Insight Guides City Guide Bangkok (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781786715975
• eBook ISBN: 9781786717252
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Cosmopolitan Bangkok blends evocative street markets with glitzy modern malls, Buddhist philosophy with animism, and traditional reserve with lashings of fun.

Inside Insight City Guide Bangkok: A fully-overhauled edition by our resident expert author.Stunning photography that brings this effervescent city and its people to life.Highlights of the city's top attractions, from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (containing Thailand's most revered religious artefact) to the backpacker hub of Khao San Road and the frenzy of Chatuchak Market, the world's largest flea market.Descriptive area-by-area accounts cover the whole city from the royal city of Rattanakosin and its myriad shiny temples to the cluttered markets of Chinatown, and further afield to the white-sand beaches of the Eastern seaboard and the faded grandeur of Ayutthaya.A comprehensive Travel Tips section includes all the practical information you will need for your trip, including getting around the city and budgeting for your trip.Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around and travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

Rattanakosin: Royal Bangkok

Thailand’s kings built Rattanakosin as a royal city within a city, a host of extravagant palaces and temples. Today, it remains a treasure trove of cultural clues to the identity of the capital and its people.

Main Attractions

Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace

Lak Muang

Sanam Luang

The National Gallery

The National Museum

Wat Mahathat

Wat Pho

Siam Discovery Museum

Wat Ratchapradit

Wat Ratchabophit

Rattanakosin is the man-made island that forms the royal centre of the original Old City, called Phra Nakorn. It was designed in 1782 when Bangkok was installed as the new capital of Thailand. For more than a century, Rattanakosin, just a boat ride across from the earlier capital at Thonburi, was the pulse of the city, and was where the seeds of the modern kingdom were planted.

The striking Phra Si Rattana Chedi at Wat Phra Kaew.

Getty Images

The foundations of Bangkok’s new strategic powerhouse were based on the former capital of Ayutthaya, which was abandoned after being ransacked by the Burmese army in 1767. The area was located at the edge of the Chao Phraya river with the majestic Grand Palace as its epicentre. As the palace took shape, to mirror the island layout of Ayutthaya, defensive moats were dug by extending canals. Walls formed a protective stronghold around Phra Nakorn, and more canals were created to transport people across marsh and swampland.

Outside the high walls of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.

Peter Stuckings/Apa Publications

Rattanakosin brims with architectural grandeur, its series of palaces and temples filled with important religious artefacts installed to indicate the strength of the re-unified nation. Even today, the district contains many government offices and two of Thailand’s most respected universities (Thammasat and Silpakorn), in addition to being the religious nucleus of the nation. Ceremonies, festivals and parades are frequently held in this quarter.

Rattanakosin is best explored on foot. While most visitors attempt to cram all its sights into a day, two full days allow for greater appreciation of its more secluded treasures. The area’s proximity to the river means that it can be conveniently accessed by water transport, and the famous backpacker haven of Thanon Khao San (for more information, click here) is just a short stroll away. A project called the Krung Rattanakosin Plan that aimed to reorganise the district by relocating residents to form a historical park has largely been shelved, although there are still periodic announcements of tentative schemes for development.

Phra Mondop with its splendid exterior.

Shutterstock

Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace complex

Jostling among throngs of snap-happy tourists may not be the best context for viewing exotic Thailand, but the dignified splendour of two of Bangkok’s principal attractions – the Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace – is breathtaking nevertheless. The structures in this complex are an arresting spectacle of form and colour, with glistening golden chedi, glass mosaic-studded pillars, towering mythological gods, and fabulously ornate temple and palace structures piercing the sky.

Construction on the site, which originally spread over 160 hectares (65 acres), was begun in 1782 at the command of King Rama I. He wanted not only a palace befitting the new capital, but somewhere to house the Emerald Buddha, the country’s most revered religious image. The entire compound is surrounded by high crenellated walls, securing a once self-sufficient city within a city.

Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace complex 1 [map]

Address: Thanon Na Phra Lan, www.palaces.thai.net

Tel: [phone]

Opening Hrs: daily 8.30am–3.30pm

Entrance Fee: charge (includes entry to Vimanmek and several other sights in Dusit)

Transport: Tha Chang pier

The only entrance (and exit) to the complex is along Thanon Na Phra Lan to the north. An early morning visit is recommended, preferably when bright sunlight illuminates the buildings to their dazzling best. Make sure you are dressed appropriately (see margin tip) and disregard touts who linger outside the complex telling you that it is closed.

Tip

The dress code for Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace is strict. Visitors must be dressed smartly – no shorts, short skirts or revealing tops, sandals or flip-flops. Suitable clothing may be borrowed from an office near the Gate of Victory, but unless you want to don stale rubber slip-ons and a gaudy sarong, dress conservatively.

The complex is loosely divided, with Wat Phra Kaew encountered first to the left and the Grand Palace and its peripheral buildings to the right. At least two hours are needed for a full appreciation, with most people lingering within Wat Phra Kaew. The interiors of the Grand Palace buildings – but not Wat Phra Kaew – are closed to the public on Saturday and Sunday. It’s worthwhile hiring the informative audio guide. If you prefer, official guides are also available near the ticket office.

Prasap Phra Thep Bidom, the Royal Pantheon.

iStock

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald ...

Table of contents

• Bangkok’s Top 10 Attractions
• Editor’s Choice
• Introduction: White Hot Bangkok
• People
• Decisive Dates
• A City of Angels
• Religion
• Insight: Temple Art and Architecture
• The Creative Arts
• Cuisine
• Shopping
• Bangkok After Dark
• Spas and Wellness Centres
• Introduction: Places
• Rattanakosin: Royal Bangkok
• Insight: The National Museum
• Thonburi
• Insight: Life on the Chao Phraya River
• The Old City
• Dusit
• Chinatown
• Pathumwan and Pratunam
• Insight: Jim Thompson’s Thai House
• Bangrak and Silom
• Sukhumvit
• Bangkok’s Suburbs
• Introduction: Bangkok’s Surroundings
• West of Bangkok
• South of Bangkok
• Eastern Seaboard
• North of Bangkok
• Transport
• A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information
• Understanding the Language
• Further Reading
• Bangkok Street Atlas