''Soi'' ( th, ซอย ) is the term used in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

for a side-street branching off a major street (''thanon'', th, ถนน). An alley is called a ''trok'' ( th, 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 Sukhumvit Road ( th, ถนนสุขุมวิท, , ), or Highway 3 ( th, ทางหลวงแผ่นดินหมายเลข 3), is a major road in Thailand, and a major surface road of Bangkok and other cities. It follows ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. 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. While sois are commonly referred to by number, 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 Thong Lo ( th, ทองหล่อ, , ; also spelled ''Thong Lor''), officially named Soi Sukhumvit 55, is a road and neighbourhood in Watthana District, Bangkok, Thailand. ''Thong Lo'' literally translates as 'molten gold'. Its name comes ...

(Soi Sukhumvit 55),

Ekkamai 250px, Ekkamai Rd Ekkamai Road ( th, ถนนเอกมัย, , ; often popularly referred to as Ekkamai; also spelled: Ekamai), officially named Soi Sukhumvit 63 (), is a '' soi'' in the form of road, and the name of the surrounding its locati ...

(Soi Sukhumvit 63), Pridi Banomyong (Soi Sukhumvit 71), etc. Sois can themselves have sois branching off them, for example Thong Lo Soi 4 is the 4th soi branching off Thong Lo, itself the 55th soi branching off Sukhumvit Road. The houses in a soi are numbered. If a new house is inserted after the house with number 150 for instance, it will get the number 150/1, etc. A formal address might read "150/1 Soi Sukhumvit 7", referring to the house with the first number after 150 in the seventh soi of Sukhumvit Road. The house numbers in most sois don't start at 1, but continue the house numbers of the main street.

References

{{reflist Thai words and phrases Streets in Thailand