BANGKOK

Bangkok welcomes more visitors a year than any other city in the world and it’s
not hard to understand why. Thailand’s capital is a city of contrasts with exciting
things to do for everyone. Luxury malls and skyscrapers lie side by side with
colorful temples, markets and roadside stalls where you can treat yourself
without breaking the bank. One thing is for certain, you can never be bored in
Bangkok!

The Wat Traimit temple in the Chinatown area of Bangkok is a Royal temple
famous for the enormous gold Buddha statue in it. Because of the Golden
Buddha statue that is kept in there, the temple is also known as “The Temple of
the Golden Buddha”. For centuries the true identity and value of the statue were
not known, until the accident in the 1950’s when it was discovered that the statue
was made of solid gold. The statue is around 700 to 800 years old, more than
three meters high and weighs five and a half tons which makes it the largest solid
gold Buddha statue in the world.
The building, which was built to protect the Golden Buddha, consists of three
floors. The first floor contains a museum, the Chinatown Heritage centre where
visitors can learn about the history of Chinatown and the Chinese immigrants in
Bangkok. The second floor contains an exhibition about the history of the Golden
Buddha. The top floor of the building keeps the Golden Buddha statue safe.

Wat Samphran in Bangkok, aka “the Dragon Temple”, stands out amongst the
many other temples in the Thai capital. This 17-floor temple once required only
stairs to get up to the top, but now it also has a walkable tunnel that leads you
up to the very top. But if you want to use stairs keep in mind that they have
deteriorated over the years and that you can now only visit certain parts of the
hollow dragon. However, you can try climbing stairs where possible to explore
the inside of the dragon, and if you want to reach the top of the tower, you can
use the elevator inside that is set up for visitors. Beyond the famous tower,
the garden surrounding the temple is also a must-see. A trail leads visitors
around the complex taking them past various statues such as dolphins, tigers,
elephants, a rabbit and a turtle which have significance in Buddhist culture and
folklore.

Wat Arun, locally known as Wat Chaeng, is one of the most stunning temples in
Bangkok, not only because of its riverside location but also because the design is
very different from the other temples you can visit in Bangkok. Wat Arun is partly
made up of colourfully decorated spires and stands majestically over the water.
Although it’s known as the Temple of the Dawn, it's absolutely stunning at sunset,
particularly when lit up at night. You can climb the central prang if you want. But
the steps are very steep. Because of that there’s a railing to help with your
balance. Getting up is as tiring as getting down! But it’s definitely worth it
because when you reach the highest point of the temple you can see the winding
Chao Phraya River, the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. At the very top of the main
pagoda is a king’s crown, placed there by King Rama III. Inside the ordination
hall of Wat Arun, where the walls are decorated with many intricate murals, you
can see another Golden Buddha statue where some of the ashes of King Rama
II are kept under it (the statue). What you need to remember is that Respectful
attire is required. Wat Arun is a functioning Thai Buddhist temple, and as such
the management insists that visitors dress in a respectful manner. This means
that men must wear long pants and short-sleeved or long-sleeved shirts and
women must wear skirts or pants extending at least to the knee, and also should
not wear a top that reveals bare shoulders.

Wat Pho is one of the six Royal temples. This temple is really popular among
the tourist because of its giant reclining Buddha that is 15 meters tall, 46
metres long and covered in gold leaf. The feet of the Reclining Buddha statue
are 5 meters long and decorated in laksana (Buddhist Sanskrit symbols &
characters) of the Buddha. There are 108 of them because this number
symbolizes 108 positive actions and symbols that lead Buddha to perfection.You
will need to take your shoes off to enter most of the buildings in the temple
complex, and when you enter the building where the Reclining Buddha is kept
you will be offered a bowl of coins to purchase. It is considered good luck if you
purchase the bowl of coins and then drop them in the 108 bronze bowls. Wat Pho
complex has also four chapels that contain 394 gilded Buddha statues. In the
courtyard, you can find a Bodhi tree, which was grown from a part of the real tree
that Buddha sat under while meditating. After a walk around the temple there is
nothing quite like a relaxing foot or head and shoulder traditional Thai
massage. It’s often considered the leading school of massage in Thailand, so you
are in really good hands here.

The dazzling, spectacular Grand Palace is undoubtedly the most famous

landmark in Bangkok. It was built in 1782 and for 150 years the home of the Thai
King. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the 20th century,
but the palace complex is still used only for ceremonial purposes. The Grand
Palace is divided into three main areas:

Outer Court, that is home to royal offices, public buildings and the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha. The major attraction of the Outer Court is the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha, the residence of Thailand’s most sacred Buddhist sculpture
which dates back to the 14th century.

Middle Court, which is home to the most important residential and state
buildings of the King’s Court.

Inner Court is area that exclusively reserved for the reigning king, his queen and
his consorts.
The graveyard consists of one huge double decker plane and another four
smaller planes, that have been abandoned in Central Bangkok for no apparent
reason. This is your chance to sit in the cockpit of an airplane and explore every
part of the planes! The story tells a businessman bought the airplanes to sell
pieces. These days the graveyard isn’t completely abandoned anymore as there
are day by day more and more tourists visiting this place. There’s even one Thai
family that lives in one of the airplanes.

Want to venture a little further out of the inner city for a few hours? We know the
perfect place. A couple hours drive out of central Bangkok lies Ancient Siam,
also known as Mueang Boran and formally known as Ancient City. It's one of the
worlds largest outdoor museums with 109 replicas of Thailand’s most famous
buildings, attractions and monuments. For example, you can find a replica of the
Grand Palace in the central area of the park..Ancient Siam proudly celebrates
everything Thai – even the grounds the museum is set in are shaped like the
outline of Thailand! There are replicas of grand palaces, temples, shrines,
Buddha statues and even a floating market. Many of the replicas are of buildings
which no longer actually exist, and the idea of Ancient Siam is to help preserve
Thai history and culture for future generations. If you get tired by walking, you
can always rent a bike here.

Around Bangkok you will find a mass of street food options serving everything
from fried rice to tom yum soup and even carts selling fried insects. Street food in
Bangkok provides delicious and cheap meals and it’s one of the purest ways to
get in touch with the local culture, but it can be a little intimidating for foreigners
new to the city. It can be found in carts on the side of the road or even in
traditional shop houses placed on the pavement.

In Thailand you can see floating markets that are well supported locally and
mainly serve as tourist attractions. One of their purposes is to let tourists
experience the culture of riverside shopping.