Why should you go there and how do you do it right?

Come for the food alone. Yaowarat Road is a pedestrian zone from Thursday to Sunday afternoons, and in the evenings, grilled seafood, noodles, and Chinese-Thai dishes are prepared right before your eyes—at prices that make the wait worthwhile. There are also clothes, jewelry, and souvenirs, as well as a massage parlor if you'd like to treat yourself. But the wok stalls are the real reason to visit.

A word of caution regarding pedestrian traffic: The restaurants stretch across the entire pedestrian zone, so you have to weave along the sidewalk, surrounded by traffic. My tip: Instead, head into the alleys branching off Yaowarat Street. It's safer, less crowded, and frankly, there's more to see. This is Bangkok's old city – densely built and somewhat chaotic, and it hasn't been tidied up for anyone. That's precisely what makes it so charming.

Go in the evening. Not much happens before nightfall, and the crowds are simply part of the experience.