299
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English
Ebooks
2018
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299
pages
English
Ebook
2018
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Publié par
Date de parution
01 juillet 2018
Nombre de lectures
20
EAN13
9781787019355
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
23 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
01 juillet 2018
Nombre de lectures
20
EAN13
9781787019355
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
23 Mo
Bangkok
Contents
Plan Your Trip
Welcome to Bangkok
Bangkok’s Top 10
What’s New
Need to Know
First Time Bangkok
Top Itineraries
If You Like
Month by Month
With Kids
Eating
Food Spotter’s Guide
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
LGBT Bangkok
Explore Bangkok
Neighbourhoods at a Glance
Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Sports & Activities
Banglamphu
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Thewet & Dusit
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Chinatown
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Entertainment
Siam Square, Pratunam, Phloen Chit & Ratchathewi
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Riverside, Silom & Lumphini
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Sukhumvit
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Northern Bangkok
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Excursions from Bangkok
Ayuthaya Historical Park
Ko Samet
Amphawa
Phetchaburi (Phetburi)
Kanchanaburi
Khao Yai
Sleeping
Understand
Understand Bangkok
Bangkok Today
History
People & Culture
Food & Drink
The Sex Industry in Thailand
Survival Guide
Transport
Arriving in Bangkok
Getting Around Bangkok
Tours
Directory A-Z
Customs Regulations
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Emergencies & Important Numbers
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBT Travellers
Medical Services
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Taxes & Refunds
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travellers with Disabilities
Visas
Women Travellers
Language
Bangkok Maps
Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi
Banglamphu
Thewet & Dusit
Ratchathewi
Chinatown
Siam Square, Pratunam & Phloen Chit
Lumphini
Silom
Riverside
Sukhumvit
Chatuchak & Ari
RCA & Th Ratchadaphisek
Table of Contents
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Bangkok
Same same, but different. This Thailish T-shirt philosophy sums up Bangkok, a city where the familiar and the exotic collide like the flavours on a plate of pàt tai.
Contrasts
It’s the contradictions that provide the City of Angels with its rich, multifaceted personality. Here, climate-controlled megamalls sit side by side with 200-year-old village homes; gold-spired temples share space with neon-lit strips of sleaze; slow-moving traffic is bypassed by long-tail boats plying the royal river; Buddhist monks dressed in robes shop for the latest smartphones; and streets lined with food carts are overlooked by restaurants perched on top of skyscrapers. And as Bangkok races towards the future, these contrasts will never stop supplying the city with its unique and ever-changing strain of Thai-ness.
Full-on Food
Until you’ve eaten on a Bangkok street, noodles mingling with your sweat amid a cloud of exhaust fumes, you haven’t actually eaten Thai food. It can be an intense mix: the base flavours – spicy, sour, sweet and salty – aren’t exactly meat and potatoes. But for adventurous foodies who don’t need white tablecloths, there’s probably no better dining destination in the world. And with immigration bringing every regional Thai and international cuisine to the capital, it’s also a truly diverse experience. And perhaps best of all, Bangkok has got to be one of the best-value dining destinations in the world.
Fun Folks
The language barrier can seem huge, but it’s never prevented anybody from getting along with the Thai people. The capital’s cultural underpinnings are evident in virtually all facets of everyday life, and most enjoyably through its residents’ sense of fun (known in Thai as sà·nùk ). In Bangkok, anything worth doing should have an element of sà·nùk Ordering food, changing money and haggling at markets will usually involve a sense of playfulness – a dash of flirtation, perhaps – and a smile. It’s a language that doesn’t require words, and one that’s easy to learn.
Urban Exploration
With so much of its daily life conducted on the street, there are few cities in the world that reward exploration as handsomely as Bangkok does. Cap off an extended boat trip with a visit to a hidden market. A stroll off Banglamphu’s beaten track can lead to a conversation with a monk. Get lost in the tiny lanes of Chinatown and stumble upon a Chinese opera performance. Or after dark, let the BTS (Skytrain) escort you to Sukhumvit, where the local nightlife scene reveals a cosmopolitan and dynamic city.
BOGOSHIPDA / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Why I Love Bangkok
By Austin Bush, Writer
Admittedly, there are some things – the hot weather, the traffic, the political instability – that make Bangkok a less-than-ideal city. But there’s so much more that makes it amazing. I love the food. What other city has such a full-flavoured, no-holds-barred, insatiable, fanatical approach to eating? I love old Bangkok – districts such as Banglamphu and Chinatown still carry the grit, charm and character of the city that used to be. And I’d be lying if I didn’t also say that I love new Bangkok; don’t we all have a soft spot for megamalls and air-con?
For more about our writers, see here .
Bangkok’s Top 10
Banglamphu
1 Easily Bangkok’s most charming neighbourhood, Banglamphu is the city’s former aristocratic enclave, once filled with minor royalty and riverside mansions. Today, the old quarter is dominated by antique shophouses, backpackers seeking R&R on famous Th Khao San (pictured), civil servants shuffling between offices and lunch spots, and bohemian artists and students. Vendor carts and classic restaurants also make a patchwork quilt of Banglamphu, offering ample options for a roving stomach, and the area is also home to some of the city’s best live music.
MAN OF STOCKER CITY / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Open-Air Dining
2 Bangkok’s reputation as a polluted city belies its forte as an outdoor-dining capital. Despite the modern conveniences of air-conditioning and contemporary cafes, some of the most memorable meals in the city (not coincidentally called the ‘Big Mango’) are had at the open-air markets and food stalls. Forget about three square meals, in Bangkok locals snack throughout the day, packing away at least four meals before sunset. It would be rude not to join them.
KEVIN HELLON / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Chatuchak Weekend Market
3 In a city obsessed with commerce, Chatuchak Weekend Market takes the prize as Bangkok’s biggest and baddest market. Silks, sneakers, fighting cocks and fighting fish, fluffy puppies and souvenirs for the insatiable fa·ràng (Westerner) – if it can be sold in Thailand, you’ll find it here. From every day to clubby, clothes dominate much of the market, but this being Thailand, food and drink also have a strong – and refreshing – presence, making Chatuchak as much about eating as it is about shopping.
ARTAPARTMENT / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Chinatown
4 Forgive us for suggesting that Bangkok’s Chinatown is something of an Asian El Dorado. The neighbourhood’s main artery, Th Yaowarat (pictured), is crowded with gold shops – sealed glass-front buildings that look more like Chinese altars than downtown jewellers. Likewise, the Buddha statue at Wat Traimit has more gold than you’ve likely ever seen in one place. And the pencil-thin lanes that branch off Talat Mai are decked with gold-leaf-coated goods. Throw in the blazing neon signs and smoky, open-air kitchens and you have an urban explorer’s fantasy.
MIKI STUDIO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Jim Thompson’s House
5 Jim Thompson , the late American entrepreneur, used his traditional Thai-style home as a repository for ageing Thai traditions and artwork. Thompson mysteriously disappeared in 1967 and today his former home is a museum – one that every visitor secretly wishes to live in for a day or more. Why? The rooms are adorned with his exquisite art collection and personal possessions, including rare Chinese porcelain pieces and Burmese, Cambodian and Thai artefacts, and the garden is a miniature jungle of tropical plants and lotus ponds.
COWARDLION / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Shopping
6 Even avowed anticonsumerists fold in Bangkok. One minute they’re touting the virtues of a life without material possessions, the next they’re admiring the fake Rolex watches and mapping out the route to MBK Center. Bangkok’s malls, however, are just a warm-up for the markets, the cardio workout of shopping . In this city, footpaths are for additional retail space, not for pedestrians. In addition to Chatuchak Weekend Market – one of the world’s largest markets – Bangkok is an established destination for bespoke tailoring and has its own emerging fashion scene.
SIAM DISCOVERY IDREAMIPURSUE / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Mae Nam Chao Phraya
7 Mae Nam Chao Phraya (the Chao Phraya River) is always teeming with activity: hulking freighter boats trail behind dedicated tugs, river-crossing ferries skip across the wake, and children practice cannonballs into the muddy water. You can witness this from the shore (ideally from Ko Ratanakosin or Thonburi), from a chartered long-tail boat or while on the deck of a river taxi. Regardless of your vantage point, as the blinding sun slips below the horizon in serene streaks of reds and golds of an evening, sooty Bangkok suddenly looks beautiful.
AMNAT30 / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Bangkok’s Top 10
Songkran
8 If the idea of a multiday, no-holds-barred, water-based war appeals to you, make a point of being in Bangkok during April. With origins in an ancient religious practice of Buddha images being ‘bathed’, in recent decades the celebration of the Thai lunar New Year