Discover Sukhumvit

Sukhumvit, just a long street, where you spend your time by eating, drinking (redlight-bars) and sleeping (many hotels)? No, there is more to see, if you walk into the sidestreets, called soi.

See map by travelfish.org

Soi 3: Home of the Middle Eastern community and African community. Read Sukhumvits other side See Photo-Guide. And read the New York Times-Story about Soi Arab

Soi 4: Nana Entertainment Plaza, full with go-go bars.

Soi 5:

Video walk from soi 7 to soi 5:



Soi 11: Three of the best nightspots in town: BedSupperClub with fine cuisine, a glittering nightclub. QBar, a lounge with 1960s decor, attracting good DJs (House, Hip-hop and Jazz. Twisted Republic (DJs). Nice architecture in this soi.

Soi 18: Salsa and Latin dance culture in Bangkok? Yes, there is La Rueda Latin Dance Club (monday to Saturday from 18 pm to 1 am.

Soi 21 Asok and Soi 23: Called Soi Cowboy, full of gogo-bars.

Soi 22: A short stretch with go-go bars, then a lot of street food vendors and Thai massage places. And there is Benjasiri Park, where you see asians doing Tai Chi and other exercises in the morning and the evening. Read the post of The Laughing Nomad.

Soi 33: Full of hosteess bars with painter names like Van Gogh, Degas, Manet and Gauguin.

Soi 38: Well known for it's street food in the night. Have a look at Austin Bush's photos.

Soi 55, also called Thonglor, "Bangkoks Chic Street", according to Time Magazine. Look for fashion here at the concept store Playground, which features young Thai designers as well as some European/American favourites. Go down the street and you will find a glass building: H1 — a group of buildings with: "Capollini" Italian import furniture store, "Extase" Mediterranean food restaurant, "Hay" home-made ice cream center, "Geo" cool designed products shop, "Barsheer-Graphic Art Book" graphic book store, etc. J-Avenue is crammed with cafés, bars and emporiums. And young Thais head for nightclubs like Escudor, Gwatamou and Boos, Witch Tavern.

Discover more in Bangkok: Your Guide to Bangkok


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Bangkok Girl - a moving documentary

Pla is 19, working as a bar girl in Bangkok since she has been 13, and tells Joanathan Clark, a Canadian documentary filmmaker about her life. It's a glimpse into the sex tourism industry, a look at the human cost of the sex trade trough the eyes of Pla, who died a week, after Clark had left Thailand.

Bangkoks Slum: Klong Toey

Klong Toei (also Klong Toey, คลองเตย) is a district in central Bangkok, bordered by the Chao Phraya River. The westbound of Sukhumvit belongs to it, but also a slum, where poor workers live, many working at the port. So Klong Toei has luxury shopping centers like Emporium as well as a cheap food market. The Duang Prateep Foundation and the Human Development Foundation of Father Joe are working for a better life in the slums.

Human Development Foundation
Mercy Centre


Duang Prateep Foundation



Read more about life in Klong Toei:

Water Warriors fight for saving Klong Hua Lamphong: Read Blog Asia Waterwire

The Squatters of Bangkok - an article in New Internationalist

A volonteer writes about her work as teacher in the Mercy Centre in Klong Toey: GivingLearningDancing

Life in Bangkok Videos

Soi 5 Silom Soi Mitapaap Pad Thai

Bangkok Art and Culture

Galleries, Museums and attractive culture places as temples and buildings in Bangkok you find easily thanks to this Art and Culture Map

And the newspaper The Nation presents in its section "Entertainment" whats on also in art. Another Event-Guide: Bangkok.angloinfo.com

Many spots are concentratet around Rattanakosin and Silom.



























This work is from Chatchawan Rodklontan, artthailand.net

About Studio/Café: Art space with a variety of activities including exhibitions, performances, installations, etc.

H Gallery: Established in 2002 by American H. Ernest Lee with the primary purpose of representing a selected group of emerging contemporary Asian artists. It is is located in a late 19c colonial building.

Thavibu Gallery: www.thavibu.com/index.html Specializes in contemporary quality art from Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. Many articles on asian arts on their homepage. One of their artists is Santi Tongsuk, this ist his picture "Flow of Buddhism":































Another artist selling pictures here is Kritsana Chaikitwattana. His exhibition entitled Venuses of Bangkok focuses on the strength of Thai women and their expanding roles. The artist says: ”In the past, Thai women were expected to fulfill their roles at home and to be sweet and gentle. They were told to follow, not to lead. Nowadays, the roles of Thai women are expanding and they take on new tasks and often support their families financially by work outside the home.”
























"Venus in a desolate world" is the title of Kritsana Chaikitwattana

Museums, Galleries and attractive places like temples in Bangkok are easy to find thanks to this
Map of Culture and Art. Here you find a listing with links to the homepages. If you stay on Rattanakosin Island or around Silom you are in the middler of a high density of places to see.

Thavibu Gallery is specialized in the contemporary art from Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. It is constantly surveying the artistic, social, and political conditions of these three Southeast Asian countries.

H GALLERY was established in 2002 by American, H. Ernest Lee and is located in a late 19c colonial building. The up-and-coming generation of Thai contemporary art.

Read also this article about Emerging Thai Photographers.




Discover more in Bangkok:
Your Guide to Bangkok


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