Bangkok — Destination Guide: Overview

Bangkok explodes with images of the quintessential steamy, tropical Asian metropolis. Although intensely urbanized, the capital exhibits an uncompromised Thai identity beneath its modern veneer. Glass-and-steel buildings shaped like cartoon robots stand next to glittering temple spires; wreaths of jasmine flowers dangle from the rear-view mirrors of buses and taxis; shaven-headed, orange-robed monks walk barefoot along the street beneath a bank of giant Sony screens carrying synchronized images of the latest world dance craze. One can move across the city on water via 18th-century canals, through the air aboard the sleek Skytrain or below ...

Bangkok explodes with images of the quintessential steamy, tropical Asian metropolis. Although intensely urbanized, the capital exhibits an uncompromised Thai identity beneath its modern veneer. Glass-and-steel buildings shaped like cartoon robots stand next to glittering temple spires; wreaths of jasmine flowers dangle from the rear-view mirrors of buses and taxis; shaven-headed, orange-robed monks walk barefoot along the street beneath a bank of giant Sony screens carrying synchronized images of the latest world dance craze. One can move across the city on water via 18th-century canals, through the air aboard the sleek Skytrain or below ground in the high-tech Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) subway. When hunger beckons, residents are spoiled by a panoply of the finest Thai restaurants anywhere in the kingdom, along with a host of other Asian cuisines Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Burmese, Malay, Sri Lankan and Indian to name a few and a broad range of European fare prepared by native chefs. Night falls and one can attend a classical Thai masked dance-drama performance followed by a disco jaunt to hear a visiting DJ spin the latest house music.

About the Expert

Joe Cummings has contributed to more than 35 guidebooks, maps, atlases, phrasebooks and photographic works, including his bestselling Lonely Planet Thailand and Buddhist Stupas of Asia: The Shape of Perfection.