Bluntly speaking, Huai Khwang, which has been dubbed a new Chinatown, is not really a Chinatown in the truest sense of the word -- not another Yaowarat for sure. The 400-metre strip along Pracha Rat Bamphen Road at best represents the dynamic and raw passion of new Chinese entrepreneurs, wanting to make money from millions of Chinese tourists through social media. New Chinese restaurants with dishes from Yunnan and Guangxi, especially the spicy mala hotpot as well as Chinese-style coffee shops, give this small business district the facade of a Chinatown.
Upon close scrutiny, those numerous shops adorned with huge Chinese characters and ads are the front offices for online Chinese companies or traders -- pure and simple. They are selling Thai products, especially rubber pillows, cosmetics and esoteric items to Chinese buyers who are visiting Thailand. Questions are being asked: Why Huai Khwang? Why pillows?
Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs.
