edit Bangkok Travel Guide

Most of Bangkok's sights are concentrated in the "Old City" on Rattanakosin Island.

• A ride on the Chao Phraya River should be high on any tourist's agenda

Out of Bangkok's many temples, the following usually make the top 3:

• Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn)
• The Grand Palace, featuring Wat Phra Kaew (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
• Wat Pho, home of the world's largest reclining Buddha and a famed massage school.

Bangkok, for many, represents the quintessential Asian capital. Saffron-robed monks, garish neon signs, graceful Thai architecture, spicy dishes, colorful markets, traffic jams, and the tropical climate come together in a happy coincidence.

By plane

There are two major airports:

• Suvarnabhumi Airport is huge (by some measures the world's largest), so allow time for getting around.
• Don Muang Airport handles Nok Air, PB Air and most Thai Airways domestic flights, but the former international terminal is now limited to charters and general aviation.

By train

The three main stations in Bangkok are:

• Hualamphong Train Station - The main station and the terminus of the Bangkok Metro line, located right in the middle of downtown Bangkok. Tickets for trains leaving the same or next day can be bought on the counters under the red/orange/green screens. The Advance Booking Office is located to the right of the platforms as you walk towards them and is quite well organised. You can select your seat/berth from a plan of the train, and payments by credit card are accepted. The taxi pick up and drop off point is to the left of the platforms as you walk towards them, and is generally chaotic at busy periods with scant regard for any queue. The left luggage facility is at the opposite end of the concourse, on the far right as you walk away from the platforms.
• Bang Sue Train Station - If coming from the north or north-east, connecting to the Metro here can shave the last half-hour off your train trip. This is not a very good place to board trains though, as there is practically no information or signage in English.
• Thonburi Train Station - Also known as Bangkok Noi, this station is located on the "wrong" side of the river in Thonburi District and is the starting point for services to Kanchanaburi (via Nakhon Pathom), River Kwai Bridge and Nam Tok. There are two daily 3rd class trains:
  • depart Thonburi 07:45, arrive Nom Tok 12:20, return 13:00, terminate Thonburi at 17:36
  • depart Nam Tok 05:25, arrive Thonburi 10:05, return 13:50, terminate Nam Tok at 18:20
  • Note that the weekend-only 2nd class air-con Kanchanaburi/Nam Tok "tourist" trains depart from Hualamphong

By car

By bus

By boat

Bangkok has the full spectrum of public transportation methods. Buses and taxis operate everywhere in the city. The Sky Train (BTS) and metro are available only in the city centre. And vans generally operate only in more out-lying areas.

By Car

By Mass Transit

By Foot

The high relative humidity and warm temperature have their advantages, namely that they favor the growth of tropical plants — you'll find exotic orchids and delicious fruit everywhere.

Police

Fire Department

Hospitals

Bangkok's hospitals offer generally high quality services at a fraction of the cost of a Western hospital. Probably the best-regarded (and most expensive) is Bumrungrad.

Crime

Smoking

Go cycling! It may sound crazy, but it certainly is not. Away from the main roads there is a fast system of small streets and alleys. Cyclists are treated as pedestrians, so you can use your bicycle to explore parks, temple complexes, markets and the more quiet residential areas of eastern Bangkok. In more crowded places you can cycle on the sidewalk. Exploring the town by bicycle has all the advantages of going by foot combined with a much greater action radius and a cooling breeze when cycling.

Bangkok is an extremely popular place for all sorts of pampering. The options available range from massages and spa treatments to haircuts and manicures and even cosmetic surgery, all at prices far lower than in the West.

Bangkok is full of shopping malls and street markets of all types, especially in the Sukhumvit area. Prices can be cheap by Western standards, especially for locally produced items such as clothes, although bargaining is expected and required. Dump a teenager in MBK or Emporium with a few thousand baht and they'll stay occupied for the rest of the week! Most malls tend to have excellent food courts.

Weekend Market: A major attraction on weekends is the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market (also a.k.a. JJ Market), in northern Bangkok but easily accessible by Skytrain and Metro. Take the MRT/Subway and get off Kamphaeng Phet station which opens right into the market. Takes around an hour on the bus from Khao San Road area. If you're staying in Pratunam, metered fare should not go beyond 100 baht. Has 20,000 stalls selling everything from counterfeit goods, animals, art, furniture and probably anything else you can think of. Definitely worth a visit for the sheer size of it. There are food stalls everywhere. Forego the cutesy cafes for the humbler stalls. Flavored iced and fried wontons will provide fuel for the whole day. Closes at around 6PM.

Night Market: Hugely popular with tourists & locals alike is the open air Suan Lum Night Bazaar. This is a large and colourful market offering bargains on everything from clothes, bags, crockery to organic foods. A smaller, cooler and cleaner version of Chatuchak - same wares sold for 20% more. There is a large food court with a live band every night. Beer seems to be the official beverage of this place - lots of beer gardens here. Covered in more detail in the Silom section. Note that as of March of 2007 there is a current worry that the Night Bazaar may be evicted from its premises and replaced by real estate development. The current management of the thriving bazaar, as well as the vendors in its stalls, are resisting eviction, but the owners of the land -- namely the property management company owned by Thailand's king -- is planning the eviction, which may happen as soon as April 2007.

Computer Mall: Pantip Plaza is a multi level computer mall selling everything from branded laptops to cheap VOIP phones and pirated DVDs. A must for any computer & electronics buff.

Bangkok's pharmacies (drugstores) tend to offer a very wide range of (wholly legal and legitimate) medicines and herbal remedies at a fraction of Western prices, including many drugs that would require a doctor's prescription in other countries. Thai pharmacists tend to be exceptionally helpful, and most speak excellent English. There are small, independent pharmacists on almost every corner, and you'll find bigger (and more expensive) chains on the major streets and in shopping centers. Boots is probably the most ubiquitous chain; they're also a reliable source for traveler's toiletries.

Books: B2S on the the 3rd floor of the Central World Plaza is Bangkok's largest bookstore, holding around 30,000 titles (many in English) and large selection of magazines. Japanese chain Kinokuniya also has a large outlet in Siam Paragon (Level 3 South), with a good selection of guidebooks and comics in English.

Clothing: Bangkok is well-known for it's plethora of tailors and high-quality fabric available locally. As a rule of thumb, avoid ANY tailor that you're taken to since many are frequent bribers of tuktuk drivers and others. Generally Sukhumvit-area tailors are western-oriented. For women, the lingerie salons in the department stores are must-sees. Wacoal is locally produced and are half the price in Bangkok

If you want to get out of the city for a while, there are plenty of day trip options from Bangkok.

• The ancient capital of Ayutthaya and its many ruins are just 1.5 hours away by bus or train.

• The magnificent royal palace at Bang Pa-In makes for a pleasant day trip.

• The Burma Death Railway and some good national parks can be found in Kanchanaburi Province to the west.

• The island of Ko Kret, upriver from Bangkok in Nonthaburi Province, makes a pleasant day trip out of the concrete jungle.

• The island of Ko Samet is one of the closer Thai beach islands; direct bus (from Ekamai) + ferry (from Ban Phe) takes about 4 hours.

• Well off the tourist trail, the surreal UFO-shaped temple of Wat Phra Dhammakaya is in Rangsit, an hour north of Bangkok.

• The naughty nightlife of Pattaya is 2 to 2.5 hours away by bus, an hour or so more by train.