Notes on Sri Racha – The Little Osaka of Thailand

Sri Racha is a city on the Bay of Bangkok in Chonburi province. The city is between Bang Saen (the closest beach to Bangkok) and Pattaya, and it is part of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area.

Most people would be familiar with Sriracha for the sauce, though the most famous Sriracha sauce brand is made by a Vietnamese immigrant in America and not from Thailand. This name is so famous that it messes with search results when looking for anything to do with the city of Sri Racha.

I was interested to visit Sri Racha as it’s known as the Little Osaka of Thailand. Sri Racha got this title as it’s an industrial hub that includes Japanese car manufacturers. Japanese workers live in Sri Racha, and now it has also become a retirement city for Japanese.

I visited Sri Racha in January 2025, and these are my notes from that trip.

There are numerous buses that depart from Ekkamai Station in Bangkok. The bus stop in Sri Racha is on the side of the road in front of Robinson department store. Being dumped on the side of the road is not a dignified arrival, but it turns out that this is as central as it gets.

[Robinson on Sukhumvit Rd, Sri Racha.]

The main road that goes through Sri Racha is Sukhumvit Road (the same Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok), and the most useful area for visitors is between Sukhumvit Road and the sea.

I guessed that the best area to stay was near Robinson, so that turned out to be an inspired guess. After dropping off my bags I walked towards the sea.

There is not a coast promenade here so it’s hard to get a view of the sea. There is no real beach here and it is a port city, so there was never a need to make a seaside promenade.

There is an old village on the seafront with houses on stilts.

There are some guesthouses here that I didn’t see online.

These guesthouses reminded me of the jetty guesthouses in Hua Hin that are still operating (for now).

The pier is the best place to get a view of the city and its relation to the sea.

There are some colourful old working fishing boats here.

There is a better stretch of seafront north of the pier at Surasak Montri Public Park. The park includes an artificial beach, but it’s near a waste water runoff and the water was black when I was there. This is why I don’t swim anywhere in the Bay of Bangkok.

Apart from the polluted water, the seafront park is pleasant. It would be a nice place to live if you are happy with a sea view and are not interested in swimming. There are new apartment towers near the park with sea views.

The park includes a running/skating circuit, and it was good to see that kids were putting it to use.

I wandered more around the area between Sukhumvit Road and the sea, and the Osaka of Thailand nickname is apparent with the amount of Japanese restaurants and bars.

There is a karaoke bar area that caters for Japanese, and it was odd to walk through such an area and not be called out. Westerners are not the target audience here. There are some cool bars that would not look out of place in Osaka, such as Rat Fink Bar.

I don’t drink, so I can’t vouch for the bar scene. There isn’t a hipster cafe scene here yet, but I found good coffee at Meloso Coffee Roaster (part of Raphael Bakery).

[Latte at Meloso Coffee Roaster.]

I read online that Sriracha is the only place in Thailand where the government office sign has Japanese language.

There is also a torii gate in the city, so yes, there is a distinct Japanese presence in Sri Racha.

There are many Japanese restaurants here, so I tried out some ramen places while I was there.

[Ramen at Izakaya Ryoma.]

I’m not against fusion food, so when I saw this ramen truck serving tom yum ramen I had to try it.

[Le Mong Ramen Truck]

Tom yum is the Thai hot and sour soup, and ramen is the classic Japanese noodle soup. I love both, but would they work as a combination? It was a tasty soup, but every mouthful was constantly confusing to be tasting ramen ingredients in a tom yum broth. Overall I felt that this Thai-Japanese fusion was an appropriate soup to try in Sri Racha.

[Tom Yum and Ramen, together at last.]

There is also a typical Thai night market in front of the Pacific Park mall. This has all the usual Thai night market staples if you are ramened out.

Ferries for Ko Si Chang depart from Sri Racha. Ko Si Chang is the closest island to Bangkok that is open to the public, and I have listed that in my guide to the closest beaches and islands to Bangkok.

Ferries depart from a little island that is connected by a pier. I didn’t go to Ko Si Chang on this trip, but I walked along the pier to Ko Loi, so I can technically say that I have been to another island in Thailand.

[Walkway to Ko Loi.]

The only obvious tourists I saw in Sri Racha were at the pier coming from and going to Ko Si Chang.

There is a wat on the island, which was something of interest to visit if you aren’t getting a ferry.

The walk is worth it to get a sea view of the Sri Racha skyline.

There is a train station in Sri Racha, but the train is infrequent and slow, and the station is far inland. I took the same train from Bangkok to Pattaya, and I only took it to see what it was like. I am waiting for the 3-airport high-speed railway to open, which will stop at Sri Racha.

I noticed on my wanders around the city some old engines.

[Old engine near the Surasak Montri Public Park.]

I presume there were used to haul freight from the port, but I have not found any info about this.

[Old engine near the Sriracha Town Municipality Office.]

If I was a proper island bagger I would have gone to Ko Si Chang, but I passed that opportunity to visit another island. I might end up back here if/when the high-speed railway opens.