Over the years, I/we have slowly chipped away at Bangkok's Chinatown. It's fascinating, invigorating, and exhausting, all at the same time. This year, inspired by Travelfish's walking tour, we went back for another bite.

We started at Jade Old Town, Rama IV Road. Because it's never too soon in an expedition for a cup of coffee... Here you can admire (and slightly covet) the converted shophouse space, while enjoying excellent coffee, served with little crispy cinnamon things, hot milk, and iced water.


Then, to the longstanding community of Charoen Chai, which specializes in making joss paper. Shirtfronts, shoes, watches, pens, houses -- all can form the stuff of burnt offerings. There's a tiny museum, which tries to conserve some of the memories of the neighbourhood. Like Kudeejeen, this is an area that is very vulnerable to the stresses and strains of development.





Then, off down the narrow lanes of Talad Mai ("new market"), packed with all manner of food, and thronged with customers.

Halfway along, we popped into Leng Noei Yi, founded in 1658 and therefore one of the oldest Chinese shrines in the country.


Lunch was taken at the side of the road: rice, fish, tiny clams, tofu, and a fantastic ginger/peanut/chilli relish.


Then more narrow market lanes, this time selling manufactured goods.


And our last stop was Wat Chakrawat, which is famous for its crocodiles, but is otherwise also highly photogenic.













We bookended the trip with more coffee. At Sip 'n' Camp on Khwaeng Chakrawat this time. The coffee came from estates founded by the late king, the owner told us. It was good, that's for sure.


This is a constantly rewarding area. We'll be back...