Wat Pho: the amazing reclining Buddha and other Bangkok, Thailand General Tips

Favorite Thing: Don't miss seeing the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, round the corner from the Grand Palace on Chetuphon Road. It's an amazing sight - here's a detail. There's a small entry fee of 20 baht.

Wat Pho is also home to a famous Thai massage school: so you can also get a massage if you want; take a look at:

http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/attractions/watpho.php

for much more information.

The grounds of Wat Pho have some amazing architecture, too - so don't forget to allow enough time for a wander around.

It's open from 8am to 5pm daily.


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Favorite Thing: The Vimanmek Teak Palace - it's a fabulous old building. You'll need to take off your shoes and take a guided tour, but it's well worth it. As it's still officially a royal palace, make sure you're dressed properly (cover those legs and no sleeveless shirts, folks). Tours take about an hour, and there is a free display of Thai dancing twice a day. It's in the Dusit area, north of Banglampu, and it costs 50 baht to get in - which includes the tour. If you've been to the Grand Palace earlier in the day, though, you can get in for free by showing your Grand Palace ticket.

The official website is at

www.palaces.thai.net/vm/

and there are some nice pictures at the Thailand Guidebook website too.

Guided tours start at 9.30am, with the last one at 3.15pm daily. The demonstrations of traditional Thai dancing are at 10.30am and 2pm right outside the palace, and are well worth catching if you can time it right.


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Favorite Thing: This often-dusty open space may not appear to be much to look at at times, but it's of great importance to the Thais. Important celebrations and ceremonies are held here from time to time, including royal birthdays and the Royal Ploughing Ceremony in early May.

It's also a useful point of reference; the Grand Palace is at its southern end, and the National Museum is on the northwestern corner. On a quiet day, you may well see people coming to fly kites.


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Favorite Thing: Conveniently close to the eastern end of Khao San Road, this Bangkok landmark was built in 1939 to commemorate the change from absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 1932. Not so much a must-see as something you can't miss if you're passing down Thanon Ratchadamnoen Klang (Ratchadamnoen Avenue).


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Favorite Thing: A short walk from Democracy Monument is the Golden Mount, which is an artificial hill (topped by a Buddhist chedi) next to Wat Saket. There's a complicated road junction just before you get there, so try not to get lost - I managed to take a wrong turn on the way. It was a pretty good view though - worth the effort.

There's a small charge of 20 baht to get to the highest point, and there's also a small shop selling films and cold drinks - you may well need a drink if you've climbed up in the heat.


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Favorite Thing: Getting to the Golden Mount is pretty easy, except for the last few metres! It's near the end of Ratchadamnoen Avenue, east of Democracy Monument. However just as you get there, it's easy enough to take a wrong turn just before you get there (which is what I did). At the end of Ratchadamnoen Avenue there's a big road junction and you can see a wall which which look as if it could be the edge of the Golden Mount. In fact it's an old fort and you should carry on past it over the canal and down Thanon Boriphat - look for the small bridge which you need to cross (pictured).

The entrance to the Golden Mount is also pretty badly signed - there is a sign on the wall just before you get there, otherwise look for the gates, which should be unlocked during the hours of daylight. If you've gone over the bridge in the photo, then the Golden Mount is on your left.


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Favorite Thing: Siam Square is next door to Chulalongkorn University and is home to a number of language schools, so don't be surprised to see lots of students in this area. It's a semi-pedestrianised area with lots and lots of small shops, just over the road from the MBK and Siam Center shopping malls.

It's a bit hot in the daytime, but if you're looking for shops that are a little bit different to those in the malls, this could be the place to come. As well as lots of shops, there are cinemas and restaurants - including the Hard Rock Cafe on Soi 11.

It's all just south of the Siam (Central) Skytrain station, and if you want to stay here, there is a Novotel right on Siam Square Soi 6.


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Favorite Thing: Every time I visit Bangkok, there seems to have been yet another change to the way payphones work - although I'm hoping that the most recent changes will be a little more permanent. There were 2 types of public payphones much in evidence around Bangkok this time - the newish TOT phones (pictured), which take coins and are good for calls around Thailand, and the yellow Lenso payphones which take cards (usually available from nearby convenience stores).

Encouragingly, most of the payphones I tried this time were working (a big improvement on 2004), and the rates on international calls from Lenso phones had dropped dramatically - a big bonus! However, save up your coins if you want to use a TOT payphone, on the few calls I made, they seemed to get used up pretty quickly...


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