Kudi Chin Section of Populated Place

Address: Kudi Chin, Wat Kanlaya, Thon Buri, Bangkok 10600, Thailand

Hours: Community open access; Santa Cruz Church & museum have limited hours

Admission: Free (museum small fee)

Kudi Chin (Kudeejeen) is a small, historic riverside community on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya River, one of Bangkok’s oldest multicultural neighbourhoods. Founded by Portuguese-descended Catholics and Chinese settlers after the fall of Ayutthaya, it is centred on the salmon-pink Santa Cruz Church.

Narrow lanes wind past old shophouses, shrines and a small community museum, and the area is famous for khanom farang kudi chin - a soft, Portuguese-influenced sponge cake baked here for generations. It’s a quiet, atmospheric stop often paired with nearby Wat Arun and the riverside temples.

Kudi Chin lies on the Thonburi (west) bank of the Chao Phraya River, near Santa Cruz Church. Take a cross-river ferry to Tha Din Daeng pier, or walk from Wat Arun along the riverside lanes. It’s easily combined with Wat Arun and Wat Kalayanamit.

• Try the community’s famous khanom farang kudi chin (Portuguese-style sponge cake).
• Visit Santa Cruz Church and the small Baan Kudichin Museum to learn the community’s history.
• Wear comfortable shoes - the area is explored on foot along narrow riverside lanes.
• Combine it with Wat Arun, just upriver, for a Thonburi-bank walking route.

Pleasant year-round; mornings and the cool season (November-February) are the most comfortable for walking the lanes. Sundays bring more life around Santa Cruz Church. Avoid the midday heat.