There are hundreds of things to see and do in Bangkok. Most of this site's 500 or so pages are devoted to covering some of them. So, which ones should you see? Come to that, where should you stay and where should you eat? In this section I have collected a few lists of what I consider the best of Bangkok, that is, beyond the obvious things you'll find in any guidebook. Explore these pages to find the best hotel, restaurant, sights and shops.
There are certainly a lot of things to see and do in Bangkok. Of course, there are some “must-see” places such as the Grand Palace, but there's so much more than that, and some are often overlooked.
The Loha Prasat, one of the best off-the-map sights of Bangkok
It's easy to conclude that shopping is a national pastime in Thailand. From neighborhood markets to huge gleaming shopping malls, if there's something to be bought, there are a lot of people there. The old warehouses of Asiatique The Riverside night market Mall That Has It All: Siam Paragon From the huge ocean aquarium in the basement to the multi-screen theater and bowling alley on the top floor, Siam Paragon is full of a large array of things to see and do, as well as buy.
I post regular reviews of Bangkok resturants over on my travel journal, where the 'blog' format suits material that can become dated easily. Occasionally I do round-ups of the best places I've found for a given cuisine or type of food. The latest Best of Bangkok Restaurant posts are listed below.
Vegetarian Pad Thai at Na Aroon restaurant
There are, of course, some “must-see” sights of Bangkok, what I call the Big Three: the Grand Palace, which contains the Temple of the Emerald Buddha; the Temple of the Reclining Buddha; and Wat Arun. But there's a lot more to Bangkok than just these three sights, and some very interesting places aren't on the main tourist trail. You can often visit these sights without competing with bus-loads of package tourists.
Bangkok has some of the best hotels in the world, from the venerable old Mandarin Oriental to the newer but no less outstanding Peninsula. But not everyone can afford those, and there are lots of other options as well. Here's my current list of the best hotel options in Bangkok in several categories. For more ideas, see my complete lists of suggested Bangkok hotels.
The Thai suite at The Siam hotel Best Money-Is-No-Object Hotel While the Oriental and Peninsula hotels have battled it out for the top luxury spot in Bangkok for many years, now there's a new kid on the block, and it's called The Siam.
The Loha Prasat, one of the best off-the-map sights of Bangkok
