Lots of things to see in the old part of Bangkok, called the Rattanakosin area. That’s where the backpackers’ enclave of Khao San Road is located. The Grand Palace (that’s not the palace where the royals live now; that one no one can see) and the Temple of the Emerald Budda. The aforementioned Reclining Buddha. The Skytrain and subway don’t go there, though, but it is easily accessible by boat. And the river taxi along the river is a pleasant ride.
The Skytrain is efficient and cheap to ride around on and gives you a good over-the-rooftop perspective. (No, it does NOT close on Sundays, like one scam artist told a couple of tourists one time to get them into his taxi; it runs 7 days a wekk.) The Jim Thompson House is near National Stadium Station.
Chatuchak Market, open on weekends, is very popular, but I like Suan Lum Night Bazaar better, and it’s open every night.
Bangkok is something like the world’s 22nd-largest city, so there’s a lot to see. I’m not all that up on specific tourist attractions, though. I’d pick up a good guide like Lonely Planet or check out their website for up-to-date details.
WARNING: Scam artists abound at tourist attractions. Thais are friendly but not so friendly they want you for their bosom buddy upon meeting you. Beware of anyone striking up a “friendly” conversation with you and “discovering” they have a relative about to go to school where you’re from. DO NOT believe that a place is closed, no matter how official-looking the person telling you it is looks; always go check for yourself. (Temples and such DO NOT close for holidays.) Never believe anything a tuktuk (motorized three-wheeled taxi) driver tells you. And no, you CANNOT buy gems at a cheap price here and resell them for a profit back home.
I will throw in nightlife, though. Patpong has seen better days, and the bars there are mostly hangouts for residents like myself. Beware of anyone there telling you there is no cover charge for a show, although any bar owned by the King’s Castle Group is safe. This is the ONLY red-light area where anyone pulls that crap anyway. Another good bar there is Safari Bar, mentioned prominently in I think it was Tom Robbins’ Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climes. Good 1970s music and cheap beer. Madrid Bar has some of the best pizza in Thailand, good breakfasts and is a holdover from the Vietnam War Days, during which lots of CIA agents frequented it. (The CIA’s Air America had their offices there in Patpong. The real-life model for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, the legendary Tony Poe, owned Madrid Bar for a spell.) Club Electric Blue is also a decent place. Myself, I like hanging out at the open-air beer bars until all hours of the morning; a couple are open around the clock. Another bar that’s good for a slice of history is Superstar Bar. Its owners back in the late 1980s were busted for attempting the largest marijuana importation into the United States up to that time, as chronicled in the good book Reefer Men: The Rise and Fall of a Billionaire Drugs Ring; otherwise, the bar is not all that special, and the girls can be kind of pushy.
Nana Plaza, in Sukhumvit Soi 4, is not really good these days. Its mainly for Japanese, but The Cathouse Bar has some good beer specials. Angelwitch has some popular shows. Casanova, Obsession and Cascade bars are all ladyboy (transvestite) bars, so best not to go into those unless that’s what you’re looking for. But there are no ripoff bars in Nana Plaza like a few of the ones in Patpong.
The best bar area now is Soi Cowboy, just off of Sulhumvit Road between sois 21 (or Soi Asoke) and 23 and named after a US serviceman called Cowboy who opened the first bar there after the Vietnam War. No ladyboy bars and no ripoffs anywhere. Suzie Wong and Sheba’s have the best live lesbian sex shows. No cover charge at all for real in any bar, but drinks tend to be a little high. Be at those two venues for the show no later than 10:30pm, but there are other types of shows interspersed. I like Five Star Bar, which has the cheapest beer in Soi Cowboy and where the Iron Horse Band plays all sorts of 1960s and 1970s music, including Pink Floyd. Another one I like is Tilac Bar, the largest one there; they own the small eatery next door called Sam’s 2000, a decent place for a bite. Again, there are no ripoffs in Soi Cowboy, but certain bars are “handjob” bars, and you may want to avoid those; they are After Skool, Fannie’s, Jungle Jim’s, Moonshine Joint and Toy.
Smaller and quieter bar areas include Sukhumvit Soi 7/1 (not to be confused with Soi 7, one block over). Nice little bars owned by local expats, but it also has the famous Eden Club. Not a bar, but rather a French-owned and -managed brothel, the girls are all guaranteed bisexual, and you are not allowed to take only one; you must take two or more. Marc, the owner, does not like anyone stopping in for just a drink, though, and will chase you out if you don’t want a couple of girls or three, so I suspect this info will not be of much use to you. The other bars there are good for just a drink. Another quiet bar area is Queen’s Park in Sukhumvit Soi 22. It’s so quiet it’s just about comatose. It’s very close to washington Square, where all the old Vietnam War vets who are still here still hang out. The only good things about Washington Square, though, are Bourbon Street Bar and Restaurant and The Dubliner Irish Pub.
In-your-face-type robberies are almost nonexistent, and I wander the back streets alone at all times of the day and night, never with any fear or problems. Pickpocketing can be a problem, especially around tourist attractions and doubly especially by ladyboys along lower Sukhumvit Road after dark.
Please do not feed any elephants wandering the street. Bangkok is a bad environment for them, and the city keeps trying to keep them out. Feeding them only encourages the mahouts to bring them into the city. Don’t give money to beggars either, as they are not allowed to keep it. They must hand it over to their minders. If a real beggar ever did go the rounds, he’d be set upon and killed or injured by the beggar mafia. They look especially pitiful holding their babies, but they’re not their babies, but rather rented. (One ladyboy beggar in Pattaya got popped renting a friend’s baby to pass off as “her” own.)
