Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is also the country's biggest city. It's busy and polluted, but offers a bunch of interesting sites, some fantastic shopping, and a tonne of great places to eat for all budgets.

Things to See

• Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
• Beautiful complex worth a couple of hours at least. Note, you should wear appropriate attire. Men must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves. If you're wearing thongs/sandals/flip-flops you must wear them with socks. Women can't wear any see-through clothes and should have sleeved shirts and long pants/skirt. You can hire clothes there if you need to (including socks, skirts/shirts).

• Wat Pho

  Pretty impressive. Home to the world's longest reclining Buddha. Also a good place for a relatively inexpensive massage without the optional extras.

• Wat Arun

  A lot quieter than the other two. It's a lovely temple. You need to take a boat across the river to get here.

• Chatuchak Weekend Market

  Yes, there's a lot of crap here, but if you haggle well, you can pick up some great bargains.

• Chinatown

  I love the Chinatown in Bangkok. It's a little chaotic and gritty, but it's a really interesting part of town. It's not particularly touristy, so it's a good place to escape the touts and explore.

• National Museum

  Worth a look before you set out to explore other regions of the country.

• Bangkok Zoo

  A rather miserable place. I wouldn't recommend it.

• Vimanmek Teak mansion

  Is pretty interesting.

• Khao San Road - henceforth "KSR"

  The backpacker ghetto of Bangkok. It's pretty much a dive, filled with cheap guesthouses and cafes/restaurants selling banana pancakes, shops selling fishermen's pants and fake designer wear, and hungover backpackers. I've never actually stayed on KSR itself because it's just too hectic. It's a handy place to book plane tickets, organise onward travel and pick up second-hand guidebooks etc. and some of the restaurants sell pretty decent food too!

• Lumphini Park

  Not the nicest park in the world but good place to relax a little in the middle of a very busy and polluted city. You can watch locals practice Tai Chi or go for a run!

• Snake Farm

  Run by the Red Cross, it serves both as a research facility and educational centre.

• Siam Square

• Basically a western-style shopping centres. Little here that you can't see in any other country that sells international brands. The upside is that it's air-conditioned, so if you're dying of heat...it's not a bad place to go for a couple of hours!

Transport to/from the airport(s)

Note that there are 2 airports in Bangkok. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (the new BKK airport) and Don Mueang International Airport (the old BKK airport). Almost all domestic and international flights are now out of Suvarnabhumi, but occasionally flights, particularly those with Nok Air, will fly from Don Mueang.

• Airport Express

  May not be running yet. This was supposed to be up and running a long time ago....But one day, hopefully, before I die, this may be up and running.

• Airport Bus

  There are several lines. They are super cheap and go to a variety of places across Bangkok. Cheapest way to get into town by far. If you get a local, non-air-con bus it's something like 40baht! If you want to go upmarket and jump on the air-con bus it's more like 150baht.

• Taxis

  To/from Bangkok Int'l Airport to downtown Bangkok cost between 320-400Baht including highway tolls. Taxis run to a meter and you can either pay the driver the tolls as you come to the toll gates, or pay at the end in addition to the taxi fare. Don't freak out too much if the driver is asking you to pay tolls. It's standard. Only get taxis from the taxi queue.

Accommodations

If you wish to pre-book accommodation (generally only necessary if you want to stay at a particular guesthouse), check out Hostelword . It's generally easy to rock up to places without a booking.

Bangkok is a huge city and there are a couple of places with cheap accommodation available. Banglamphu (around Khao San Road), Sukhumvit Rd area and Silom (the latter two are more pricey in general, but are better connected transport wise).

A tonne of cheap hostels/guesthouses/hotels are located in Banglamphu. Perhaps the most famous strip is along Khao San Road. It's very ghetto-y and noisy.

One of the major pros of the KSR area is that there are a load of travel agencies at hand to plan onward travel. And it's a good place to pick up a shuttle mini-bus to the airport. Pretty much any guesthouse can organise this for you for shuttles between 5am-11pm. You don't have to be staying at the guesthouse to book with them either. If you are travelling solo, it's a pretty cheap and comfortable way to get to the airport. Also, there are a few second hand book stores along and around KSR. Good place to sell/swap old travel guides/general reading material, and pick up new ones for your onward journies.

There is a street close-by to KSR (running parallel and then curling round behind a monastery close to the river) called Soi Rambuttri which has a stack of cheap guesthouses. I've stayed a a few of the places here - many of them have a variety of different rooms on offer, some with private bathroom, some without,

Any of these places are fine:

• New Siam 1/New Siam 2

• Bella Bella Guest House

  good, simple guest house with cheap food.

• Wild Orchid

  The restaurant here is good too.

• Sawasdee House

  I've stayed here several times over the past 8 years, because it was a well run-guest house, with friendly staff and good food. I was less impressed the last time I visited, however it's still a good option. The travel agency here is really good. They now have hot showers! Get air-conditioning. Don't slum it in a fan only room on the 4th floor, particularly in the wet season. It's pretty uncomfortable.

• My House

  Near Bella Bella, is basic but it's fine.

• Viengtai Hotel

  A slightly more expensive option on the bit of Soi Rambuttri that is parallel to KSR. I've never stayed here but several friends have and have highly recommended it. The restaurant is very nice, but obviously street food is much cheaper.

Links

• Bangkok - Wikitravel