A Bangkokian’s Ultimate Guide to 17 Best Things to Do in Bangkok

Are you planning a trip to Bangkok? Look no further than this ultimate guide to the best things to do in Bangkok, to discover the best places to shop and restaurants you don’t want to miss.

Bangkok is my hometown. 

I spent years as a kid wandering around Chatuchak, and exploring the street food stalls of Yaowarat after school.

My family even owned a couple of stores in a shopping mall. As a kid that was in constant motion, I spent a lot of my childhood discovering the best things to do and walking around all the different shops.  

So I know better than most… finding things to do in Bangkok can be surprisingly tough.

After all, the capital city of Thailand is very popular with tourists for a reason, right?

Here is the lowdown from a Bangkokian on all the must-see cultural landmarks, where to eat ‘til your heart’s content. And finally, this list also includes some great places to shop until you drop!

One of the must-visit attractions in the heart of Bangkok is the Grand Palace.

I’d highly recommend spending a few hours exploring the ground. 

You can see the famous Wat Phra Kaew (the Emerald Buddha) inside the palace’s walls. 

Important to note that you’re dressed appropriately ahead of your visit. Meaning not showing shoulders and knees for both men and women. 

This is one of the few places this rule is rigorously enforced, so if you forget you’ll need to buy clothes from the gift shop to cover up. 

Also fair warning: the inside of the palace walls get incredibly hot. Go in the morning to avoid the hottest time of day and bring water to drink!

Price: 500 baht for foreigners /  free for Thais.  
Find Grand Palace on google maps here.

Wat Pho is situated close to the Grand Palace, so I’d recommend visiting it on the same day. 

This is the famous home of the reclining Buddha, and also the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. 

The reclining Buddha is one of the largest in Thailand, laying at 15m tall and 46m long.  

No matter how many times I visit this temple, I still get amazed by its beauty. 

You can also get a Thai massage here. 

Price: 200 baht for foreigners / free for Thais.
Find Wat Pho on google maps here.

After a trip to Wat Pho and Grand Palace, you can cross the Chao Phraya River via a ferry to visit another stunning temple.

You can also climb up Wat Arun and see the beautiful white pagoda closeup. 

The view of the Wat Arun is one of my favourite Bangkok landmarks, especially in the evening as the lights reflect and sparkle across the riverfront. 

The perfect way to spend an evening in Bangkok is to pick a restaurant across the river with the view of the Wat Arun to watch the sunset. 

Price: 100 baht for foreigners / free for Thais. 
Find Wat Arun on google maps here.

Built on top of a hill, Wat Saket is another spot to watch Bangkok’s sunset as it offers 360 views of the city. 

Known for the iconic golden pagoda (hence the name, the Golden Mount), there are 318 steps to climb to the top. 

Wat Saket is open from 7 am to 7 pm, but best in the evening before sunset to avoid extenuating activities in the sweltering heat. 

Price: Free
Find Wat Saket on google maps here. 

Yaowarat is the place to go for a lively atmosphere and delicious food. 

The roadside is usually busy with restaurants and street food vendors from 6 pm – 10 pm. 

You can find noodle dishes, desserts, fruits, seafood and all kind of food to satisfy your every craving. 

We visited Kuay Jab Nay Lek for a delicious rolled noodle soup (Kuay Jub). Rolled Noodles are especially good in Yaowarat and we’d definitely recommend this place.

Find Yaowarat on google maps here.

Some might go to the floating market for the sight and experience. But for me, a floating market is a great place to go to get a variety of local-style food. 

For the ultimate floating market tourist experience with vendors paddling in the water, go to Amphawa or Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. They are a couple of hours’ drive away from Bangkok. 

For an authentic and less crowded experience, visit Khlong Lat Mayom or Taling Chan in Bangkok. Technically, not a floating market, but still on the riverside, and you can take a boat tour. 

As for what to buy: my favourites include some local delicacies and snacks such as Mieng Kham and Sa Koo Sai Moo (Tapioca balls with sweet pork meat filling). 

Find Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market on google maps here.

Michelin is one of the world’s most respected dining guides as there is no shortage of good food in Bangkok. 

Unsurprisingly you can find plenty of Michelin stars and Michelin Guide places in the city. 

From Netflix-famous street food Jay Fai’s crab omelette to swanky haute cuisine like Chef’s Table at Lebua hotel. 

We actually thought Jay Fai was a little over-hyped, but still worth a try. Just make sure you book months in advance or you are in for a lengthy wait.

You can see a full list of Michelin Guide restaurants in Bangkok here. 

Price: 2,000 baht for the famous crab omelette
Find Jay Fai on google maps here. 

I have a very high standard when it comes to Pad Thai. Unless it’s a store that only does Pad Thai (and maybe a side dish), I’m not interested. 

A good Pad Thai needs to be the focal point for the vendor and they need to master their craft. 

I mean, no one would open a standalone Pad Thai shop without being really confident that their Pad Thai is really good, right? 

One of the best Pad Thais I’ve ever had was at Thipsamai Pad Thai. Their Pad Thai is made with Shrimp Oil and wrapped around a very thin omelette.

The Pad Thai is on the sweeter side and pricier than the basic ones but it’s so worth it. Make sure to try their freshly squeezed orange juice while you are there too. 

Another great Pad Thai (and Kyri’s favourite) is at Pad Thai Kratong Thong. Their take on Pad Thai was to pair it with Honey Barbecue Pork, and I’ll forever regret not being more adventurous enough to order it for myself.  

Initially, I was like “that’s barbaric” but after trying it, I think they are geniuses!

Be sure to try both and let us know which one is your favourite. 

Price: From 70 baht
Find Thipsamai Pad Thai on google maps here.

Price: From 90 baht
Find Pad Thai Kratong Thong on google maps here. 

When in Bangkok, I actually schedule my itinerary around when I can go to Chatuchak.

Chatuchak Weekend Market is the best place to shop until you drop (possibly from heat exhaustion and too much walking). 

You can get almost anything here, from clothes, jewellery, decorative pieces, and pets (but we don’t recommend buying them here). 

You can also practise your bartering skills here (‘Lod Ra Ka Dai Mai?’ is Can you lower the price?). 

I remember spending hours here as a kid when my parents used to drag me around trying to find products for their stores. 

The market is outdoor and pretty huge, so we recommend spending a day here if you are a big shopper but wear your most comfortable shoes! 

Find Chatuchak Weekend Market on google maps here. 

Want a similar experience to Chatuchak Weekend Market but with air conditioning? We recommend MBK. 

MBK is a huge shopping centre where you can find souvenirs, clothes, suitcases, electronics and even fake designer goods. 

The organised floors by product type are a relief for those reeling from the chaos of Chatuchak.

There’s also a great food court for an easy pit stop, plus a cinema and Don Quijote (for the Japanese fans). 

Find MBK on google maps here.

THE area to shop for clothes in Bangkok is Pratunam. There are hundreds of clothes vendors along the road, but my favourite is Platinum Fashion Mall. 

Platinum is packed with thousands of shops and a great place to buy fashionable clothes in bulk (though, it was slightly quiet when we went in 2022). 

I can easily spend an entire day exploring all their many floors and stores (which I have done on an occasion when I pretty much made my way through each shop one by one from the top floor). 

However, if you are slightly larger than the average Thai-person size, you might have difficulty finding clothes that fit (as you can’t try on the items either). 

Find Platinum Fashion Mall on google maps here.

Siam is THE hangout spot in Bangkok, where you can walk from one shopping mall to another, and then another. 

When I was younger, you were considered cool if you went to Siam at the weekend. 

And, when in Siam, you have to visit the luxury shopping mall of Siam Paragon. It has a great food court, brand name items and some really amazing Thai designers. 

But I really went there for the food court because that’s where you can always find all the trendy food.  

Find Siam Paragon on google maps here.

From the Chao Phraya River, you can get a spectacular view of Bangkok. 

You can hire a boat to take you up and down the river and visit multiple temples. 

When in a touristy area, you might get bombarded with people promoting a river tour. 

Normally, I’d suggest steering clear from something like this, but if you want a river tour, you can always find someone you vibe with and negotiate the price. 

Expect to pay around 2,000 – 2,500 baht. 

Best to do this fairly early in the morning or after 3 to avoid the heat. 

To see the temples glisten in the evening light, you can also find some evening river cruise with dinner. 

Find Chao Phraya River on google maps here.

Spending a lot of time in Bangkok can make you feel like you are in the middle of a concrete jungle. 

To get a break from the crowd, the noise and indoor spaces, I’d suggest a walk or a jog around the famous Lumphini Park. 

Lumphini Park is the largest green open space in the city, with lakes and ponds. 

You will also get a lovely view of the contrasting greenery and modern architects in the background (it’s giving a New York’s Center Park vibe). 

In the park, you’ll be sure to spot some elderly people doing Tai Chi and some curious-looking water lizards near the water. 

Find Lumphini Park on google maps here. 

The movie Ong Bak really put Thailand and Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) on the map. It is a brutal and beautiful art form and a huge part of Thai culture. 

The two big stadiums in Bangkok are Lumpinee Stadium and Rajadamnern Stadium. Make sure you book the tickets in advance! 

If you want a taste of Muay Thai for yourself, you can take a class too. 

Beware – it’s harder than it looks!

Price: Lumpinee Stadium ticket price starts from 1,800 baht (fights on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday).
Find Lumpinee Stadium on google maps here.

Price: Rajadamnern Stadium ticket price starts from 1,800 baht (fights on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday).
Find Rajadamnern Stadium on google maps here.

Done your Muay Thai? Now it’s time for some relaxing…or so you thought. 

No pain, no gain is what I say to people wanting to try Thai Massage for the first time. Yes, it will definitely hurt, BUT you will feel better afterwards. 

Look for a place that offers legit Thai Massage with properly trained masseuses (not to be confused with the other type of masseuses…). 

The masseuse will probably step on your back, use their elbows as tools, and you might hear things in your body click. That’s all part of the fun though!

Remember, you can always ask them not to go too hard on you. You will get a little smirk in return though! 

Cat cafes seem to be the norm everywhere else but in Bangkok, there are places for dog lovers to go to pet and cuddle up to some cuties. 

It’s a bit embarrassing when one of your favourite photos from your trip is from a dog cafe.

And yet…

Look how fluffy they are!

We were tempted by a few pet cafés in Bangkok, but Dog in Town’s huge wolves/ bears looked too awesome to turn down.

Dog in Town has a nice wholesome vibe, with plenty of furballs of energy running around.

The staff seem to be connected to the real stars of the show, while also trying to give visitors time to play and get pictures. 

Far from a “must-visit” in Bangkok, but a really fun way to spend an hour or two.

Price: 350 baht entrance fee (includes a drink).
Find Dog in Town Ari on google maps here.

We used the Grab app to book taxis for our transport. It’s so much easier to book a taxi, instead of waiting on the street to flag down a taxi.

The drivers are usually a lot less reckless (because you can rate them and their driving at the end). 

You also know exactly how much to pay without worrying about getting scammed.

Download Grab on iOS here and android here. 

There are plenty of taxis in Bangkok, but it can be hard to hail one during peak hours, and they were a little hard to come by during the pandemic (that’s why we were using Grab more often). 

The fare starts at 35 baht, and it runs on a meter. Make sure that the meter is on and running to avoid getting scammed. 

To stay super safe and vigilant, make sure you take a picture of the taxi license number, and the picture ID matches the driver. 

Taxis seemed to cost about two-thirds the price of a Grab… but at what cost to your stress level? 😅

There are 2 types of train systems in Bangkok, Sky Train (BTS) and Metro (MRT underground), but they operate independently, and you have to buy separate tickets. 

The mode of transport is a great way to avoid heavy Bangkok traffic (it gets bad around peak hours when everyone’s trying to get to work/home). 

I have been stuck in a traffic jam for 3-4 hours before, so make sure you plan ahead! 

It’s recommended to avoid any transport form around peak hours because Sky Train and Metro get really crowded. 

Price: ticket starts at 19 baht and goes up depending on the distance.

Back in the day, Tuk Tuk used to be seen as the typical transport in Thailand, but it has gotten quite touristy and scammy in the past decade or so. 

I’ve heard some horror stories about how they partnered up with businesses to scam tourists. 

They also overcharge people as it doesn’t run on a meter (they even overcharged me when I was 8 and trying to get a drive home from the market).

In terms of safety, there’s not much there since there’re no seat belts. So, you have to hold on for your dear life. 

So, only get it for the experience but don’t rely on it.

Motorcycle Taxi is how you travel like local. Everyone uses this because it’s much quicker to get through the heavy traffic. 

This mode of transport isn’t for long-distance travel, you can find them at the front of any big Soi (street). 

However, a normal motorcycle taxi isn’t really tourist-friendly, but I’ve heard that you can get them on Grab too. 

You can pick between a fan-operated bus (9 baht fare) or an air-conditioned bus (12 baht+ fares depending on the distance). 

Avoid the bus if you dislike the crowd, long wait time, and horrendous traffic jams. 

Not to mention the confusion of where to get off. 

There are better things you can be worrying about on holiday than a bus timetable.

I don’t know if I mentioned, but Bangkok gets really hot! 

I wouldn’t recommend walking around Bangkok during the day or at night (lack of street lights in some places). 

You can walk from one Wat to the other around the Old Town area (or if you know where you’re going). 

Or you are in the Siam area, you can easily walk from one shopping mall to many others. 

Past that, we definitely recommend choosing one of the other transports on this list.

Bored of the big smoke in Bangkok and want a change of scenery? Here are a few places near the city for a day trip.

This historic city and former capital of Thailand is a truly fascinating place to visit. And being so close to Bangkok makes it a brilliant day trip to get away from crowds and shopping malls.

To get from Bangkok to Ayutthaya, you can go via bus/coach, you can go to Mochit Bus terminal, tickets are 60 baht and take around 2 hours. You can also go by train from Hua Lumphong. Trains with AC cost around 250 baht, and rapid train without AC is ~50 baht.

We actually got a taxi to the bus station with the aim of going the cheaper way, until the taxi driver offered to take us directly for the day for 1,800 baht. In the end, we are really glad we went this way, especially with the heat being quite oppressive.

There are loads of Wats in Ayutthaya, but we focused on 6 of the most well-known ones: Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, Wat Phanan Choeng, Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Mahathat, Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Chaiwatthanaram. 

The must-eat dishes in Ayutthaya are Boat Noodle (a soup made out of blood, mixed with spices; it’s more delicious than it sounds, I promise) and candy floss roti (you roll the candy floss into a thin sheet of roti). 

We tried 2 boat noodle places, Pa Lek and Lung Lek. Both were super tasty.

Price: Entrance fees for historical parks range from 20 – 50 baht (you can also get a combined ticket).
Find Ayutthaya on google maps here. 

Kanchanaburi offers a quick escape from the city, located only 2 hours from Bangkok. 

You can be among nature, go hiking, swim in the beautiful waterfalls and even explore the cultural significance of the city. 

One of the main attractions of Kanchanaburi is Erawan Falls. You can hike the area and see stunning 7-tier waterfalls. 

Erawan Falls are incredibly beautiful, and deserve a whole day on your itinerary to fully explore. 

Aside from beautiful waterfalls and magnificent wats, Kanchanaburi is also home to the “Death Railway” and Bridge on the River Kwai with a very dark past. 

Over 100,000 people died during the construction of this railway due to terrible working conditions, maltreatment, starvation, exhaustion and diseases. 

There are memorials and museums in Kanchanaburi to visit if you’d like to learn more about the story. 

You can get from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi several different ways, for ease, we’d recommend car rental and taxi which takes around 2 hours. 

If you’re on a budget, a minivan and train are also good options which will take around 3-4 hours. 

Price: The entrance fee for Erawan Falls is 300 baht for foreigners and 100 baht for Thais.
Find Erawan Falls on google maps here. 

Find Bridge on the River Kwai on google maps here. 

About a decade ago, I went back to Thailand for a holiday and booked a hotel quite far from the city centre. 

I got stuck in traffic on the way home for about 3-4 hours and I thought to myself “never again”. 

The much more recent time I went in 2022, we stayed in the Lumphini area and it makes life sooooo much easier. 

One thing to be wary of though is it is the financial district, so all the restaurants nearby are quite pricey. 

If it’s your first time in Bangkok, stay around the Old City (Banglamphu), as it’s closer to the big tourist attractions such as Grand Palace and Wat Pho. 

For luxury: Chakrabongse Villas, for mid-budget with Wat Arun view: Sala Rattanakosin Bangkok and budget-friendly option: The Printing House Poshtel. 

This will be on the agenda for most backpackers’ and party-goers experiences, especially once things are more open again.

The nightlife is second to none but try reading the reviews of the accommodation to see if people complain about the noise level from the street if you’re planning on getting a good night’s sleep. 

For luxury: Riva Surya Bangkok, for mid-range option on Khao San Road: Dang Derm in The Park Khaosan and for budget-friendly option: Tales Khaosan (Cafe & Hostel).

A great area to stay in if you love shopping since Siam is the home to many shopping malls and very close to the Pratunam area (a huge fashion shopping area). 

It’s very centrally located and it’s very easy to get anywhere. 

We stayed near Lumphini which is just next to Siam and it was perfect. 
For luxury: Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, for mid-range: Hua Chang Heritage Hotel and for budget-friendly option: Happy 3.

To avoid extreme heat and humidity, we recommend going from November to March. It’s still hot, but just nowhere near as bad as other months.

In November, there’s a Loy Krathong festival where people will release a small and highly decorative raft into a body of water. It’s truly picturesque. 

Go in mid-April to experience the Thai new year’s Songkran (water festival). Though, beware that it’s a national holiday so expect things to be very busy. 

At a minimum to see the main tourist attractions, I’d recommend spending around 4 days. If you want to do many day trips, 6 or 7 days would be enough time.

Check out our post on Thailand’s content: A Thai’s 10 Top Restaurants & Cafes in Chiang Mai.

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Wanischa Sirivarangkun

Wanischa is a big believer in the importance of wellbeing and uses her experience with mental health challenges to inspire others to live their happiest lives. She's also a self-confessed foodie. Currently she works as a Senior Marketing Manager at The Unseen.

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