Bangkok is a vibrant, self-contained organism and completely out of the ordinary Thai standards.
In Bangkok, you'll experience unbridled fun, religious serenity in Buddhist temples, modern neighborhoods with skyscrapers and luxury shopping malls, and poor areas with low-rise houses and local markets.
Book Bangkok hotels in advance at a discount
Get a Thai massage
Thai massages are probably the most famous cultural heritage that this South Asian country boasts. Thai massage is a world-renowned concept and it is in Bangkok that you will come across the oldest schools of traditional Thai massage.
A real Thai massage can be a little painful, or you may feel a lot of pressure. It basically combines elements of yoga with stretching of the limbs with forceful acupressure, with the masseuse using her elbows and knees. But the resulting feeling after the massage is always completely cleansing and great.
Where to get a massage and how much does it cost?
You can find massage parlours literally on every corner, even in the outskirts of Bangkok, temples, train stations or airports.
An hour of traditional Thai massage in Bangkok costs from 350 thb to 700 thb. It always depends on the location. Once a massage parlour offers a basic price for a massage above 1000 thb, go one house away.
Most salons will also offer shorter half-hour massages or cheaper foot massages starting at 250 thb. You can always pay cash only.
Really Thai massage?
Many tourists head to Bangkok for fun and often automatically expect to be offered "something extra" in massage parlours. In Thailand, the term "happy ending massage" is used for this.
However, it is definitely true that most massage parlours will only really offer a pure genuine Thai massage, which is in no way erotic. However, in the most exposed areas such as Sukhumvit, Silom or Khaosan, most massage parlours also offer "happy ending massage", often also called "full service massage".
In any case, it is always best to check in advance what type of massage is actually involved...
Visit temples and admire Buddha statues
Bangkok's Buddhist temples are some of the most famous in the world, and the concentration of them here is extraordinary. There are several hundred temples in Bangkok, we will recommend at least the most beautiful ones:
- Wat Pho - the largest and oldest temple with the famous statue of the Reclining Buddha
- Wat Arun - the most photogenic temple on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, built in an unusual Khmer style
- Wat Phra Kaeo - Thailand's most sacred temple with a holy statue of the Emerald Buddha
- Wat Paknam - a beautiful, peaceful temple with Bangkok's tallest Buddha statue and tallest pagoda
- Wat Saket - a shrine standing on a man-made hill called Golden Mount with a breathtaking view of Bangkok
- Wat Benchamabophit - the marble temple captivates with its Italian marble facade
For details on admission fees or opening hours, click on the name of the temple in the location details.
Bangkok for adults
Bangkok is the world's famous vice center. Brothels, bars and clubs with ping-pong shows, travesti shows... you'll find them all on almost every corner in Bangkok. It's no disgrace to frequent such establishments, on the contrary. Bangkok prides itself on its laid-back and liberal politics, and welcomes tourists in neighborhoods like this.
Sinful neighborhoods are the 3 most important in Bangkok:
- Sukhumvit Soi Cowboy and the huge bar centre with the hourly Nana Plaza hotel - find a hotel on Sukhumvit
- Silom with the screaming Patpong Street, where, apart from the bars, dozens of prostitutes stand all night. But Patpong's businesses are notorious for charging extra admission and high drink prices - find a hotel on Silom Road
- Khaosan Road, where you'll find mainly cabarets, strip bars and massage parlours, but not many prostitutes - find a hotel on Khaosan Road
How to meet?
You basically have several options in Bangkok.
Bars are the easiest way. You'll be served by an army of girls, and it's up to you whether you offer any of them extra entertainment. If you do take the girl, preferably to your hotel, you will need to pay a tip to the bar (between 300 thb and 400 thb). You will then pay the girl around 1 500 thb per night.
Go go bars are very popular establishments. The girls in them have a more select demeanor and are more experienced than in traditional bars. There is usually a raised stage in the middle with bars, where up to a dozen numbered girls take turns. When you arrive, you take a seat and a girl who is not currently dancing sits down with you. It is good practice to order her a drink and if you don't like her, choose another. From then on it's up to you what you allow her and what she allows you.
Many go go bars also have their own rooms where you can take the girl. The prices here are higher than in traditional bars and you will pay around 2 500 thb per night.
Massage parlours in Bangkok are of two kinds. Most of them run traditional Thai massages that have nothing to do with eroticism, but many of them, often labelled as "full service massage", will offer extra erotic services. Prices here range from 500 to 1 000 thb depending on the level of establishment.
Street girls are also a common option, but you must have your own premises. Women mainly hang out in the Sukhumvit and Silom Road areas, and significantly less so around Khaosan Road. It's a good idea to stand by your chosen girl for a while and wait to see if she approaches you to make sure she is indeed a prostitute. The price per night is between 1,000 and 1 500 thb.
Thailand in general is very tolerant of gay and travesti persons. This is one of the reasons why the ranks of prostitutes often include persons with a transitional form of gender, called ladyboy. Usually, if you meet a girl on the street with perfect looks and obviously larger breasts, it is often a ladyboy.
Visit floating markets
Floating markets, where vendors of all sorts of goods come together on artificial water channels and natural rivers in canoes and boats, are popular in Thailand and also very photogenic.
Although you can read on various websites about dozens of floating markets right in Bangkok, the reality is a little different. The only major floating market within Bangkok is located every weekend in the Taling Chan district. The other ones right in Bangkok are really very small and in our opinion rather not worth a visit.
However, popular are the half to full day trips to the Damnoen Saduak or Amphawa markets about 100 km away.
A trip to the Damnoen Saduak floating market
In the town of Damnoen Saduak you will find probably the most popular floating market in Thailand. The market is spread out on three different canals, and up to a hundred boats and canoes with all sorts of merchandise pass through it every day. In addition, the floating part is connected to the "land" market with many stalls with prepared food.
The Damnoen Saduak market is open daily from about 7:00 am and is most lively until about 9:30 am. However, it remains open all day until 5:00pm.
Throughout Bangkok, tour operators offer organised trips to the floating markets of Damnoen Saduak, Amphawa and the Maek Long Railway Market from around 60 to 70 usd. But you can also go on your own. Minivans run about once an hour from South Bus Station(how to get there), the van stand is outside to the left of the station building.
The journey takes about an hour and a half and costs 100 thb.
A trip to the Amphawa floating market
Just a few kilometres further south, then, the perhaps slightly more intimate but airy floating market in the town of Amphawa is worth a visit, situated in the centre of the village along a fairly wide canal. This market is also open every day from about 7:30am to 5pm.
At both markets you can buy mainly fruit, fish, ready meals, but also handicrafts and souvenirs.
Also, the Amphawa market tends to be included in the sightseeing tours of Bangkok travel companies along with Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Mae Klong Train Market and tours come out to around 65 usd.
But you can also go on your own. There are minivans running about once every 2 hours from the South Bus Station(how to get there), the van stand is outside to the left of the station building. The journey takes about an hour and a half and costs 100 thb.
You can also go to Amphawa town by songthaew (open van) just from Mae Klong township, where you will find the checkpoint at about this location: en.mapy.cz. Songthaews run when they fill up about 1-2 times an hour, sometimes more often, and the trip works out to about 15 thb.
A trip to the "train market" in Mae Klong
We know the iconic photos of the city's market, with a passenger train literally inches through it, mostly from Hanoi, Vietnam. In Thailand, however, you can find one such train market, about 100 km from Bangkok in the town of Mae Klong, which maps often show as Samut Songkhram province.
You can get to the paradise of all instagrammers conveniently with local travel companies or more interestingly on your own by train.
For detailed information about the market on the tracks, on-site accommodation and transport from Bangkok, see the mini guide to Mae Klong.
Take a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River
Bangkok is a city on water and the river, along with its many water channels, helps create the city's skyline. One of the most popular activities is undoubtedly a boat ride on the main Chao Phraya River, which winds its way through downtown Bangkok.
From the boat, you'll get great views of the modern high-rises around the Sathorn district, Chinatown and Wat Arun temple.
The river is traversed by hundreds of tourist boats, as well as fast local public transport boats, which can be used frequently and very cheaply throughout the river. Boat transport is not only an experience, but often the fastest way to get from place to place.
We describe the boat routes, ticket prices and timetables in detail in the Transport chapter.
The Death Railway to the Bridge over the River Kwai
The westbound train trip to the 145km town of Kanchanaburi is a popular one among tourists. It is in this town that the fictional novel based on the real events, The Bridge on the River Kwai, was set, and it is here that the famous Thai-Burmese "Death Railway", built by the Japanese during World War II, runs.
How to get to the River Kwai from Bangkok? How much do train tickets cost and how long is the journey? Check out the extensive information and photos in our mini guide to Kanchanaburi.
The journey to the River Kwai can be taken in a roundabout way, but you'll be under quite a time crunch. We definitely recommend spreading your trip to Kanchanaburi over at least two days.
A trip to the historic town of Ayutthaya
An hour and a half train or bus ride north of Bangkok lies the former capital of the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya. It boasts an extraordinary number of Buddhist temples and royal palaces dating from the 14th to 17th centuries, and the entire historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ayutthaya is definitely worth a trip for at least a day's detour. Detailed information, photos, timetables and accommodation tips can be found in the mini-guide to Ayutthaya.
Water show at the ICONSIAM fountain
The luxury shopping mall ICONSIAM is not just worth a visit for shopping. Every evening, the area between the mall and the river hosts a spectacular show of colour and music at a local long fountain gushing straight from the ground.
The water jets are tinged with spotlights of many colours and spout out to the music that is currently playing.
The fountain show is free, there is no need to go through any entrance as it takes place in a public space.
- Monday - Thursday: 7:00 p.m.
- Friday - Sunday and holidays: 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- Current official information
Markets and street-food
You can't walk 100 metres in Bangkok without passing a food stall, simple street-food or market. Thais generally love shopping in markets and Bangkok, an up-to-date big city, is no exception.
After all, it is in Bangkok that you will find one of the largest markets in the world. The Chatuchak weekend market with more than 15,000 stalls will keep you busy for half a day.
But the night markets in Sukhumvit, Patpong Street in the Silom district and Rot Fai Market in the Ratchada district, known for its colourful stalls, are also popular.
Night markets usually come alive around 5pm and end around 1am. You can buy mainly clothes, souvenirs and art products.
Of course there are the ubiquitous food stalls at the markets. Chicken or pork skewers are extremely popular and you can get them everywhere, even in the very outlying parts of Bangkok.
Luxury shopping in shopping malls
At first glance, Bangkok may not seem like a luxury shopping centre, but the opposite is true.
The Thai capital boasts several giant, modern shopping malls that house the most luxurious brands. Without a shadow of a doubt, Bangkok is the number 1 shopping centre for the whole of South East Asia and the surrounding area.
Where to find the biggest shopping malls:
- The area around Siam Square (CentralWorld, MBK Center, Siam Square One and Apple Store)
- ICONSIAM - Thailand's most luxurious mall on the right bank of the river by the golden metro line (free ferries to Si Phraya district)
