it was Christmas!
I was in Bangkok about a dozen years ago and your photos roght back some great memories. All that’s missing is the scent of garlic wafting from the food stalls.
Haha thank you! I know if only they could capture the smells. I miss it so much!
Oh yum. If I could get lost in any food culture it’d be somewhere in Asian. mmmmm
Oh same here I could eat Asian food for every single meal every single day
Very lovely how you catched the atmosphere with your shots and you text.
Thank you!
Great photos! You’re very brave, I would have been terrified wandering around poorly lit back streets with shady characters watching, not knowing where the hell I was! Glad it all ended well!
Hahah thank you. Don’t worry I was terrified indeed