Thailand's largest city is called Bangkok. It is home to 22% of the Thai population and is studded with gleaming golden wat (Buddhist monasteries), towering skyscrapers, teeming markets, multi-lane highways, and clusters of village-style houses. There's so much to see and do.
Thailand's capital city is a great place to visit for travelers. The complex flavors of Bangkok street food push the sense of taste to a new level. The sound of traffic, music and Buddhist chanting can be heard in the ears, as can the sight of the spires and rainbow mosaics of the temples and monasteries. Traffic fumes, incense, jasmine blossom, and city pongs all work out the smell.
You have to plan carefully to fit everything in. Whether you're here for the culture, the history, the food or the nightlife, we've got you covered.
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Locals and visitors flock to the countless stalls and carts lining the city's roadsides, as sizzling woks perfume the city air with the scent of Lemongrass, Chilli, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. The collective street food movement still thrives despite the fact that some of the city's boroughs have cracked down on informal food markets. On Mondays, there are a lot of stalls closing for the day.
Possibly Asia's biggest open-air marketplace, the vast Chatuchak Weekend Market is the ultimate shopping experience for people who want to burn some money. Rows of pavilions, each housing hundreds of shops and stalls, are organized in neat sections underneath shady canopies, with each section dedicated to selling specific categories of merchandise.
Everything can be found here, from garments, shoes, kitchen essentials, glassware, handicrafts, antiques, healthcare products, home décor, foodstuffs, and even live pets. It's important that you schedule the better part of a day to immerse yourself in this experience. Moneychangers and ATMs can be used to make impulsive purchases.
The business is only open on Saturdays and Sundays. The market is mostly empty on other days, except for a mall that is open through the week. Mo Chit station is 500m away from the BTS Skytrain.
The 16th-century shrine of Wat Pho is home to a 46m (150ft) sculpture of the Reclining Buddha that is adorned with gold leaf and mother-of-pearl. Treatments are offered daily and Wat Pho has its own massage school.
Unsurprisingly, Wat Pho is visited by hundreds of people every day, who come to marvel at its jaw-dropping main Buddha image, or pay their respects at the many shrines that dot the peaceful grounds. After spending some time in the silent corridors and prayer halls, you should return to the noise of the city.
Visitors should dress modestly in order to get into the temple. A free bottle of water is included in the 200B entry fee for adults.
There is a photographer's muse, a chef's dream, a shopper's paradise and a cultural anthropologist's fantasy. The district is home to a large number of smoke-spewing food carts, gold-laden jewelry stores and atmospheric temples.
The main thoroughfare in the area is a sensory overload. The nose smells of burning incense, jasmine tea and burnt garlic oil, as the eyes feast on a colorful jamboree of flashy neon signs and rows of ornamental lanterns and streamers overhead. Chinatown is a hive of activity at any time of the day or night.
During the Chinese New Year celebrations in late January or early February, a carnival spirit sweeps through the entire district, with lively dragon and lion dances and sumptuous food Galas. Chinatown is a great place to eat, but most street food venders stay closed on Mondays. You will have to find a sit down restaurant at other times.
The royal complex made up of Wat Kaew and the Grand Palace was established by former Thai kings as the nerve center of a capital city that grew far beyond its original boundaries.
A number of imposing palaces, reception halls, temples and courtyards can be found at the complex, which was once the official residence of the Thai monarchy. The Wat Phra Kaew temple is home to Thailand's most sacred religious artifact, the Emerald Buddha, which dates back to the 12th or 13th century.
The walls of the corridors are adorned with murals from the 18th century that depict the Thai version of the Indian epic Ramayana. There are some of the best religious art to be seen in the country.
One of the most enduring memories you'll take home from a visit to Bangkok is a dinner cruise on the greeny-brown waters of the river.
Depending on the type of vessel you choose, you'll be treated to either an atmospheric candlelit dinner served up by a private chef or a rowdy floating party with thumping music. The cool evening river breeze that blows away the heat of a hot day is worth an evening of your time.
The cruises are popular with tourists, and the boats are usually booked out weeks in advance. You should reserve a table before you go to Thailand. The piers at the River City Mall are where most dinner cruises pick up passengers.
Thai massage combines ancient healing techniques and natural products to revive the mind and body. The city is known as the massage capital of the world, and a vigorous kneading after a long day of sightseeing can be heavenly.
Thai massage comes in many therapeutic flavors and can be found at street-side parlors and spas. Some massage therapists use herbs or oils to help relax muscles and increase blood flow, while others focus on a mix of pressure and stretching moves to increase blood flow.
Several well-known spa chains in Thailand, such as Health Land, Divana Massage & Spa, and AsiaHerb Foundation, offer high-quality massages at reasonable prices. Advance reservations are a good idea because they can get crowded.
The night markets of Bangkok offer a wonderful combination of guilt-free holiday shopping, socializing with friends, and drinking and eating.
One of the city's most satisfying after-dark experiences is the Talat Rot Fai Srinakharin night market in Northern Bangkok, while the Artbox on Th Sukhumvit is a trendy place for young people to hang out.
The Patpong Night Market has a mix of souvenir stalls, food carts, massage spas, pubs and go-go bars. It isn't appealing to everyone.
Night market food stalls can be found all over the city from around 5pm most nights. There are two ways to get to Patpong Night Market and Artbox.
Jim Thompson used his traditional Thai-style home on the canal between Banglamphu and Th Phetchaburi as a repository for age-old Thai treasures and art. When he vanished in 1967, his house was turned into a fascinating museum that every visitor wishes they lived in.
What's the reason? The rooms are adorned with his exquisite art collection and personal possessions, which include rare Chinese porcelain and priceless Burmese, Cambodian and Thai artifacts, set in a garden that's a miniature jungle of tropical plants and lotus ponds. Jim Thompson silks can be purchased on site.
The most charming neighborhood in Thailand is Banglamphu. The old quarter used to be filled with the mansions of diplomats, royalty and civil servants, but is now dominated by backpackers and bohemians.
Some of the city's best live music can be found in the area, and there are plenty of options for hungry travelers. By day and night, the lanes of Banglamphu host eclectic street markets selling Thai souvenirs and trinkets, with bars that spill out into the street and pop up cocktail stands that buzz until midnight, when the sale of alcohol is officially banned.
There is a moment of weakness in Thailand. One minute they'll be extolling the virtues of a life without material possessions, the next they'll be admiring the treasure troves of street merchandise and mapping out the route to the nearest night market.
In this shopping-obsessed city, malls daisy-chain into an almost continuous shopping precinct, and the pavement in between the malls serve as a spillover retail space for vendors. As well as some of the world's top brands, Bangkok has its own fashion scene.
MBK Center and Emquartier are mega malls where you can start the retail adventure. Red Sky, the Centara Grand and the Moon Bar all have rooftop bars with city views.
There is always a lot of activity on the river. Children play with cannonballs in the muddy water that laps against the side of boat jetties and stilts.
You can see the river from the shore, but if you want to have fun, you can charter a long-tail boat or take a cruise on the river. As the sun sets, the spires of temples and palaces look beautiful and serene, even though you can't see them.
Don't allow a plump tummy to be the only souvenir of your trip to Thailand. If you want to make a difference in your life, learn to cook at a Thai cookery school.
There are many cooking schools in Thailand, from formal affairs for amateur chefs to home cooking for recipe-averse people. Everyone has a lot of fun visiting a wet market, fumbling with ingredients, tasting the fruits of their labor and learning new cooking techniques.
What began as a hobby for the reticent owner of Papaya has ballooned into a mind-blowing collection of vintage 19th and 20th-century objects that occupy every inch of a warehouse-size exhibition space.
There are art-deco furniture, 1960s beer signs, superhero statues, Piaggio scooters, typewriters, movie projectors, love seats, TV sets, VHS players, wall clocks and storefront mannequins. Many objects are technically for sale, but the owner prices them so that his collection won't deplete, so treat it more as a museum of recent history
The observation deck on the tallest building in Thailand gives a panoramic view of the city. The SkyWalk is a hair-raising experience, but you can soothe your nerves at the open-air bar one flight up on the skyscraper. The observatory on the 74th floor has a cheaper entry fee.
The quintessentially Thai martial art of mooay tai is also known as Thai boxing or kickboxing. The pure spectacle, the wild musical accompaniment, the ceremonial beginning of each match, and the frenzied betting are what a Thai-boxing match is worth.
There are two boxing stadiums in Thailand. The Rajadamnern Stadium was built at the end of WWII and has a formal atmosphere. The Lumpinee Boxing Stadium has relocated to a modern home north of Bangkok. We recommend sitting in the 2nd or 3rd class seats for the best fan atmosphere.
The name of the road is Khao San Road. Independent travelers can either enter the liberated state of traveling in Southeast Asia or pause for one last party before returning to normal life back home. Where else could you share space with the citizens of dozens of countries at the same time?
Everyone from first-time backpackers to 75-year-old grandparents sip G&Ts while strolling down this market stall-crowded thoroughfare.
The bedbug-ridden guesthouses of old have been replaced by boutique hotels and downmarket TV bars have been turned into hip design bars by flashpackers. A visit to Bangkok would not be complete without a stroll along this famous street.
The article was updated in about one hour.
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