Asia > Thailand > Bangkok
Steamy Bangkok, notorious for its traffic jams and general mayhem, scares off many travellers as soon as they arrive – yet it’s an incredibly hospitable city that’s glittering with exotic Royal temples, flower-laden shrines, and fascinating markets, criss-crossed by canals and the busy Chao Phraya River.
UK to Bangkok flights
Bangkok’s international Suvarnabhumi Airport is Thailand’s main international gateway, located 19 miles east of the city centre.
Flights to Bangkok from the UK are operated by many international airlines including Qantas, British Airways and Etihad. Many flights operate from London Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports, but there are also flights to Thailand from regional UK airports including Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Flights from London to Bangkok take approximately 11 hours 20 minutes.
Bangkok’s top attractions
Bangkok is also packed with enough golden-roofed temples, heaving night markets and huge shopping malls to keep you busy for weeks.
One of the city’s most famous sights is the walled Grand Palace complex, the official residence of the King of Thailand from the 18th to mid 20th century. Its many elaborately decorated buildings include Wat Phra Kaew, the temple housing the legendary Emerald Buddha – which is actually carved from (the rather less valuable) jade.
Bangkok’s oldest temple, Wat Pho, is home to Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha, a huge golden figure stretching 46 metres, with beautiful mother-of-pearl details on his eyes and the soles of his feet. This is also the place to enjoy a traditional Thai massage at the highly-respected Massage School.
A ride on the express boat along the Chao Phraya gives you a glimpse of busy river life, with passenger ferries, private long tail boats and hotel transport all vying for space. You can stop off at another of the city’s famous temples, Wat Arun, or ‘Temple of Dawn’. Decorated all over with coloured tiles and porcelain, despite its name this is actually best seen at sunset.
Hop on the Skytrain for an elevated view of Bangkok, and at the weekend travel right out to Mo Chit station to visit Thailand’s largest market, Chatuchak, where you can pick up just about anything you could think of, from live fish to football shirts – plus some decent trinkets and Thai souvenirs.
Much is made of Bangkok’s red light district, but in reality the main ‘tourist’ strip clubs are confined to a fairly compact area (focused around Soi Cowboy and Patpong) – easy to avoid if you’re not interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. If you want to visit the night market around Patpong, however, be prepared to be invited into a few seedy bars by scantily clad girls (Skytrain: Sala Daeng station).
Even in ultra-modern Bangkok, traditional Thai life can still be glimpsed along the canals. A ride on one of the frequent passenger boats running up and down the Khlong Saen Saeb gives you a fresh perspective on the city, away from the worst traffic pollution. And a visit to Jim Thompson’s canal-side House, hidden away near the National Stadium Skytrain station, lets you explore a traditional teak Thai ‘house on stilts’. Inside, there are old Asian artefacts collected by American adventurer Jim Thompson who famously revitalised Thailand’s silk industry, then mysteriously disappeared forever on a jungle expedition.
Bangkok Events
Another major annual festival is Loy Krathong, which takes place around November. Thais decorate small floats with folded banana leaves, incense sticks, flowers and candles, then – on the night of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar – they go to the nearest body of water to set their raft afloat – symbolising the ‘letting go’ of negative feelings and starting the next year afresh. In Bangkok, it’s quite an atmospheric sight to see the huge river alight with thousands of floating candles and smoking incense sticks.
