© Lonely Planet Publications 101 BANGKOK BANGKOK Bangkok In recent years, Bangkok has broken away from its old image as a messy third-world capital to be voted by numerous metro-watchers as a top-tier global city. The sprawl and tropical humidity are still the city’s signature ambassadors, but so are gleaming shopping centres and an infectious energy of commerce and restrained mayhem. The veneer is an ultramodern backdrop of skyscraper canyons containing an untamed universe of diversions and excesses. The city is justly famous for debauchery, boasting at least four major red-light districts, as well as a club scene that has been revived post-coup. Meanwhile the urban populous is as cosmopolitan as any Western capital – guided by fashion, music and text messaging. But beside the 21st-century façade is a traditional village as devout and sacred as any remote corner of the country. This is the seat of Thai Buddhism and the monarchy, with the attendant splendid temples. Even the modern shopping centres adhere to the old folk ways with attached spirit shrines that receive daily devotions. Bangkok will cater to every indulgence, from all-night binges to shopping sprees, but it can also transport you into the old-fashioned world of Siam. Rise with daybreak to watch the monks on their alms route, hop aboard a long-tail boat into the canals that once fused the city, or forage for your meals from the numerous and lauded food stalls. HIGHLIGHTS Joining the adoring crowds at Thailand’s most famous temple, Wat Phra Kaew (p108) Escaping the tour groups at maze-like Wat Pho (p108) Skipping between sightseeing spots aboard the Chao Phraya Express (p182) Wat Phra Kaew Wandering through the crowded soi and MBK markets of Chinatown (p134) Wat Pho Chinatown Toasting the stars and the twinkling Chao Phraya Express Emporium skyscraper lights atop a rooftop bar, Sirocco Moon Bar such as Moon Bar at Vertigo (p168) or Sky Bar at Vertigo Sirocco Sky Bar (p168) Spending a day shopping with the Thai teens in MBK (p174) or with the filthy rich at the Emporium (p175) Escape the heat into VIP luxury at Bangkok’s ultramodern movie theatres (p171) 102 BANGKOK •• History lonelyplanet.com fic, Bangkok now boasts an elevated light- FAST FACTS rail system (Skytrain) and an underground Best Time to Visit November to subway (Metro). BANGKOK BANGKOK February The turn of the millennium has seen the return of many foreign-educated Thai na- Population 7.5 million tionals, infusing the city with a cultured and cosmopolitan poise. Multinational businesses continue to see Bangkok as a stable regional HISTORY investment, helping move Thailand toward The centre of government and culture in Thai- internationalism. Today the maturing me- land today, Bangkok was a historical miracle tropolis holds a common footing with other during a time of turmoil. Following the fall of regional centres, such as Singapore and Hong Ayuthaya in 1767, the kingdom fractured into Kong. competing forces, from which General Taksin emerged as a decisive unifier. He established ORIENTATION his base in Thonburi, on the western bank of Occupying the east side of Mae Nam Chao Mae Nam Chao Phraya (Chao Phraya River), Phraya, Bangkok proper can be divided in two a convenient location for sea trade from the by the main north–south railway terminating Gulf of Thailand. Taksin proved more of a at Hualamphong train station. military strategist than a popular ruler. He was The portion between the serpentine river later deposed by another important military and the railway is old Bangkok, a district of general, Chao Phraya Chakri, who moved holy temples, crowded markets and family- the capital across the river in 1782 to a more owned shophouses. Swarming either side defensible location in anticipation of a Bur- of the train station is the dense neighbour- mese attack. The succession of his son in 1809 hood of Chinatown, a frenzy of red, gold and established the present-day dynasty, and Chao neon. Chinatown’s chaos is subdued by Ko Phraya Chakri is referred to as Rama I. Ratanakosin, the former royal-palace district Court officials envisioned the new capital and Bangkok’s most popular tourist district. as a resurrected Ayuthaya, complete with an Charming Banglamphu and the backpacker island district (Ko Ratanakosin) carved out of strip of Th Khao San (Khao San Rd) are north the swampland and cradling the royal court up the river. Crowning the old city is Dusit, a (the Grand Palace) and a temple to the auspi- planned homage to the great European capi- cious Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew). The tals, and the easy-going neighbourhood of emerging city, which was encircled by a thick Thewet. wall, was filled with stilt and floating houses East of the railway is new Bangkok – a near ideally adapted to seasonal flooding. approximation of a sci-fi megalopolis. Around Modernity came to the capital in the late Siam Square is a universe of boxy shopping 19th century as European aesthetics and tech- centres that attracts fashion-savvy Thai teen- nologies filtered east. During the reigns of agers and shopping holiday tourists. Th Su- Rama IV (King Mongkut) and Rama V (King khumvit runs a deliberate course from the Chulalongkorn), Bangkok received its first geographic city centre to the Gulf of Thailand, paved road (Th Charoen Krung) and a new and has limblike tributaries reaching into royal district (Dusit) styled after European corporate-expat cocoons and the girl-bar scene palaces. at Soi Cowboy and Nana Entertainment Plaza. Bangkok was a gangly town when soldiers Bangkok’s financial district centres along Th from the American war in Vietnam came to Silom, which cuts an incision from the river rest and relax in the city’s go-go bars and to Lumphini Park. Intersecting Th Silom near brothels. It wasn’t until the boom years of the river is Th Charoen Krung; Bangkok’s first the 1980s and 1990s that Bangkok exploded paved road that was once the artery for the into a fully fledged metropolis crowded with city’s mercantile shipping interests. Its narrow hulking skyscrapers and an endless spill of sois (lanes) branch off through the old faràng concrete that gobbled up rice paddies and (Western) quarters that are littered with de- green space. The city’s extravagant tastes have caying Victorian monuments, churches and been tamed by the 1997 economic meltdown, the famous Oriental Hotel. True to the city’s and in an effort to address its legendary traf- resistance to efficiency, there are two main lonelyplanet.com BANGKOK •• Orientation 103 BANGKOK BANGKOK embassy districts: Th Withayu (Wireless Rd) and Th Sathon. STREET ALIASES On the opposite (west) side of the river is As there is no standardisation for transliter- Thonburi, which was Thailand’s capital for 15 ating Thai into the Roman alphabet, Bang- years, before Bangkok was founded. Fàng thon kok’s streets operate under many aliases. (Thonburi Bank), as it’s often called by Thais, Here are some common variants: seems more akin to the provincial capitals Rajadamri and Ratchadamri are often than Bangkok’s glittering high-rises. abbreviated as Rat’damri Bangkok Addresses Phetburi, Phetchaburi, and the eastern Any city as large and unplanned as Bangkok extension become Phetburi Tat Mai can be tough to get around. Street names are (often appearing as its English transla- often unpronounceable to begin with, and the tion: New Phetburi) problem is compounded by the inconsistency Phra Ram (I-VI) is sometimes Rama (I-VI) of Romanised spellings as well as a mystifying array of winding streets that never lead where a map dares to propose. The Thai word thànǒn (Th) means road, Building numbers are equally confounding; street or avenue. Hence Ratchadamnoen Rd the string of numbers divided by slashes and (sometimes called Ratchadamnoen Ave) is dashes (eg 48/3-5 Soi 1, Th Sukhumvit) indi- always Th Ratchadamnoen in Thai. cate lot disbursements rather than sequential A soi is a small street or lane that runs off geography. The number before the slash refers a larger street. So, the address referred to as to the original lot number; the numbers fol- 48/3-5 Soi 1, Th Sukhumvit, will be located lowing the slash indicate buildings (or en- off Th Sukhumvit on Soi 1. Alternative ways trances to buildings) constructed within that of writing the same address include 48/3-5 Th lot. The preslash numbers appear in the order Sukhumvit Soi 1 or even just 48/3-5 Sukhum- in which they were added to city plans, while vit 1. Some Bangkok sois have become so large the postslash numbers are arbitrarily assigned that they can be referred to both as thànǒn by developers. and soi, eg Soi Sarasin/Th Sarasin and Soi BANGKOK IN… Tackling Bangkok is simple if you avoid rush hour and dehydration. Try mixing and matching these suggestions for a short fling or a long affair. One Day Make an early-morning visit to Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace ( p108 ), quirky Wat Pho ( p108 ) and the crowded Amulet Market ( p109 ). Charter a long-tail boat to ride through Thonburi’s canals ( p147 ) to Wat Arun ( p110 ). For dinner, head to Ton Pho ( p159 ) or Harmonique ( p163 ). Then go-go to the red-light district in Patpong ( p171 ). Three Days Do as the Thais do – go shopping ( p174 ). Zip to and fro aboard the ultramodern Skytrain ( p184 ). Glimpse old-style Bangkok with a trip to Jim Thompson’s House ( p135 ) and wrap up the daylight hours with a traditional Thai massage ( p139 ). Then work off those rice calories at the dance clubs of RCA ( p170 ).