Where To Stay In Bangkok With Family 2024 – 5 Best Areas & Alternatives

Home » Where To Stay In Bangkok With Family 2024 – 5 Best Areas & Alternatives

The best areas to stay in Bangkok with family are Riverside, Lower Sukhumvit and Phaya Thai.

Bangkok is a chaotic city and many tourists either love it or hate it, there is often no in-between.

Due to the crowds, Bangkok is not the perfect destination for a quiet holiday, but it offers a lot of activities that are suitable for young and old.

The three recommended areas that we discuss in this article are relatively quiet and one of these areas, Lower Sukhumvit, offers spacious hotels at a good price.

There are some areas that you have as a family when travelling with older relatives that you absolutely want to avoid, such as Nana, Khao San Road and Chinatown, although the latter two areas are fun to explore with your family (not to stay).

As you can see, you have quite some options and it’s quite an overwhelming answer to your question about where to stay in Bangkok with family.

So, in this article, we cover everything you should know on choosing the right area to stay in Bangkok with your family, with factors kept in mind such as noise pollution, access to public transportation, family-friendly food areas, and facilities to entertain the kids.

If you want to go straight to the recommendations, tap on the following button. Or simply continue reading.

Bangkok is a fantastic destination for families as it offers a great mix of cultural richness, modern amenities, and family-friendly attractions.

The city is a treasure trove of cultural experiences.

You can explore historic temples like Wat Arun and the Grand Palace to get a glimpse of Thailand’s rich heritage.

There are several modern attractions to discover too that most definitely will be a memorable experience for the younger ones, including the Mahanakhon Skywalk, SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean World, and Siam Amazing Park.

In the evening, visit a night market for some food exploration or enjoy the magnificent show at Siam Niramit.

Bangkok is also known for street food. While a food tour might be a great experience for the whole family too, we know that kids often are picky eaters.

Luckily, Bangkok has an abundance of international food chains.

These are often located in one of the many modern shopping malls.

You can also find plenty of family-friendly Thai food chains in these malls.

And then there are all the common attractions like Wat Pho, Wat Saket, Chatuchak Weekend Market and so much more.

A fun way to explore these attractions is to use Bangkok’s water transport, something many tourists overlook.

But with so many different things to offer, it might be a bit challenging to pick the right area that suits your needs.

So, we’ve come up with a list of recommended areas to make things easier.

Each of the recommended areas comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, which are summarized after each paragraph.

With that being said, let’s jump straight to our recommendation.

Where to stay in Bangkok with family? Keep reading!

Overview of best areas to stay in Bangkok with family

Below, you find a table with an overview of all the recommended areas along with a short explanation of why that area is so good for families.

You can tap on one of the green links to go immediately to that recommended area, or just continue reading the article.

Best areas to stay in Bangkok with family	What’s so special about the area?
1. Riverside	Relatively quiet area, great connection to public transport, amazing hotels, located centrally near the city highlights.
2. Lower Sukhumvit	Most value for money, great access to public transport, but no highlights nearby.
3. Phaya Thai	Located centrally, direct connection to BTS and Airport Rail Link, fair-priced hotels.
4. Chit Lom	Luxury area, among the best hotels in the city, great access to public transport, but pricy.
5. Siam	Located extremely well, great access to public transport and malls, great base to explore the city, but extremely busy.

How to get around in Bangkok with family?

Bangkok is one big chaotic city and traffic is a pain in the butt. It’s as simple as that. And many of the main attractions are located more towards the river in the older parts of Bangkok.

The easiest way to travel around in Bangkok is by either taking the BTS or the MRT.

The BTS is the SkyTrain, an elevated railway system. There are two lines, namely the Sukhumvit line and the Silom line.

While the BTS is by far the easiest way to travel fast “over” the city, it doesn’t cover major attractions, like The Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Chinatown.

For that, you need to use the MRT.

The MRT is the metro and also has two lines.

In recent years, the lines were extended and nowadays, even the Grand Palace has basically its own MRT Station.

There are two important intersections for tourists where you can switch between the MRT and the BTS, namely at Asoke (Sukhumvit) and Silom.

Every time you travel within Bangkok with your family, either take the MRT or the BTS. At least to travel the largest part of the travel.

After the train ride, you can always hail a taxi, but most of the time, that’s not needed.

Although the iconic tuk-tuks look tempting, as a family, avoid this type of transport at all costs. It’s unsafe and you inhale loads of toxic fumes.

When travelling from the Suvarnabhumi Airport to the city center, you can use the Airport Rail Link, which is a BTS Line that connects the airport to the city center.

Alternatively, you can take a taxi to get to the hotel, but keep in mind that traffic in Bangkok is simply horrible.

What is the best time of the year to visit Bangkok with family?

The best time to visit Bangkok with family is during the cool and dry season, which typically occurs from November to February.

The weather during these months is relatively cooler and more comfortable compared to the hot and humid seasons.

This makes outdoor activities more enjoyable for both adults and children.

The cool season experiences lower rainfall, reducing the chances of your plans being disrupted by heavy rains.

If you are traveling with school-aged children, the cool season aligns with many school holidays, making it easier to plan a family vacation without disrupting the school calendar.

Whether you’re visiting cultural sites, exploring parks, or enjoying family-friendly attractions, the mild weather makes it more comfortable for sightseeing and outdoor activities.

From March until June, the so-called Hot Season arrives and temperatures rise to uncomfortable levels. Now, those months are still popular but sightseeing is tougher than usual.

The period after the Hot Season is Rainy Season. In the beginning, you won’t notice much extra rain, but right in the middle of the Rainy Season, it’s quite common that Bangkok’s city center gets flooded for several hours due to heavy rainfall.

During these seasons, people still travel to Thailand and also visit Bangkok, however, it’s not the ideal time of the year to visit this impressive city.

The best areas to stay in Bangkok with family are:

1. Riverside (Sathorn, partly Silom)

Ideally, you want to stay in Bangkok with family in a relatively quiet area, which is extremely difficult in a city like Bangkok, and with access to public transport in order to move around as easily as possible in Thailand’s capital.

A general rule of thumb is that the closer you are located to the river, the quieter the area can be.

The hotels near the river offer plenty of comfort for the whole family and are not located near the major nightlife areas, which means that it mainly attracts couples and families.

But the issue you get when staying right next to the river is the lack of access to public transport, ideally SkyTrain and metro.

When you’re staying near the metro or the Skytrain, you can easily travel around the city without much hassle.

In Bangkok, not all major attractions are located in the same area, which means no matter what, you always have to travel quite a bit.

Therefore you should consider staying closer to Silom, where you can also have great access to Lumphini Park, Bangkok’s largest park and great to visit with family.

When you’re staying closer to Silom, you have access to both the Skytrain and the metro, which is perfect.

With the new extension of the metro line, Silom has turned into one of the best places to stay as you can easily visit Bangkok’s highlights by public transport.

The downside of Silom, in general, is the lack of shopping malls similar to the ones in Sukhumvit with excellent dining facilities.

There are many great restaurants to be found in Silom, but when you travel with a family, shopping malls can offer plenty of variety that suits the taste buds of every family member.

In this area, there are many hotels and other accommodations to be found in several different price classes, simply because this is such a popular area to stay.

*Note: if you pick a hotel near the Riverside, almost all hotels offer a tuk-tuk service that brings you from the hotel to the nearest BTS Station.

Pros:

– Relatively quiet.

– Plenty of hotels and accommodations to be found for families.

– Good connection to public transport.

Cons:

– No shopping malls like in Sukhumvit.

– Staying near the River eliminates direct access to public transport (tuk-tuk service available, though)

– A popular area to stay in, so prices are relatively more expensive than in other areas.

Some of the best hotels to stay in Bangkok with family in this particular area are visually listed below:

Agoda is part of Booking.com, and often offers significantly cheaper options compared to its competitors. You’ll get the same service that you are used to at Booking.com, but you simply pay less.

2. Lower Sukhumvit

With so many new hotels built along with many other improvements, over the last few years, Lower Sukhumvit has become an ideal place to stay in Bangkok with family.

With direct access to the SkyTrain, you can easily move around the city while enjoying a comfortable, spacious accommodation that often has a much better price than other areas in the city.

Although Sukhumvit Road itself is insanely busy during day time, you can find relatively quiet hotels in alleys connected to this road, at places such as Phra Khanong and On Nut.

Both Phra Khanong and On Nut are located near Sukhumvit Soi 77, which is the road to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Depending on the traffic on the road, you usually can be at Suvarnabhumi Airport within an hour (often quicker).

One of the disadvantages of Lower Sukhumvit is the fact that you’re located relatively far away from city highlights.

To give you an example, it will take you about 20 minutes to reach Siam BTS Station, or 10 minutes to Asoke BTS Station. From there, you need to either take another train or a taxi to, for example, the Grand Palace. These trains are equipped with airconditioning and eventually, it will take about 20 minutes longer to get to your destination than the other parts.

If you don’t want to travel that much during your stay in Bangkok, we recommend you find accommodation at the previously recommended area Riverside.

But you can save a lot of money by finding a much cheaper, yet great hotel in Lower Sukhumvit, especially when you’re travelling with family.

Pros:

– More affordable, spacious accommodations

– Easy access to Suvarnabhumi Airport

– Direct access to SkyTrain

Cons:

– Located much further from city highlights that the others

– No interesting facilities, attractions or family activities nearby (you always have to travel by BTS for that)

Some of the best hotels to stay in Bangkok with family in this particular area are visually listed below:

3. Phaya Thai

While some other forums or websites recommend Siam as a great area to stay with family, we believe that Siam is too busy and other closeby areas such as Phaya Thai are more suitable to stay with family simply because it’s much quieter than Siam.

One of the benefits of Phaya Thai is the direct connection to the Airport Rail Link as well as the convenient location in the city centre with direct access to the SkyTrain.

From here, you can easily travel to Bangkok’s city highlights as well as have a direct connection to one of the many shopping malls located on Sukhumvit Road that offers a good variety of food for all family members.

Don’t get us wrong, there are many amazing local eateries to be found in Bangkok, as well as in Phaya Thai in particular, but not every family member does like to try out new flavours.

When it comes to hotels and facilities, you can find a decent amount of family-friendly accommodations in Phaya Thai, although areas such as Riverside do offer a broader variety.

Prices in Phaya Thai are much cheaper, due to the lack of activities and the city’s highlights nearby (you must travel a bit to see those highlights, which is easily doable with public transport).

Phaya Thai is also not the visually nicest area to stay in, although there are hotels to choose from that offer a great city view on their top floors.

For higher-end hotels, you might want to consider areas such as Chit Lom or Ploen Chit.

As you’re located in a central part of Bangkok, it’s easier to reach the older parts of Bangkok by taxi compared to the previously recommended lower Sukhumvit. Similar to Lower Sukhumvit, you get the best quality for your bucks when you pick a hotel in Phaya Thai.

Pros:

– Direct connection to Airport Rail Link and SkyTrain

– Located close to many shopping malls on Sukhumvit Road

– Fair-priced hotels

Cons:

– No facilities or family-activities nearby

– Not visually the nicest area to stay at.

Some of the best hotels to stay in Bangkok with family in this particular area are visually listed below:

If Bangkok is your first destination and you don’t know exactly what other great family-friendly destinations Thailand has to offer, have a look at our article about where to stay in Thailand with family and discover unique family-friendly destinations.

Alternative areas to stay in Bangkok with family

a. Chit Lom (and Phloen Chit)

If your budget allows you to, one of the better options to stay in Bangkok with family is Chit Lom (and Phloen Chit), which is an area located on Sukhumvit.

You’re located near the Sukhumvit BTS-Line right at the heart of the city.

It’s one of the higher-end areas of the city and some of the leading top brands in the hospitality industry can be found in one of the many skyscrapers.

Expect to indulge in luxury, which obviously comes with a costly price tag.

Some of the best hotels to stay in Bangkok with family in this particular area are visually listed below:

b. Siam

Siam is the shopping heart of Bangkok, located near the previously recommended Chit Lom and Phloen Chit.

This bustling area does come with a few benefits, including the connection to both BTS-Lines which takes you to every corner of the city.

Another benefit is that you’re located more towards the older parts of the city where you can find the majority of the city highlights.

So in other words, location-wise, Siam is excellent.

The downside is that it’s an extremely busy part of the city.

If you’re good with navigating around the city by using the combination of transit systems and taxis, it can be an excellent choice.

If you’re looking to mostly use public transportation to discover the oldest parts of the city, you have to use the metro (MRT-Lines), which is not nearby Siam.

Some of the best hotels to stay in Bangkok with family in this particular area are visually listed below:

Places you don’t want to stay in Bangkok with family:

Now we’ve mentioned what we believe are the best places to stay in Bangkok with family, it’s time to briefly discuss which areas you absolutely should not stay in with family.

There are three areas we highly recommend you not to stay at:

1. Nana

Nana is known for its notorious nightlife and therefore not the ideal area to stay in Bangkok with family.

It’s not that you will notice that much, especially during the daytime, but some areas should be avoided by family.

Even though you can find many good hotels here, it’s simply not the place to stay with family and the recommended areas in this article are a much better choice.

2. Khao San Road

Known for its party atmosphere, this popular backpacker street is completely family-unfriendly.

You won’t make your family happy by staying in an area where day drinking is the standard and when in the evening, the music is so loud, not even noise-cancelling headphones will keep you asleep.

There is a reason why this area is popular among youngsters and not families.

3. Chinatown

Although you can find some of the most unique hotels and accommodations in this area, Chinatown is not family-friendly due to its noise and air pollution.

We still recommend you visit this cool area, but to stay a few days here with family would be a horrible experience.

There you have it, all our recommendations to your question about the best areas to stay in Bangkok with family.

We hope you enjoyed it and hopefully, you can make a good decision and have the time of your life in this amazing city!