Bangkok Travel Guide
Thailand’s cosmopolitan capital Bangkok can be a chaotic, complex and confounding city – until you cruise the Chao Phraya River, discover the Old City and its glittering pagodas and gleaming spires, and explore the quiet canals. For many visitors Bangkok is little more than a shopping stop punctuating a beach holiday. Yes, there’s cheap accommodation and dirt-cheap street food, but there are also beautiful boutique hotels, heady cafés and buzzy bars, and brilliant restaurants serving inventive Thai food – not to mention new art and design destinations, a rejuvenated riverside, and a rapidly gentrifying Chinatown. Go now.
Bangkok Itineraries
One Day
Itinerary
Two Day
Itinerary
Stay in Bangkok
Best Bangkok Old City Heritage Boutique Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts
The best Bangkok Old City heritage boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts offer an intimate, personal experience, a quaint taste of the past, and a step back in time, as much as a temporary retreat [...]
Best Bangkok Hotel Swimming Pools from Rooftop Infinity Pools to River Views
Best Bangkok hotel swimming pools range from luxury towers with rooftop infinity pools boasting dazzling panoramic vistas of the Bangkok city skyline to charming Chao Phraya riverside boutique hotels offering water views from your sun-bed. I [...]
Book Bangkok Accommodation
Eat in Bangkok
Fresh Herb Salad Recipe – Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok
This fresh herb salad recipe makes a big fragrant bowl of Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant, Bangkok, and comes courtesy of owner-chef Chalee Kader. European in presentation, it’s distinctly Southeast Asian in its sweet [...]
Michelin Guide Thailand 2019 Released – Some Revelations and Reflections
The Michelin Guide Thailand 2019 was released last week – or rather, the Michelin Guide Bangkok, Phuket and Phang-Nga, but that’s too much of a mouthful. Here are some reflections and revelations on the second [...]
Drink Bangkok
Silom Sathorn District of Bangkok – A Guide to Bangkok’s Buzziest Area
Silom Sathorn district of Bangkok is one of the Thai capital's buzziest areas right now. Home to a spate of new cocktail bars, sunny cafés, seductive speakeasies and two of Asia’s best restaurants, the Silom [...]
Sipping Singha Beer in Bangkok
We love eating street food on the footpaths of Bangkok. But if there is a downside, it’s the sweltering heat and often stifling humidity that nearly constantly hangs over the city. There is a cure [...]
Explore Bangkok
Things to Do on Chao Phraya River Bangkok – Where to Stay, Cruise, Explore and Eat
Things to do on Chao Phraya River Bangkok include hopping on and hopping off the public ferries to see the Thai capital's essential sights and explore off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods, taking a canal tour by longtail boat [...]
Koh Kret Escape – Exploring Bangkok’s Secret Mon Island on the Chao Phraya River
Koh Kret – or Koh Kred – a tranquil Mon island on the Chao Phraya River that remains something of a secret to most Bangkok visitors, and even to some Thais for that matter, makes [...]
Experience Bangkok
Things to Do on Chao Phraya River Bangkok – Where to Stay, Cruise, Explore and Eat
Things to do on Chao Phraya River Bangkok include hopping on and hopping off the public ferries to see the Thai capital's essential sights and explore off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods, taking a canal tour by longtail boat [...]
Thai Cooking Class at the Mandarin Oriental Cooking School
We like to think that if discovering the food of a destination is a way into the heart of a place, then learning to cook the cuisine is the route into its soul. That’s why [...]
Book Bangkok Tours
Absorb Bangkok
Bangkok’s Best Live Music Venues
From a rockabilly band playing at a fish and chips joint to an all-girl rock group performing nightly at an ice bar, Bangkok’s live music venues can most accurately be described as 'quirky'. Bangkok’s music [...]
A Guide to Thai Design by Jitrin Jintaprecha
Bangkok designer Jitrin Jintaprecha's striking furniture and light fittings featured in an exhibition of Thai contemporary design that caught the international design world’s attention when it showcased at the 2011 Salone del Mobile in Milan, [...]
Shop Bangkok
Shopping Mall Sugar Rush: Bangkok’s Sweet Spots
I will always choose savoury over sweet, spice over sugar. My ideal dessert is something like this traditional chocolate Catalan treat, because it includes salt and olive oil. I’ll eat — and I’ll enjoy — dessert when [...]
Bangkok Shopping Malls: Monsoon Havens & Modern Town Squares
The much-maligned shopping mall makes sense in steamy Bangkok, especially during monsoon season* — just as it does in the oppressive heat of Dubai. Whereas the gritty streets of both cities offer few opportunities to escape [...]
Festivals & Events in Bangkok
Visiting Bangkok in October During the Funeral of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Visiting Bangkok in October during the funeral of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej? Then you may wish to consider adjusting your travel plans to take in lesser-visited sights, stay in more off the beaten track neighbourhoods, [...]
Celebrating Songkran in Thailand – A Big Water Fight and Buddhist Festival
Celebrating Songkran in Thailand means getting absolutely soaked. The traditional Theravāda Buddhist festival to mark Thai New Year has turned into one big water fight over the years. While you can still visit pagodas to [...]
Bangkok Local Knowledge
Local Guide to Eating and Drinking in Bangkok by Chef Ton of Le Du
This local guide to eating and drinking in Bangkok, Thailand, comes courtesy of Chef Ton of Le Du, one of the most creative Thai restaurants in the country and one of the finest in Southeast [...]
Where David Thompson Eats in Bangkok
With hundreds of chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands, and food media converging upon the Thai capital for Monday's Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Awards, we thought we'd share a list of the restaurants where David Thompson eats in Bangkok so they don't [...]
Bangkok Resources
How To Eat Like Locals When You Travel
How to eat like locals when you travel? There’s an abundance of advice out there: slurp soup from a street food stall, sample home-cooked food at a local home, savour creative cuisine at a secret [...]
Asian Food Etiquette — Eating, Drinking and Dining Etiquette
Asian food etiquette isn't rocket science. So why do so many travellers in Asia get it so wrong? So you don't become one of them, here's our guide to Asian food etiquette, whether you're eating [...]
Bangkok Essentials
WHEN TO GO
Nov–Feb The temeratures in Bangkok don’t vary much, it’s the humidity and change of rain that varies, this is the best time to travel and it’s crowded.
Mar–Jun Weather This shoulder season is less crowded but the chance of rain is higher.
Jul–Oct Wet season commences and while it’s a little less crowded, the storms
can be ferocious.
Health
Bangkok has excellent healthcare facilities, in fact it’s where most people in Southeast Asia head for medical treatment if they can afford it and is a medical tourism destination. It’s still of great importance that you get full medical insurance for your visit. Recommended Vaccinations
Visas
Nationals of most countries can get a free tourist visa on arrrival in Thailand, it’s the length of the visa that varies and can range from 15 days to 90 days. Overstaying visas incurrs daily fines and rules can change overnight so be aware. Some visas can be extended, check the Thai Immigration website.
Insurance for Bangkok
CURRENCY
CURRENT EXCHANGE RATES
$1.00 USD = 30.79 THB
$1.00 AUD = 21.68 THB
€1.00 EUR = 34.57 THB
£1.00 GBP = 38.50 THB
The Thai currency (THB) is called the ‘Baht’, and it’s the only currency used in the country. In touristy areas they may acccept USD but and give change in THB but you’ll suffer an unfavourable exchange rate. It is, however, easy to change most major currencies into THB.
LANGUAGE
THAI IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THAILAND.
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY IN THAILAND IS 220 VOLTS. 50 CYCLES/SEC.
LOCAL TIME
CURRENT BANGKOK TIME
Bangkok’s Time Zone is (GMT+7)
Bangkok has never utilised daylight saving.
WEATHER
CURRENT BANGKOK WEATHER
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TEMPERATURE
°C | °C -
HUMIDITY
% -
WIND
m/s -
CLOUDINESS
% -
SUNRISE
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SUNSET
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SUN 21°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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MON 22°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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TUE 23°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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WED 24°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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THU 25°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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FRI 26°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
TRANSPORTATION
AIR/LAND/SEA
Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) caters to domestic and international flights. The airport is only 3km southwest of the old city. Local carriers such as Nok Air and regional carrier Air Asia can fly from Bangkok for as little as US$35. Internaltionally, the main desinations are Kuala Lumpur, Luang Prabang and Vientiane. To get around the city, it’s best to use Sŏrng·tăa·ou or Rót daang which are red trucks two rows of seats in the back. You can hire them like a taxi or get on board with other passengers heading the same direction.
Bangkok Daily Costs
Budget
Daily Budget Up To:
US$30
- Guesthouse dorm room: US$3–10
- Cheap restaurants, street food: US$0.5–3
- BTS Daily Ticket: US$3:60
Mid Range
Daily Budget From:
US$31–200
- Air-con hotel room: US$20–45
- Good local restaurant meal: US$5–15
- Medium distance taxi ride: US$4:50
Luxury
Daily Budget From:
US$201+
- Boutique hotel or resort: US$80–500
- Degustation meal without drinks: US$50+
- Private airport transfer: US$80+
Bangkok Reading List
Bangkok Map
