• Bangkok Guide

  • Introduction to Bangkok
  • Things not to miss
  • Arrival
  • Getting Around

• Explore Bangkok

  • Ratanakosin
  • Banglamphu
  • Chinatown
  • Thonburi
  • Dusit
  • Northern downtown: around Siam Square
  • Southern downtown
  • Thanon Sukhumvit
  • The outskirts
  • Spas and Thai massage centres
  • Sports and outdoor activities

• Accommodation

  • Find accommodation

• Things to do

  • Drinking
  • Eating
  • Shopping
  • Nightlife

Bangkok Guide

Ratanakosin

The place to start any exploration of Bangkok is Ratanakosin, the royal island on the east bank of the Chao Phraya, where the city's most important and extravagant sights are. When Rama I developed Ratanakosin for his new capital in 1782, following Burma's sacking of Ayutthaya, he turned into an artificial island by the construction of defensive canals, with a central Grand Palace and adjoining royal temple, Wat Phra Kaeo, home to the highly revered Emerald Buddha image. Here too you'll find the National Museum, and the historic Wat Pho, which houses an enormous, beatific Reclining Buddha and is a famous centre of Thai massage.

Bangkok has expanded eastwards away from the river, leaving the Grand Palace a good 5km from the city's commercial heart, and the royal family have long since moved their residence to Dusit, but Ratanakosin remains the ceremonial centre. The heavy, stately feel is lightened by traditional shophouses selling herbal medicines, pavement amulet sellers and studenty canteens along the riverside road, Thanon Maharat; and by Sanam Luang, still used for cremations and royal ceremonies, but also functioning as a popular open park and the hub of the modern city's bus system. Despite containing several of the country's main sights, the area is busy enough in its own right not to have become a swarming tourist zone, and strikes a neat balance between liveliness and grandeur.

Though there are a handful of attractive places to stay in Ratanakosin, there is a much wider choice of accommodation, especially for budget travellers, in Banglamphu, an easy walk away.

Easiest access to Ratanakosin is via the express-boat piers of Tha Chang and Tha Thien; coming from the downtown area or Thanon Sukhumvit, catch a Skytrain to Saphan Taksin station, then change on to an express boat.

A word of warning: beware of all-too-plausible con-artists in this area claiming that the Grand Palace or Wat Pho is closed when it's not; they aim to divert you on a commission-fuelled shopping trip instead.