Bangkok/North

From Imakoopedia

The North of Bangkok starts from the Victory Monument, a major bus/Skytrain interchange. Its main arteries are Phayonyothin Rd and Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd, both stretching northward all the way past Don Muang Airport.

Table of contents

1 Get in 2 See & Do 3 Buy 4 Eat 5 Drink 6 Sleep

Get in

The Skytrain's Sukhumvit line runs north from Victory Monument to Chatuchak/Morchit, where it intersects with the Metro Blue Line. Bang Sue train station (the Metro terminus) and the massive Northern Bus Terminal (Morchit 2) are also nearby.

See & Do

There are few sights as such in the area, and most tourists make a beeline for the Weekend Market (see Buy).

Buy

• Northern Bangkok's biggest draw is the Chatuchak Weekend Market (also spelled Jatujak), located near the BTS Mo Chit / Subway Chatuchak stations. This incomprehensibly vast outdoor market has over 8,000 vendors selling anything and everything under the sun -- to put that number in perspective, if you browsed each stall each one minute, non-stop for 8 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, it would take you over two months to visit them all! A good rule of thumb is to buy immediately if you spot something interesting, because you will never find the same stall again. The market opens at 7 AM, get there early to beat the crowds and the heat.

• Far fewer tourists make it to the Or Tor Kor market right next to Chatuchak, the best place in Bangkok to buy high-quality plants and produce straight off the farm at Thai prices.

Eat

• Wake Up Cafe (Soi 9 Phayonyothin), tucked in an unlikely location down a soi near Shinawatra Tower 2, is a surprising little oasis of greenery (outside) and clean white lines (inside). Mains around B50, a fancy cup of coffee around the same amount.

Drink

Sleep

• Sofitel Central (Metro Phayon Yothin) is far from central in overall terms, but probably the best digs in this part of town.