Phrom Phong is one of Bangkok’s most popular areas, sitting right in the middle of the Sukhumvit line, just one Skytrain stop from Asok, the city’s central transport hub. It doesn’t really have any historical landmarks, but it makes a very comfortable base for your Bangkok holiday. So what are the best things to do in Phrom Phong, and is the area actually worth visiting?
I live one stop away and end up here a couple of times a week, usually for a massage, a quick run to IKEA or dinner in one of the Japanese places tucked behind EmQuartier. If you asked me what Phrom Phong is known for, I’d say shopping malls, Japanese food, spas and green space. And if you want a base that’s easy, walkable and well connected rather than historic, it’s a really good choice.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the best things to do in Phrom Phong, where I eat and drink when I’m in the area, the spas I keep going back to, and everything else you need to know before you visit.
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Short on Time? Here’s My Quick Phrom Phong Overview
| Why visit | For shopping, Japanese food and some of the best spas and onsens in Bangkok, or as an easy, walkable base for your stay |
| How to get there | BTS Sukhumvit Line to Phrom Phong station |
| Where to eat | Masu Maki & Sushi Bar for sushi, Miso Ramen Chikura for ramen, the EmSphere food court for everything else |
| Where to drink coffee and matcha | MTCH Sukhumvit 23, The Matcha Tokyo, Beans Coffee Roasters, AVANTCHA Tea & Cocktail Bar |
| Best things to do | Explore the three EM District malls, take a break in Benjasiri Park, book an onsen at Yunomori, surf at Flow House, drink cocktails on Soi 24 |
| Where to stay | $$$ Marriott Marquis Queens Park |
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As someone who lives in Bangkok, I head to Phrom Phong whenever I need to buy stuff, crave sushi or fancy a quick walk in the park. The area is sometimes called “Small Japan”, mainly because of the large Japanese expat community living here, so it’s only natural that you’ll find onsen spas, Japanese bakeries and izakayas all over the neighbourhood, with the highest concentration on Soi 33 and Soi 31.
It’s a fairly modern area of high-rise condominiums, small cafés, and beauty salons. It’s busy in general, Soi 39 and Soi 22 are the busiest of all, but there are plenty of quieter side streets too.
I honestly think this is one of the best areas to base yourself during your stay in Bangkok. You have the BTS Skytrain right there at Phrom Phong station, and you’re only one stop or a 12-minute walk from Asok, which connects to Sukhumvit MRT, so from here you can easily reach other parts of the city like Silom, the Old Town, Chinatown or Talat Phlu across the river.
You’ll enjoy Phrom Phong if you want to be well connected and centre your stay around spas, Japanese food and shopping.
Plan your Thailand trip
A few things worth sorting early
How to Get to and Around Phrom Phong
Getting here is easy, take the Sukhumvit Line straight to Phrom Phong station and it drops you right at the EM District, which consists of Emporium, EmQuartier and EmSphere. All three malls are connected by skywalks, so there’s no need to run across the busy road.
Traffic on Sukhumvit is genuinely bad, so take the BTS whenever you can and save the taxi for places the Skytrain doesn’t reach.
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What To Do In Phrom Phong: What I Actually Recommend
Shop at the EM District: Emporium, EmQuartier & EmSphere
Bangkok is a top destination for shopping, and as a local, the one place I’d send you to is the EM District. These three malls anchor the entire neighbourhood, they’re connected by skywalk and they’re all within a couple of steps of the BTS exit.
Emporium and EmQuartier sell high-end fashion alongside the more familiar high-street names like H&M, Uniqlo and Zara, sports brands such as Alo and Lululemon, and a good number of Thai labels if you’d rather take home something you can’t buy back home. They both have food courts as well as Gourmet Market supermarkets, which are a little more upmarket but also a great source of edible souvenirs.
The most interesting one, from my point of view, is EmSphere, which only opened in December 2023. It has six floors and very unusual interiors, and it’s home to Thailand’s first city-centre IKEA, the Tribe beach club with a pool, the Butterbear Café, a floor selling the newest luxury cars, and a lower floor where you’ll find plenty of really good food options, from Gordon Ramsay to places serving classic Thai dishes.
There’s also a hidden hip-hop club called WHAT’S HAPPENED? on the fifth floor. This mall is truly something you’ll hardly encounter anywhere else in the world, and I’d recommend coming here just to have a look around.
Shop vintage clothes, Thai natural cosmetics and beautiful homeware
Apart from the malls, there are a few other shops I’d like to mention. My favourite store for natural, chemical-free cosmetics is Soap Opera Bangkok, which makes lovely soaps with all kinds of ingredients, including Thai ones, as well as body oils, bath salts, deodorants and hair products.
Phrom Phong is also home to a few vintage and second-hand stores where you can find really nice pieces for as little as $1.20, and the two worth your time are Tokyo Joe Bkk and Treasure Factory.
My third tip is a place called Friend Friend, which sells beautiful daily essentials for your home and kitchen and also has a cute little food section, a couple of cafés and a restaurant serving organic wines. The whole space is lovely and very well designed. It’s actually inside Emporium but tucked away right at the back, and I believe you can also enter from the park side.
Take a break at Benjasiri Park
Right next to Emporium, Benjasiri Park is the neighbourhood’s one real green space. It’s small, but it’s lovely for a break from the malls if you need one, with an outdoor gym and plenty of people running or lying about on the grass.
It gets quite busy, especially at weekends, but you’ll always find a spot. If you’re looking for a park where you can walk for hours, head to Asok and visit Benjakitti Forest Park instead.
Admire art at SAC Gallery
This little art gallery is free to enter and sits about a 20-minute walk from the Skytrain station, so I’d recommend checking their website before you go to see whether the current exhibition is of interest to you. Just FYI, they’re currently closed until the 4th of September.
Eat ramen, sushi and all things Japanese
As I’ve already mentioned, Phrom Phong is packed with ramen spots, sushi restaurants and little Japanese bakeries. For baked goods, check out Custard Nakamura, which is tasty and super affordable, and I also enjoyed the pastries at My Bakery Yoshida, which has been going since 1997.
For sushi and ramen I’d point you to Masu Maki & Sushi Bar and Miso Ramen Chikura. I recently tried a Highball for the first time too, a Japanese drink of whisky mixed with soda, and I found it refreshing and easy to drink even though I don’t normally like whisky on its own.
For more restaurant ideas, head to Soi 33.
Have a drink at a cocktail bar
If you’re not sure what to do in Phrom Phong in the evening, I’d head to Soi 24 and visit one of the many cocktail bars there. My favourite is Sugar Ray, You’ve Just Been Poisoned (yes, that’s really the name), where the interior is beautiful, there’s a DJ and the signature cocktail menu is genuinely fun and unlike anywhere else. You can of course ask for classics or anything else you fancy, and everything I’ve had here has been delicious (Note: The Spicy Margarita was my favourite.)
Go surfing
If you’re not into shopping and want something more active, head to Soi 26 and visit Flow House Bangkok, an indoor artificial surf venue with a world-class simulated wave system that works just as well for beginners trying surfing for the first time as it does for experienced riders. You can book directly through their website.
Indulge in matcha
As Phrom Phong is Bangkok’s “little Japan”, you can expect plenty of matcha cafés in the neighbourhood. I recently visited MTCH on Sukhumvit 23, which has a great selection of matcha as well as delicious desserts, and inside the malls you’ll find The Matcha Tokyo, which also sells matcha powder, ice cream and sweets. AVANTCHA Tea & Cocktail Bar, sitting between Phrom Phong and Thonglor, is very highly rated too.
Relax at onsen and Spa
This is where Phrom Phong pulls ahead of Thonglor and Ekkamai, because there’s a real concentration of good spas and onsens here. These are the ones I’d recommend:
- Yunomori Onsen & Spa (Sukhumvit 26) — Japanese-style baths, hot and cold pools, plus massage and spa treatments if you want to make an afternoon of it. Book ahead, because it isn’t a walk-in-and-hope kind of place at weekends.
- Makkha Health & Spa (Soi 33) — one of several branches across the city, with bright, relaxing interiors and everything from body scrubs and Thai massage to oil massage and full packages that can stretch to four hours.
- Once Upon a Thai Spa — a beautiful spa offering 90 to 150-minute treatments using local ingredients sourced mainly from northern Thailand.
Eat at the food courts
There are restaurants in Phrom Phong literally every few steps, but if you’re unsure where to go, walk into any of the three malls, find the lowest floor and you’ll be fine.
The food courts here are nothing like the ones in Europe, where most of the outlets sell junk food. In Bangkok they’re a foodie paradise, with stalls serving Thai dishes, dim sum, Korean barbecue, shabu, katsu, curries and ramen, as well as desserts. If I had to choose one, I’d go to EmSphere, which I think has the best selection.
For dessert, stop at Yolk for an egg tart and have a cup of coffee at Beans Coffee Roasters.
Phrom Phong vs Thonglor vs Ekkamai
If you’re deciding between the three stops on this stretch of the BTS, here’s my quick summary:
- Phrom Phong is great for a shopping-and-spa day
- Thonglor is for a fancy bars-and-restaurants evening
- Ekkamai is the calmest, most local and best-value of the three
Read my full Thonglor guide and Ekkamai guide if you’re weighing up where to spend your day or evening.
Where to stay in Phrom Phong
If I had to choose where to stay in Phrom Phong, I’d pick a hotel close to the Skytrain, and if you like an early morning walk or run, I’d narrow that down to one of the hotels surrounding Benjasiri Park.
If on the other hand you’d rather be further from the main road and don’t mind a 15-minute walk to the BTS, I’d choose The Public House, which has stunning interiors, a rooftop pool and plenty of bakeries, beauty salons and restaurants nearby.
The best hotels in Phrom Phong, in my opinion
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My tips for visiting Phrom Phong
- Download the MuvMi app for getting around by electric tuk-tuk.
- Book spa treatments ahead at weekends, because the good ones get busy.
- The EM District malls are open from 10am to 10pm, and the best time to go is between 10am and midday, when they’re at their emptiest. After lunch they get too busy, especially at weekends.
- If you’re food shopping at Gourmet Market, make sure you have data on your phone, as they’ll ask you to scan a code at the till to get the discount.
FAQ about Phrom Phong Bangkok
Is Phrom Phong a good area in Bangkok?
Yes, Phrom Phong is a comfortable area to stay in Bangkok, and it truly has everything, from bakeries selling sourdough to high-quality hospitals, spas, shopping malls and plenty of stunning cafés that are ideal for brunch or an afternoon coffee. The area right around the BTS gets quite busy, so if you want a more peaceful stay, look for somewhere near the park or a little further down the sois.
What is the best way to get around Phrom Phong?
The best way to get to and from Phrom Phong from other parts of the city is the BTS. To get around the neighbourhood itself I usually walk, even though there aren’t pavements everywhere, or I use the tuk-tuk service I order through the MuvMi app.
Is Phrom Phong safe?
I feel very safe walking around the area on my own, even after 10pm. In my opinion the most dangerous part is crossing the roads, as the traffic is very heavy, and I’d keep an eye on my bag in the busiest spots, although pickpocketing here is rare.
Is Phrom Phong a walkable area?
Yes, it’s more walkable than most other parts of the city. I walk here often and it’s fine, although some stretches don’t have pavements, so you do have to watch out for the traffic.
Is Phrom Phong worth visiting as a tourist?
Phrom Phong is worth visiting if you’re interested in shopping, drinking high-quality matcha, sampling Japanese food and exploring some of the best spas in the city.
How far is Phrom Phong from the airport?
It’s about a 35-minute drive from Suvarnabhumi Airport, or 45 minutes if you take the BTS to Phaya Thai and continue on the Airport Rail Link. Don Mueang Airport is about a 40-minute drive, depending on traffic.
Final Thoughts on Phrom Phong
To sum it up, Phrom Phong won’t give you the traditional Bangkok of temples, markets and old wooden shophouses. What you get instead is a neighbourhood that’s lively without being exhausting, where you eat well, sleep well and are never more than a few minutes from a BTS station, and after a long day in the heat, I think that’s what matters most.
Check Out My Other Bangkok Guides
- Best Restaurants in Sukhumvit Bangkok: Where I Actually Eat
- Things to Do in Sukhumvit Bangkok: My Guide + 2 Day Itinerary
- Best Things to Do in Bangkok: My Favourite Sights, Markets & Hidden Gems
- Bangkok 3 Day Itinerary: A Realistic First-Time Route + My Tips
- One Day in Bangkok: What I’d Actually Do in 24 Hours
