Leng Buai Ia Shrine

One of the larger and more open Chinese shrines in Bangkok, you'll not find many other travellers here. This Taoist temple has a large roof with plenty of smaller shrines. As typical in Chinese shrines, the roof features two dragons that play with a pearl. The building next to the temple features a large shrine, which just like the Thien Fa Foundation, is dedicated to Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.

As with the other foundations and medical centres in the area, this charity also has an impressive shrine known as the Guang Dong Shrine (ปูชนียสถานมณฑลกวางตุ้ง). This 130-year old shrine was built in a traditional Chinese style and used to be a meeting place of overseas Chinese from the Guangdong region in China. It was built mostly with construction materials and Buddha images from their homeland.

On the list of every Yaowarat visitor, you will be amazed by the impressive multi-tiered gateway when you enter the temple. It is a Mahayana Buddhist temple, the school of Buddhism followed by most Chinese, and it has mixed with other Chinese practices like Confucianism and Taoism. It was built in 1871 in the traditional Teochew architectural style. There are plenty of statues and shrines inside. Most interesting is the part right after the second entrance. Four golden statues will greet you, each with a symbolic object: a parasol, a pagoda, a snake's head, and a mandolin. It is one of Chinatown's liveliest temples with many Thai-Chinese praying and burning incense.

Chinatown is one of Bangkok's oldest districts and about 14% of the buildings have been designated as historical landmarks. Tang To Kang is one of them, an interesting colonial-style building and actually the oldest gold shop of Bangkok (which is difficult to believe now with so many gold shops scattered over the district). If you want to see the gold museum, you have to make an appointment two days ahead.

Opposite the Tang To Kang gold shop, and quite similar to it, the Bangkok Bank Building is one of Bangkok's oldest commercial buildings. The exterior is an example of classic early Rattanakosin-style with clear European influences. The interior is heavy with hardwood panelling.

A short walk from the much-visited Wat Mangkon Kamalawat is Wat Kanikapon, built in the late 19th century. Certainly off the beaten path, if it is known by travellers, then it is because the temple was founded by a brothel owner. The dark green tiles decorate that the window frames bear resemblance to the green curtains used in the brothels that once thrived in Yaowarat (in Thailand, green was used to designate brothels in a similar way as red was used to designate brothels in the West). Next to the ubosot in a smaller viharn housing a Western-looking Buddha image.