Yaowarat Road
A 1.5 km curve said to trace a dragon's body, built over rice fields in the 1890s and still the gold-shop capital of Bangkok.
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Yaowarat was laid out on King Rama V's orders between 1892 and 1900 across what had been rice fields and canals. The Chinese community settled here after being displaced to make way for the Grand Palace — and never left. After dark the strip flips into one of the city's biggest food streets, pulling in locals and visitors from across Bangkok.
What to look for
- Gold shop fronts — 40 were counted along the road in 2002, earning it the nickname the Golden Road
- The road's pronounced curve, which traders say mirrors a dragon's body and marks the street as auspicious for business
- Night food stalls that take over the pavement after sundown
Phahurat, Bangkok's Little India, is a short walk away — easy to combine into one afternoon loop before the food stalls open at night.
Yaowarat Road is one of 38 sights worth the detour in Bangkok, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Bangkok pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Bangkok
- Grand PalaceIn 1782 a king moved his entire capital from Thonburi to Bangkok and built this walled city — Thailand's seat of power for the next 143 years.
- Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)Every Thai king since 1783 has personally added to this temple — and the reigning king still presides over state ceremonies here today.
- Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)Named for Aruna — the Hindu charioteer who drives the sun at dawn — this riverside spire was built to face the light it honors.
- Baiyoke Tower IIBangkok's tallest hotel stacks an observatory, a bar, and a revolving roof deck across three floors at 309 metres.
- BTS SkytrainBangkok sits in chronic gridlock — three elevated lines run above it on 70 kilometers of track connecting the city end to end.
- Rajamangala National StadiumThailand's largest stadium swells like a concrete wave — narrow at each end, rising steeply until the stands crest exactly at the halfway line.