Bangkok Things to Do Tips by Blatherwick

Khaosan Road. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

I have a love/hate relationship with Khaosan Road. On the one hand you have to love the place because it has all of the amenities that you need as a traveller. There are cheap places to sleep both on the street and in the adjacent streets. There are cheap internet places, plenty of decent travel agencies, and places to buy toiletries. It is also a decent place to find Western food if Asian food doesn't suit your palate.

It is exactly for the above reasons that I hate the place. It is a backpacker ghetto. I don't want to eat Western food most of the time so that doesn't interest me. The street is occupied mostly by foreigners who have only a passing interest in Thai culture and the local Thais are mostly only trying to make a buck out of you.

Overall though Khaosan is a good place. It is central to most of the main tourist sites and is a lively place. Even backpacker culture is interesting to watch. Heck, even the Thais come on down to watch the gong show.

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Address: Khao San Road (KSR) BKK
Website: www.khaosanroad.com

If you see only one thing in Bangkok let it be the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace served as the official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th century to early in the 20th century. Construction on the palace complex began in 1782 during the reign of Rama I.

The Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is the most important Buddhist temple of Thailand. The construction of the temple started when King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) moved the capital from Thonburi to Bangkok in 1785. Unlike other temples it does not contain living quarters for monks; rather, it has only the highly decorated holy buildings, statues, and pagodas.

The main building is the central bot, which houses the Emerald Buddha. Even though it is small in size it is the most important icon for Thai people. Legends hold that the statue originated in India, but it first surfaced in Chiang Rai, Thailand in 1434. It finally came to Bangkok when King Taksin fought with Laos and his general Chakri (the later King Rama I) brought it first to Thonburi. In 1784 it was moved to its current location.

On the upper terrace, next to the Chapel Royal are three other very sacred buildings. The Royal Pantheon holds the Tripitaka, the sacred Buddhist sculptures. The Phra si Rattana Chedi allegedly houses the ashes of Buddha. The three building are constructed in Thai,Burmese style, and Khmer styles. There is also a model of Angkor Wat, that was added by King Nangklao (Rama III). The presence of these structures indicates how the Burmese, the Khmer, and the Thais share cultural and religious roots.

The palace is open everyday between 8.30am and 3.30pm and there's an entry fee of 200 baht. You must dress properly with no sandals, shorts or baring of shoulders.

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Phone: 02-224-1833
Address: Thanon Na Phra Lang
Directions: South of Khaosan Road. The nearest pier on the river is Tha Chang.
Website: www.palaces.thai.net/gp/

To the left you can see a Kinaree. Therse half human, half bird, male and female figures can be found on the upper terrace. Also, several statues in the temple area resemble figures from from the Thai version of the Ramayana mythology, the Ramakian. These are the monkey kings which surround the golden chedi. Likely, these figures are meant to scare away evil spirits.

Oh yeah. Some goof in the middle is trying to scare away spirits too. (and girls, children, sane people, etc.)

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Phone: 02-224-1833
Address: Grand Palace
Website: www.palaces.thai.net/gp/

Chakri Mahaprasad Hall (Great Holy Hall of Chakri) is the largest triple-winged of the Grand Palace buildings. Built in 1882 by British architects using Thai labour, the exterior shows a peculiar blend of Italian renaissance and traditional Thai architecture. Each wing is topped by Mondop, a layered and heavily ornamented spire representing a Thai adaptation of the Hindu Mandapa, or shrine.

The tallest of the Mondops, in the centre, contains the ashes of each Chakri King who passed away; the flanking Mondops enshrine the ashes of Chakri princes who never inherited the throne.

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Phone: 02-224-1833
Address: Grand Palace
Website: www.palaces.thai.net/gp/

Wat Pho is famous for its giant Reclining Buddha. The temple was created as a restoration of an earlier temple on the same site, Wat Phodharam, the work beginning in 1788. The temple was restored and extended in the reign of King Rama III, and was restored again in 1982.

Wat Pho is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok, and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, more than any other temple in the country. The Reclining Buddha was made as part of Rama III's restoration. It is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, decorated with gold plating on its body and mother of pearl on its eyes and the soles of its feet. The latter display 108 auspicious scenes in Chinese and Indian styles.

The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. Even prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions. During the Rama III restoration plaques inscribed with medical texts were placed around the temple, while in 1962 a school for traditional medicine and massage was established.

Entrance is 20B. It's open every day, opening hours are from 08.00am to 5.00pm, with a break from 12.00pm to 1.00pm.

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Phone: 02-221-991
Address: Chetuphon Road
Directions: The nearest stop on the river is Tha Tien. It is located just south of the Grand Palace.
Website: http://www.discoverthailand.com/

Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) is one of the best known landmarks in Bangkok. It consists of a great elongated prang (Khmer-style tower), and is surrounded by four smaller prangs. It is decorated by bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China. The Wat had a brief period as host of the celebrated Emerald Buddha, which now resides in nearby Wat Phra Kaew.

Wat Arun is a nice place to visit but is best viewed from the water. The best time to take photos of Wat Arun are in the evening when the sun sets behind it.

The temple is open every day from 8.30am to 5.30pm. The entrance to the Wat is 20B and the ferry crossing is 2B.

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Phone: 02-466-3167
Address: Tha Tien Pier, Chao Phraya River
Directions: From this pier take a cross river ferry to Wat Arun.

Chinatown is one of the oldest areas of Bangkok as Chinese merchants were originally moved to this area in the early 1780's when Bangkok was founded. It is an interesting place to just wander around.

The only major tourist attraction here would be Wat Traimit but I never went there because I was effectively "templed out". However, the story goes that a large stucco Buddha that had been in storage as dropped from a crane while being moved. It revealed a solid-gold Buddha under the stucco that was over five tonnes. It was likely wrapped in stucco to hide the statue from the one of the Burmese invasions.

Chinatown has a seedy historical reputation for large numbers of opium dens, brothels, pawnshops and a fondness for gambling. Today, gold shops and pawnshops are still very popular in Chinatown and can be found almost anywhere.

Yaowarat road is Chinatown's main street, and has a concentration of gold shops. They have pretty good prices. There are also lots of restaurants in this area where you can get birds-nest soup, dim sum, shark fin soup and other traditional Chinese delicacies.

The narrow, crammed Sampeng Lane was previously infamous for the gang fighting and high numbers of murders that took place here. Nowadays, it's a very busy predominately pedestrian street

The Thieves Market, or Nakhon Kasem is slightly north of the western end of Sampeng Lane. Though legitimate today, it was so named because this was where goods stolen from houses inevitably turned up. It's now a good area for looking or buying Thai or Chinese antiques.

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Directions: Go from Ratchawongsi Pier down the road of the same name until the intersection of Yaowarat Road.

Tamil immigrants built this Hindu temple in the 1860s. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman who is worshipped for her power to protect against disease and death. You are allowed to walk in the courtyard however pictures are not allowed.

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Address: Thanon Silom
Directions: Chong Nonsi Skytrain station. On the corner of Thanon Silom and Thanon Pan.

The 24m tall Democracy Monument was made to commemorate Thailand's 1932 switch from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. It was here that many Thais were killed protesting against a military coup in 1992. The design is of a large copper tray carrying the constitution, supported by a pedestal.

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Address: Thanon Ratchadamnoen Klang
Directions: About 5 minutes east of Khaosan Road. It's in the middle of a really busy traffic circle.

Phra Sumen Fort is the hexagonal-shape concrete fort built in 1783 during the reign of King Rama I. Originally the city was moated and walled with 14 forts at intervals along it. The fort has two levels of battlements where cannons are deployed and an observation tower. The old cannons are still in place.

A well-kept park, the Santichaiprakarn Park, lies between Fort Phra Sumen and the river making it a pleasant area to spend the day by the river. One can have a panoramic view of the riverfront and watch river life go by. Sometimes in the evening there are free aerobic classes taking place as

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Address: Banglamphu Pier
Directions: Take a short walk to Phra Athit Road and turn left.