What to Do in Bangkok: One of the World’s Best Chefs on Her Favorite Haunts

Pichaya “Pam” Soontornyanakij, known as Chef Pam, is the Thai chef and restaurateur behind Potong, her 36-seat fine-dining flagship in Thailand’s capital city. Recently named the World’s Best Female Chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, she is the first Asian chef to win the title—the latest of many accolades she has earned since winning Les Disciples d’Escoffier’s Asia Youth Hope Cooking award in 2011.

Raised in Bangkok with Thai, Chinese, and Australian heritage, Chef Pam studied at the Culinary Institute of America, then honed her budding talent at Jean-Georges, the New York City flagship of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. There, his “philosophy of food” influenced her, she says. “It was eye-opening to see that Thai ingredients could combine with butter and cream and create new flavours with new complexities.”

It’s a lesson she’s applied to her growing empire of Bangkok restaurants, comprising Potong—No. 13 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list—which she opened in 2019 in the building that had been her family’s century-old pharmacy; Opium, a hidden bar in the same building; Khao San Sek, a casual Thai eatery; Tora, a Japanese izakaya; Smoked, for Texas-style barbecue; La Copita, a new agave bar; and her latest, Ra-O, a reimagined Thai grill. Here, she shares some of her other favourite places in and around Bangkok.

Eat

Sai Nam Phueng Noodle Shop: “Rung Rueang is my favourite noodle place, but everyone knows about it and it’s always busy. The other noodle place I love, Sai Nam Phueng, is very underrated and not as well known. It’s a simple, family-run place where everything is done well, especially noodles with stewed chicken wings. It’s addictive. I always have three bowls.”

Nusara: “My favourite Thai restaurant is right across from Wat Pho, and when you dine, you’re looking out onto the temple illuminated beautifully at night. My favourite dish is their take on pad krapow stir-fried beef with Thai holy basil, only they make it with short rib so it melts in your mouth.”

Visit

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market: The famous floating market, just southwest of Bangkok, has become a huge tourist attraction, but Chef Pam recommends visiting if you want “to see how things were…when they [traded] on the canal.”

Song Wat Road: “This up-and-coming area in Chinatown, very close to Potong, has a lot of history. Centuries ago, it’s where boats and ships came to trade their goods. Today, the area has become very hip because a new generation that appreciates the history has converted old warehouses into cafés, galleries, and shops. Locals and tourists who appreciate the culture and heritage are coming. People don’t want to go to malls anymore; they want to see local coffee roasters and local chocolatiers. There’s a strong neighbourhood vibe—Song Wat was just named [one of] the coolest communities in the world.”

Koh Kret: “When someone visits me and wants to do something new, I take them to Koh Kret, a tiny island an hour from Bangkok, where they specialize in clay pottery and speak their own language. A one-minute boat ride across the river, it’s like a country within Thailand. We’ll go to Chit Beer, a craft brewery.”

Stay

Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River: “Every time I go to the hotel, I’m greeted by name. I feel the warmth. I love BKK Social Club, where [beverage manager] Philip Bischoff is so welcoming; he’s become a good friend. He comes to our bars, and I go to his. I don’t place an order—I have whatever he mixes for me. And Cafe Madeleine is also amazing: [executive pastry chef] Andrea Bonaffini’s pastries taste as good as they look.”

Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River

A riverside resort in the heart of the city

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