Thonglor

ทองหล่อ — Bangkok's polished playground

Cocktail bars, cafés and Japanese food along Sukhumvit Soi 55 — Bangkok dressed up.

Thonglor is where Bangkok dresses up. One long soi — Sukhumvit 55 — and its side streets hold the city's densest run of cocktail bars, izakayas, brunch rooms and design-conscious cafés, threaded between low-rise apartments and glassy new condos. The Japanese community has shaped the neighborhood for decades, which shows in the food.

Don't miss

• ๑The CommonsCommunity mall

  Open-air food hall and courtyard that defined the neighborhood's third-wave era.

• ๒Donki MallShopping

  24-hour Japanese superstore — groceries, gadgets, and 2am snack runs.

• ๓Sukhumvit Soi 38Street food

  The classic night-noodle strip at the foot of Thong Lo BTS.

• ๔Rabbit HoleBar

  Speakeasy behind a wooden door — a fixture of the Thonglor cocktail scene.

Photo: Sry85, CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons