Um. You staying in khao san road? If so first port of call should be the temple complex just west of there, by the river. If you’ve been travelling for a while you might like to go into the town centre and see some civilisation and air-conditioned shopping malls (I find myself craving the weirdest things). Go to a posh bar/club on sukhumvit soi 21 (or around there). Go to patpong at night to get harassed by people trying to sell you sex. Take a ride on a canal bus (can’t remember what they’re called now). In fact the quickest way of getting from khao san to the centre is by canal (or at least it was 5 years ago). Eat food from street stalls somewhere outside of khao san (don’t worry if you don’t know what to order, people will most likely help you choose, although pad thai is always good and you get to add your own chilli ;-) Um… dunno I can’t really remember! Relax, have fun :)

What’s really nice to see is the Grand Palace, and the Wat Pho in the Banglampoo district. From there you van also take a boat to the other side, to see the Wat Arun.

If you want to have a great view over Bangkok, you can go to the Bayoke tower. It’s 86 floors high, so you have

a great view here. I think it was 2500 baht, but.. you can get a free drink at the bar on the 83th floor.

For great shopping you can go to Siam, there are some big malls there. You can get anything you like there.

For more tips, check out

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Thailand/Central_Eastern_Thailand/Bangkok-1445238/TravelGuide-Bangkok.html

, there are great tips and reviews from people who have been to Bangkok.

Have fun!

greetings Madelon

For visits to the temples, have a look at my previous post:

http://www.43places.com/entries/view/963650

It’s an amazing city; probably my favourite. The food is incredible and, as Tamlyn just noted, make a point of eating from the stalls. They’re cheaper, more exciting and frequently tastier.

Definitely Chaktuchak market. you’ll have so much cheap and cool finds there :)

you’ll love the place! it’s an amazing city, makes me so envious :)

Try and find a vendor selling mango and sticky rice, or another great snack (which I got right outside of Wat Pho) is pineapple with sugar, salt and chili powder served in a plastic baggie… you need to try this…

it really depends on what you want to do :) try the food! its cheap and yummy! you also should try riding the “tuktuk” <- the tricycles. its a wild experience! they drive like there’s no tomorrow! i suggest you buy a map & travel guide or look on the internet then just find your way around. we didnt take the arranged tours of the hotel and travel agency because we wanted to go at our own pace. public transportation is very easy! you can take the MTR trains to virtually anywhere! buy the three day pass coz you’ll be getting on and off the trains often. if you have time, check out the siam ocean world ü its very interesting! of course the temples are a must. you can take the river boat express :) if you do decide to go to PATPONG one word of advice NEVEREVER GO INTO A BAR OR CLUBTHATHAS A SECONDFLOOR! you’ll end up paying for drinks that you didnt order! another thing. when you go sight seeing at the temples DONT listen to people who will tell you that the temples are closed today or things like those. they will pretend to take you to see another temple where you can make a wish for good luck etc. but they’ll really just take you to a jewelry shop where you will be semi-forced to buy things. this happened to a friend of mine and its a good thing she told me because there really were people who tried to fool us. but most of all, enjoy, be safe and take a lot of pictures! ENJOY!

I agree, you should see the Grand Palace and temples. I would also recommend going to the floating market. A day trip to Ayutthaya is worth the time. An evening of Muay Thai is a lot of fun.

Seems that answers above come from people around the world. Let me take in local people’s view.

You’re from germany, right? So you’re westerner or called “Farang” here. Every farang I’ve ever known prefer “Khao San Road”. The nearby area is old city, which you can go to the grand palace and temples in the opposite side of the river.

The rest depends on your preference.

If you would like to see temple, palace and musuem. I think Tourism Authority (http://www.tat.or.th/) will have a clue. Most important thing is dressing polite, or you won’t be allowed to get inside.

If you love shopping, Chatuchak Market can be reach by the skytrain. It opens on Sat and Sun only. Department store area is Siam (skytrain as well), which there are 6-7 huge stores locate in row!

For the nightlife, Khao Sarn itself has some. Foreign guys will love Phatphong and Sukhumvit area. But local people don’t go there (too expensive), there are some nightlife area around.

As a local of Bangkok, I’d make the following recommendation:

- the Jim Thompson House opposite of MBK in the Siam area. Here you’ll find some of the antiques you most likely will not see anywhere in Bangkok. You’ll be seeing stone statue from the 7th century, Thai paintings from 3-400 years ago, wood sculptures, and what the Thai house looks like a long time ago (although this particular house is built slightly differently with an air of European feel)

- The ancient city in Samrong. Here you’ll be finding a miniature Thai attractions put into one place.

- Tha Phra Athit in the Older City area close to Khao San. Here you’ll be finding nice food, some antiques, old forts, and other tourist attractions nearby such as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Monument of the 6 & 14 October massacre/uprising/protest whatever you want to call it, the Democracy Monument. If you can get some ride into the town part of the Older City, you’ll be finding yourself lost in time surrounded by old Thai building from a while back.

If you have time to travel to a nearby province, I would recommend traveling to Ayuthaya. This is the ancient capital prior to Bangkok. So you’ll be seeing remnants of the old capital and old temple of various kinds.

If you prefer a beach, Pattaya and Hua Hin are pretty good choices. Pattaya is popular among foreigners, but the beach there is not that great. It’s quite dirty because of the lack of attention to preservation. However, if you happen to go there, a must see is the Sanctuary of Truth, a wooden carved temple made entirely out of carved wood. The construction has been going on for roughly 30 years, and it’s still under continuous construction. Hua Hin has a man-made beach. Likewise, it’s not as nice as other beaches you can find in the Gulf of Thailand, but you’ll be finding yourself standing next to the palace of the king of Thailand here. The mall here is a low budget mall with very nice architecture made to look like the buildings from the King Rama VI’s era (the current king is King Rama IX). While there, you must travel to the top of Khao Tagiab, where you’ll be overseeing the entire Hua Hin region.

Other possible attractions ouside of Bangkok lies in the northeastern region. You’ll find here some remnants of the Khmer ruins (similar to Ankor Wat). However, if you are looking to be somewhat closer to nature and willing to travel, the islands out in the Gulf of Thailand may be of your interest.

Hi

I dislike the Khao San road area and prefer to stay in Sukhamvit near the excellent sky train, its so easy to get everywhere, and there are some fun nightclubs such as Bed Supperclub in that area. I stay at Suk 11, its a great hostel without all the seedy dodgy backpackers. www.suk11.com. Or I stay really central at Wendy Guesthouse, which is just near MBK, possibly the best mall ever. Having said that, one night in Khao San is fun.

Deffo go to Chatachuk – the weekend market. Its amazing for buying clothes, kitsch stuff, food, etc.

If you need electronics, Phan Tip Plaza is great. Just be sure to get things in the sealed box and with international warranty. I got a great camera at an excellent price there the other week.

Jim Thompson’s house is lovely.

Cabbages and Condoms restaurant is fun.

Avoid Patpong, its horrible. Why add to such a disturbing trade?

Try to take the taxis over the tuk tuks, they are not so safe in Bangkok (structurally and also they drive so fast). With taxis – ask them to put on the meter and if they dont, get out, or you’ll get ripped off.

There is a very nice food hall at the top of Central in Siam area. Great view of Bangkok…

RS

Well i had three days there as well. I actually joined a city tour for my first day. Before i went there i actually looked at the top places to go to using Yahoo! Travel.

I used the sky trams, subways and maps (got it from the airport). To map out where i should go.

You should visit Khao San Rd. Its fun and food is really good. The malls in Siam are great too. Especially that 8 story mall with the movie theatres on top.

You have got to see the giant lying buddha.

JohnGlen…codedmushroom.com

if there’s something you must do, its to eat on the street side stalls. there’s a market on the weekends outside baiyok hotel(this hotel’s not hard to miss, its the tallest one in thailand i think.) and the street side stalls selling all kinds of food are must-eats. a lot of people have said they dont dare to eat the food because its not clean, but i haven’t had any problems at all(i’ve been there 4 times), and the food is delicious.

its also more of the experience eating at a road side stall, since im from singapore and i was born in ‘87 so i never had a chance to eat in an environment like that. its an eye-opener definitely. so harden your stomach and get cracking! lol. you wont’ regret it. (well, even if you do, at least its different from sitting in yet another hotel and eating yet another plate of toast and scrambled eggs that you can get just about anywhere on this universe.)

enjoy your trip there! :)

Try the boat ride to go to the floating market. And take the tuk-tuk sometime during the trip (try a shorter journey 1st to see whether you’ll dare travel further on it ;)) The sky-train is a gd way of getting around without having to haggle with drivers for fares. Don’t even think about driving on your own (you’ll only understand why when you’ve witnessed Bangkok traffic)

Shopping-wise, definitely go to the Chatuchak Weekend market (and be prepared to spend the whole day exploring it), Boo Bae Market is simply bustling with activity, Pratunam has a wide array of clothes, Siam area has loads of shopping centres. Or you can go to the Sukhumvit area to tailor office-wear to be ready in 24hrs.

Foodwise I like the 5th storey MBK Ctr food-court for the variety of food available. Mango sticky rice & tom yam goong should definitely be something to look out for when you are finding stuff to eat.

Attractions-wise, Grand Palace, Wat Arun & Ayudthaya are really picture-perfect. Travelling out to Pattaya will take a few hours, but have fun with sea-sports such as jet-ski & parasailing. Travelling further to Coral Island, however I found it too crowded & touristified, though you can go snorkelling, sea-walking, etc.