How To Read A Thai Address

One of the offset things that many tourists and expats realize when they come up to Thailand is that the Thai street addresses seem to make no sense. Actually, it does brand sense just it is very different from the style we think of street addresses back in our countries so it takes a picayune getting used to.

For instance, permit’southward take a wait at a typical Thai street address. Hither’s the address for Cabbages and Condoms, the very popular Thai eating place in Bangkok.

10 Sukhumvit
Soi 12
Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110

It’s easy to assume that C&C is on Sukhumvit only it’southward not. It’south on a side street called a “Soi”.

In Thailand the major roads (besides called Thanons or ถนน in Thai script) are used to give you a reference point and the smaller streets (also called Sois or ซอย in Thai script) that branch off from the major roads are considered sort of similar sub-roads of the major route.

Recently some maps accept started to refer to sois as alleys. Every bit y’all tin run into in this screen shot from Google Maps, they refer to each soi every bit an alley (interestingly, they refer to Soi xi as Soi eleven simply the other sois as “Alley”).

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An interesting tidbit near Thai street addresses is that all even numbered sois will be on the same side of the main road (thanon) and all odd numbered sois will exist on the reverse side of the road. Simply, the role that messes people upward a fleck is that the odd and even sois co-operative off at unlike points then if you find yourself on Sukhumvit Soi 22, that does non mean that Sukhumvit Soi 21 or Soi 23 are almost y’all. The closest odd numbered Soi about Soi 22 is Soi 29. And it’southward quite a hike (particularly during the hot or rainy seasons) from Soi 22 to Soi 21 and then make certain yous know which side of the thanon your destination is on.

[Click the Photo to Enlarge]

Another confusing attribute of soi numbering the fact that sometimes you may find multiple sois with what look to be aforementioned same number. As you can encounter in the map below, at that place is a Soi 7 and a Soi 7/one.

Thai Street Addresses . . . Continued

And then all of that just gets you lot past the first two sections of Thai street addresses. What virtually Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110?

Khlong Toei (too Romanized as Khlong Toey, คลองเตย in Thai script) is the Amphoe (also Romanized as Amphur) which is more or less a district. Bangkok is the city but information technology is also the Changwat or Province.

1 way to sympathize this role of Thai street addresses might be to think about it in terms of a urban center like New York City, which in this example would be the Changwat or Province. Then at that place’s Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island which would be similar an Amphur or districts.

The final part of the Thai street address is the postal lawmaking: 10110. This is similar to postal codes anywhere else effectually the world.

Advanced Thai Street Addresses

Everything we’ve covered so far should get you lot around Thai street addresses in a big city similar Bangkok. Simply what almost the more than rural areas of Thailand?

Thai street addresses typically follow the below pattern:

Plot/Business firm number, Village
Thanon/Road
Tambon/Subdistrict, Amphoe/District
Changwat/Province Postal Code
THAILAND

The Plot/Firm number is normally expressed something like 11/2. That means that the house sits on plot 11 and is designated every bit the second house on the plot.

The Village, likewise referred to in Thai as the Muban or Moo, is a sub-partitioning within that tambon.

The Thanon or road would follow the same rules as discussed in a higher place including having sois.

The Tambon and Amphoe are the sub-commune and commune.

The Changwat would be the Province followed by the postal code.

And, of course, if sending mail from overseas, always include the state, Thailand.

Here’south an example taken from Wikipedia

7/22 Moo 5
Soi Ta-ied (Soi Chaofa 50), Chaofa West Route
Chalong
Phuket 83130
Thailand

This Thai address could be read:

Plot 7, Business firm 22, Muban 5

Thanon Chaofa West Road, Soi 50 (Soi Ta-ied might be an alternate proper noun used instead of fifty much like Soi Nana often replaces Soi 4 in Thai street addresses).

District Chalong (there seems to be no sub-commune)

Province Phuket

Postal code 83130

Country Thailand