Talat Noi

Talat Noi is a small, low-lying strip of old Bangkok on the river, immediately south of Chinatown. It has been home to Chinese, Portuguese Catholic and Vietnamese communities since the late 18th century; it was a junk-trading port in the 19th century, and in the 20th it became the centre of the city's second-hand engine and car-parts trade. Today it has shrines, a Gothic church, a heritage mansion, workshops that still run, street art and a growing number of cafés.

It is small enough to walk in an hour or two, and it is mostly a daytime place.

Why it is worth a walk

Talat Noi has an unusual concentration of religious buildings for its size, each tied to a different community (Wikipedia):

• Chow Sue Kong Shrine, founded in 1804 by Hokkien settlers, the oldest shrine in the area, and the focus of its annual vegetarian festival.
• Rong Kueak Shrine, a Hakka shrine right on the riverbank.
• Holy Rosary Church (Wat Kalawa), founded by the Portuguese in 1787. The present Gothic Revival building was put up in the 1890s.
• Wat Uphai Ratchabamrung (Wat Yuan), a temple built by the Vietnamese community under Rama I.
• So Heng Tai Mansion, one of the last traditional Chinese courtyard houses in Bangkok, with four timber ranges around a courtyard. It is a private family property, so check what is open to visitors before expecting to go inside.
• The Siam Commercial Bank branch beside the church, designed by the Italian architect Annibale Rigotti and dating from 1908 or 1910, is described as the oldest bank branch still operating in Thailand.

Workshops, street art and food

• Auto-parts workshops. Song Wat Road and the lanes behind it are full of garages and parts dealers, a reminder of the neighbourhood's 20th-century trade. These are working businesses.
• Street art. Murals became a feature of the district after the Bukruk Urban Arts Festival of January 2016, and a further mural, the Amazing Thailand Phoenix Wall, was added in Soi Chao Sua Son in 2020.
• Talat Noi Museum, in a converted machine workshop on Song Wat Road. It tells the story of the community and holds a monthly community market.
• Kuaitiao khua kai, wide rice noodles dry-fried with chicken and egg, is generally credited to Talat Noi.

Visiting respectfully

Talat Noi's resident population is small, elderly and shrinking, and residents have objected to visitors damaging walls and blocking lanes. Keep to the lanes, ask before photographing people at work or at home, don't lean on or touch the murals, and keep your voice down in the shrines.

Getting there and when to go

• MRT Hua Lamphong (Exit 2), about 10 minutes on foot.
• Chao Phraya Express Boat to the Marine Department pier, from where the shrines and workshops are a short walk. See the Chao Phraya River.
• Go in the morning or late afternoon. Allow one to two hours, longer if you stop for a meal.

Combining Talat Noi

Do it as part of a Chinatown day: Wat Traimit in the morning, Talat Noi, lunch, then Yaowarat for street food after dark. For the neighbourhood's festivals, see Chinese New Year in Bangkok and the Vegetarian Festival.

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