Getting to Chinatown, Yaowarat & Wat Traimit by MRT

Bangkok’s Chinatown is one of the rare major sights that the MRT drops you directly into — no walk required to reach the main strip, and a short one for the Golden Buddha.

What’s here

Yaowarat Road is Bangkok’s Chinatown main strip — gold shops, Chinese-Thai restaurants, and one of the best street food scenes in the city, especially after dark. Wat Traimit, a short walk away, holds a five-tonne solid gold Buddha image, one of the more understated “you have to see it to believe it” stops in the city.

Getting there

Getting to Chinatown, Yaowarat and Wat Traimit

Leg	From	Mode	Time	Notes
1	MRT Wat Mangkon (Blue Line)	Walk	At street level	Station sits directly on Charoen Krung Road, in the heart of Chinatown
2	MRT Hua Lamphong (Blue Line)	Walk or tuk-tuk	~10 min walk / ~5 min tuk-tuk	Route to Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha)

Wat Mangkon is the better station for the main Yaowarat strip itself; Hua Lamphong (Bangkok’s historic main railway station) is the better starting point specifically for Wat Traimit, which sits just outside Chinatown proper toward the old train station.

Practical tips for the visit

•          Go for dinner, not lunch. Yaowarat’s street food scene is at its best from early evening onward — many of the most famous stalls don’t even open until late afternoon.

•          Wat Traimit closes earlier than the street food scene gets going (typically around 5pm), so visit the Golden Buddha first, then loop back for dinner on Yaowarat.

•          Weekends get very crowded on the main strip — a weekday evening visit is noticeably more comfortable if your schedule allows it.

•          Cash is essential for street food stalls; very few accept cards.

Our take

Do Wat Traimit from Hua Lamphong in the late afternoon, then walk or grab a short tuk-tuk into Yaowarat as the street food stalls start opening — it sequences the two stops in the right order without doubling back. This is one of the few areas where a short tuk-tuk ride genuinely adds to the experience rather than just being a convenience.

Frequently asked questions

• What time does Yaowarat Road come alive? Mostly from early evening onward — many of the best-known street food stalls don’t open until late afternoon or early evening.

• Is Wat Traimit worth visiting if I’ve already seen the Grand Palace? Yes — it’s a much smaller, faster visit, and the solid gold Buddha image is a genuinely different kind of sight than the palace complex.

• Is Chinatown safe to walk around at night? Yes, generally — it’s one of the busiest, most well-trafficked areas in the city well into the evening, especially along the main food strip.