What's a Soi? and other Bangkok, Thailand Off The Beaten Path Tips

One of my favourite things in Bangkok is wandering around the backstreets ( sois ) in Bangkok - it gets you away from the traffic, and you can see a little of how people live. Some of the areas around the smaller canals can be quite pretty, too. Incidentally, town and city addresses are often given as Soi N, SuchAndSuch road (or even SuchAndSuch road soi N), which means it's on the Nth side-road off SuchAndSuch road, not on the main road itself. In some places (villages for example), streets are called 'moo', as well.

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This lovely ex-royal residence is in the middle of a busy commercial district, on Sri Ayutthaya Road, but don't let that put you off. It is made up of a collection of attractive old wooden houses which now house several collections of exhibits, many of which are connected to the performing arts. Make sure you look inside the highly decorated laquer pavilion (pictured) at the rear.

This museum is a small treasure that many tourists don't make it to, but it's very easy to get to as it's just a short walk from Phaya Thai Skytrain station. It's open daily from 9am to 4pm. Note that there is an alternate spelling of Suan Pakkad Palace when you're looking for this place and it's also sometimes called Cabbage or Lettuce Farm Palace. There's a lot more information on the official website, listed below.

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Website: http://www.suanpakkad.com/main_eng.php

If you like historic houses, it's definitely worth paying a visit to this little gem - Kamthieng House, in the grounds of the Siam Society, just off Sukhumvit Road. It is a fantastic example of a traditional-style teak-wood Thai house. It had until recently been under renovation for some time, but this is now complete.

The house was originally brought down from the north of the country, and dates from the mid-nineteenth century. It is now decorated with all sorts of domestic artifacts to give you a good idea of the daily lives of ordinary people in the past in Thailand. There are also a couple of videos playing continously which show aspects of past times in Thailand.

It's very easy to get to - just round the corner from Asok Skytrain station, and in August a Metro (underground) station will open next door. It's off the beaten path at the moment, though - not many people visit this place, and it's not well publicised at all.

Entrance is 100 baht, and opening hours are 9am until 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday. See my travelogue for some more pictures.

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Website: http://www.siam-society.org/heritage/kamthieng.asp

Most tourists won't end up stopping here, but if you're looking out of the window of the Skytrain on your way to Chatuchak, chances are you will see Victory Monument and very imposing it is too. The route of the Skytrain actually has a kink in it to get around it.

The monument was built as a tribute to the military in the early 1940s, after a conflict with French Indochina.

Today it's familiar to many Bangkok commuters as it's a major hub for buses and the Skytrain.

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I only discovered this temple due to an attempted con - it started out with some guy on the street (as ever) telling me about this place which was only open once a year....

Fortunately for me, the temple is an attractive place, and was well worth a wander around. Of course this temple is open daily, but it's less well visited than many of the others; the touts rely on you never having heard of it.

Wat Ratchabophit is on Thanon Fuang Nakhon, east of the Grand Palace, and is open from 5am(!) to 8pm daily. It's free to enter the temple grounds. An interesting feature is the cemetery for members of King Rama V's family (pictured).

The second part of the con, incidentally, is where my new "friend" advised me of this "once a year government sale". Fortunately, I'd heard this bit before, so having had a look around the temple, I made my excuses and left...

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Just to the east of Victory Monument is this little green space. You're unlikely to want to travel far to visit this park, but should you be in nearby and want an early morning stroll (Bangkok parks are best enjoyed before it gets too hot), you may want to pop in. Sit down, relax, and watch the joggers - there's also an attractive fountain, and a good view of the Baiyoke Sky Tower from here. Free entry.

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From the look of it, you might think that this Chinese Arch would be the centre of attention in this part of town - but there wasn't a tourist in sight when I took this picture. It's probably all down to location - it's quite far from the most interesting bits of Chinatown, and a long walk from any of the river boat stops.

However, if you happen to be visiting Wat Traimit to see the big Golden Buddha, then it just happens to be around the corner - so it's worth taking a very short walk to the end of the road for a look at this very colourful monument. Like Wat Traimit, it's just a short walk from the new Metro station at Hua Lamphong. The arch is also known as The King's Birthday Celebration Arch - it was built in 1999 to celebrate the King of Thailand's 72nd birthday.

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Website: http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/thai_article/1917_bangkok_chinatown/bangkok_chinatown.html