Shades of the streets

The Bangkok area of Yaowarat has long pulled visitors for its food. Now it’s offering candy for the eyes as well as for the stomach and luring pedestrians to lose their way in the labyrinth that’s known as Chinatown to reflect on the magnificent murals gracing its walls. The graffiti is the work of street artists from Europe and Asia who were in town recently for “Buk Ruk: The Urban Art Festival” and the artistic renderings covering the time-worn walls of Chinatown make this old and bustling neighbourhood well worth revisiting.

The easiest way to explore the Wall Art is to stroll through Bang Rak, making stops along Charoen Krung Road and across the river at Klong San. The official website Bukruk.com has mapped out many interesting pieces of art on a digital map for visitors in search of graffiti. 

A short walk away from the huge neo-classic structure known as the Grand Postal Building on Chareon Krung Soi 32, local street artists with the strange names of Alex face, Kult, Bonus and Lolay have turned a long and soulless concrete wall into a piece of art. 

Alex face – one of Bangkok’s most prominent street artists– portrays his iconic character Mardi (a kid in a bunny outfit) on the wall. The strange looking kid, with red and blue eyelids, stares out at passers-by. Stroll further along and you see a gung-ho soi dog firing two automatic guns and a lady sniper holding a rifle. 

Chareon Krung has the honour of being Bangkok’s first road. Built in 1861 in response to the needs of the very first expats in Bangkok who required a real road for leisurely rides in their horse-drawn carriages, Charoen Krung runs roughly 10 kilometres following the bank of the Chao Phraya River.

Legend has it that most Bangkokians were bemused by the newly completed Chareon Krung, commenting that it was too wide for the first motor vehicles and calling it a total waste of money.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and today Chareon Krung carries one of the heaviest loads of vehicles in Bangkok for no other reason than it cuts through the heart of Chinatown. 

Chareon Krung Soi 30 is home to a huge wall painting by Italian artists Stern and Lex. The duo is known for stencils and their works can be seen in London, Paris, Barcelona and New York. For Bangkok they have created huge black-and-white stencil graffiti.

And there’s more than just street art. In this area, heritage too plays a role.

A few steps down the same soi is the yellow house that once belonged to Admiral Sir John Bush, an English sea captain who served the Siamese government during the reigns of Rama IV and whose residence is often referred to as “House No 1” in Bang Rak. It’s well worth a stop especially now that the Crown Property Bureau has given it a beautiful makeover. 

From there, cross Krung Kasem Canal and head to the Talad Noi marketplace, which is a great place to stop for a snack or even lunch.

Hungry travellers love Chinatown for its variety of street food, varying from egg noodles to chicken rice to crispy deep-fried pork belly. A favourite venue is Harbour Master Duck Noodle – a small restaurant reputed to serve the best Teochew braised duck in town.

The best part about a stroll through Bangkok’s Chinatown is what you discover when you get lost in Thailand’s largest Chinese-speaking community. Here, in an alley off San Chao Rong Kueak, you’ll find the work of Spanish muralist Escif. Carry on walking and you’re in the backyards of the Hakka and Hokkein-Chinese communities. While the Hakka are known as masters of shoes thanks to their excellent leather work, the Hokkein are blacksmiths who create all sorts of things out of metal. Both of them follow different deities and have their own shrines, which are well worth a detour.

The subjects of the street murals depend on the artists themselves. Romanian illustrator Aitch has come up with a cute tiger on the pink wall on the corner of Thong Wat and Tri Mit Roads, while Aryz, a Spanish artist, has taken over a high wall for hits rendering of a bicycle.

More quirky and wild artwork can be found on Thong Wat Road where Belgian street artist ROA, best known for his portrayals of the animals and birds native to the country he is visiting, has depicted two elephants in strange positions. The black-and-white painting takes up almost the entire wall of a three-storey shophouse and is so big that it can be seen by commuters on the nearby river.

No sightseeing trip is complete without a cup of coffee and for this there’s no better place to sip and regroup than Eia Sae, an authentic coffee shop in Yaowarat. Chinatown’s old coffee “den” has been in business for more than 60 years and is well known for its “sweet and bitter” caffeine-laden shots.

 

IF YOU GO

-You need a good pair of walking shoes and a camera for your street art walk. To best see the artwork, we recommend an evening stroll through Chareon Krung and Thong Wat Roads, starting at Grand Postal Building in Soi 32.

-Or hire a bicycle to explore Bangkok’s street art scene and savour the true tastes of Yaowarat.