Charoen Krung and Bang Rak: a guide to the Creative District
Charoen Krung was Bangkok's first paved road, laid along the river in the 1860s so that the European merchants and diplomats could ride carriages between their warehouses and consulates. The stretch through Bang Rak district, from the edge of Chinatown south to Saphan Taksin, still has the old trading houses, the Catholic cathedral and the Oriental hotel, and over the last decade it has been rebranded as the Creative District, with galleries, design studios and bars moving into the warehouses. It works. This is one of the best walking areas in the city.
The Creative District
[Warehouse 30](/?q=Warehouse 30), on Charoen Krung Soi 30, is a row of Second World War-era warehouses converted into a design shop, cafes, a small cinema space and event rooms. It is the easiest introduction to the area. A few doors away on Soi 30, ATT 19 combines a gallery with vintage furniture and clothing in a former Chinese school. The TCDC, the Thailand Creative and Design Centre, occupies the upper floors of the old General Post Office on Charoen Krung, a large art deco building, with exhibitions on Thai design and a materials library. Every year, usually in late January or February, [Bangkok Design Week](/?q=Bangkok Design Week) takes over the district with installations, open studios and night events; see the festivals calendar.
Smaller galleries and studios are scattered through the sois between Charoen Krung and the river, especially Sois 28 to 44. The art galleries post maps them.
The old riverside
[Assumption Cathedral](/?q=Assumption Cathedral), reached down Oriental Avenue (Charoen Krung Soi 40), is the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Bangkok, a red-brick building from the early twentieth century with a quiet square in front. The Mandarin Oriental beside it has been a hotel since the 1870s and its Authors' Lounge serves afternoon tea in the original building. The old Customs House on the river, a crumbling colonial building long used by the fire brigade, is under restoration. Oriental pier is a short walk from all of them.
The Haroon Mosque community sits behind the Customs House, a small Muslim quarter with a mosque, wooden houses and a few restaurants serving Thai-Muslim food.
Bang Rak food
Bang Rak is a serious eating district. [Bang Rak Market](/?q=Bang Rak), by Robinson department store near Saphan Taksin, is a fresh market with stalls and shophouses around it that stay busy into the evening. Prachak, on Charoen Krung nearby, has roasted duck over rice for more than a century. The lanes off Charoen Krung hold Chinese-Thai noodle shops, Muslim curry houses and old-style coffee shops. The street food neighbourhoods post gives the detail.
At night, the district's bars are spread among the sois: cocktail bars in restored shophouses, a few wine bars and the rooftop bars of the river hotels. Across the river, the Jam Factory and the ICONSIAM mall are reached by shuttle boat from Sathorn pier; see the Thonburi riverside guide.
Walking it
Start at River City or Si Phraya pier in the north, walk south along Charoen Krung and dip into the sois towards the river as they come: Soi 30 for Warehouse 30, the Post Office for TCDC, Soi 36 for the mosque, Soi 40 for the cathedral and Oriental, then finish at Bang Rak Market and Saphan Taksin. It is about two kilometres and takes a slow afternoon. Talat Noi, at the northern end, is covered in the Talat Noi guide.
Getting there
BTS [Saphan Taksin](/?q=Saphan Taksin) on the Silom line is at the southern end, with Sathorn pier (Central Pier) beneath it for the Chao Phraya Express Boat and hotel shuttle boats. From the river, Oriental pier serves the cathedral and hotel end, and Si Phraya pier serves River City and the northern end. The MRT does not reach Charoen Krung directly; Hua Lamphong is a fifteen-minute walk from the northern end. Buses run the length of Charoen Krung Road. The road is narrow and slow in traffic, so walk between stops rather than taking taxis for short hops.