Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [73]
All the action here, coupled with the massive Skytrain stations looming above everything, mean the area is constantly buffeted by a cacophonous din and suffocating exhaust fumes. Mercifully, respite is near at hand. Cinemas abound, and for something more cerebral the new Bangkok Art & Culture Centre has regular exhibitions and a counter-culture vibe. There’s a chance to step out of the air-conditioned, international city entirely and enter old Bangkok at the famous Jim Thompson’s House or, across Khlong Saen Saeb in Pratunam district, the much less touristed and thoroughly original Muslim village of Baan Krua.
Spreading north of Pratunam is Ratchathewi, an area that attracts few tourists but does have some sights, such as Thailand’s tallest skyscraper, the Baiyoke Tower II Click here. The area around Victory Monument is also an interesting place to find bars and restaurants that are very much the staples of the Thai middle class.
South of Th Phra Ram I and west of Th Phayathai, the Pathumwan district is filled with the National Stadium and the huge campus of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s most prestigious university. The area extending east along Th Ploenchit includes the tree-lined Soi Lang Suan, with its expensive condos and serviced apartments, and Th Withayu (Wireless Rd), home to embassies and expatriates.
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top picks
SIAM SQUARE, PRATUNAM, PLOENCHIT & RATCHATHEWI
Erawan Shrine A splash of religion in the midst of all the money.
Jim Thompson’s House See the teak mansion that put Thai style on the map…before its ex-spy owner disappeared off that map.
Baan Krua Explore the Muslim village where Jim Thompson first encountered silk.
Khlong Saen Saeb Canal Boats Commute with the locals the old-fashioned way, along this atmospheric (in more ways than one) klorng.
Mahboonkrong (MBK;) Indulge in air-con, junk food, a million mobile phones, clothes and plastic stuff.
Food court frenzy Like eating on the street, minus the exhaust fumes.
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SIAM SQUARE, PRATUNAM & PLOENCHIT
JIM THOMPSON’S HOUSE
Map
0 2216 7368; www.jimthompsonhouse.org; 6 Soi Kasem San 2, Th Phra Ram I; adult/concession (under 25yr with ID) 100/50B; 9am-5pm; klorng boat to Tha Hua Chang; National Stadium exit 1
In 1959, 12 years after he discovered the fine silks being woven across the klorng in Baan Krua and single-handedly turned Thai silk into a hugely successful export business, American Jim Thompson bought this piece of land on Khlong Saen Saeb and built himself a house. It wasn’t, however, any old house. Thompson’s love of all things Thai saw him buy six traditional wooden homes and reconstruct them in this jungle-like garden. Some of the homes were brought from the old royal capital of Ayuthaya; others were pulled down and floated across the klorng from Baan Krua – including the first building you enter on the tour.
Thompson became one of the first Westerners to embrace the traditional Thai home as a thing of beauty. Thai homes were multipurpose affairs, with little space for luxuries like separate living and sleeping rooms. Thompson adapted his six buildings, joining some, to create a larger home in which each room had a more familiar Western function. One room became an air-conditioned study, another a bedroom and the one nearest the klorng his dining room.
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TRANSPORT: SIAM SQUARE, PRATUNAM & PLOENCHIT
Bus Air-con 141, 183, 204, 501, 508 & 547; ordinary 15, 16, 25, 47 & 73
Klorng boat Tha Hua Chang, Tha Pratunam & Tha Withayu
Skytrain Siam, National Stadium, Chit Lom & Ploen Chit