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A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

TripBlog
TripBlog
Oct 15, 2019

Catalogue

  • 1. Patom Organic
  • 2. Wat Arun
  • 3. Wat Lokayasutharam
  • 4. Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World
  • 5. Laff Cafe
  • 6. True Love at Neverland
  • 7. Safari World
  • 8. Erawan Museum
  • 9. Grand Palace
  • 10. Organika House
  • 11. Plaza
  • 12. Asiatique Sky
  • 13. Ratchada
  • Show More

Bangkok attracts the most number of tourists for any city in the world and with so many places of interest to visit in the city, it is a tough task to prepare a Bangkok local guide to help you out in such a versatile city. It is a place with an extremely vibrant, thriving sex industry, and at the same time a well developed modern city with huge malls, high-end luxury hotels, alongside with smaller boutiques and street-side markets, cheaper roadside eateries, a large number of temples alongside with a huge number of nightclubs and bars, you will thus find Bangkok a city full of contrasts.

Siam, as Bangkok was called earlier, was established as the capital of Thailand under Rama I in 1792. The city is on the banks of the Chao Phraya River which has a number of canals through which boats navigate. During his regime, the walled Grand Palace and Wat Pho were built, with more Wats, or temples being built in the following decades during the reign of the successor Rama rulers. The modern city started flourishing after World War II with huge development activities. Its infamous sex industry which exploded during the Vietnam War when US soldiers started frequenting the city, has continued since and tourism started flourishing during the 1980s.

You can find a number of tourist attractions listed in our Bangkok local guide to ensure that your trip to Bangkok is as eventful and enjoyable as possible.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The Patom Organic is located at Thanon Wang Doem, Khwaeng Wat Arun, Thep Maha Nakhon. The main reason to rather unusually starting our Bangkok local guide with this place is to ensure and promote the well being of everyone, which is the motto of this organic movement. Patom organic is basically a movement started from 2009 to 2011, called the Sampran movement, to bring on one platform all farmers to educate them about organic cultivation, to bring to the consumers healthy organic produce at a reasonable price to promote overall well being of everyone. It has now evolved into a well-known brand that has its own online store to distribute organic food products and dozens of body care products from its organically cultivated produce by a large number of farmers under its umbrella. All its farms and products are certified to EU and Canadian standards. It has now reached a stage where it now collaborates with government agencies, universities, and the private sector to push organic farming and organic living.

Patom is actually a glass enclosure with a wooden frame which is a store as well as a café serving organic food in the organic farm garden. It attracts a huge number of visitors and also conducts workshops and other farmer oriented programs to promote the eco-friendly concept.

Wat Arun temple is a must-visit and has to be a part of any Bangkok local guide for visitors. It is an awesome structure that is at the top of the list of around 32,000 temples in Thailand and is located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River and directly opposite Wat Pho. It is dedicated to the Indian Sun God Aruna and is also called the temple of dawn. Its prang or spire rises almost 80 meters into the sky and is one of the most visible and famous landmarks in Bangkok. The prang is covered by tens of thousands of multi-colored ceramic tiles and porcelain giving it an awesome glittering look from afar. Even though the best time to visit this architectural marvel is in the morning, especially early morning, an evening visit gives a spectacular view with the setting sun in the background, especially of the illuminated temple.

You need to be dressed appropriately, fully covered, to enter the temple. Otherwise, proper cover-ups are available outside to help you out to get an entry. You can climb the slight tricky and steep prang to get the spectacular high view of the river as it curves along with the city, the Wat Pho, and the grand palace. These steps lead to the two terraces which form the base of the spire. One terrace houses Buddha statues in different stages of his life, kinnarees and Asuras and the other terrace house four statues of God Indra and his elephant vahana, Airavata with 33 heads. The main spire is surrounded by four smaller spires that have statues of Gods of the four directions.

You can reach the temple by riverboat, by road through taxi or tuk-tuk.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The temple of the reclining Buddha, or Wat Lokayasutharam, called Phra Buddhasaiyart, is another lovely place on our Bangkok local guide list, which is a must-see in Ayutthaya for the sheer size and scale of the sleeping Buddha statue. It is located in the Pratoochai district behind the ancient palace. It is 8 meters high and 37 meters long and is made of bricks and cement with its head reclining on a lotus, and the legs overlapping full length. This posture represents the final days of Buddha before he attained nirvana. It used to be covered with an orange cloth earlier, but now is fully exposed to the weather. This Buddha statue stands in good condition amidst semi ruins of other buildings and statues. A large number of people come here to offer worship Budha and seek his blessings.

The place is open from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and it charges an admission fee of 50 Baht.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The place which offers you near ocean life experience at various depths of an ocean, Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World, is next on our list of Bangkok local guide. You will get to experience a number of underwater ocean adventure sports. One of the adventures you can enjoy is diving with the sharks in which you can dive deep into the ocean where the experienced trainers bring you in contact with sand tiger sharks, leopard sharks, blacktip reef sharks and a few colorful aqua creatures like eagle rays and other species. Another is riding in a glass bottom boat during which the crew brings you in close contact with sharks and other underwater creatures and you also watch them feed the creatures by hand. You can also experience a walk in the ocean walker, which is an underwater tunnel, to have a close look at the creatures all around.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

A 10-minute walk from BTS, on the Sukhumvit 50 road, an English type café with Thai flavor is Laff Cafe, our next place in the Bangkok local guide. It has beautiful, pleasing large interiors in contrast with the small outer opening and is surrounded by a lot of greenery. You may be shelling out a big amount, but you will get an absolutely delicious coffee here, worth the 120 Baht for cappuccino or Baht 115 for Latte. You can also get some really good pastries, cookies, cakes, croissants, and some other sweets. This is a great place for a photoshoot, to take a couple of selfies for posterity.

The true love at Neverland, also called a true love café, is located 153, Soi Ari Samphan 2, is a dog café where you can meet Siberian huskies. If you are a dog lover, then this is the place where you can get in close contact with around 25 of these lovely, friendly creatures. There is no advance booking here, so you need to go in early and wait in line for your turn. There are two shows, one at 12 noon and another at 3:00 PM and the ticket counter opens at 10:00 AM. When you are in the café waiting for your turn, you will be shown a video with dos and don’ts. When your turn is up, you will be given a cover for your feet, asked to wash your hands in alcohol hand rub and then allowed into the dog’s enclosure which everyone is eagerly waiting for.

The Safari World located at 99, Panyaintra road, Samvatawantok, our next place on the Bangkok local guide is a great open zoo and leisure park where you can have fun, entertainment, be with nature and wildlife. You can take a 45-minute safari ride for close encounters with some of the wild animals in their natural habitat. You can also see the lions and tigers feeding show. You can see the man’s best aquatic friend perform tricky acts with ease, shake hands with them in the dolphin park. You can get to see bird show and sea lion show, along with feeding show for wild animals. You can participate in the stunt show where exciting acts are performed by professionals. You can also go on an exciting, adrenaline-raising jungle cruise ride in unchartered waters where unexpected challenges can be encountered at any stage. Then there is the showpiece, the marine park, where you can have one of the best times of your life with all types of animals with 8 amazing world-class shows.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

Erawan Museum located at 1 Sukhumvit Road, samrut prakan and is next on our Bangkok local guide list. This museum is within the giant three-headed elephant which is 29 meters in height and 39 meters by length. It has three levels, representing the underworld, our earth, and heaven. The Suvarnabhumi level displays priceless artworks of local and other eastern varieties. The earth represents Mount Meru, the center of the Buddhist universe. The heaven level houses a huge statue of Bodhisattva Gyan Yin at the center. This level also displays 8 different images of Budha in different postures. Tavatimsa heaven is in the belly of the beast at the top of mount Meru where gods and Airavata congregate. The artworks and paintings on the wall provide a lovely learning experience during your visit to this outstanding museum.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The magnificent structure of Grand Palace in our Bangkok tourist guide list is the most visited place in Bangkok, built during the reign of Rama I in 1782. It was built during his reign when the capital was moved to the East of the Chao Phraya River. The palace has an almost 2 km of high walls surrounding it, with the huge complex having a number of buildings of other royals, throne halls, a lovely temple of Emerald Buddha and Phra Ubosat, or the Chapel of Buddha. The palace has been the official residence of the King of Thailand since its construction. The emerald Buddha is supposed to be the most important in Thailand and is carved out of Jasper, has a set of three lovely crafted costumes, one for summer, winter and rainy season. The costumes are made of gold and jewelry, with the costume changing ritual being done by the king himself at the beginning of each season. There is a beautiful statue of Cheewok Komaraphat with a grinding stone. He was the doctor of Buddha and is regarded as the doctor of herbal medicine. Apart from these, there are many other buildings with exquisite archeological beauty like that of the library, stupa, model of Angor Wat, and others.

You need to pay 500 Baht for entry which is between 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. For an audio guide, you need to pay another 200 Baht. Admission is free for locals. You need to buy at least 1 day in advance, and up to 1 month in advance.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The Organika House, which takes you to an entirely different level of happiness and a sense of wellbeing, is a lovely addition to our Bangkok local guide. This is a company that is into aromatherapy to promote universal health through the use of non-toxic products for mental and physical healing. The main product is from the marigold flower, which is the oldest surviving species on this planet and which has multiple health benefits, has innumerable applications from anti-aging to skincare products. Basically, the Organika house produces 5 basic signature aromas. The memoirs of sunrise, into the woods to soothe the mind, Ocean of dreams for vitality and joy, secret rose garden, and kisses of jasmine. Apart from these, there are other scents also to choose from based on your physical and psychological needs.

Apart from the online store, the company also has a very attractive café and restaurant which serves a variety of gourmet food with a large menu to choose from, combined with aromatherapy. A high tea set costs around 1250 Baht per person. It even has a lovely spa where you can get refreshed and rejuvenated.

The Nana entertainment plaza or Nana Plaza as the symbol of Bangkok’s nightlife culture has to be in any Bangkok local guide and is a place which you need to visit to get a real feel of the unhindered, unabashed, open, and naughty culture of the city famous for its sex adventures. It is a square 3 storey building with a central atrium which is racy, more adult, for males without families, for someone looking for a serious exotic, erotic experience which has nothing in similarity with the usual bars and nightclubs which are more suitable for gentle soft nightlife. This place first started as a normal bar and restaurant and gradually converted into the racy, sleazy go-go bar set up post-1980s and is now the most notoriously famous place in Bangkok frequented by foreigners looking out for a night out in a no-holds-barred go-go bar.

This place is located on the Sukhumvit Road and is open from 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

The Asiatique Sky is an astonishing riverfront, great location. The sky is an amazing 60-meter high giant Ferris wheel, and you can get vertiginous aerial views from that height. The place has a huge open-air mall with lots of entertainment options.

The sky is located on the Charoekrung road, Wat Prayakrai district. It is open from 5:00 PM to midnight. The entry fees for an adult costs 500 Baht, 1700 Baht for a private cabin for 2 and 2500 Baht for a VIP cabin for 5 persons, all cabins air-conditioned. With this, you can go around three full rotations of the wheel, if you have the stomach for it. The admission ticket includes the Muay Thai shows, soft drinks, popcorn, as well as free-transfers from your hotel.

A Local Guide to Bangkok Thailand

This is a modern area which has everything from night clubs, hotels to shopping malls and stores, generally more affordable than many other places in Bangkok. This is in our Bangkok local guide list of places to visit for its sheer variety, options for shopping combined with fun and entertainment to suit different tastes. Some of the famous places you will encounter in Ratchada are

1. Esplanade, the seven-story shopping mall and entertainment center which has a skating rink, musical theater, 12-screen Cineplex, supermarket and restaurants serving many cuisines.

2. Route 66 Nightclub is a well-known club known for its wild parties. It has different zones for hip-hop music and another for playing Thai and western hits.

3. Art in paradise, which is an interactive 3D or trick eye museum.

We have tried to pack in as much information as possible regarding the Bangkok local guide to include the places which might be of interest to you when you visit the city. Though by no means this is an exhaustive tourist guide, it tries to ensure that you enjoy the flavor of Bangkok in every possible way by covering these places in your itinerary. Trip.com helps you out by providing all the relevant bits and pieces of information you need to make every aspect of your trip enjoyable and memorable.


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