Understand
Eastern Bangkok almost stands synonymous to Ramkhamhaeng Road, a major traffic artery that gets jammed every morning and evening with daily commuters working in downtown. Rising property values in Sukhumvit has made this area more interesting to foreign expatriates in recent years, although seeing a farang is still a rare occurrence. With a total length of 18 kilometers, Ramkhamhaeng Road starts at Phetchaburi Road near Sukhumvit and ends far in the northeast at the junction with Suwinthawong Road in the neighbourhood Min Buri.
The lower southwestern part is known as Hua Mak, a neighbourhood completely dominated by Ramkhamhaeng University. "RU", as it is commonly known, was opened in 1971 as Thailand's first open-admission university. It has an astonishing amount of students â official statistics state about half a million, almost all of them undergraduates. The university gave the neighbourhood its lively appearance, with many students shopping and dining at The Mall Ramkhamhaeng. Rajamangala Stadium can also be found here. Completed in 1998, it played an important role in the 1998 Asian Games and the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. It is also used as the current stadium of Thailand's national football team.
The junction with Srinagarindra Road is known as Lam Sali intersection. Go north from here and you'll stumble at Lat Phrao Road, which marks the beginning of a neighbourhood known as Bang Kapi. It is actually quite similar to Hua Mak, as everything still looks like a big grey mass of concrete, but students are outrun here by daily commuters. The Mall Bangkapi stole the hearts of the locals, and Thais flock to it in big numbers. For foreigners, there is actually not that much to do. Attractions are few and far off, and the shopping malls are lacking compared to those in other districts. It can easily be skipped on any Bangkok itinerary, but then you miss out on seeing where and how most of the locals live.
You would almost forget that nearly all foreign visitors to Thailand land here at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the far east of the district. Development in eastern Bangkok has been relatively slow, and it is expected that the recent construction of the airport will be the motor for more urban development in the area. Until now, this has at least been true for the hotel business, with many new hotels constructed at Lat Krabang Road trying to make a buck out of transferring passengers.
