Meet the Culinary Talent Turning The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok Into a New Riverside Dining Destination

The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok is slated to open with four distinctive restaurants and bars led by some serious culinary names

Bangkok's Chao Phraya River is about to gain another reason to visit, and this one is as much about eating and drinking as checking into a new hotel.

The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok is scheduled to open in December 2026 within the restored Custom House complex, a riverside landmark dating to 1888. Its food and beverage program will span contemporary Thai cuisine, modern Indian cooking, Cantonese dining, afternoon tea and cocktails, spread across the historic Custom House and neighboring heritage buildings. But perhaps the biggest draw is the talent assembled behind the tables.

Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn, Chef Garima Arora and Chinese chef Ricky Lin Quoping headline a team that also includes Executive Chef Phukvarun “Golf” Watchmon, Executive Pastry Chef Prot Stitpittayayut and Crowntail Bar Manager Tom Hearn.

Together, they are being tasked with turning a luxury hotel opening into something more ambitious: a new Bangkok riverside address where locals can come for dinner, afternoon tea or cocktails without necessarily spending the night.

Chef Ton Is Looking Back to the Bangkok of King Rama V

The most distinctly Thai restaurant of the collection will be Roi Chak Sam, led in collaboration with Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn, whose Le Du was named No.1 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2023.

Rather than simply transplanting Chef Ton's existing cooking into another dining room, Roi Chak Sam takes its starting point from the history of the building itself.

Located on the second floor of the Northern Heritage Building, formerly home to Thailand's Import & Export Department, the restaurant draws inspiration from the Glorious Era of Siam and royal banquet menus served during the reign of King Rama V.

Expect rare seasonal produce and Thai ingredients interpreted through contemporary techniques.

Even the name comes directly from Custom House history. Roi Chak Sam translates as “three from a hundred,” referring to the three-percent import duty once collected here.

For food lovers interested in Thai culinary history, this could make Roi Chak Sam one of the hotel's most intriguing restaurants: a modern Thai dining experience tied specifically to the building and the era in which it operated.

Garima Arora Is Bringing India and Thailand Together at The Cotton Room

The Cotton Room may prove the hardest venue to define, which is part of what makes it interesting.

Occupying the ground floor of Custom House around the Arrival Hall, Butler Salon and Grand Staircase, it takes its name from the cotton trade that once moved through Bangkok's ports.

One space will essentially have three personalities throughout the day. Mornings begin with à la carte breakfast overlooking the Chao Phraya River. Later, it transitions into The Langham's signature Afternoon Tea. By lunch and dinner, the direction changes again with a new concept created in collaboration with Garima Arora, chef-owner of Bangkok's two-MICHELIN-starred Gaa.

Her menus will draw on Indian culinary heritage while incorporating Thai ingredients and the contemporary energy of Bangkok.

That crossover feels particularly appropriate here. Custom House was historically a point of arrival and exchange, and The Cotton Room is effectively using food to continue that conversation between cultures.

Bangkok Is Getting Its Own T’ang Court

For Cantonese food lovers, one name will immediately stand out.

T’ang Court brings to Bangkok the Cantonese dining identity established by the original restaurant at The Langham, Hong Kong.

Bangkok's version will be led by Executive Chinese Chef Ricky Lin Quoping, who previously worked at the original three-MICHELIN-starred T’ang Court in Hong Kong.

His Bangkok menu will center on the fundamentals of refined Cantonese cooking: barbecue specialties, handcrafted dim sum, premium seafood and wok-fired dishes, with an emphasis on precise technique and high-quality ingredients.

The restaurant occupies the Southern Heritage Building, formerly the Second Post & Telegraph Building, with a concept acknowledging the longstanding cultural connections between Thailand and China.

Three private dining rooms on the second floor can be used separately for intimate meals or combined for larger celebrations, positioning T’ang Court for everything from family gatherings to business lunches and special occasions.

Afternoon Tea Gets Its Own Pastry Specialist

The Langham has a long association with afternoon tea, and Bangkok's version will be overseen by Executive Pastry Chef Prot Stitpittayayut.

Chef Prot brings French training and professional experience spanning Paris, New York and Bangkok. Alongside setting the hotel's wider pastry direction, he will lead The Langham's signature Afternoon Tea at The Cotton Room.

The setting should be part of the attraction. Rather than afternoon tea in a conventional hotel lounge, guests will be sitting within the restored Custom House overlooking the river, surrounded by a building originally connected to Bangkok's international trade.

With breakfast, afternoon tea and Chef Garima's lunch and dinner concept sharing the same venue, The Cotton Room is designed to evolve considerably from morning to evening.

Crowntail Could Give Bangkok Another Serious Destination Bar

Dinner does not have to be the end of the evening.

Crowntail will occupy several spaces within the Southern Heritage Building, including an indoor bar, Riverside Pavilion, rooftop Two Spot bar, outdoor terrace and private pier.

The idea is to let the venue change with the hour: aperitifs by the river, sunset drinks upstairs and cocktails late into the night.

Leading the drinks program is Tom Hearn, whose résumé connects two very different but increasingly influential cocktail cities. In Bangkok, he worked at Vesper. In London, his experience includes KOL Mezcaleria and The American Bar at The Savoy.

At Crowntail, Hearn will combine that international hotel-bar experience with Bangkok's contemporary cocktail culture, using local ingredients and tableside presentation.

The bar takes its name from Thailand's Crowntail Betta, known for its dramatic crown-like fins and vivid colors, providing another local reference within the restored heritage setting.

One Chef Will Connect It All

Behind the individual restaurant personalities sits Executive Chef Phukvarun “Golf” Watchmon, who will oversee the property's broader culinary direction.

Chef Golf brings more than 15 years of experience in senior positions at prominent Bangkok kitchens.

Her role becomes particularly important considering how different the hotel's dining experiences will be. Contemporary Thai at Roi Chak Sam, Indian-influenced dining at The Cotton Room and Cantonese cuisine at T’ang Court each have their own culinary identities, while breakfast, afternoon tea, bars and wider hotel dining still need to feel part of one property.

Rather than building the hotel's reputation around a single celebrity restaurant, The Langham appears to be creating an ecosystem of food and drink experiences, with specialists leading individual concepts under a wider culinary direction.

The Real Attraction May Be the Building Around the Food

The restaurants would be noteworthy based on their chefs alone. Their setting gives them another layer.

Custom House was established in 1888 and once functioned as Thailand's gateway for international trade. Its position on the Chao Phraya connected Bangkok with goods, people and ideas arriving from overseas.

The new restaurants repeatedly draw from that history rather than treating the heritage buildings merely as attractive backdrops.

Roi Chak Sam references the customs duty once collected there. The Cotton Room looks to the historic cotton trade. T’ang Court connects Thailand's relationship with China with a Cantonese dining tradition originating in Hong Kong. Crowntail takes its identity from a Thai fish while bringing together international bartending and contemporary Bangkok cocktail culture.

For travelers, that makes The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok potentially interesting even without an overnight stay. Food becomes a way into the history of the property and, more broadly, the story of Bangkok's relationship with the river.

A New Reason to Head to the River

Bangkok has no shortage of destination restaurants or excellent cocktail bars, so another luxury hotel dining program needs more than recognizable names to stand apart. The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok is betting on the combination of people, place and history.

Chef Ton brings contemporary Thai cooking into conversation with the reign of King Rama V. Garima Arora connects Indian heritage with Thai ingredients. Ricky Lin carries T’ang Court's Hong Kong lineage into Bangkok. Prot Stitpittayayut takes responsibility for one of The Langham's best-known traditions, while Tom Hearn brings London and Bangkok cocktail experience to the riverfront.

The restaurants and bars are scheduled to arrive with The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok in December 2026.

For food lovers, however, this looks less like another hotel opening to watch and more like four new Bangkok dining and drinking destinations arriving at once.

[PHOTO: Courtesy of The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok]