Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is also the country's biggest city.

A horrible city, in my opinion, but a good place to organise onward travel and relax for a few days in between places.

Things to See

• Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)

  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 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. These are probably the most touristy places in Bangkok (aside from KSR). Both are really worth visiting.

• Wat Pho

  Pretty impressive. Home to 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 for about 2Baht.

• 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 VERY untouristed, so it's a good place to escape the touts and explore.

• National Museum

  Worth a look.

• Bangkok Zoo

  Shudder

• 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 fisherman'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

  A pretty well run place. It's a red cross-run place where they produce anti-venom.

• Siam Square

  Basically western shopping centres. The upside is that it's air-conditioned, so if you're dying of heat...not a bad place to go for a couple of hours!

Accommodations

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. I've never stayed anywhere along KSR so no personal preferences.

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.

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

• Wild Orchid

  The restaurant here is good too.

• Sawasdee House

  I mostly stay here because of the food, though it's gone downhill a bit. 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.

• 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 friends have and love it. The restaurant is pretty good.

Links

• Bangkok - Wikitravel