Bangkok Sightseeing

If you ever got enough of the Bangkok sightseeing, there are many ways to leave the city.

You can travel by train, the best places is the Hualamphong train station. You can check out their website www.railway.co.th or give them a call (1690). There you find timetables, destinations and prices.

There are three big bus terminals in Bangkok too – the Eastern bus Terminal, the Northern  Bus Terminal and the Southern Bus Terminal. But be prepared for about 1-2 hours to get to any of these from whereever you are. The bus terminals are typically located in the outskirts of Bangkok.

Northern Bus Terminal

There are also many minibusses that are privately operated and depart from different places in Bangkok. One of the best places to get on a minibus is the BTS station Victory monument. But be prepared to ask around a bit – it’s quite chaotic, and you will have to go to one of the guys who stands in front of a minivan, tell him where you go, and he will point you towards the right van.

They often have different kinds of buses, some of them are more expensive than others. Don’t give too much about “VIP bus” – there probably isn’t a single bus in Thailand that’s not called a “VIP bus” 😉

Minibus

Keep in mind that these minibusses tend to be less comfortable than the buses, but they are faster.

Photocredits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/petes_travels/217790058/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/3755258341/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlapalme/2751071755/

The Floating Market of Damnoen Saduak is one of the most popular tourist attractions near Bangkok.

When you are there, you can order all kinds of snacks and food from vendors who sell out of their boats.

Nowadays, this is done for tourists, but many years ago this was just a question of convenience in Bangkok, because there were not as many roads, and selling from boats was the best way for sellers to bring their foods to the people.

Thanon Tanao is a street that still has the old Bangkok flair – and the nice thing is, it’s just a short distance away from the backpacker district of Khaosan Road, so it’s easy to get there and makes for a great Bangkok sightseeing walk.

One thing that is worthwhile visiting there is the “Tiger Shrine” or “Tiger God Shrine”, locally known as Chao Poh Seua (Jao Paw Sue). It is open every day between 6am till 5pm. When you walk in, you immediately get surrounded by a thick cloud of incense smoke, and you see people walking around carrying big bunches of incense sticks and praying.

This is a Taoist shrine, not a Buddhist shrine, and many of the people here are either Chinese or their families have Chinese ancestors – but Thai people come to pray here too. Thai-Chinese come here to pray for power, prestige and healthy pregnancy. (Many Chinese families still prefer boys over girls). They make offerings of pork rashers, eggs, oil, sticky rice and sugar tigers.

This shrine is dedicated to the Chinese tiger guardian spirit and the God of the North Stars. You can see their image on the centre of the main altar.

Chao Poh Seua, Tiger God Shrine

When you walk Thanon Tanao street further south, you find lots of nineteenth-century shophouses made out of wood. Here you can buy lots of traditional Thai foods that can’t be found elsewhere.

Many of these shophouses have been owned by families who practice their craft since many generations. Not everything is will match your taste here – there are rather exotic thinmgs like pig brain soup and so on – but it is still interesting and fascinating to explore this part of Bangkok.

You also can find many religious shops here that sell Buddha images and so on.

And there’s a temple called Wat Mahannapharam Worawihan too, where to ancient Buddha statues are located.

Wat Mahannapharam Worawihan

The temple was build in the reign of King Rama the third by Prince Udom Rattanarasri. The architectural style is a mixture of Thai and Chinese influences. The Ubosot has a Chinese rooftop – it is typically less decorated than the Thai ones.  Other elements are from different periods of Thai history, including Ayutthaya and Sukhotai.

It’s nice to go sightseeing in a relaxed way in the area.

Photocredits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nobythai/4583462321/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrypops/201758926/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheresvasan/4377483655/

The Bed Supperclub is one of Bangkok’s hotspots since almost ten years already.

As you can see, it’s a pretty unique design and a true landmark in the city. Although it’s hidden away a bit in one of the sidesois of Sukhumvit.

Hi-So Thais and foreigners mingle here together, and if you want to have a good time here, make sure to dress stylish – flipflops and shorts won’t do.

The interior is all white, and they serve great food too:

So if you want a stylish, hip place and to enjoy some gourmet food, this is the place to be.

In the night time, they switch on the color lights and give the whole thing a very nice ambience.

it’s also comfy to chill here, and if you feel like it after a Bangkok sightseeing trip, then this is a great place to get some high class entertainment, food, music and good party vibes.

Most people know this place just for the party, but remember the excellent food 🙂

The award winning American chef Dan Ivarie’s cookes up really innovative creations.

If you want to go here for dinner, it’s best to make reservations by phone first: 02 651 3537

The entry fee for the club includes two drinks. They’re now preparing to open another club in Paris, but you should see the original in Bangkok first 😉

Check out their website to see what’s coming up – and be aware that it’s worth checking. Sometimes they might have something like gay night, and if you’re not gay, then you might not want to spend your night there 🙂

They also have a podcast there, where you can listen to the music and see if it fits your style.

Right now, they have “Cine-Dine” – where you get to eat great food and watch a movie in bed, and cocktails are 100 baht (every Monday at 9:30).

It’s best to go there by taxi, or in case of rush hour take the skytrain and then a motorcycle taxi or just walk down Soi 11.

The place is clearly an institution by now, and you find both locals and tourists there, and expats who live in Bangkok, as well as flight attendants.

And bring your ID 🙂

Bed Supperclub
26 Sukhumvit Soi 11
+662 651 3537‎
View Larger Map

Photocredits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/microryan/2203268206/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemarks/308293864/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/vueltaa/1178461383/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaffirlimelight/386373385/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/microryan/2202477597/,

The Prasart museum is located on the far eastern edge of Bangkok. You can see lots of traditional Asian buildings.

It was a wealthy entrepreneur named Prasat Vongsakul who collected and reassembled these buildings – he had a big passion for art. He made it into a private museum in 1981. He made his fortune with real-estate.

When he was a young man, he was very upset that so many valuable pieces of Thai arts and artefacts were sold abroad.

There are several of these buildings, and one of the highlights is a golden teak wood palace. This was inspired by the royal residence which can now be seen at the National Museum, Phra Tamnak Daeng, also known as the Red Palace. It was King Rama I who built it for his sister in 1784. This was the king who founded the current dynasty (now it is the period of HM King Rama IX) and made Bangkok into the capital of Thailand.

Then there is also a typical Chinese temple.

The Khmer shrine is also interesting – Khun Prasart made it a real cocktail of different Asian traditional buildings.

It is not a cheap experience to go there, but if you are into traditional arts and architecture or Thai antiquity it will definitely be worth it.

In the gardens, there are also many rare plants from Thailand and other countries that are cultivated here.

There is an imitation of Ho Phra of Wat Yai Suwannaram too. And in the teakwood library that houses ancient manuscripts and books.

The place is really a pleasant sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

Price:

1000 Baht (ouch, yes, it’s expensive)

Opening hours:

Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-3pm
IMPORTANT: You need to announce your visit at least two days in advance to get an admission to visit the estate.

Phone:

02 379 3601

How to get there:

Air-con bus number 93 goes directly there.

Photocredits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/758100021/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/758085837/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tatsushu/3411593860/, http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1377/758100021_d96aa3e375.jpg, http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/758085133/

The Democracy Monument in Bangkok is an important historical landmark. Although it doesn’t look nearly as beautiful as in this beautifully digitally enhanced picture when you drive by it during the daytime.

The Democracy Monument is on a major road, Thanon Ratchadamnoen, and cars drive around it all the time. It is just a short ten minute walk away from the famous Khaosan Road, Bangkok’s most popular district for backpackers.

So it is a good place to stop by on a Bangkok sightseeing tour, because in close vicinity, there is also the Golden Mountain temple.

Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram (popularly known as Phibun), ordered the construction of this monument in 1939. It was built to remind people of the military coup that led to a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Phibun wanted to westernize Thailand, and the road on which the democracy monument is build was meant to resemble the Champs-Elysees in Paris – with the Democracy Monument as the Arc de Triomphe.

This was not at all a popular decision – the normal people didn’t care to Westernize, and they surely did not care for resembling some street in Paris. Lots of local shopowners and residents were evicted from the area with 60 day notice. Hundreds of old trees were cut down to add additional lanes to the street to widen it. If you walk down there now, you will surely not find it a pleasant walk – too many cars, too much heat, and it’s all concrete.

But military rulers often care more about symbols of power and prestige than about how their decisions affect the normal lives of their people.

What does it mean?

As you can see, in the center there is a round, bell-shapes structure. On top of it, you find two bowls, on which a box is placed. This box represents a palm-leaf manuscript box, in which the constitution of 1932 was put.

The bell-shaped structure, the turret, is three meters high – because the coup took place in the month of June, which, in the traditional Thai calendar, is the third month of the year.

Around this bell-shaped structure, you can see four wings, each 24 meters high. (24, because the coup took place on June 24). Each of these wings represents one of the branches of the Thai armed forces that did the coup: the army, navy, air force and police.

The reliefs you can see on the wings are essentially propaganda, depicting the armed forces as heroes who rule for the people. (Although history has shown that this is a rather unlikely scenario – the military rulers had a lot to gain personally from the coup).

Who built it?

Mew Aphaiwong, an architect. He was a relative of a leading member of the Phibun regime.

The relief sculptures around the base of the monument were created by Corrado Feroci, an Italian who had Thai citizenship and was in Thailand known under the name of Silpa Bhirasi.

What happened here?

Even though it originally was just erected as a propaganda instrument by the Thai military regime in the 30’s, many decades later it became a place where demonstrations took place that were indeed democratic. Also, the place has a history of clashes between the military and the people. In 1973 mass student demonstrations took place here, and in 1992, many Thai people were killed who protested against General Suchinda Kraprayoon’s regime. In 2010, during the red shirt protests, several people got killed here too, including a foreign journalist who was reporting on the protests, probably shot by army snipers.

Photocredits: Thailand Photo, Sw Eden, Richard Andersson, Michael LaPalme

If you are interested in architecture, traditional living, design, Thai silk and arts, or just the fine things in life, then Jim Thompson’s House is a must-see during a Bangkok sightseeing trip.

In the midst of chaotic modern Bangkok, you find a little oasis of peace, taste and tranquility.

There you can also buy Jim Thompson merchandise, particularly Thai silk and clothing.

On the upper floor, there is the Jim Thompson Center for the Arts – and you can find traditional and modern textiles and arts there.

The house consists of six different teak houses, most of which are more than 200 years old.

These houses were built without nails, as they always were in the olden days. That made it easy to dismantle them and move them to another location. They used to put them on barges and just float them to other areas along the Chao Phraya river.

This house was not just meant as a museum – Jim Thompson was a local celebrity here, and almost every foreign visitor of importance at least dined once with Thompson.

Before traditional Thai arts became fashionable, you were able to purchase them cheaply in the Thieves’ Quarter (Nakhon Kasem) in Chinatown. Nowadays, the prices have risen a lot.

For example, this Buddha image is extremely valuable nowadays, even though it has no head. It was built in the seventh century, the Dvaravati period.

Some of the things you can see in the Jim Thompson museum are also from temples that were upcountry, where things would have just decayed because the people there didn’t see the value in them at that time, and just looked at these antiques as “old stuff”. What’s more, sometimes they believed that old things had spirits in them, and thus they did not want to own them.

Jim Thompson lived a fascinating life. He originally was an architect, but started to work for the CIA (at that time operating under the name of Office of Strategic Services) in 1940. He went through all kinds of missions in Europe, Africa, the Far East and finally Thailand, where he later become the station chief in Bangkok for the future CIA.

He then acquired stakes in the Oriental Hotel, but soon turned his attention to silk weaving. In the Western world, traditional Thai silk weaving wasn’t known, and it was only Jim Thompson who introduced it to the Western world and made a fortune by promoting it. In Thailand itself, Thai silk was a craft that was on the decline – the Thais at that time preferred cheaper imported materials from other countries.

He had all the connections in place, and he was a very entrepreneurial character who made it his mission to promote traditional Thai arts and handicrafts. And it paid off well for him.

He mysteriously disappeared in 1967. He stayed in a friend’s cottage in the Malaysian Cameron Highlands, went out for a stroll and never returned. Nobody ever found him either – despite intense search efforts. Local guides, tracker dogs and even shamans couldn’t locate his body.

Getting There

To get there, you can take the BTS Skytrain to National Station, or the small river taxi on Khlong Saen Saeb and get out at Saphan Hua Chang pier.

Tours, Opening Hours, Prices

Guided tours (30-40 minutes) cost 100 Thai Baht (for students and people under 25 just 50 Thai Baht) and are available between 9am to 5pm every day.

Photocredits: davidesky2, Tin Green, Ling Hua Yu, akdhustler

Bangkok is a densely populated and vibrant city of over 10 million people. How do you set out to get the best out of this wonderful city and its charming people if you have only a limited time? How you you find your way around non-tourist areas and get to know the real Thailand, when you can`t even read street signs or understand menus, never mind speak the language. How do you know you are not breaking local laws or upsetting people by ignoring customs? What are the best sights and how do you get to them? Is the city safe for tourists?

All these questions can be answered at a stroke by taking one or more of the many very reasonable private tours which are available. You can book tours over the internet before you even set off, or through your hotel when you arrive, or perhaps through a local company recommended by your hotel. You can arrange a series of standard tours throughout your stay, or perhaps have a customised day by day itinerary for your whole trip. Research before you go does pay off, as most of the reliable companies have a web site and you can compare their offerings.

All tour guides in Thailand have to attend a training course and pass a series of tests before they are permitted to have a tour guide licence issued by the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT). The nature and length of the course depends on what the licence covers. All official tour guides must have a licence before they can work for a tour company or as a freelance guide. Guides who do not have a licence are not endorsed by the TAT and are therefore working illegally. So, make sure guides you use are licensed. On some tour companies` websites you can find all the details of their guides so that you know exactly who your guide will be and what their credentials are and can even contact them to discuss your requirements before you go.

Such reputable companies will provide local guides who will help you see below the surface of one of the most cosmopolitan and complex of Asian cities and get to know a little about the authentic culture of its people. While you can take a standard private tour, one customized to your own requirements has much to recommend it.

You can ask to have your chosen must-sees included together with lesser known off-the-beaten-track sights you might not even have heard of. You will be taken not to tourist restaurants, but to the authentic little restaurants known only to locals where you can try genuine Thai food. A really good tour provider will take time to understand you and your special interests and needs.

A good company will also provide guides with fluent English, who know a lot about their city. They can be more than just guides, acting almost as a personal assistant during your stay, sorting out any problems you encounter. They can also help with shopping and finding accommodation. Best of all, on a private tour it is just you and those you invite, doing the things you want to do, being escorted through all the complexities of Bangkok life simply and efficiently.

Finally if you are the sort of person who likes to be really independent and you want to drive yourself and your guide around Bangkok, then again you can research your options for this before you go through cheap car rental heathrow.

Here you can see 35 interesting architectural creations in Bangkok – both old and new. And you can get a good impression of the diversity in this country, and how mixed up things are here.

If you are a Bangkok oldtimer, you might even recognize all of them – if not, have a nice Bangkok sightseeing tour and get to know them.

Photocredits:momentintime