Cafeography
Bangkok · Dusit & Samsen

Cafés in Dusit & Samsen

Coffee in Silpa Bhirasri's old house on Ratchawithi, rose tea off Samsen, and a dirty coffee by Ratchawat market.

Photo: Sophie Roome, Pexels License

Dusit (ดุสิต) exists because King Chulalongkorn wanted out of the confines of Rattanakosin Island. He began the Dusit Palace compound in the 1890s, and Ratchadamnoen Avenue tied it back to the Grand Palace.1 The National Assembly and several ministries are in the district today.1

That history leaves a neighborhood of wide royal roads, old mansions and civil servants, with coffee in the buildings and side streets between them. Samsen (สามเสน), along the river, is far older: Portuguese settlers arrived under King Narai, and their Immaculate Conception Church dates from around 1674.2

Local tip: Silpa Bhirasri's house stands on the grounds of an army office, so dress and behave with that in mind.5

At a glance

52Cafés listed
1With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
15:45Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Science Cafe, from 07:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–15:45 · Sat 07:00–14:45 · Sun Closed).
  • Most listed streets: Rama V Rd (5), ถนน นครไชยศรี (3), Sukhothai Rd (2).
  • Most common features: specialty (4%), outdoor seating (2%), bakery café (2%).

BAR Bear-ชาหมีพรีเมี่ยม สาขาสามเสน11

  • 127 สามเสน 11
  • +66997895492
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Jungle ราชวิถี 40 - ตรงข้าม ม.สวนสุนันทา

  • 189 ถนน ราชวิถี
  • +66830971908
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Silpa Bhirasri’s Place บ้านอาจารย์ฝรั่ง

  • บ้านอาจารย์ฝรั่ง สำนักงานตรวจสอบภายในทหารบก 153 ถนนราชวิถี
  • +66959696519
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Coffee chains in Dusit & Samsen

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Café Amazon

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Ratchawithi: coffee in a sculptor's house

Silpa Bhirasri’s Place บ้านอาจารย์ฝรั่ง (Ajarn Farang’s house) is the sculptor's former home, in the compound of the Army Internal Audit Office beside Sang Hi Bridge.4 Born Corrado Feroci in Florence in 1892, Silpa arrived in Siam at 31, founded the fine arts school that became Silpakorn University, and made the Democracy Monument.4 Students called him Ajarn Farang, "the foreign teacher".4 He lived in this neo-Renaissance house for about eight years, and his son Romano was born there.4

The house was painted mustard and reopened in late June 2018, with Craftsman Roastery brewing downstairs. Filter coffee from Kenya, Costa Rica and Panama cost Bt150–250 that year, and a Sparkling Tamarind (Bt135) nodded to his taste for tamarind juice.4 Prototypes of his sculptures are shown upstairs.5

Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, on Samsen Road, brings students to this side of the district.2 Little Unit (Coffee & Something?) is in Ratchawithi Soi 34.

Samsen and tea at the floral museum

Salon de la Rose links to the site of the Museum of Floral Culture, founded by the floral artist Sakul Intakul in a residential lane off Samsen Soi 28. In 2018 the Bangkok Post wrote up a tea room at the museum called Dok Mai Thai Salon du Thé, describing the terrace of the old house with its garden view, homemade scones with clotted cream at B180 and a refillable Love rose tea at B140.6

The museum's displays run from Thai floral traditions to those of India, China, Japan, Laos and Indonesia.6 Da cafe' at Baan Ongkharak is on the same Soi 28, and broobrown coffee is at 933 Samsen Road.

Samsen Road runs 4.6 km from Bang Lamphu to Kiakkai, parallel to the river, and Chao Phraya Express boats stop at Thewet (N15) and Payap (N18) piers along it.2

Ratchawat market and Nakhon Chai Si Road

Nakhon Chai Si Road was built as Ratchawat Road alongside Suan Dusit Palace from 1898, on the king's order, so that people cut off by the palace could still get through. The old name came from a kind of Chinese porcelain with a fence-like pattern, and it survives in the Ratchawat market and neighborhood.3

Groundwork Specialty Coffee & Workplace is on Rama V Road. A similar name turns up in a January 2025 Thansettakij column, which puts Ground Work Specialty at a corner of Ratchawat market, as part of a hotel.7 The column singled out its barista, Khun Earth from Chiang Mai, for a dirty coffee: espresso poured over very cold milk in a chilled glass and left unstirred.7

LUNGO Coffee (Specialty Coffee) is further along Rama V Road, and Mr.Flint cafe is on Nakhon Chai Si itself. The road ends at Payap Pier, 3.185 km from its start at Rama VI Road.3

Sources

  1. Dusit district, Wikipedia, accessed November 2026
  2. Samsen Road, Wikipedia, accessed November 2026
  3. Nakhon Chai Si Road, Wikipedia, accessed November 2026
  4. A rediscovered gem, The Nation (7 September 2018), accessed November 2026
  5. Silpa Bhirasri's House, Time Out Bangkok (18 July 2018), accessed November 2026
  6. Flower power, Bangkok Post (25 May 2018), accessed November 2026
  7. Dirty กาแฟเย็นรสวิเศษ (Dirty, a wonderful iced coffee), Thansettakij (4 January 2025), accessed November 2026
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In Dusit & Samsen, also browse: Specialty coffee Outdoor seating Bakery cafés

FAQ

Dusit & Samsen cafés: questions

Where can you drink coffee in Silpa Bhirasri's old house in Bangkok's Dusit district?

The house is on Ratchawithi Road, in the compound of an army office, and in 2018 Craftsman Roastery was brewing downstairs. Prototypes of his sculptures are upstairs. Filter coffee cost Bt150–250 in 2018. Dress with the army grounds in mind.

Where is the Museum of Floral Culture's tea room in Bangkok's Samsen and Dusit area?

The museum is in a residential lane off Samsen Soi 28. In 2018 the Bangkok Post described a tea room there, Dok Mai Thai Salon du Thé, on the terrace of an old house with a garden view, with scones with clotted cream at B180 and a refillable Love rose tea at B140. Salon de la Rose links to the museum's site.

What should you order at the specialty café by Ratchawat market in Bangkok?

A January 2025 Thansettakij column singled out the dirty coffee at Ground Work Specialty, at a corner of Ratchawat market: espresso poured over very cold milk in a chilled glass and left unstirred. Groundwork Specialty Coffee & Workplace, with a similar name, is on Rama V Road.

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