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Gallery Ver
Owned by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Thailand's most internationally recognised artist, this gallery on the Thonburi side of the river hosts a rotating display of typically edgy, installation-type conceptual art. The easiest way to reach Ver is to take the cross-river ferry from Tha Si Phraya. The gallery is directly behind the pier on the Thonburi side.
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Hang Sura Lao Ngi Chun
This antique apothecary specialises in the Chinese version of Popeye's can of spinach: herbal liquors that make the weak strong, the impotent virile and the elderly immortal. An assortment of the herbs used in the concoctions line the walls and regulars file in for a quick shot chased by a glass of water or tea.
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Holy Rosary Church
Portuguese seafarers were among the first Europeans to establish diplomatic ties with Siam and their influence in the kingdom was rewarded with prime riverside real estate. When a Portuguese contingent moved across the river to the present-day Talat Noi district of Chinatown in 1787 they were given this piece of land and built the Holy Rosary Church, known in Thai as Wat Kalawan, from the Portuguese 'Calvario'. Over the years the Portuguese community dispersed and the church fell into disrepair.
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Hualamphong Railway Station
At the southeastern edge of Chinatown, Bangkok's main train station was built by Dutch architects and engineers just before WWI. It is one of the city's earliest and most outstanding examples of the movement towards Thai Art Deco. If you can zone out of the chaos for a moment, look for the vaulted iron roof and neoclassical portico that were a state-of-the-art engineering feat, and the patterned, two-toned skylights that exemplify pure de Stijl Dutch modernism.
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Jim Thompson's House
This is a great spot to visit for authentic Thai residential architecture and Southeast Asian art. Located at the end of an undistinguished soi next to Khlong Saen Saeb, the premises once belonged to the American silk entrepreneur Jim Thompson, who deserves most of the credit for the worldwide popularity of Thai silk.
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Kathmandu Photo Gallery
Bangkok's only gallery truly dedicated to photography is housed in an attractively restored Sino-Portuguese shophouse. The owner, photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom, wanted Kathmandu to resemble photographers' shops of old where customers could flip through photographs for sale. Manit's own work is on display on the ground floor, and the small but airy upstairs gallery plays host to changing exhibitions by local and international artists and photographers.
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Khlong Prem Prison
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 research. You must dress respectfully, bring your passport for registration purposes and have the name and building number of the inmate you plan to visit.
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King Prajadhipok Museum
A visit to a royal museum might sound like a royal bore, but this collection uses modern techniques to relate the rather dramatic life of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII; r 1925-35) and neatly documents Thailand's transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy. As you wander among the exhibits in the neocolonial-style former administrative building, you'll learn that Prajadhipok did not expect to become king.
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Kukrit Pramoj House
Author and statesman Mom Ratchawong Kukrit Pramoj once resided in this charming complex now open to the public for tours. Surrounded by a manicured garden, five teak buildings introduce visitors to traditional Thai architecture and to the former resident, who wrote more than 150 books (including the highly respected Four Reigns ) and served as prime minister of Thailand.
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Lak Meuang
A wooden pillar containing the city guardian (Lak Meuang) is housed in this shrine, at the southeastern corner of Sanam Luang. The pillar was placed here at the founding of the new capital and today worshippers come and make offerings by commissioning traditional dances or delivering severed pigs' heads decorated with incense.
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Lettuce Farm Palace
Wonder as you wander the six traditional wooden houses filled with Thai art and knick-knacks, including pottery from Bronze-Age Ban Chiang, masks from the khon dance-drama and traditional musical instruments. The most famous exhibit is the Lacquer Pavilion, decorated with intricate gold-leaf and black-lacquer Jataka (stories of the Buddha) and Ramakian murals.
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Lingam Shrine
This little shrine at the back of Swissotel Nai Lert Park was built for the spirit of a nearby tree. But soon word spread that the shrine had fertility powers and a small forest of wooden phalluses sprung up creating one of Bangkok's bawdiest shrines.
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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 everyday 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.
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Lumphini Park
Named after Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, this is Bangkok's largest and most popular park. An artificial lake in the centre is surrounded by broad, well-tended lawns, wooded areas, walking paths and, around sunset, the odd ambling turtle - it's the best outdoor escape from Bangkok without leaving town.
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Mahakan Fort
One of two surviving citadels that defended the old walled city, the area around white-washed Mahakan Fort has recently been converted into a small park overlooking Khlong Ong Ang. The octagonal fort is a picturesque stop en route to Golden Mount, but the story of its conversion is probably more interesting. For more than 13 years the community of 55 simple wooden houses that surrounded the fort fought for its survival against the Bangkok municipal government.
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Museum Of Forensic Medicine
Seriously, do not come to this museum with a full stomach. On display are preserved body parts that have been crushed, shot, stabbed and raped, with grisly before-and-after photos, as well as the entire remains of a notorious Thai murderer.
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Nakhon Kasem
Cooking equipment, spare electronic parts, and other bits you didn't know could be resold are available at this open-air market. During looser times, this was once known as the Thieves Market, selling the fruits of the five-finger discount.
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National Gallery
Based in the old mint building, this government-funded museum has a very subdued collection of traditional and contemporary art. The general opinion is that this is not the best pedestal for Thailand's artistic traditions, but it is rarely crowded and comfortably air-conditioned. Pieces by Rama VI and Rama IX appeal to royalists.
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National Museum
Thailand's National Museum is the largest museum in Southeast Asia and covers a broad range of subjects, from historical surveys to religious sculpture displays. The buildings were originally constructed in 1782 as the palace of Rama I's viceroy, Prince Wang Na. Rama V turned it into a museum in 1884.
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October 14 Memorial
A peaceful amphitheatre commemorates the civilian demonstrators who were killed on 14 October 1973 by the military during a rally. Over 200,000 people assembled at the Democracy Monument and along the length of Th Ratchadamnoen to protest against the arrest of political campaigners & continuing military dictatorship. More than 70 demonstrators were killed when the tanks met the crowd. The complex is an interesting adaptation of Thai temple architecture for a secular & political purpose.
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Old Customs House
The Old Customs House was once the gateway to Thailand, levying taxes on traders moving in and out of the kingdom. Designed by an Italian architect and built in the 1880s, the front door opened onto its source of income (the river) and the grand façade was ceremoniously decorated in columns and transom windows. Today it's a crumbling yet hauntingly beautiful home to the fire brigade, with sagging shutters, peeling colonial yellow paint and laundry flapping on the unpainted balconies.
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Phahurat
Fabric and gem traders set up shop in this small but bustling Little India, where everything from Bollywood movies to bindis is sold by enthusiastic small-time traders. Behind the more obvious storefronts are winding alleys that criss-cross Khlong Ong Ang, where merchants grab a bite to eat or make travel arrangements for trips home - it's a great area to just wander, stopping for masala tea or lassi as you go.
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Phayathai Palace
West of the Victory Monument roundabout, Phayathai Palace was built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in 1909 as a cottage for retreats into what was then the country. The surviving throne hall, encased in French glass doors and a fanciful tiered roof, is now part of a hospital complex and is open to the public. The grounds are open at other times. There isn't much in the way of tourist displays but it's worth it to survey the architecture of the buildings and escape the sightseeing masses.
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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 & 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.
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Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (Snake Farm)
It's touristy, yet completely compelling. This snake farm, one of only a few world-wide, was established in 1923 to breed snakes for antivenoms. The snake feeding and milking shows are a nice sideline; get the snake handlers to show you Thailand's most venomous snakes such as the king cobra, banded krait and Russell's viper.
Read more about Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (Snake Farm)
