Silom

Skyscrapers, slick condos and seedy shows
Popular plate: Head down Silom Road away from Rama IV Road and stop at one of the stalls selling delicious mango sticky rice.

Word to the wise: As one of Bangkok's most-traversed areas, Silom is served by both the Skytrain and MRT, making it easy to get here and back.
The city's sky-scraping financial centre, Silom spends its days welcoming bankers and office workers into its steely open arms and its nights escorting them around seedy backstreets. Home to most of Thailand's banks, insurance companies, and big law firms, Silom also boasts gravity-defying luxury hotels and sparkling high-rises.

By night, the area splits into two very distinctive party personas, with the infamously sleazy Patpong at one end of the spectrum and high-class rooftop bars and restaurants at the other. Offices, shops, and restaurants front Silom Road—which incidentally hosts a wild Songkran (Thai New Year) party every April—while parallel Sathon Road is home to many of Bangkok's embassies and high-end hotels. If all the looking skywards is starting to hurt your neck, you'll be pleased to know there's also a little ground-level respite in the form of leafy Lumphini Park, which joins the two arteries together.