Thai iced tea served with snacks at a traditional wooden Thai house in Bangkok
2026 Edition · Bangkok

The Thai Tea Power List.

Bangkok is in the middle of a Thai tea renaissance. These are the seven places defining it — and exactly what to order at each one.

7 spots3 zones1 day, if you move฿35–265 per stop

How to use this list

Almost all of Bangkok’s best Thai tea clusters into three zones — Siam, the river at ICONSIAM, and Chinatown — which is why the whole list is walkable in a single caffeinated day. Every entry below tells you the one thing to order, the sweetness level to ask for, and roughly what it costs.

One piece of vocabulary before you go: most shops let you set your own sugar level. Ask for 50% at the specialty places and you will actually taste the tea. The default is closer to 100%, and it is very sweet.

Bangkok sweetness levels Most Bangkok tea shops let you choose 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100 percent sweetness. 0 percent is mai wan, 50 percent is roughly wan noi, 100 percent is wan pok-ga-ti, the default. 0%ไม่หวานmai wan25%50%หวานน้อยwan noi75%100%หวานปกติwan pok-ga-ti
Say the percentage or the Thai phrase. 100% is the default — and it is very sweet. Full ordering phrasebook →
About the photography: the images on this page are illustrative — they show the style of drink at each stop, not the venues themselves. We are re-shooting the trail on location and will swap in the real thing.
Thai iced tea with a swirl of condensed milk being poured, illustrating Karun’s luxury bottled teas01
The Gold Standard

Karun Thai Tea

If luxury had a flavour, this is it. Karun took the street drink and made it a high-fashion accessory — bottled teas that look like premium cologne, gold-flake toppings, boutique counters in the smartest malls in the city.

Order this
Gold-flake Thai tea slushie
Ask for
50% sweetness — keeps the gold leaf from getting lost
Where
Siam Paragon (G) · EmQuartier (M) · ICONSIAM (6F) · CentralWorld (3F)
Price
~฿120
📍 Open in Maps Find Karun bottled tea →
A tall glass of Thai milk tea against green leaves, illustrating ChaEn’s leaf-first approach02
The Purist's Choice

ChaEn Matcha

Don't let the name fool you. They excel at green tea, but their Thai tea is a masterclass in restraint — the focus is the quality of the leaf itself rather than piling on condensed milk until it all tastes the same.

Order this
Single-origin Thai milk tea
Ask for
25–50% — let the leaf quality show
Where
Thonglor · Siam Square One (LG)
Price
~฿95
📍 Open in Maps
Two friends sharing a bowl of Thai tea shaved ice at a Bangkok night market03
The Dessert

Pang Cha

A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick. The Thai Tea Shaved Ice is a genuine mountain — three kinds of pearls, almond flakes, and enough of it that ordering one each is a rookie mistake. This is lunch, not a drink.

Order this
Thai Tea Shaved Ice (shareable)
Ask for
As served — it is already balanced
Where
Siam Square · CentralWorld
Price
~฿250
📍 Open in Maps
Evaporated and condensed milk being poured into Thai iced tea at a Bangkok street stall04
The Original

ChaTraMue

You cannot have a list without the original. Seventy-five years on, the red-tinned tea is still the backbone of the entire industry — the benchmark every other shop on this page is measured against, and the mix in your cupboard at home.

Order this
Original Thai milk tea — or the ICONSIAM soft-serve
Ask for
75% for the classic street-stall taste
Where
100+ outlets citywide · ICONSIAM (G) for the soft-serve
Price
~฿35
📍 Open in Maps Buy the original red tin →
Two friends drinking layered Thai tea creations at a bright Bangkok cafe05
The Trendsetter

GAGA

GAGA is for the bold. The “Overload” series stacks honeycomb, pudding and pearls onto Thai tea until it stops being a drink and becomes a project. High energy, high flavour, engineered for a camera.

Order this
Thai Tea ‘Overload’ with pudding & pearls
Ask for
50% to balance the toppings
Where
Siam Square Soi 2 · ICONSIAM (G)
Price
~฿110
📍 Open in Maps
A slice of Thai tea cake beside a glass of cha yen, illustrating After You’s dessert menu06
The Kakigori

After You

A general dessert café, but the Thai Tea Kakigori has become legendary in its own right — a hidden seam of grass jelly and tea-soaked bread cubes at the bottom, so the last spoonful is different from the first.

Order this
Thai Tea Kakigori
Ask for
As served
Where
CentralWorld · Siam Paragon · most major malls
Price
~฿265
📍 Open in Maps
A Thai tea tasting flight with loose leaves, condensed and evaporated milk and spices07
The Artisan

KHIRI Thai Tea

A specialty tea bar tucked into Chinatown, brewing single-origin Thai tea with a craft-coffee mindset — weighed doses, timed steeps, a menu that treats cha yen the way a third-wave shop treats espresso. The one worth crossing town for.

Order this
Signature KHIRI Thai milk tea
Ask for
Default — the house brew is balanced, not candy-sweet
Where
Chinatown (Yaowarat) · MRT Wat Mangkon
Price
—
📍 Open in Maps

The three zones

Six of the seven sit in two adjacent zones. Only KHIRI needs a separate hop to Chinatown — and it is worth it.

BTS Siam

Siam

Karun, GAGA, ChaEn, Pang Cha and After You are all within a few minutes’ walk of each other across Siam Paragon, Siam Square One and CentralWorld.

BTS Gold Line

The River

ICONSIAM holds ChaTraMue’s flagship soft-serve counter plus GAGA and Karun outlets. Best in the late afternoon, before sunset over the river.

MRT Wat Mangkon

Chinatown

KHIRI sits in Yaowarat, and it is the one stop that rewards a dedicated trip. Go as the light drops and the street food starts.

Want the whole trail in one place?

The Bangkok Thai Tea Trail is this list turned into a timed, walkable route — 09:45 to 19:00, the train between every leg, the exact order at each stop, and how to ask for it in Thai. Built to read on your phone on the platform.

Get the Trail · $6 →

Questions

Where is the best Thai tea in Bangkok?

For the benchmark glass, ChaTraMue — the original, on almost every corner. For the best single cup of tea, KHIRI in Chinatown brews single-origin Thai tea with a craft-coffee approach. For a dessert rather than a drink, Pang Cha’s shaved ice or After You’s kakigori.

Can you do all seven in one day?

Yes. Six of the seven cluster around Siam and the river, and only KHIRI requires a separate trip to Chinatown on the MRT. Start at Siam in the morning, move to ICONSIAM by mid-afternoon, and finish in Chinatown around sunset.

How much does Thai tea cost in Bangkok?

A standard glass from ChaTraMue runs about ฿35. Specialty shops sit between ฿95 and ฿120, and the large shareable desserts at Pang Cha and After You run ฿250–265. Roughly, ฿100 is about USD 3.

What does “50% sweetness” mean?

Most Bangkok tea shops let you set the sugar level when you order. Asking for 50% halves the standard syrup, which is the usual recommendation at specialty shops where the tea itself is worth tasting. The default is closer to 100% and is very sweet.

Can I make these at home?

The classic ChaTraMue-style glass, yes — see the authentic cha yen recipe. The shaved-ice and kakigori builds are harder to replicate, but the frozen versions get you close.

Prices are approximate and current as of mid-2026; mall locations shift occasionally, so check the directory on arrival. This page contains affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate, Chaayen earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.