Gallery: Sukhumvit's day/night transformations
The streets of Bangkok's most famous thoroughfare are certainly multi-purpose. Where else would you find a Thai restaurant that turns into a transsexual beauty parlor at night?
One of the marvelous things about Bangkok is its daily transformations. Take Sukhumvit Road, for example, one of the city's longest, busiest and most diverse thoroughfares.
Throngs of street vendors rotate in an endless procession of cooked food stalls, fresh fruit carts, souvenirs and clothing, while shops that provide one service during the day switch things up to cater to a totally different market by night. Here are just a few of the nightly changes we’ve seen take place near Sukhumvit Road.
Simple train track by day, Thai-style Karaoke bar with bar girls by night.
Afternoon: Parking lot/car care center. Night: Best Thai food available on Sukhumvit Soi 1.
Just another city Burger King during the day. But at night, one of Bangkok’s famous VW Van ‘bars’ has moved in for business, giving the neighborhood a uniquely Bangkok feel.
During the day, this shop is a tiny Thai restaurant. At night, it’s a beauty salon open from 6pm to 3am, mostly taking care of 'katoeys' -- ladyboys.
By day, just another Bangkok bus stop on Sukhumvit Road. At night, the streets are littered with trash as the area fills with people heading out for a night in Nana, one of Bangkok’s most notorious nightlife zones.
During the day, this taxi driver ferries passengers around in his oddly styled taxi. At night, he gives up his day job to be a luk thung singer in a Thai cabaret.
This Sukhumvit corner is empty by day, but once the sun sets food vendors have moved in to capitalize on the nightly foot traffic.
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