Bangkok Street Food at Sukhumvit Soi 38 (สุขุมวิท ซอย 38)

Sukhumvit Soi 38 is a well known Bangkok street food street. Read the full post here:

When you visit Bangkok, one of the greatest things to do is explore the amazing Bangkok street food. You'll find delicious street food everywhere you look, and there are even certain streets where you'll find a higher concentration of street food carts, usually in the morning or at night. One of the most famous streets for eating a range of Thai street food dishes is Sukhumvit Soi 38 (by the way, "soi" is the Thai word for small street or side street). It's very easy to get there by just taking the BTS skytrain to Thong Lo station, and just down from the BTS you'll be right there. The street is located in an area of Bangkok where there are plenty of expats, especially Japanese.

But anyway, I'm going to first tell you that Sukhumvit Soi 38 does not have the best Bangkok street food. It's not the best selection of food, and what is available is good but not amazing. However, the street does present a very good place for an introduction to Thai street food, a street where you can sample a variety of Thai dishes from street food vendors. I had not been to Sukhumvit Soi 38 for a few years when I made this video (just because I usually try to explore new places), but one thing I was impressed with was that many of the vendors were very friendly - so that's a huge bonus when it comes to eating street food - and I think Suk Soi 38 makes a great place for an introduction to Thai street food in Bangkok.

I arrived at about 5 pm, and a few of the vendors still hadn't opened shop. If you go by around 6 pm or so, then most of the vendors should be ready and serving. As soon as you get to Soi 38, you'll see a small side street to your right hand side where you'll find a famous Pad Thai vendors, as well a number of other vendors, even one Korean and a Japanese street food cart - everyone is getting in on the action. If you keep going further down the street you'll find plenty of Bangkok street food vendors on both sides of the road. About 20 meters down the road, on the right hand side of the street you'll find a small food court like seating where about 3 or 4 vendors serve. We first ate at the yam (ยำ), or Thai salad stall, as I had heard that the som tam boo maa (ส้มตำปูม้า), Thai green papaya salad with blue crab was delicious. It was very good, nice and balanced, and the crab tasted pretty fresh to me. Along with another few Thai salads, it was a nice way to begin out Thai street food crawl on Suk Soi 38.

Continuing on, you'll discover all sorts of other street food stalls, serving Bangkok classic dishes like khao moo daeng (rice with red pork), khao man gai (rice chicken), and a host of other Thai noodles dishes, both fried and in soup. After walking the length of the street a few times, I decided just to go for a dish I rarely eat, known as khao man gai (chicken rice). I ordered khao man gai ruam (ข้าวมันไก่รวม), a mix of rice topped with both fried chicken and boiled chicken. It's not my favorite Thai street food dish, but it was alright, and especially the extra hits of fresh raw ginger and chilies really helped to increase the flavor. After street food meal in Bangkok, there's always an option for something sweet. I'm not really a sweet tooth myself, but since my wife enjoys sweet, we went to a famous place along the soi for dessert - Mook Dow Tung (มุกเต้าทึง) - located on the right hand side of the street - it's more of a shophouse than a street food stall. They are especially famous for their ice cream, and for their nam kang sai (shave ice with toppings). The ice cream was pretty good, homemade and creamy, and it tasted fresh and flavorful.

How to get to Sukhumvit Soi 38: It's really conveniently located, just of the Thong Lo BTS (ทองหล่อ) station in Bangkok. Take the BTS to Thong Long, get out at Exit 4, and you'll see the street with the street food vendors right below - you won't miss it.
Open hours: About 5 pm - 2 am daily, but depends on the vendor
Prices: Prices can be a bit higher than other Bangkok street food vendors, but still affordable at 40 - 50 THB per dish usually.

Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network

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