Finding Thai Community and Food Near Your Room in Singapore
Find Singapore's Thai food and community hubs today, from Aperia Mall to Balestier, and see how close each sits to Lazybee's co-living rooms.
Singapore's Thai food and community scene is not where most guides still say it is. Golden Mile Complex, long known as "Little Thailand," closed for redevelopment and its stalls scattered across the island: Aperia Mall in Kallang for groceries, HomeTeamNS Balestier for the food stalls, and Toa Payoh for everyday Thai kitchens. None of this is far from Lazybee's three co-living homes in Serangoon, Yio Chu Kang, and Jurong East, but the routes differ a fair bit depending on which one you pick.
If you grew up near Thai food, or you just want it in reach, this matters more than it sounds. Good regional food nearby makes a room feel like home faster than almost anything else. Here's where it actually is now, and what the commute looks like from each Lazybee neighbourhood.
What happened to Golden Mile Complex?
Golden Mile Complex opened in 1973 on Beach Road and became known as Little Thailand by the mid-1980s, once Thai eateries, remittance shops, and a big Thai supermarket moved into the atrium. For decades it was the default answer to "where do I find Thai food in Singapore."
That changed in May 2022, when the building was sold en bloc to a consortium of Perennial Holdings, Sino Land, and Far East Organisation. The block itself was gazetted for conservation, so it isn't being torn down, but it's being rebuilt into a mixed-use hub called The Golden Mile, with a new residential tower named Aurea rising beside it. Completion is expected around 2028 to 2029.
That means the old one-stop version of Little Thailand is gone for now. The businesses that made it famous didn't disappear though. They moved, and knowing where they landed is more useful than any guide still pointing you at a construction site.
Where did the Thai Supermarket go?
Thai Supermarket, trading since 1985 and the anchor grocery store of the old Golden Mile Complex, relocated to Aperia Mall at 12 Kallang Avenue. The new outlet is bigger than the original, stocking the same fish sauce, curry pastes, fresh Thai basil, and rice noodle brands, plus an instant noodle wall and street food kiosks that weren't in the old shop.
If you cook Thai food at home, or just want the ingredients on hand, this is now the single best stocked stop in Singapore. It's also become the default pickup point for anyone who used to rely on Golden Mile for weekly groceries.
Where did the Thai food stalls go?
Rather than resettling as one cluster, the food side of Golden Mile spread out. A large group of the original stalls, including BeerThai House, Tha Chang Noodle Bar, Nana Original Thai, Baan Kanom Thai, Flying Pig, Diandin Leluk, and Dee Tongue Thai, moved into HomeTeamNS Balestier, roughly a 15-minute walk from Toa Payoh MRT station. Several are also on GrabFood if you'd rather not make the trip.
BeerThai House itself now runs two more outlets on top of that, one on Kitchener Road and one at City Gate on Beach Road, close to where it originally stood.
Toa Payoh has its own, older Thai food scene that never depended on Golden Mile at all. Jai Thai has been serving the neighbourhood since 1999 at 47 Toa Payoh Lorong 6, and 87 Just Thai runs a heartland outlet there too, with prices a notch below the city ones. Between Balestier and Toa Payoh, this pocket of the north-central island is now the closest thing Singapore has to a new Thai food centre.
Is there Thai community life beyond the food?
Yes, and it's older than Golden Mile Complex itself. Wat Ananda Metyarama, on Jalan Bukit Merah, is the oldest Thai Theravada Buddhist temple in Singapore, founded in the 1920s and easy to spot from its golden pagoda and red-tiled naga staircase. Palelai Buddhist Temple, founded by a Thai monk in the early 1960s, sits at 49 Bedok Walk on the other side of the island. Both hold Thai festival events through the year and are genuine community anchors, not just tourist stops.
Neither is a five-minute trip from any Lazybee room, honestly, but both are reachable by MRT and bus within a normal weekend outing, which is more than can be said for most of Singapore's other cultural enclaves.
How far is this from each Lazybee neighbourhood?
Lazybee runs three co-living homes: Chiltern Park in Serangoon (District 19/20), Thomson Grove off Yio Chu Kang Road (District 26), and Ivory Heights in Jurong East (District 22). The Toa Payoh and Balestier cluster sits roughly in the geographic middle of the island, so the commute varies more by MRT line than by straight-line distance.
| From | To Toa Payoh / Balestier | To Aperia Mall (Kallang) |
|---|---|---|
| Chiltern Park (Serangoon) | Around 20-25 min via Circle Line to Bishan, then North-South Line | Around 30 min via NEL/Circle Line with one change |
| Thomson Grove (Yio Chu Kang) | Around 15-20 min, direct on the North-South Line | Around 30-35 min, one change at City Hall |
| Ivory Heights (Jurong East) | Around 25-30 min, direct on the North-South Line | Around 40 min, direct on the East-West Line to Lavender |
Thomson Grove has the shortest ride to Toa Payoh's everyday Thai kitchens, since Yio Chu Kang sits on the same North-South Line with no change needed. Chiltern Park isn't far behind, with one easy change at Bishan. Ivory Heights is the furthest of the three on paper, but Jurong East is a major interchange, so the ride is a single direct line even if it takes longer in minutes.
What this means for choosing a room
None of Lazybee's three neighbourhoods sit inside a Thai food enclave, because Singapore doesn't really have one right now while Golden Mile Complex is under redevelopment. What you're actually choosing between is how many MRT stops separate you from Toa Payoh and Kallang on a normal week.
If a short, no-change ride to Thai food and groceries matters to you, Thomson Grove edges out the other two. If you're weighing this alongside other things, work, gym, your existing friend group, it's worth remembering the gap between the three Lazybee homes is a matter of 10 to 15 minutes on the train, not a different part of the country.
Ready to see a room?
Every Lazybee room comes fully furnished, with the location, roommates, and lease terms laid out upfront on the listing itself, no guesswork required. Browse rooms at Chiltern Park, Thomson Grove, and Ivory Heights and book a viewing directly through book.lazybee.sg to see which commute actually suits your week.
FAQ
Is Golden Mile Complex still Little Thailand? No. The building is under redevelopment until around 2028 to 2029 after an en bloc sale in 2022. It was gazetted for conservation, so the structure remains, but the Thai businesses that made it famous have relocated elsewhere across Singapore.
Where is the best Thai grocery store in Singapore now? Thai Supermarket, the anchor grocer from the old Golden Mile Complex, is now at Aperia Mall, 12 Kallang Avenue, in a larger space than its original outlet.
Where did the Golden Mile Complex Thai food stalls move to? Most moved to HomeTeamNS Balestier, near Toa Payoh MRT. Others opened at City Gate and Kitchener Road on Beach Road. Toa Payoh's own long-running Thai kitchens, like Jai Thai and 87 Just Thai, never depended on Golden Mile at all.
Which Lazybee neighbourhood is closest to Thai food and groceries? Thomson Grove has the shortest, no-change MRT ride to Toa Payoh. Chiltern Park is close behind with one easy change. Ivory Heights takes longer in minutes but stays on a single direct line via the Jurong East interchange.
Sources: URA, Short-Term Accommodation guidelines; URA, Renting Property guidelines; URA, PR26-03, extension of the temporary occupancy cap relaxation.
