Ratchada Bangkok and Huai Khwang: night markets and the new Chinatown

Ratchada Bangkok is shorthand for Ratchadaphisek Road, the wide avenue that runs north from Rama IX through Huai Khwang district, with the MRT Blue Line underneath it. It is not a sightseeing area. It is where Bangkok goes for night markets, Thai-style pubs, late Chinese food and cheap massage, and it has become the city's newest Chinese quarter, with restaurants, hotels and tour groups from the mainland concentrated around Huai Khwang intersection. For a night that is local rather than touristy, it is a good choice.

The night market behind Esplanade

The plot behind the Esplanade mall, next to MRT Thailand Cultural Centre, has hosted a night market under a succession of names: the original Train Night Market Ratchada, then The One Ratchada, then Jodd Fairs, and most recently the Train Night Market again. Whatever the name on the sign, the formula is the same: rows of food stalls, tents selling clothes and accessories, open-air bars with live music at the back, and the view of the coloured tent roofs from the mall's car park that everyone photographs. The name and the days it trades change; check what is currently running before you go. The night markets post tracks the city's current markets.

Huai Khwang

The [Huai Khwang](/?q=Huai Khwang) intersection, one MRT stop north, is anchored by the Ganesha shrine on the corner, a popular spot for prayers, particularly from people in creative professions. The streets around it, especially Pracha Rat Bamphen Road, have filled with Chinese restaurants, hotpot places, bubble tea shops and signage in simplified characters, which is why locals call it the new Chinatown. Huai Khwang market, the fresh market and food street near the shrine, is busiest late at night, when the stalls serve noodles, grilled meat, fried rice and desserts to a crowd that arrives after the bars. See late-night eats.

Thai pubs and RCA

Ratchada is also the heartland of the Thai pub: large, loud venues with live bands, tables of friends sharing whisky and soda, and food served all night. Ratchada Soi 4 and the stretch between Huai Khwang and Sutthisan have many of them, and they are a good way to see how Bangkok's own residents go out. RCA, Royal City Avenue, off Rama IX Road to the south, is the city's long-standing club strip, with big dance clubs and live rooms that fill late. The live music post covers the bands.

Malls and the Cultural Centre

[Central Rama 9](/?q=Central Rama 9), at MRT Phra Ram 9, is a large mall with a cinema and a good food floor, and Fortune Town opposite is the IT and electronics mall. Esplanade has a cinema, bowling and an ice rink. The [Thailand Cultural Centre](/?q=Thailand Cultural Centre), the building that gives its name to the MRT station, hosts classical concerts, Thai dance and touring productions; check the programme. Wat Phra Ram 9 Kanchanaphisek, a modern royal temple on Rama IX Soi 19, is quiet and rarely visited.

Eating in Ratchada

• Chinese hotpot, Sichuan and Yunnan food along Pracha Rat Bamphen Road.
• Late noodles and stir-fries at Huai Khwang market.
• Night-market food at the market behind Esplanade: grilled seafood, skewers, fried chicken, desserts.
• Isan and Thai pub food with the live bands on Ratchada Soi 4.
• Food floors at Central Rama 9 and Esplanade for a quieter meal.

Getting there

The MRT Blue Line runs under the road: Phra Ram 9 for Central Rama 9 and RCA, Thailand Cultural Centre for Esplanade and the night market (Exit 3), Huai Khwang for the shrine and the Chinese quarter, Sutthisan for the pub stretch. From Sukhumvit, change at Asok (MRT Sukhumvit); from Silom, MRT Si Lom. It is about ten minutes from Asok to Thailand Cultural Centre. The BTS does not come here. RCA is a fifteen-minute walk from Phra Ram 9 or a short taxi ride. Taxis along Ratchadaphisek are easy to find at night but the road is slow around the market and the intersection.