10 things to do in Bangkok at night
Bangkok is a city that you should really explore during the day and at night. While there are plenty of things to do in Bangkok during the day, certain scenes and characters become alive in the evening. If Bangkok hasn’t worked you up during the day and you feel frisky enough, follow our suggestion of 10 things to do in Bangkok at night that will really make you fall in love with the city.
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1. Take an evening food tour by Tuk Tuk
Offbeat Thonburi & Bangkok’s Riverside Evening Food Tour by Tuk Tuk
Off all things to do in Bangkok at night, food tours by Tuk Tuk are always winners. Not only will you be guided to local restaurants famous among Thais and eat on streets like Thais do, whizzing through Bangkok at night on a Tuk Tuk is super fun. Food tours by Tuk Tuk is not all about food, they take you sightseeing too. The attractions are usually crowd-free thanks to the night time, which makes you feel pretty special.
Pad Thai on Best Eats Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk
The first and the most popular evening food tour by Tuk Tuk is Best Eats Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk. Focusing on Bangkok Old City, the tour takes you to the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, chicken fried noodles, and Northeastern Thai restaurants. You will be taken to a rooftop bar with Wat Arun view towards the end. On the sightseeing part, there is Wat Pho and Pak Klong Talad flower market. Both are best seen at night. Another tour, less popular, is Offbeat Thonburi & Bangkok’s Riverside Evening Food Tour by Tuk Tuk. This one features street food at off-tourist-radar night markets, an indoor floating market, and a rooftop bar with breathtaking river views.
2. Visit a night market
Talad Rot Fai Train Night Market Ratchada
Night markets have become such a big trend in Bangkok in the recent years. These lively open-air markets are filled with stalls selling food, clothes, fashion items, knickknacks, and trinkets. Some have food courts, seating areas, bars, even nail and tattoo salons. The most popular night market is Talad Rot Fai Train Night Market Ratchada (5pm – 1am, daily | Thailand Cultural Center MRT Train Station, Exit 3), famous for its lines of colorful awnings and shops and restaurants set in modified shipping containers. On the western side of the market, there is a row of open-air bars. These bars are very popular among bikers. With vintage motorbikes and scooters parked in lines, it almost feels like a contest.
ARTBOX Night Market
Another night market, in the city center, is The Neon Night Bazaar (4pm – midnight, daily | Phetchaburi Road 23 – 29). It is smaller than Talad Rot Fai. But there is a big food court and public seating area. You may buy food from different vendors to sit and eat. The brightly lit Artbox (4pm – midnight, daily | Nana BTS Train Station, Exit 4), in the heart of Sukhumvit district, is a craft market with street fashion, handmade items, art, mini concerts, and performances. Try The Wizard’s lightbulb Italian soda of your favourite color and flavor.
3. Visit a street food market
Street food vendors at Talat Phlu Market
Street food is a HUGE thing in Thailand. In Bangkok, you can find street food round-the-clock, most of the time at wet markets. At some locations, the vendors leave when the markets close in the evening. At other locations, they gather in late afternoon. Keep in mind that the food will be unfamiliar to you. Unless a local person guides you, you will be guess ordering, and not understanding what you eat. If you want to be taken to the most popular vendors among locals and understand the dishes you eat, you should take a street food tour. Otherwise, be an observer and enjoy the bustling atmosphere.
Grilled prawns sold by a street food vendor in Chinatown
The biggest and the most popular location is Chinatown (Yaowarat). From around 5pm (until 11pm, daily | Wat Mangkon MRT Train Station, Exit 1), food vendors occupy footpaths on Chinatown’s main roads and side alleys. The best way to explore Chinatown’s street food scene is to eat whatever looks good to you. Apart from extensive choices of noodles, there are Pad Thai, specialties dishes like duck rice, pork rice, and seafood. Several travel agencies operate a street food tour in Chinatown. One with the best rating on TripAdvisor is Chinatown Street Food Tour.
Guay Jub Ouan Pochana, MICHELIN Guide’s Point Of View
On the western side of the Chao Phraya river, opposite to Chinatown, you can find street food at Tha Din Daeng Market until 9pm (daily, | Din Daeng Cross River Ferry Pier). The stalls line up along the Tha Din Daeng Road. Try to spot a huge fire grill heaped high with pork satay (ตี๋หมูสะเต๊ะ ท่าดินแดง). The satay is delicious, making it one of the busiest stall on the strip.
Talad Phlu Market, much further away from the river and totally off tourist radar, is another famous street food location for locals. Its street food scene comes alive at 4pm and finishes around 8pm (daily | Talat Phlu BTS Train Station Exit 2 & a short taxi ride). Try Sunee Red Pork Rice (ข้าวขาหมูสุณี), and Ni-Ang Nam Kaeng Sai (นิอ่าง น้ำแข็งใส) frozen egg yolk coconut ice cream for dessert.
4. Visit Pak Khlong Market Flower Market
Roses sold at Pak Khlong Market Flower Market
No wet markets in Bangkok beats this flower market for its popularity among tourists. The bustling atmosphere, colorful flowers, fruits, and vegetables in piles and bundles, carts and wagons loaded with produces make great photo opportunities. If you’re keen on learning about Thai herbs and spices, this is a place to be. You’ll find lots of flower garlands made with Jasmine buds and roses. These garlands are used in Thai ceremonies and offered to Buddha and spirits. The market opens 24 hours. But is less busy during the day. Lively authentic trading actions take place at night, particularly between midnight and 4am, making the evening the best hours for a visit.
5. Eat or drink with a Wat Arun Temple view
You may have visited this Bangkok’s top attraction already during the day. Do not miss seeing it at night! The temple starts to be lit up at twilight. A golden giant pagoda against an orange sky? You got it. From 7pm – 9pm, the river is lit by parades of dinner cruise ships. By this time, the temple glows in a pitch black sky. Our advise is to take your spot between 5.30 and 8pm.
Mock-tails at Eagle Nest Bar
Opposite to Wat Arun, across the Chao Phraya river, there are several bars and restaurants where you can get the views. Most of these are located in low-rise hotels. At Arun Residence, The Deck Restaurant offering European, steak, and Thai cuisine, is a cozy place located at the hotel’s ground floor. If you haven’t had enough of the view, you can continue to watch it with a drink on the 4th floor at Amorosa Bar. The bar opens from 5pm to midnight.
View ARUN Restaurant & Bar
For rooftop places with the views, you have a few options. View ARUN Restaurant & Bar at ARUN Riverside Hotel offers traditional Thai and fusion dishes. At Eagle Nest at Sala Arun Hotel, you will have both Wat Arun and Wat Pho views as the bar is 360 degree open. Sala Rattanakosin Hotel has an air-conditioning restaurant (Thai, European) on the second floor and a bar at the rooftop.
6. Take a motorbike food tour
A motorbike is another great way to explore backstreets of Bangkok and visit off-tourist-radar neighbourhoods. Motorbike Food Adventure & Amazing Night Market is currently Bangkok’s only food tour with transportation being provided by motorbike. By saying motorbike, it’s actually a scooter. Whizzing through Bangkok on a scooter is absolutely fun and thrilling. It’s totally safe too as the drivers are professionals with life-time experience in the city’s traffic.
Tourists eating Thai hot pot on Motorbike Food Adventure & Amazing Night Market
The tour includes 4 stops for main dishes, snacks along the way, and a drink at a bar at the end of the tour. You will be eating from street vendors and in restaurants, tasting local people’s favourite treats like Thai hot pot, chicken egg noodle in curry, and grilled fish or seafood. Your last stop is Train Market at Ratchada, Bangkok’s most popular vintage night market where you have a drink at a rooftop bar. The tour is paced out perfectly with a little bit of sightseeing where you can learn about Thai culture and give your stomach a digestion break. Most travelers who have gone on the tour give it 10 out of 10.
7. Watch a show
CALYPSO BANGKOK
You can watch several kinds of shows in Bangkok at night, be it cultural, light & sound, and transgender shows. We advise you reserve a ticket online for any of them. At Joe Louis Theatre, you can watch traditional Thai puppet shows, which are rare these days. The show starts at 7.30pm, lasts an hour, and includes puppetry and traditional Thai dances. The puppet show tells a story of Ramakien, Thailand’s national epic derived from the India’s version called Ramayana.
Joe Louise Theatre puppet show
At Asiatique the Riverfront where the Joe Louis Theatre is located, you will also find Calypso Cabaret Show. The transgender show start at 7.30pm and 9pm, each lasting an hour and 10 minutes. You will be amazed by these beautiful dancers and elaborate costumes. Nothing is obscene. The show is good for children too.
Siam Niramit offers an extravaganza light and sound show about Thai culture and history. The show starts at 8pm daily and lasts 80 minutes. You can go as early as 5pm to enjoy pre-show activities like photo booths, Thai village exhibitions, and Thai dances. You can also buy a buffet dinner there.
8. Rooftop bars
Vertigo & Moon Bar
If you’re planning to have a drink and unwind in the evening, why not go to a bar where you can enjoy Bangkok’s cityscape and skyline? The most famous one in Bangkok is Sky Bar Bangkok on the 64th floor of lebua Hotel. Featured in the movie The Hangover Part II (2011), the bar offers a panoramic view of Bangkok and the Chao Phraya river. Located in the same neighborhood but not as high (61st floor) is Banyan Tree Hotel’s Vertigo & Moon Bar. It’s smaller and slightly less expensive compared to Sky Bar Bangkok. You’ll need to shell out about 500 THB (not including VAT and service charge) for a cocktail. Remember you’re paying for the views.
Apart from the 2 classic options above, plenty of 5-star hotels in Bangkok offer rooftop bars. Octave, 45th floor of Bangkok Marriot Hotel Sukhumvit is in the upscale neighborhood of Thong Lo and is home to live DJs. Hi-So, 29th floor at SO Sofitel Bangkok, overlooks the green Lumphini Park and sees trendy crowds. Red Sky Bar, 56th floor of the Centara Grand at CentralWorld, also boasts 360-degree views of the city.
9. Take a bicycle tour
Bangkok Night Bike Tour by Bangkok Bike Adventure
Taking a bicycle tour in Bangkok at night makes so much sense. The weather is cooler, the traffic is lighter, and there is no crowds at the attractions you’re visiting. Several bicycle tour operators offer programs at night in Bangkok Old City. The area becomes 10 times prettier than the day as its historical attractions are illuminated.
The Bangkok’s Popular Night Bike Tour by Grasshopper Adventures takes 4 hours, starting at 6pm. You will be visiting Wat Arun Temple, Pak Khlong Market Flower Market, and Wat Pho Temple. Co by Night by Co Van Kessel, 3 hours, departing at 6pm, visits Chinatown, the flower market, and the temples around the Grand Palace. Bangkok Night Bike Tour by Bangkok Bike Adventure, 4 hours, starting at 4.30pm, takes you to Santa Cruz Church, Wat Arun, a rooftop bar, Wat Pho, the flower market, and Chinatown.
10. Chao Phraya river cruise
Chao Phraya Princess Cruise
A cruise on the Chao Phraya river and dinner onboard is a perfect way to end an evening in Bangkok. Imagine enjoying delicious treats, evening breezes, and the river banks adorned with illuminated historical sites and buildings. There are usually two types of river dinner cruises: modern cruises with international buffet dinner seating hundreds of people, and small antique boats with course dinners, which are more exclusive. Most onboard entertainments are classical Thai dances and music bands. The modern ones may have DJs or contemporary dance shows.
Alangka Cruise buffet dinner
Most cruises last 2 hours and follow the same route. For the modern cruises, among the best recommended are Chao Phraya Princess Cruise, Alangka Cruise, and Meridian Cruise. Prices range between 1,000 THB to 1,500 THB (2020). For the antique boats, we recommend Loy Nava, Apsara by Banyan Tree Hotel, and Supanniga. All of them serve delectable Thai cuisine with vegetarian options.
