BANGKOK
Area: Thailand


Location:
In central Thailand, 15 miles N of the Bight of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. 15 miles S of Bangkok international airport.

Telephone code from UK:
66 2

Position:
Built around the main channel through a broad, flat river delta.

Description:
A sprawling city of contrasts, Bangkok is a fast-paced major Asian capital with a forest of modern high-rise buildings sprouting from a shabby developing-world city where people still live in wooden shacks and use narrow waterways as highways for daily life. It has a reputation as a world-class shopping centre for designer names as well as for probably the world's seediest and most explicit sex industry. It is also a city of scams where overt friendliness should be treated with caution, Thais naturally being very shy. One of the major cultural attractions is the plethora of tranquil Buddhist temples known as Wats, which are still home to many thousands of monks and a focus of daily life. Famously hot, sticky, polluted and congested, Bangkok is often despised on first contact, but many grow to love the ordered chaos, the hospitality and overall cocktail that comprises this essentially safe and welcoming city.

Suitability:
Young and old, singles, couples and tour groups, culture vultures and sex tourists, jet-set shoppers, high-powered business people and budget backpackers. Like most cities, though, the attractions for children are limited and families visiting Thailand tend not to spend much, if any, time in the capital.

Accommodation:
From shared hostel dormitories and windowless "rooms" to some of the world's top hotels, Bangkok has choices to suit all tastes and budgets.

Shopping:
A wide choice, from modern shopping centres with high-class department stores to roadside vendors where bargaining is both expected and enjoyed. Most things are considered inexpensive, but real bargains are custom tailoring (especially in Thai silk), leather goods, furniture and handicrafts. Fake designer-name clothes and watches and quality bootleg CDs, cassettes and videos are readily available. Bootleg computer software has inherent pitfalls that can cost you dear. Chatuchak weekend market has a good reputation for having a wide range of goods and just being an interesting place to wander around. Visitors to Thailand are advised not to purchase gems unless they are real experts or have a recommendation from someone they really trust _ there are no government gem stores and mistakes can be very costly.

Entertainments:
Daytime: shopping, visits to temples and eating. Museums, river trips, a snake farm, a zoo, golf, people-watching and just walking around while soaking up the atmosphere. Nightlife: anything and everything. Thai cultural shows, Thai kick-boxing, live music in bars and hotel lounges, cinemas, discos (expensive), night markets and dinner river cruises are all available, but often play second fiddle to the notorious red-light districts. The most famous area is Patpong, but this is now swamped by a regular night market, so while the "entertainment" is still exotic and an "education", the overall ambience is now considerably toned down. Soi Cowboy and the Nana Entertainment Plaza still offer open-sided bars with over-friendly hostesses, topless go-go bars and explicit sex shows. It is best to avoid getting involved, as scams abound with threatening situations often arising.

Eating:
The full spectrum of eating experiences, from street stalls offering deep-fried cockroaches, locusts and caterpillars to international fast-food chains and premier world-class restaurants. Most street stalls offer tasty, more familiar dishes at bargain prices; standard restaurants offer good quality at very reasonable prices. Hotel dining can be pricey, and the more exclusive you go, the more expensive it gets. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian are favourites, and Western-style food is available.

Public-transport:
An extensive but complicated network of air-conditioned minibuses and non-air-conditioned regular buses covers the city. The fast, modern and efficient "Skytrain" is inexpensive and easy to use, but most stations are accessible only by climbing a mountain of stairs. There are four types of taxi: a) motorcycle pillions _ quick but dangerous and generally expensive for tourists; b) motorised rickshaws, with the same hazards faced by motorcycles, but still liable to getting stuck in traffic; c) "taxi-meters" _ air-conditioned saloon cars with cheap, metered fares; d) "limousines" _ better-quality, air-conditioned saloon cars, considerably more expensive. An efficient boat system on the Chao Phraya River offers a bargain way to explore the numerous tourist sights along the main river; long-tailed speed boats offer an equivalent service along the smaller klongs (canal-rivers). Finally, the train station and long-distance bus stations for connections to the rest of the country.

Local-excursions:
A wide range of full-day and half-day excursions may be booked through tour desks operated in the hotels. Half-day city tours tend to be for a mix-and-match combination of the major temples, the Grand Palace and maybe also a trip along a narrow klong (canal-river) to see more traditional Thai life _ these are usually a better option than trying to do the same thing independently. Full-day tours are usually to sights outside Bangkok, such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, with one or more Allied war cemeteries from the infamous Death Railway; the world's largest crocodile farm; the Ancient City park with miniature Thai heritage sites and buildings; Bang Pa-In palaces; and Ayutthaya, the ancient capital. Morning trips to floating markets can be taken separately or combined with visits to other attractions.