Sri Racha Trip Report

The Little Osaka of Thailand, bad design of Sukhumvit Road (like Bangkok), seaview apartments (shame about the beach), and the future high-speed railway to 3 airports.

Sri Racha (or Si Racha) is a city in Si Racha district, Chonburi province, on the eastern side of the Bay of Bangkok. The city is part of the Eastern Economic Corridor and the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area.

Sri Racha district is home to Laem Chabang Port, the largest port in Thailand. There is a large industrial zone near the port, and it serves as a major automotive hub. Mitsubishi Motors Thailand and other Japanese companies are based in this area.

Sri Racha City is separated from the industrial port area by a rocky hill. This natural barrier has kept the city from feeling like it is part of an industrial park. Sri Racha City is where Japanese workers from the industrial area live. As a result, Sri Racha has come to be known as Little Osaka in Thailand.

The once-dominant Japanese auto manufacturers are now being challenged by the Chinese EV auto companies. There are concerns about the future of the automotive sector in Sri Racha (and this was before the US tariff war entered the equation).

At the same time, Sri Racha has become a popular retirement city for Japanese who now call Thailand home. With Japanese businesses already established in the city, new apartments are being built that are being marketed towards Japanese retirees.

Citi Resort Japanese Serviced Residence

Part of why I wanted to go to Sri Racha was to see it before the high-speed railway arrives (assuming that it gets built). Sri Racha is one of the main stops, so I am curious to see if it becomes a destination in its own right without being a support city for an industrial area.

These are my notes from my visit to Sri Racha in January 2025.

The Sukhumvit Road problem

Sri Racha is typical of cities in Thailand in that it has one main road going through it, and a jumble of roads that connect to it. The main road is Sukhumvit Road, which is the same Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok.

Sukhumvit Road goes from Bangkok to the Thailand-Cambodia border, and it’s said to be the longest road in the world. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s an indisputably long road.

Sukhumvit Road in Sri Racha

Sukhumvit Road in Sri Racha has the same problem as the Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. Both are major arteries of the city that are not part of any grid system. If you look at the map of Sri Racha, there are very few north-south roads on the west side of Sukhumvit Road, and no north-south options on the east side.

Map of Sri Racha (Sukhumvit Road is Road 1)

This street layout creates traffic jams as more cars need to use Sukhumvit Road to get to other main roads.

Sukhumvit Road traffic

Another similarity to the Bangkok Sukhumvit Road is that new apartment towers are being built along this corridor because it’s the most useful road to live on.

New apartment tower on Sukhumvit Road

City Centre

Sri Rach is not a touristy place, so there isn’t much written about it. Google Maps is useful in these situations as the map shows the busiest areas. The main streets between Sukhumvit Road and the sea are walkable, and it’s not an understatement to say there are many Japanese restaurants here. There are also a few streets that form a Japanese bar district (karaoke and massage places).

Japanese restaurants in Sri Racha

I found some other places of interest, but they were too far away to walk. Anywhere that is inland of Sukhumvit Road is not walkable, so you need your own transport. There is a Central mall on Sukhumvit Road (Central being the name, not its location), but Sukhumvit Road in Sri Racha is not as pleasant to walk down as Sukhumvit Road in Central Bangkok.

Central Si Racha

Sri Racha seafront

Chonburi is not famous for its beaches, and being an industrial corridor doesn’t make it an appealing coastal getaway. There is a beach at Bang Saen to the north of Sri Racha, which is the closest beach to Bangkok. There are also beaches in Pattaya to the south of Sri Racha, so I wondered if there was a secret beach in Sri Racha. Of course, there are no secret beaches in Thailand by now, but I had to see for myself.

There is technically a beach in Sri Racha, but it looks like it’s an artificial beach next to the city park. The water looked dark here, and I was wondering if it was a trick of the light at this time of day. On closer inspection, the water was black from pollution.

The beach in Sri Racha

The “beach” is next to a wastewater outlet. I don’t swim in Pattaya, or anywhere in the Bay of Bangkok, so I wasn’t considering swimming here either. It is still disheartening to see that wastewater is flowing out to sea like this.

Wastewater canal before reaching the sea

There are some seafront apartment towers, and I can see the appeal if you like sea views and aren’t fussed about having a beach. The park near the fake beach is a good open space.

High-speed railway

Sri Racha is currently served by trains from Bangkok to Ban Phlu Ta Luang. I had considered getting the train here, but I had caught the train to Pattaya before, and I didn’t need to do it again. The train leaves Bangkok early, and it takes longer to travel than the bus.

To Si RaCha Railway Station.

Sri Racha will be one of the stops on the Don Mueang–Suvarnabhumi–U-Tapao high-speed railway. The project is years behind schedule and hasn’t begun construction. The latest report says it might begin in April.

Sri Racha Station will be about 108 km from Suvarnabhumi Airport Station. With a top speed of 250 km/h on this section, this would make the trip in about 40 minutes (accounting for 2 stops in between).

Map of Don Mueang–Suvarnabhumi–U-Tapao high-speed railway (Wikimedia).

The current station is about 2.3 km from Sukhumvit Road, so it’s not exactly convenient. Pattaya is planning to build a monorail from the future high-speed railway station to the city centre, but there is no plan for a rail transit system in Sri Racha.

With a high-speed rail connection to Bangkok and Pattaya, and three airports to choose from, it could be that Sri Racha becomes a more desirable destination to live in.