Bangkok — Sights
From dawn alms rounds to 2am noodle carts
- Jim Thompson House Museum — Traditional Thai houses and Southeast Asian art beside a canal
- Museum Siam — An interactive museum about how Thailand became Thailand
- Bangkok National Museum — Thailand’s national collection of art and royal objects
- Wat Saket and the Golden Mount — Old-town rooftops from a hilltop reached by bells
- Loha Prasat at Wat Ratchanatdaram — An iron castle marked by 37 dark spires
- Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew — Gilded spires and the Emerald Buddha: start your first Bangkok morning here
- Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) — A 46-metre golden reclining Buddha, and a Thai massage on site
- Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) — A prang tiled in broken porcelain; watch it at sunset from across the river
- Chatuchak Weekend Market — A weekend morning lost in 27 sections of clothes, ceramics and souvenirs
- Jodd Fairs Ratchada night market — A pot of leng saeb and a beer at Bangkok's go-to nightly market
- ICONSIAM & SookSiam — A riverside mall with a whole floating market built into its ground floor
- Chao Phraya River dinner cruise — Buffet plate in hand on deck as floodlit Wat Arun slides past
- Asiatique The Riverfront — An evening stroll through old dock warehouses, ending on the big wheel
- Mahanakhon SkyWalk — Lie on a glass floor 310 m up for Bangkok's night skyline
- Siam shopping district (Siam Paragon & Siam Square) — Five malls off one BTS station; a whole hot afternoon sorted
- Yaowarat (Chinatown) — Street-stall smoke under Chinese neon; graze your way down the road all evening
- Khao San Road — Pad thai, foot massages and club music crammed into 400 metres
- Health Land Asok (Thai massage) — Two hours of Thai massage for 700 baht at a popular chain
- Ayutthaya Historical Park (day trip) — A Buddha head wrapped in tree roots and sunset over a fallen royal capital
- Damnoen Saduak floating market + Maeklong railway market (day trip) — Noodles from a rowing boat, then a train rolling through the middle of a market
- Wat Benchamabophit (Marble Temple) — Italian marble hall, calmer than the big royal sites
- Lumphini Park — Lizards, a lake and morning tai chi in the city centre
- Erawan Shrine — A shrine beside the Skytrain, thick with incense and dancers
- Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha) — A solid gold Buddha of five tons, by Hua Lamphong
- Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing — Huge mural hall, a red swing across the road
- Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) — Free art galleries and design shops, perfect for rain
- Baan Silapin Artist House — Wooden house on the canal with a daily puppet show
- Rajadamnern Muay Thai Stadium — Muay Thai’s historic home, fights live
- Bang Krachao (Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park) — Green river-bend island by boat, a half-day bike ride