View the Bangkok video or read a little more about Bangkok below.
Bangkok
is a large city
and has distinct
areas that will
meet your particular
needs.
Khaosan
Road
Khao
San Road, where
so many budget
travellers
stay, lies
just north
of, but outside
the limits
of, the old
city, but within
a few minutes
walk of many
of the interesting
sights. Here
one can find
cheap to medium
priced accommodation
of all types
and qualities
in a street
of restaurants,
travel agents,
souvenir shops,
taxi drivers
and hawkers
of fake student
cards. It is
also a good
place to look
for onward
tickets and
for useful
information.
North of this
area, incidentally,
the old markets
still exist,
especially
near the banks
of the river.
They have just
been pushed
back a little
by the foreign
influence. Made famous in the film "The Beach"
Chinatown
To
the south-east
of the old
city and west
of Hualampong
Station lies
an extensive
and interesting
Chinatown full
of crowded,
narrow streets.
Many of the
Chinese shops
deal in gold
and jewellery,
but there are
also fabric
merchants,
food stores,
Chinese hotels
and many other
types of businesses. Visit the "Thieves market" with its antiques, many of which are reproductions. The largest Chinese temple is Wat Mangkon Kamalawat.
Patpong
Moving
south-east
along Rama
IV Road we
come to an
area named
Patpong. This
district is
an odd mixture
of sexy bars
and nightclubs
and airline
offices, but
rather more
famous (or
infamous) for
the former.
Patpong is
the name of
two roads running
the short distance
between Surawong
Road and Silom
Road and these
two roads are
just packed
with bars,
which start
to wake up
in the early
evening and
continue all
through the
night. It is
an interesting
area to wander
through in
the evening
with a market
in the middle.
Siam
Square
North
of Patpong
is the Siam
Square area.
This is the
high class
district of
Bangkok where
many of the
first class
hotels can
be found, together
with expensive
restaurants
and department
stores selling
luxury imported
goods. Everything
here is modern
and clean.
Siam Square
is linked to
the Skytrain.
Sukhumvit
Road
Running
away from Siam
Square to the
east and then
turning south-east,
and eventually
south, is Sukhumvit
Road. This
road actually
continues for
several hundred
kilometres,
but you do
not need to
go that far
to find the
collection
of moderately-priced
hotels which
makes this
a popular area
for travellers
to stay. With
the hotels
patronised
principally
by overseas
customers,
restaurants
catering to
foreign needs
have sprung
up, together
with plenty
of bars, frequented
by plenty of
bar girls.
There are bookshops
selling foreign
language books
and newspapers,
together with
numbers of
travel agents.
The
Old City
In
fact, the old
city is not
so very old,
especially
in comparison
with many other
towns in Thailand,
but it is full
of temples,
palaces and
monuments,
making it a
most interesting
place. The
limits are
easily defined,
for King Rama
I used the
Chao Phraya
River as the
western boundary
of Bangkok
and then dug
a canal to
define the
eastern boundary.
Thus he had
created an
artificial
island easily
defensible
if necessary.
The atmosphere
of this area
is historic.
It is not primarily
a residential
district. It
is an area
of temples,
government
offices and
official institutions
and an area
containing
the most important
of the city's
sights.
