Ari

Ari grew as a mid-century garden suburb for ministry officials — which is why its sois are unusually green and its houses unusually large. When the bureaucrats' grandchildren inherited, they opened cafés in the family villas instead of selling: Bangkok's slow-living quarter is an accident of inheritance law.

The neighborhood's baristas treat coffee like a national sport: Thai-grown beans from Chiang Rai and Nan, roasted in-house, have won Ari cafés spots on world's-best lists.