Thong Lor: a complete neighbourhood guide

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Thong Lor is Sukhumvit Soi 55, a single long road running north from Sukhumvit Road towards Phetchaburi. Bangkok residents treat the name as shorthand for the city's most liveable neighbourhood: Japanese restaurants, wine bars, design studios, gyms, condominiums and a fresh market, packed into about three kilometres.

For a visitor the practical appeal is simple. You are two BTS stops from the Emporium shopping district, ten minutes from Ekkamai, twenty from the old city on a good day, and you can walk to dinner. That last part is rare in Bangkok.

Understanding the sois

Thong Lor is numbered by the side sois running off the main road, odd on one side and even on the other. The bottom of the road, sois 1 to 10, is the dense commercial stretch: the malls, the bar complexes and the tourist facing restaurants. The middle, roughly 11 to 20, is where residents actually eat. Above soi 20 the road quietens into apartment buildings, small cafes and family houses.

That geography matters when you choose accommodation. Staying at the bottom of the soi puts you next to the noise. Staying further up gives you a night's sleep and a short ride to the BTS. Guests consistently tell us the quiet is the thing they did not know to ask for.

Eating in Thong Lor

Japanese

Thong Lor has the densest concentration of Japanese food in Bangkok, a legacy of the Japanese community that settled here. Izakayas, ramen counters, standing sushi bars and full kaiseki, all within a few hundred metres of each other. The buildings around soi 13 are the traditional cluster.

Thai

The fresh market at the top of the soi opens before dawn and is the cheapest and best breakfast in the neighbourhood. For a sit down meal, Thong Lor's Thai kitchens run from open air noodle shops charging sixty baht to modern Thai restaurants that appear in the Michelin guide.

Coffee

There is a specialty coffee shop roughly every two hundred metres, and most of them welcome laptops before noon. It is why the neighbourhood works so well for people staying a month and working remotely.

Bars

The bar scene runs from craft beer taprooms to cocktail bars that regularly appear on Asia's fifty best lists. It is concentrated at the bottom of the soi and along Ekkamai, both walkable or a two minute Grab ride.

Getting around

• BTS Thong Lo sits at the junction of Thong Lor and Sukhumvit Road. Two stops to Phrom Phong for the Emporium malls, eight to Siam.
• Motorbike taxis wait at the mouth of every soi and are the fastest way up and down the road in traffic. Agree the fare first, usually twenty to forty baht.
• Grab and Bolt work everywhere in this part of the city.
• The Thong Lor red minibus, the local shared songthaew, runs the length of the road for a few baht.

Practical things

• Groceries. Villa Market and Gourmet Market carry international brands. Big C and Tops cover the basics. The fresh market is best for produce and cheapest by a wide margin.
• Healthcare. Samitivej Sukhumvit and Bumrungrad International are both minutes away and both used to treating international patients without an appointment.
• Gyms and studios. Boxing, yoga, pilates, reformer and full service gyms all exist within the soi, most offering day and weekly passes.
• Coworking. Several spaces within a ten minute ride offer day passes, worth knowing if you are here for a month.

When to visit

November to February is cool and dry, and the busiest and most expensive time to stay. March to May is hot, and rates soften. June to October brings the rain, which in Bangkok usually means a heavy hour in the afternoon rather than a washed out day, and this is when long stay rates are at their best.

Where to stay in Thong Lor

Thong Lor is condominium country, which means most short term accommodation is either a small hotel room near the main road or a studio in a residential tower. If you are travelling as a couple for two nights, either works. If you are a family, a group, or here for more than a week, the calculation changes: you want a second bedroom, a kitchen and a washing machine, and you want to be far enough up the soi to sleep.