On Nut BTS…the ‘start’ of Sukhumvit

The On Nut BTS was, in the time after it first opened, the place where many people who had taken the bus from Pattaya and were heading to the Ekkamai bus terminal, would get off and then continue via the Skytrain to their intended destinations.

By getting off at On Nut, commuters could avoid the occasionally slow bus ride further down Sukhumvit Road, or they could take a well-earned break and duck into the Tesco-Lotus shopping centre which is right at the BTS entrance.

In the years since then, of course, the BTS has extended even further along Sukhumvit Road, so On Nut no longer represents the start of the Sukhumvit Line. Even so, many commuters still find it useful to alight here.

Over time, On Nut has been turned from a not-much-going-on kind of area into one of the more sought-after residential sections of Bangkok, and the Skytrain has been primarily responsible for that.

Gone are many of the older wooden houses that dotted the back sois and lanes, and in their stead have risen many a modern condo complex. Some of the shophouse blocks have also been renovated or removed, again to be replaced by condo housing or new shopping venues.

If it’s food and shopping you’re after in the On Nut area then the previously-mentioned Tesco-Lotus shopping centre (take exit 2) has plenty of the fast-food variety places. Inside is the supermarket and chain restaurants as well as a Thai food court, clothes stores, bookshops (mainly for Thai language material), and, of course, plenty of places to buy a new mobile phone.

If, instead of being in a shopping centre, you’d rather be trying more local, vendor-style fare, then there is a large open-air marketplace situated outside of exit 1 of the BTS station. There are stalls selling spring rolls, grilled chicken, and, of course, som dtam sitting alongside clothes vendors and, surprise, surprise, people offering mobile phones.

If you venture a little further, onto Sukhumvit Soi 77, which is basically the main thoroughfare in the area, there are more vendors selling all sorts of items from food, of course, to flowers, clothes, and mobile phones.

There is also a Big C shopping complex nearby, for those who might have dodged the Tesco-Lotus but now want to take in the air-con of a shopping mall.

There are no real tourist attractions in the On Nut area although Wat Mahabut and a shrine dedicated to the ghost of Mae Nak is along the Phra Khanong canal, which is at the end of On Nut Soi 7.