See and do in Bangkok
Although Thailand’s capital is one of the World’s most visited cities, it is also a huge metropolis so does a good job of absorbing large numbers of visitors. Furthermore, they naturally congregate in certain parts of the city and many areas of Bangkok see few or zero foreign visitors.
As with any large city there’s the question of where does it end and where does it start so, along with central, downtown locations, we’ll include a couple of suburban spots but without stretching as far as the various out of town, day trip, options. In a city that size there are certainly myriad choices; Bangkok possesses a plethora of museums, hundreds of temples and markets in every district so we’re just going to scratch the surface with a few of our own personal favourite things to see and do in Bangkok.
As is our wont, our see and do suggestions in Bangkok will include some of the most famous, must-sees, as well as some of the lesser-known, off-the-beaten-path sites.
1. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
The most popular single site in the city would have to be the Grand Palace and adjacent, royal temple, Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The late 18th century palace and sometimes gaudy but always spectacular royal monastery are certainly must-sees for any visitor to Bangkok and have a convenient location in Rattanakosin District, the oldest area of the city. Not surprisingly they can get very busy indeed and so our first recommendation would be to time your visit as early as possible. With the complex opening its gates at 08.30 grabbing a place in the queue around 08.00-08.15 is well worthwhile as is avoiding weekends and public holidays.
Allow at least an hour for your visit and take note of the dress code for visitors described in the above link. There are plenty of coffee shops and cafes in the vicinity if you want to take a break before moving on to our next suggestion, nearby Wat Pho. (Pronounced po, the ‘h’ is silent.) Note that if you are going to encounter any touts or scam artists in Bangkok then outside of the Grand Palace is the most likely place so politely ignore any friendly locals proffering advice or suggestions, decline any unofficial, would-be guides and do not under any circumstances listen to tuk-tuk drivers offering cheap rides, tour suggestions or visits to their sister’s souvenir emporium.
The Grand Palace 2. Wat Pho
A 5-minute stroll south of the Grand Palace, Wat Pho is another highly popular destination although doesn’t get quite as crowded as the Palace itself. Another royal temple, Wat Pho is thought to originally date to the 17th century and is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha due to its impressive, gold painted, 15 metre long Buddha statue.
There are plenty of interesting sculptures dotted around the temple grounds along with numerous ornate and photogenic, mosaic-covered stupas and shrines. Wat Pho’s also famous throughout Thailand for its celebrated massage school although while many visitors take advantage of the proffered services, there are plenty of often equally good and certainly less busy massage schools and spas elsewhere.
Across the road, along the riverbank to the west of the temple is the Tha Tian Market – a wholesale dried fish market – which, if you don’t mind the rather pervasive aroma, makes for an interesting detour. Behind the market is the riverboat pier, Tha Tian, which offers ferries across the Chao Phraya to Wat Arun on the opposite bank and is also a stop for certain Chao Phraya Express boats. Surprisingly, a couple of old-style, very traditional noodle shops still survive in the vicinity of the pier making for a great local brunch or lunch break.
Ornate shrines and stupas dot the grounds of Wat Pho or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. 3. Wat Arun
As mentioned, ferries ply the river between Tha Tian and Wat Arun although the former is not itself an Express Boat stop. If you’ve seen the mosaics and sculptures at Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho there’s perhaps no need to actually walk around Wat Arun and the best views are often from the river. The temple features an eclectic mixture of traditional Thai Theravada Buddhist iconography and symbolism as well as Mahayana, Chinese and Hindu elements while some claim the main stupa, or prang, is Khmer/Angkorian influenced. Indeed the name Arun refers to the Hindu God Aruna, associated with the rising sun, and Wat Arun is thus colloquially named the Temple of the Dawn.
Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn 4. The National Museum
The Bangkok National Museum is also situated in the Rattanakosin area of Bangkok, a short walk north of the main entrance to the Grand Palace. While we regrettably find ‘stuffy museums’ often get short thrift from most visitors who’d prefer to follow the Palace with the more in your face sights of Khao San, Patpong or Siam Square’s giant malls, it is a well laid out, manageably-sized museum and presents a brief rundown of all periods of Thai history from prehistoric up to modern times. We’d say most visitors return home after a holiday in the kingdom with almost zero knowledge of the country and its people’s history but it’s a bit like learning to say hello, please and thank you in the language of whichever country you’re visiting and just devoting an hour or 2 to the National Museum is showing a minimum of respect for your destination.
An earlier blog post concentrates on the Khmer, Angkor and pre-Angkor period artefacts while the Museum’s own site offers a virtual tour. Last but not least, depending on what the weather’s doing, the Museum is also a good spot to either shelter from the midday sun or take cover during a rainy season shower.
Pre-Angkorian, Khmer relief in the Bangkok National Museum 5. Banglamphu
A great area to explore, Banglamphu District also possesses a central location, just north of the historic Rattanakosin District. Banglamphu is the location for the famous Khao San Road – the city’s former backpacker area and now home to upmarket guesthouses as well as myriad cafes, bars and restaurants plus a host of street food and street stalls. While Khao San is definitely worth a peek, there is a lot more to Banglamphu.
Despite a geographically central location Banglamphu has stubbornly resisted development and much of the district outside of Khao San and its immediate surrounds still consists of narrow streets or canals lined with low-rise housing and filled with local cafes and local businesses. Sure, it’s grubbier and probably smellier than the smoked glass and concrete highrise and malls of Silom or Sukhumvit but it also certainly gives you a much better impression of traditional Bangkok and indeed Thai life and therefore, we’d say, exploring Banglamphu is a shoo-in on any see and do in Bangkok list.
The district incorporates the area north of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road and Democracy Monument with Thewet and the Krung Kasem Canal marking the north. The Chao Phraya and Ratchadamnoen Nok Road form the west and east boundaries respectively. The Express Boat stop Phra Athit lies towards the south while Thewet Pier serves the area’s northern reaches. You can wander the maze of narrow streets and canals north from Khao San, walk through the colourful Thewet flower market and return to Phra Athit.
Canal-side walk in Banglamphu District 6. Talat Noi
Another formerly notorious labyrinth of grubby, narrow alleyways that in recent years has become one of Bangkok’s most fashionable addresses. The district covers the southern limits of Chinatown, north of Taksin Bridge and is bordered by Charoen Krung Road to the east and, once again, the Chao Phraya to the west. The Harbor (sic), or Marine Department, pier lies towards its southern end with Ratchawong serving both Chinatown and the northern section of Talat Noi District.
Some of the riverside warehouses now form trendy coffee shops and cafes, crumbling walls feature street art and dumped cars have turned into installations and sculptures. Don’t hesitate to poke your head around corners or down alleyways and after you’ve had your fill of street art you can continue a short distance north to explore the bustling alleys of Chinatown before finishing your walking tour at Ratchawong Pier.
Street art in Talat Noi 7. Lumphini Park
Although not a huge park in relation to the overall size of the downtown area – much smaller than say New York’s Central park or London’s Hyde Park – we reckon Bangkok’s green lung, Lumphini, is worthy of a place on our see and do in Bangkok list and once again has a convenient location close to the City’s geographical centre. Rama IV Road and the Silom and Sathon high rises lie to the south, Witthayu, or Wireless, Road forms the eastern border, Sarasin the north – beyond which are the shopping and commercial districts of Prathu Nam (Pratunam) and Sukhumvit – and Ratchadamri the west. The best way to access the park is by Skytrain, with Ratchadamri and Sala Daeng stations situated slightly north and south of the park gates respectively.
There’ll be plenty of joggers and aerobics classes, occasional concerts and you can hire paddle boats on the lake but most unique of all is the colony of sometimes huge water monitor lizards that call Lumphini home. Most are oblivious to humans and inoffensive but some reach surprisingly impressive sizes. (Who needs Komodo?)
The aforementioned Skytrain is fun in its own right with the raised platforms offering some great views across downtown. If you’re coming from say Chinatown or Rattanakosin then take the Express Boat to Taksin Pier which connects to the train and after a stop at Lumphini continue on to Siam Square or National Stadium. From there it’s a short walk to the Jim Thompson House Museum – a former silk magnate, probable CIA spy, (well, OAS which was the forerunner organisation) and Asian art collector. (Doesn’t quite make it onto our see and do in Bangkok compilation as it is a somewhat niche museum and some of the art work was acquired in dubious circumstances.) From Jim Thompson House turn left to the canal and you’ll find the Saphan Hua Chang canal bus stop which is a fun way to get back to the Golden Mount and Democracy Monument.
Suan Lumphini or Lumphini Park 8. Chatuchak Market
Certain sections of the famous Chatuchak, weekend market now open all week but Saturdays and Sundays between 09.00 and 6.00 pm are the main opening hours. The market does sell just about anything you can think of so it’s great for browsing while the myriad food stalls make it equally great for grazing. This is another site which is worth getting to early as the narrow market aisles can get very crowded.
9. Talat Rom Hup – Mae Klong ‘Railway Market’
A more out of town see and do in Bangkok option, located in the western suburbs of Samut Songkram Province, the unusual Talat Rom Hup or Railway Market is worth the detour. (It’s unusual rather than unique as Train Street is also a popular stop on any Hanoi tour even if that one is lined by cafes rather than market stalls.)
Getting there by public transport is a bit fiddly so count around an hour to an hour and a half by taxi or bus to get there while train times, (4 per day in each direction), are listed on this Tourism Authority of Thailand site.
Mae Klong ‘Railway Market’ 10. Street Food
Last, but definitely not least on our see and do in Bangkok list is sampling the awesome, local street food. While trying local food is strongly recommended for pretty much anywhere on the planet, Bangkok does offer some of the World’s best street food at, what for most visitors, are ridiculously cheap prices.
Before running through some suggested locations, we’ll try and clear up a couple of common misconceptions regarding Southeast Asian street food in general. Firstly, hygiene. Many street stalls are dealing with just a handful, or even single, speciality so that means products they know how to prepare and preserve correctly. While locals’ stomachs may be better at dealing with dodgy food issues than our over-closeted Western ones, Thais are not immune and in so far as most stalls rely on reputation, any stall gaining poor feedback may as well close down immediately.
Secondly, surprisingly, not all Thais like hot food and not all dishes are super-spicy. Many soups and noodle dishes in particular begin life in very mild forms with chillies and spices added separately by the customer according to personal taste. A simple fried rice or Thai omelette contains no chillies at all while if ordering a popular street food dish such as pat kra phao – stir fried minced pork with basil and chillies – it’s sufficient to ask for few or no chillies.
What we’d classify as street food can be found in night markets, local markets and food halls as well as pavements and street stalls. With regards locations, there’s obviously no specific address for this entry as it can be found throughout the city. Every Thai will have their favourite back street stalls so our see and do in Bangkok list just includes a few of the better-known, as well as a couple of more off-the-beaten-track locations.
The more local the market or street, the cheaper and more authentic the food is likely to be although popular spots will feature English menus and staff who are more used to dealing with foreigners. Chinatown’s famous Yaowarat falls into the latter category although being extremely popular with both locals and visitors, is certainly not the cheapest. Mahachai Road, leading south from the Golden Mount comes with a good reputation while slightly west, Trok Mor gets rave reviews for cheap and very authentic local dishes. The slightly less convenient Petchaburi Soi 5’s means it sees plenty of locals but few tourists as does Rangnam, slightly further north, near Victory Monument. The night market on Silom Soi 20 located amid the highrise banks, offices and higher end hotels is another address popular with visitors and ditto the offerings on Sukhumvit Soi 38.
A couple of excellent, more local orientated and lesser known are Thonburi’s Bang Khun Non and Wang Lang Market. The latter in particular is a great spot and with a riverside location easy to access by ferry from Tha Phra Chan behind Rattanakosin District’s Thammasat University.
This Bangkok Street Food Sanctuaries post offers more addresses, as well as details on how to get to them, while a Best Bangkok Street Food has a comprehensive rundown on most of the popular dishes even if some of them don’t really fit the street food description and one or two aren’t really Thai. As the post reminds us, many Bangkok residents do not originate from Bangkok so many regional dishes such as South Thai, North Thai and Isan offerings are included.
Laap tord, fried spicy meatballs 10. Other mentions
The above are obviously just a few of our personal faves and plenty of options that didn’t make our see and do in Bangkok list are well worthwhile. If you get the right one then the justifiably popular canal tours are excellent as are the various cycling through leafy suburbs offerings. Go to the end of the Express Boat line and explore Koh Kret or take in some Thai boxing at the Ratchadamnoen (Rajadamnern) Stadium. You’re spoilt for choice.
