Soi

Soi (Thai: ซอย  [sɔ̄ːj]) is the term used in Thailand for a side-street branching off a major street (thanon, Thai: ถนน). An alley is called a trok (Thai: ตรอก).

Overview

Sois are usually numbered, and are referred to by the name of the major street and the number, as in "Soi Sukhumvit 4", "Sukhumvit Soi 4", or "Sukhumvit 4", all referring to the fourth soi of Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. When walking on the major street towards increasing soi numbers, all the even-numbered sois are on the right side and the odd-numbered ones on the left side of the street. If for instance a new soi is added between soi 7 and soi 9 it will get the number soi 7/1, the next one soi 7/2 etc. It is also possible that soi 20 is far away from soi 21 if there are more sois on one side of the street than on the other.

Almost all sois in Bangkok also have a name. On lower Sukhumvit road in Bangkok for instance the sois are named after important landowners or families of landowners who had land in the area in the past. Some sois become major thoroughfares and because of that get known by their name only. Examples are Asok (Soi Sukhumvit 21), Thong Lo (Soi Sukhumvit 55), Ekkamai (Soi Sukhumvit 63), Pridi Banomyong (Soi Sukhumvit 71), etc.