Sometimes we like to take a long walk around a neighborhood we’ve never visited just to see what we come across. Wherever we go we seem to find lots of interesting things. Bangkok is a wonderful place to just wander around and explore. Today we walked around Rim Sathorn Village. This is basically bounded by Sathorn Road, Sathorn Soi 11, Chan Road, and Charoen Rat.
Coffee At Cafe De Golfio
We started off at Cafe De Golfio, which is on the ground floor of the Prudential building at the start of Sathorn Soi 11. Our original plan was to get one of the songthaews you can see above and just go wherever it went. But as it was a little cooler than usual and quite cloudy, we decided to walk. So we headed off down Sathorn Soi 11 towards Chan Road.
Street Art
If you walk down Sathorn Soi 11 the road eventually turns into Soi Chan 18/7. Yes, some roads have quite confusing names, especially as you get deeper into the smaller sois (roads). We saw this street art on a building that looks like it’s about to be demolished.
Colorful Chinese Temple
This area was originally settled by Chinese immigrants, so it’s not surprising to see so many Chinese influences around the area. Chinese temples in Bangkok are always very colorful affairs. And this one was no exception.
Bangkok And Other Places
Bangkok is obviously the best place in the world to live in. Just check out the local post boxes. Letters either go to Bangkok or to “other places”. It always amuses me to see this.
Another Coffee Stop
It started to rain a little, so we took shelter in this cute little cafe on Soi Chan 18/7. It’s around 50 meters from the junction with Chan Road. All that above cost just 160 baht ($4.50).
Carrying A Window On A Motorbike
While in the cafe, we saw these two guys carrying a window on a motorbike. There isn’t much that can’t be carried on a motorbike in Thailand.
Chinese Lanterns & Wall Decorations
You will often see Chinese lanterns like the ones above hanging out outside shophouses where Chinese people have settled.
Both the above were on Wat Prok 1 Alley. After leaving the cafe, we didn’t walk all the way to Chan Road but instead crossed onto Soi Chan 18/7 Yaek 1. This is where the BMA Service Center is. We walked along that road and then turned right into Yen Chit Alley. We then walked to the top, which is where Wat Prok 1 Alley is. We turned left and walked across to Soi Wat Prok, where we turned right so that we were heading towards Surasak BTS station.
Teochew Chinese Temple
The theme for today’s walk seems to be Chinese culture, so here is another example of the Chinese influence on this area. Teochew is a large cemetery that is now mostly overgrown, but some graves are still kept tidy, and most are still quite colorful.
You might be surprised to find out that there is both a gym and an open-air cafe in the cemetery.
The cemetery seemed quite busy, mostly with people visiting the outdoor gym.
More Street Art
Just outside the temple is some street art.
The Local Surasak Hostel
It’s been a few years since I last visited this area, and today we spotted a new hostel. See The Local Surasak Hostel. It gets excellent reviews. It looked like a great place to be based, as it’s only a few minutes walk from Surasak BTS station. It’s also in a great area for exploring old Bangkok.
JAM Cafe
Also on the same street is a very popular JAM Cafe. It’s a mixture of local bar, underground music venue, experimental art gallery and cine club. See JAM Cafe for more details.
Shop & Street Signs
Major street signs in Bangkok also include the English translation of the names, but once you get deeper into local areas the street signs are only in Thai.
We walked a total of 4 km, and were pretty hot and sweaty by the end of it, despite the fact that it was a little cooler today. We had an interesting time exploring though.