Sights in Bangkok
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Jim Thompson’s House
In 1959, 12 years after he discovered the fine silks being woven across the klorng in Baan Krua and single-handedly turned Thai silk into a hugely successful export business, American Jim Thompson bought this piece of land on Khlong Saen Saeb and built himself a house. It wasn’t, however, any old house. Thompson’s love of all things Thai saw him buy six traditional wooden homes and reconstruct them in this jungle-like garden. Some of the homes were brought from the old royal capital of Ayuthaya; others were pulled down and floated across the klorng from Baan Krua –including the first building you enter on the tour. Beware well-dressed touts in soi near the Thompson ho…
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Baan Krua
Baan Krua literally means ‘Muslim Family Village’ and is one of Bangkok’s oldest communities. It dates to the turbulent years at the end of the 18th century, when Cham Muslims from Cambodia and Vietnam fought on the side of the new Thai king and were rewarded with this plot of land east of the new capital. The immigrants brought their silk-weaving traditions with them, and the community grew when the residents built Khlong Saen Saeb to better connect them to the Chao Phraya river.
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Wat Pho
You'll find (slightly) fewer tourists here than at Wat Phra Kaew, but Wat Pho is our personal fave among Bangkok's biggest temples. In fact, the compound incorporates a host of superlatives: the largest reclining Buddha, the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand and the country's earliest centre for public education.
Almost too big for its shelter, the genuinely impressive Reclining Buddha, 46m long and 15m high, illustrates the passing of the Buddha into nirvana (ie the Buddha's death). The figure is modelled out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf. Mother-of-pearl inlay ornaments the feet, displaying 108 different auspicious lák·sà·nà …
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Benjakiti Park
The latest addition to Bangkok’s emaciated green scene, this 130-rai (20.8-hectare) park encircles a large lake beside the Queen Sirikit Convention Center, and marks the Queen’s sixth cycle (72nd birthday). It is built on what was once a part of the Tobacco Monopoly, a vast Crown-owned expanse of low-rise factories and warehouses. Another 300 rai (48 hectares) of buildings is earmarked for transformation into a manmade rainforest. If this ever happens – and Buddha knows Bangkok needs it – it will transform the area into something like New York’s Central Park. For now the lake seems too big for the park, but it’s much quieter than Lumphini Park and good for jog…
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Wat Benchamabophit
You might recognise this temple from the back of the 5B coin. Made of white Carrara marble, Wat Ben, as it's colloquially known, was built in the late 19th century under Rama V. The large cruciform bòht is a prime example of modern Thai wát architecture. The base of the central Buddha image, a copy of Phitsanulok's Phra Phuttha Chinnarat, contains the ashes of Rama V. The courtyard behind the bòht exhibits 53 Buddha images (33 originals and 20 copies) representing famous figures and styles from all over Thailand and other Buddhist countries.
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Sri Mahariamman Temple
Standing out, even among Bangkok's golden wát, this Hindu temple virtually leaps off the block. Built in the 1860s by Tamil immigrants in the centre of a still thriving ethnic enclave, the structure is a stacked facade of intertwined, full-colour Hindu deities. In the centre of the main shrine is Jao Mae Maha Umathewi (Uma Devi, also known as Shakti, Shiva's consort), and along the left interior wall sit rows of Shiva, Vishnu and other Hindu deities, as well as a few Buddhas, so that just about any non-Muslim, non-Judaeo-Christian Asian can worship here.
Thais call this temple Wat Khaek – kàak is a colloquial expression for people of Indian descent. The literal transla…
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Bang Kwang & Khlong Prem Prisons
Thailand’s permissive reputation is juxtaposed by strict antidrug laws that often land foreign nationals in a prison system with feudal conditions. A sobering and charitable expedition is to visit an inmate, bringing them news of the outside, basic supplies and reading materials. The regulations for visits are quite involved and require pre-arrival research. You must dress respectfully (long sleeves and long pants), bring your passport for registration purposes, and have the name and building number of the inmate you plan to visit. Inmate information can be obtained from most embassies. Visiting hours and days vary depending on the building the inmate is housed in. Male i…
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Wat Arun
Striking Wat Arun commands a martial pose as the third point in the holy trinity (along with Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho) of Bangkok's early history. After the fall of Ayuthaya, King Taksin ceremoniously clinched control here on the site of a local shrine (formerly known as Wat Jaeng) and established a royal palace and a temple to house the Emerald Buddha. The temple was renamed after the Indian god of dawn (Aruna) and in honour of the literal and symbolic founding of a new Ayuthaya.
It wasn't until the capital and the Emerald Buddha were moved to Bangkok that Wat Arun received its most prominent characteristic: the 82m-high prang (Khmer-style tower). The tower's constructio…
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Siam Society & Ban Kamthieng
Stepping off cacophonous Soi Asoke and into the Siam Society’s Ban Kamthieng house museum is as close to a northern Thai village as you’ll come in Bangkok. Ban Kamthieng is a traditional 19th-century home that was located on the banks of Mae Ping in Chiang Mai. Now relocated to Bangkok, the house presents the daily customs and spiritual beliefs of the Lanna tradition. Communicating all the hard facts as well as any sterile museum (with detailed English signage and engaging video installations), Ban Kamthieng instils in the visitor a sense of place, from the attached rice granary and handmade tools to the wooden loom and woven silks. You can’t escape the noise of Bangkok…
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Vimanmek Teak Mansion
The highlight of the Dusit Park is Vimanmek Teak Mansion said to be the world’s largest golden teak mansion, built with nary a single nail. For all its finery, grand staircases, octagonal rooms and lattice walls, which are nothing short of magnificent, it is surprisingly serene and intimate. The mansion was originally constructed on Ko Si Chang in 1868 as a retreat for Rama V; the king had it moved to its present site in 1901. For the following few years it served as Rama V’s primary residence, with the 81 rooms accommodating his enormous extended family. The interior of the mansion contains various personal effects of the king and a treasure-trove of early Ratanakosin an…
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Dusit Zoo
Originally a private botanic garden for Rama V, Dusit Zoo (Suan Sat Dusit or kŏw din) was opened in 1938 and is now one of the premier zoological facilities in Southeast Asia. That, however, doesn’t mean all the animal enclosures are up to modern zoological standards, with one endlessly pacing tiger being particularly heart-rending. Squeezed into the 19 hectares are more than 300 mammals, 200 reptiles and 800 birds, including relatively rare indigenous species. The shady grounds feature trees labelled in English plus a lake in the centre with paddle boats for rent. There’s also an interesting WWII air raid shelter, a small children’s playground and, on the far side of th…
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Forensic Medicine Museum
While it’s not exactly CSI, pickled body parts, ingenious murder weapons and other crime-scene evidence are on display at this medical museum, intended to educate rather than nauseate. Among the grisly displays is a bloodied T-shirt from a victim stabbed to death with a dildo, and the preserved but rather withered cadaver of Si Ouey, one of Thailand’s most prolific and notorious serial killers who murdered – and then ate – more than 30 children in the 1950s. Despite being well and truly dead (he was executed), today his name is still used to scare misbehaving children into submission: ‘Behave yourself or Si Ouey will come for you’. There are another five dusty museums on …
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Thanon Maharat
The northern stretch of this street is one of Bangkok’s most interesting. On the opposite side of Wat Mahathat’s whitewashed walls, the street is monopolised by ancient Thai industries: herbal apothecaries and amulet dealers. In the cool season, medicinal bowls of ginger-infused broth are sold from steaming cauldrons to stave off winter colds (yes, seriously!). Outdoor displays of pill bottles are lined up and dusted daily like prized antiques. Each remedy bears a picture of a stoic healer, a marketing pitch that puts a human face on the medicine. Further along, the amulet market (đalàht prá krêuang) spills out of its medieval warren into the street, forcing pedes…
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Mahakan Fort
The area around white-washed Mahakan Fort, one of two surviving citadels that defended the old walled city, has recently been converted into a small park overlooking Khlong Ong Ang. The octagonal fort is a picturesque, if brief and hot, stop en route to Golden Mount, but the neighbouring village is more interesting. This small community of wooden houses has been here for more than 100 years. But since the mid-1990s it has fought the Bangkok municipal government’s plan to demolish it and create a ‘tourist’ park. The community blocked progress and even proposed the development of another tourist attraction: a lí·gair museum honouring the dance tradition that traces …
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Bangkok Doll Factory & Museum
It’s no exaggeration to say the dolls crafted in this modest workshop have become the template for dolls sold in countless tourist stores across Thailand. The workshop was founded by Khunying Tongkorn Chandevimol in 1956 after she completed a doll-making course while living in Japan. Upon her return to Thailand, she began researching and making dolls, drawing from Thai mythology and historical periods. Her dolls, often in Thai hill-tribe and rural costumes, have won several international awards. Today her personal collection includes 400 dolls from around the world, plus important pieces from her own workshop, where you can watch the figures being crafted by hand. The mus…
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Royal Barges National Museum
The royal barges are slender, fantastically ornamented vessels used in ceremonial processions along the river. The tradition dates back to the Ayuthaya era, when most travel (for commoners and royalty) was by boat. Today the royal barge procession is an infrequent occurrence, most recently performed in 2006 in honour of the 60th anniversary of the king's ascension to the throne. When not in use, the barges are on display at this Thonburi museum.
Suphannahong, the king's personal barge, is the most important of the boats. Made from a single piece of timber, it's the largest dugout in the world. The name means 'Golden Swan', and a huge swan head has been carved into the bow.…
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Rama V Memorial
A bronze figure of a military-garbed leader may seem like an unlikely shrine, but Bangkokians are comfortable with their expression of religious devotion. Most importantly, the figure is no forgotten general – this is Rama V (King Chulalongkorn; 1868–1910), who is widely credited for steering the country into the modern age and for preserving Thailand's independence from European colonialism. He is also considered a champion of the common person for his abolition of slavery and corvée (the requirement that every citizen be available for state labour when called). His accomplishments are so revered, especially by the middle class, that his statue attracts worshippers (part…
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Thailand Creative & Design Center
Move over Scandinavian minimalism, this is the dawning of Thai style. The Thailand Creative & Design Center is a government-backed initiative intended to incubate design innovation, which is seen as Thailand’s next step in the global marketplace now that labour is no longer competitive. The centre acts as both showroom and shop for Thai design, and is a good place to buy quality (if more expensive) Thai products and souvenirs. Rotating exhibitions feature profiles of international products and retrospectives of regional handicrafts and creativity. The centre includes a permanent library of design-related books and materials and is a good place to meet young Thai designers…
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Lingam Shrine (Saan Jao Mae Thap Thim)
Every village-neighbourhood has a local shrine, either a sacred banyan tree tied up with coloured scarves or a spirit house. But it isn’t every day you see a phallus garden like this lingam shrine, tucked back behind the staff quarters of the Nai Lert Park Hotel. Clusters of carved stone and wooden shafts surround a spirit house and shrine built by millionaire businessman Nai Loet to honour Jao Mae Thap Thim, a female deity thought to reside in the old banyan tree on the site. Someone who made an offering shortly after the shrine was built had a baby, and the shrine has received a steady stream of worshippers –mostly young women seeking fertility – ever since. If facing t…
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Wat Suthat
Wat Suthat’s truly remarkable Buddha image, acres of colourful murals and – during most of the year – relative tranquillity make it arguably the most appealing of all Bangkok’s Buddhist temples. The main attraction is Thailand’s biggest wí·hăhn (main chapel) and the imperious yet serene 8m-high Phra Si Sakayamuni that resides within. The image is Thailand’s largest surviving Sukhothai-period bronze, a serene-looking gilded masterpiece that was cast in the former capital in the 14th century. In 1808 it was retrieved from the ruins of Sukhothai and floated on a barge down Mae Nam Chao Phraya to be installed in this temple and serves as both the centre of Bangko…
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Museum of Siam
This fun new museum employs a variety of media to explore the origins of the Thai people and their culture. Housed in a European-style 19th-century building that was once the Ministry of Commerce, the exhibits are presented in an engaging, interactive fashion not often found in Thailand. They are also refreshingly balanced and entertaining, with galleries dealing with a range of questions about the origins of the nation and its people. Each room has an informative narrated video started by a sensory detector, keeping waiting to a minimum. An Ayuthaya-era battle game, a room full of traditional Thai toys and a street vending cart where you can be photographed pretending to…
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Golden Mount & Wat Saket
Before glass and steel towers began growing out of the flat monotony of Bangkok’s riverine plain, the massive Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) was the only structure to make any significant impression on the horizon. At the eastern entrance to Banglamphu, the mount was commissioned by Rama III. He ordered that the earth dug out to create Bangkok’s expanding klorng network be piled up to build an enormous, 100m-high, 500m-wide chedi (stupa). As the hill grew, however, the weight became too much for the soft soil beneath and the project was abandoned until Rama IV built a small gilded chedi on its crest and added trees to stave off erosion. Rama V later added to the struct…
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Wat Bowonniwet
Founded in 1826, Wat Bowonniwet is the national headquarters for the Thammayut monastic sect. King Mongkut, founder of this minority sect, began a royal tradition by residing here as a monk – in fact, he was the abbot of Wat Bowonniwet for several years. King Bhumibol (Rama IX) and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, as well as several other males in the royal family, have been temporarily ordained as monks. The ubosot has some interesting wall murals. Because of the temple's royal status, visitors should be particularly careful to dress properly for admittance to this wát – no shorts or sleeveless shirts.
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Phra Sumen Fort & Santichaiprakan Park
Beside Mae Nam Chao Phraya in Banglamphu stands one of Bangkok’s original 18th-century forts. Built in 1783 to defend against potential naval invasions and named for the mythical Mt Meru (Phra Sumen in Thai) of Hindu-Buddhist cosmology, the octagonal brick-and-stucco bunker was one of 14 city watchtowers that punctuated the old city wall alongside Khlong Rop Krung (now Khlong Banglamphu but still called Khlong Rop Krung on most signs). Apart from Mahakan Fort, this is the only one still standing. Alongside the fort is a small, grassy park with an open-air pavilion, river views, cool breezes and a bohemian mix of alternative young Thais and fisherman pants–wearing, fire st…
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