Bangkok Guide
Things not to miss
1 The Grand Palace
• Sheltering Thailand's holiest temple, Wat Phra Kaeo, and its most sacred image, the Emerald Buddha, this huge complex is a beautiful kaleidoscope of strange colours and shapes.
2 Wat Pho
• This lavish and lively temple is home to the awesome Reclining Buddha and a great massage school.
3 Amulet market
• Nearly all Thais wear a sacred talisman – often a miniature Buddha image – to ward off misfortune, and the huge amulet market at Wat Rajnadda is a great place for browsing.
4 Muang Boran Ancient City
• Escape from the city to this attractively landscaped open-air museum, which features beautifully crafted replicas of Thailand's finest monuments.
5 Traditional Thai Puppet Theatre
• The last troupe of its kind, this is the only authentic form of Thai dance-drama performed to a high standard every night of the week.
6 Jim Thompson's House
• An elegant and very personal museum of Thai crafts and architecture.
7 Thai boxing
• Nightly bouts at the national stadia are accompanied by live music and frenetic betting.
8 Exploring traditional neighbourhoods
• Venture beyond the downtown gloss on a bicycle tour through the city's rural fringes.
9 Vimanmek Palace
• This elegant late-nineteenth-century summer palace was built from golden teakwood, without a single nail.
10 Wat Arun
• The Temple of Dawn looks great from the river – and even better close up.
11 Chatuchak Weekend Market
• Bangkok's top shopping experience features over eight thousand stalls selling everything from hill-tribe jewellery to jeans and designer lamps to kitchen china.
12 National Museum
• The cornucopia of Thailand's artistic heritage, ranging from sculptural treasures to fantastic royal funeral chariots.
13 Chinatown
• This atmospheric neighbourhood of kilometre-long alleyway markets, centuries-old traditions and evocative temples is also home to the world's largest solid-gold Buddha.
14 Erawan Shrine
• The full spiritual monty: Buddhism, Hinduism and animism, dancing, lottery tickets and enough jasmine and gold to knock you out.
15 The Thonburi canals
• The best way to explore the city's waterside communities is to travel as its residents do – by boat.
16 Thanon Khao San
• Legendary mecca for Southeast Asian backpackers: the place for cheap sleeps, baggy trousers and tall tales.