Destination
Type of Activity
Editors Pick
Read MoreAncient City (Muang Boran)
Located about thirty-three kilometers (about twenty miles) east of Bangkok, this large outdoor museum was envisioned and built by Lek Viriyaphant, an eccentric Thai millionaire who dreamed of bringing the country’s most significant structures back to life (the old capital...
Read MoreBlue Elephant Cooking School and Restaurant Bangkok
While Thailand’s best cooking schools and classes are found up north, in places like Chiang Mai, Bangkok does have a few top places where you can learn about the cooking techniques and ingredients that make Thai cuisine one of the...
Read MoreChi Spa
A beautifully laid-out oasis of calm, the Chi Spa, in the Shangri-La, is one of Bangkok’s most impressive destination spas. The quiet, candle-lit design, with lots of stone walls and teak sliding doors, resembles a monastery, and indeed there is...
Read MoreChinatown
The Chinese are one of the oldest and largest immigrant communities in Bangkok, and their presence was one of the reasons the city expanded as rapidly as it did in the 19th century. Chinatown, on the eastern bank of the...
Read MoreCOMO Shambhala Spa
Operating according to the same holistic principles as its sister COMO Shambhala spas (at Parrot Cay, in the Turks and Caicos, and at Begawan Giri, in Bali), the spa at the Metropolitan hotel has ten treatment rooms and a long...
Read MoreDusit Park
Dusit is northwest of the city center, but if you do make it there, don’t miss the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall, a whimsical neoclassical palace whose exteriors are clad in white Carrara marble, from Italy. The Jim Thompson House and...
Read MoreGiving Back: Elephantstay
It is not uncommon to see majestic elephants being paraded down the clogged streets of Bangkok, and often tourists are encouraged to buy treats to feed them. Do not support this trade: these urban elephants are worked to exhaustion and...
Grand Palace Bangkok (Courtesy Andy Marchand)Read MoreGrand Palace
Plan to spend several hours exploring the Grand Palace, a sprawling complex that was the official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries. As with any palace in Europe, each expansion was the work...
Read MoreIndagare Tours: The River
Touring the khlongs (canals) is a must for first-time visitors, and Indagare members can contact our bookings team for help setting up a tour in a slender longboat, which can get into the narrow waterways.
Read MoreIndagare Tours: Wat Pho
This temple complex near the Grand Palace Bangkok contains more than 1,000 images of the Buddha and is most famous for the massive 46-meter-long (151-foot-long) reclining Buddha, who lies stretched out on his side, head in hand, like a movie...
Read MoreJim Thompson House
“Not only do you have beautiful things, but what is rare, you have arranged them with faultless taste,” wrote Somerset Maugham in a letter to Jim Thompson, whose former home is now a not-to-be-missed museum. The self-made American entrepreneur came...
Read MoreJoe Louis Theatre
Taking its moniker from the nickname of renowned Thai puppeteer Sakorn Yan-keawsot, the Joe Louis Theater is a showcase of the Thai puppet tradition. Founded in 2002, the company recently moved to a stunning new venue that provides the perfect...
Read MoreLeela Thai Herbal Spa
There are two branches of this no-frills but lovely small spa, where travelers can experience authentic Thai massages as well as a variety of treatments including reflexology and body scrubs. The Sathorn branch, near the M.R. Kukrit Heritage Home and...
Read MoreLumphini Park
Bangkok has a surprising number of leafy hideaways; the biggest being Lumphini Park and Dusit Park. If you come to Lumphini, located within walking distance of the Metropolitan and Sukhothai hotels, early in the morning, you can observe the locals...
Read MoreM.R. Kukrit Heritage Home
A bit off the beaten path, across the street from Le Lys restaurant, this beautifully restored traditional Thai home consists of five teak houses, the oldest of which is more than 100 years old. The former private home of M.R....
Read MoreMandarin Oriental Cooking School
The acclaimed school at the Mandarin Oriental is located in a separate building across the Chao Phraya River from the main hotel and is accessed by the hotel’s private boat that shuttles back and forth across the river all day....
Read MoreMandarin Oriental Spa
The Mandarin Oriental, across the river from the hotel, is situated in an antique Thai house and offers myriad treatments, including packages of up to three days of pampering. There’s an extensive list of Ayurvedic cures as well. The facilities...
Read MoreNational Museum
The museum is within walking distance of the Grand Palace (about 15 minutes) and showcases one of the best collections of Southeast Asian art anywhere. It’s a good place to start to get an overview of Thai art and history....
Read MorePeninsula Spa
The Peninsula spa is a gorgeous 19,000-square-foot space, with carved teak doors and subdued color scheme, housed in a traditional Thai building (brought to the Peninsula from the ancient capital of Ayutthaya). There are eighteen spacious treatment rooms, the menu...
Read MoreRed-Light Bangkok
Sadly, you don’t have to stray too far from the beaten path in Bangkok to come across the underbelly of the metropolis. Patpong, Nana Plaza on Soi Four and Soi Cowboy (the latter two are in the Sukhumvit area) are...
Read MoreRoyal Barge Museum
In a side canal off the west bank of the Chao Praya is the newly re-opened Royal Barge Museum, where the exquisite artisanship of the royal barges are on display. Though spectacular pageants and procession continue to take place on...
Read MoreSiam Ocean World
Ocean World, on the basement level of Bangkok’s massive Siam Paragon department store, is billed as Southeast Asia’s largest aquarium, and indeed, the large tanks, containing more than 400 species of sea creature, are impressive. Too bad the rest of...
Read MoreWat Arun
You can climb the central Khmer-style prang (typical temple structures’ spires) of the so-called Temple of the Dawn, which is on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River and is reachable by riverboat. Steep steps lead up to several...
