The COMMONs Thong Lor

📍 The COMMONS Thonglor, Bangkok Visited: Roots & Seven Suns How to get there: BTS to Thong Lo, Exit 3. Short walk or motorbike into Soi 17. Tucked in behind those condos you’ll never afford but still Google out of curiosity. ⸻ The COMMONS is one of those spaces designed for Bangkok’s urban middle class to pretend the city’s chaos is happening somewhere else. Concrete, open-air levels. Breezy walkways. Plants in exactly the right number of pots. You come here when you want a bit of calm without having to leave the city. ROOTS – Sunshine Cold Brew This was honestly excellent. Fuji apple juice, lemon, passionfruit syrup, and cold brew. It’s subtle, bright, and balanced. You smell the apple-cinnamon chip as you sip, and that little hit of aroma actually elevates the drink. It’s a layered kind of pleasure—nothing overpowering, no fake sugar high. Just thoughtful, careful flavor. I drank it too fast and considered getting another. The baristas were calm, efficient, stylish without being try-hards. SEVEN SUNS – Matcha Coco-Cloud Matcha, coconut water, pandan juice. Smooth as hell. Slight sweetness with a faint vanilla thing happening. If you’re looking for something gentle and hydrating, this works. I had it after the cold brew, which probably wasn’t the ideal order, but both stood on their own. Didn’t eat, but other vendors caught my eye: • Bapsang (Korean lunch boxes, very clean, sharp packaging) • Buenazo (Peruvian, always smells incredible when I walk past) • Poppa. (fries and flavored popcorn—probably great if you’re hungover) • MAMAFU (comfort food dumplings that feel like they were made by someone who loves you) • The Japanese Highball Bar 1923 (looked expensive but chill) The space is layered, both physically and socially. You’ll see families with designer strollers next to bleached-blonde art kids. Someone editing a pitch deck. A queer couple with a senior pug. Everyone here is performing something, but it doesn’t feel exhausting. It’s one of the few places in Thonglor where I didn’t feel like I was intruding.