I was in Bangkok from 1st to 3rd June on business and stayed at the excellent The Quarter Silom by UHG.

Credit where it's due: the hotel was fantastic. Great rooms, two swimming pools, splendid facilities, friendly staff, and prices that didn't require selling a kidney. If you're looking for a comfortable and affordable base in Bangkok, I'd happily recommend it.

Unfortunately, the city itself was an extremely diverse story.

I've visited Bangkok many times over the years, but I genuinely couldn't believe how quiet it was. Day and night, much of Silom and Suriwongse felt eerily subdued.

The loudest sounds weren't crowds enjoying the city, but staff outside empty massage shops desperately calling for customers while equally bored-looking masseuses wondered where everyone had gone.

Patpong, once buzzing with life, felt deserted. The atmosphere was flat, prices seemed higher than ever, and the overall value for money was poor. It felt less like Bangkok and more like a stage set after the audience had gone home.

What really caught my attention, though, was the rubbish. In several areas around Silom and Suriwongse, bags of garbage were piled high and baking nicely in the June heat, creating aromas that won't be appearing in any tourist brochures.

Then came my personal nightmare.

Rats.

Not the occasional rat darting across a back alley. These were organised units. Squads. Entire furry neighbourhood watch teams patrolling the streets. They were everywhere and showed absolutely no concern for humans. I genuinely started wondering whether I was in Bangkok or attending a rodent convention.

The lack of crowds seems to have emboldened them. With fewer people around, the rats appeared to have decided that they now owned the place.

By the second day I was so uninspired that I retreated to the hotel, enjoyed the facilities, and only emerged when it was time to grab a taxi back to Don Mueang Airport.

Had I not needed to visit the British Embassy, I would have happily stayed closer to either airport. In my opinion, those areas now offer better value, a more relaxed atmosphere, and far fewer opportunities to accidentally lock eyes with a rat the size of a small Labrador.

Bangkok remains a great city with plenty to offer, but the authorities really need to get on top of the rubbish and vermin problem. This wasn't a one-off sighting. There were groups of rats everywhere, and it leaves a poor impression of one of Asia's most famous destinations.

For now, I'm happy to leave central Bangkok to the rats. They seem to be enjoying it more than the tourists

Very impressed with the atmospherics in your post. You deserve a tip of the hat from Raymond Chandler.

Edited June 5Jun 5 by Gecko123

Ah, if only the rats found cockroaches a delicacy.

On 6/5/2026 at 1:42 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Ah, if only the rats found cockroaches a delicacy.

Amen. Bangkok and Pattaya have a huge German cockroach problem - they are everywhere - every condo, nightlife venues, places I've never seen them before in 10 years now have them and nothing works to eliminate them. The condo gets sprayed every month, we had the unit sprayed, we tried multiple varieties of bait - nothing. The only thing that slightly works is Hoy Hoy glue traps but that just decreases numbers as opposed to eliminating them. Seriously thinking of moving but so far multiple empty units viewed had them too.

As for rats.... maybe it's a Silom problem. I haven't seen any unusual numbers in the Sukhumvit area.

I would say every city in the World has more rats than people , even spic and span

Singapore ,watching from the hotel window a "cat lady" putting food down in the

road for the feral cats, then the rats came out even chasing the cats away ....

New York now there's a rat infested city ....cockroaches too

regards Worgeordie

On 6/5/2026 at 9:17 AM, Scouse123 said:

Bangkok remains a great city with plenty to offer, but the authorities really need to get on top of the rubbish and vermin problem.

They did , free visa entry went from 60 to 30 days.

On 6/6/2026 at 6:28 PM, worgeordie said:

I would say every city in the World has more rats than people , even spic and span

Singapore ,watching from the hotel window a "cat lady" putting food down in the

road for the feral cats, then the rats came out even chasing the cats away ....

New York now there's a rat infested city ....cockroaches too

regards Worgeordie

Right,

New York is off my bucket list.

On 6/5/2026 at 9:17 AM, Scouse123 said:

Not the occasional rat darting across a back alley. These were organised units. Squads. Entire furry neighbourhood watch teams patrolling the streets

Remind me not to buy anything from your dealer, mmmkay 😜

On 6/6/2026 at 6:14 PM, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Amen. Bangkok and Pattaya have a huge German cockroach problem - they are everywhere - every condo, nightlife venues, places I've never seen them before in 10 years now have them and nothing works to eliminate them. The condo gets sprayed every month, we had the unit sprayed, we tried multiple varieties of bait - nothing. The only thing that slightly works is Hoy Hoy glue traps but that just decreases numbers as opposed to eliminating them. Seriously thinking of moving but so far multiple empty units viewed had them too.

As for rats.... maybe it's a Silom problem. I haven't seen any unusual numbers in the Sukhumvit area.

I think it's a pile the rubbish high, let it spill over and not collect and clean up problem throughout Bangkok.

The stench was bad all over Pat pong, Silom, and Suriwongse.

Incidentally, I normally stay in Sukhumvit, I only stayed in that area as it was easier for commuting to the Embassy in South Sathorn.

2 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Remind me not to buy anything from your dealer, mmmkay 😜

I really have a bad, bad phobia about those creatures, I prefer snakes.

On 6/5/2026 at 12:17 PM, Scouse123 said:

I was in Bangkok from 1st to 3rd June on business and stayed at the excellent The Quarter Silom by UHG.

Credit where it's due: the hotel was fantastic. Great rooms, two swimming pools, splendid facilities, friendly staff, and prices that didn't require selling a kidney. If you're looking for a comfortable and affordable base in Bangkok, I'd happily recommend it.

Unfortunately, the city itself was an extremely diverse story.

I've visited Bangkok many times over the years, but I genuinely couldn't believe how quiet it was. Day and night, much of Silom and Suriwongse felt eerily subdued.

The loudest sounds weren't crowds enjoying the city, but staff outside empty massage shops desperately calling for customers while equally bored-looking masseuses wondered where everyone had gone.

Patpong, once buzzing with life, felt deserted. The atmosphere was flat, prices seemed higher than ever, and the overall value for money was poor. It felt less like Bangkok and more like a stage set after the audience had gone home.

What really caught my attention, though, was the rubbish. In several areas around Silom and Suriwongse, bags of garbage were piled high and baking nicely in the June heat, creating aromas that won't be appearing in any tourist brochures.

Then came my personal nightmare.

Rats.

Not the occasional rat darting across a back alley. These were organised units. Squads. Entire furry neighbourhood watch teams patrolling the streets. They were everywhere and showed absolutely no concern for humans. I genuinely started wondering whether I was in Bangkok or attending a rodent convention.

The lack of crowds seems to have emboldened them. With fewer people around, the rats appeared to have decided that they now owned the place.

By the second day I was so uninspired that I retreated to the hotel, enjoyed the facilities, and only emerged when it was time to grab a taxi back to Don Mueang Airport.

Had I not needed to visit the British Embassy, I would have happily stayed closer to either airport. In my opinion, those areas now offer better value, a more relaxed atmosphere, and far fewer opportunities to accidentally lock eyes with a rat the size of a small Labrador.

Bangkok remains a great city with plenty to offer, but the authorities really need to get on top of the rubbish and vermin problem. This wasn't a one-off sighting. There were groups of rats everywhere, and it leaves a poor impression of one of Asia's most famous destinations.

For now, I'm happy to leave central Bangkok to the rats. They seem to be enjoying it more than the tourists

On 6/5/2026 at 12:17 PM, Scouse123 said:

I was in Bangkok from 1st to 3rd June on business and stayed at the excellent The Quarter Silom by UHG.

Credit where it's due: the hotel was fantastic. Great rooms, two swimming pools, splendid facilities, friendly staff, and prices that didn't require selling a kidney. If you're looking for a comfortable and affordable base in Bangkok, I'd happily recommend it.

Unfortunately, the city itself was an extremely diverse story.

I've visited Bangkok many times over the years, but I genuinely couldn't believe how quiet it was. Day and night, much of Silom and Suriwongse felt eerily subdued.

The loudest sounds weren't crowds enjoying the city, but staff outside empty massage shops desperately calling for customers while equally bored-looking masseuses wondered where everyone had gone.

Patpong, once buzzing with life, felt deserted. The atmosphere was flat, prices seemed higher than ever, and the overall value for money was poor. It felt less like Bangkok and more like a stage set after the audience had gone home.

What really caught my attention, though, was the rubbish. In several areas around Silom and Suriwongse, bags of garbage were piled high and baking nicely in the June heat, creating aromas that won't be appearing in any tourist brochures.

Then came my personal nightmare.

Rats.

Not the occasional rat darting across a back alley. These were organised units. Squads. Entire furry neighbourhood watch teams patrolling the streets. They were everywhere and showed absolutely no concern for humans. I genuinely started wondering whether I was in Bangkok or attending a rodent convention.

The lack of crowds seems to have emboldened them. With fewer people around, the rats appeared to have decided that they now owned the place.

By the second day I was so uninspired that I retreated to the hotel, enjoyed the facilities, and only emerged when it was time to grab a taxi back to Don Mueang Airport.

Had I not needed to visit the British Embassy, I would have happily stayed closer to either airport. In my opinion, those areas now offer better value, a more relaxed atmosphere, and far fewer opportunities to accidentally lock eyes with a rat the size of a small Labrador.

Bangkok remains a great city with plenty to offer, but the authorities really need to get on top of the rubbish and vermin problem. This wasn't a one-off sighting. There were groups of rats everywhere, and it leaves a poor impression of one of Asia's most famous destinations.

For now, I'm happy to leave central Bangkok to the rats. They seem to be enjoying it more than the tourists

Scouser , sorry about your rat phobia I can give you some history about those rats to make you feel better. The rats in question were originally pets of the famous Rat Pack in Las Vegas...Sammy Davis Junior , Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra who died in 1998. Before he died and wanted to give them a good home so he arranged for them to stow away on a cargo ship to Bangkok and they settled in the Sois and alleys around Silom.The health authorities know about them let them run free and feed them food scraps out of respect for the famous Rat Pack.The reason that they befriended you may have been because you were probably dressed up like a "rat with a gold tooth"

1 hour ago, wavodavo said:

Scouser , sorry about your rat phobia I can give you some history about those rats to make you feel better. The rats in question were originally pets of the famous Rat Pack in Las Vegas...Sammy Davis Junior , Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra who died in 1998. Before he died and wanted to give them a good home so he arranged for them to stow away on a cargo ship to Bangkok and they settled in the Sois and alleys around Silom.The health authorities know about them let them run free and feed them food scraps out of respect for the famous Rat Pack.The reason that they befriended you may have been because you were probably dressed up like a "rat with a gold tooth"

I think you are spinning me a yarn here!🤣

It must be a lot worse then. When we stayed at the Silom Serene Soi 3 and walked to Patpong most evenings I only saw one rat near the Patpong market entrance darting from one gutter to another.

13 minutes ago, Postmaster said:

It must be a lot worse then. When we stayed at the Silom Serene Soi 3 and walked to Patpong most evenings I only saw one rat near the Patpong market entrance darting from one gutter to another.

NO, this was bad and very noticeable

We have posters who delight in singling out Pattaya as not being as clean as other Thailand cities but I've found Pattaya to be about the same with litter as most places I have visited. Spouse and I have a Bangkok condo in a very nice area but we have to put up with an empty building lot near our condo project that often has litter thrown in it among the ridiculous banana plants pretending to be 'farm land'. We have also, unfortunately, seen rats in Bangkok, in our case we have spotted them several times around stacked trash bags along the curb.

In the past, garbage collectors took all the bags of trash and sorted them on the open-top rubbish truck while it was moving. After several accidents of men falling off, rules changed and rubbish is now sorted on the side of the road, which causes bags to sit there longer, feeding rats and expanding their population, as well as bringing awful smell to the whole area.

Bangkok government is now promoting sorting of garbage by people first, or else increase collection fees several times over. But unsure about how this works in reality. In our building, many people sort, but some don't. We don't know who does or who doesn't, so I guess they would still need to open up the bags and sort them before loading rubbish into truck.

Still, I think the sortation should be moved out of town, get at least partially automated, providing these people jobs with less risks, while removing the rodent problems in the city.

Haven't seen a rat in area where I live... ever. But, before I was living in the middle of Pratunam. In the evenings, when they came out to feast on garbage waiting collection by the road, you'd see rats larger than an average cat, totally chilled digging through the bags. When I return to that area in the evenings I often wonder how I could live there so many years...