Everything we have written about Bangkok

For nine days each October, Yaowarat and half of Bangkok goes strictly vegan — 300+ dedicated stalls, yellow flags everywhere, and a different way to eat the city.

The rain falls hard for 40-90 minutes then stops, floods four intersections you can name, and knocks 30-50% off hotel prices — which is why the monsoon is the sharpest deal in the calendar if you plan around water.

Rain falls on 15-22 days a month but usually for 90 minutes at a time — how to plan around it and save 25-40% on hotels.

One night in November — 24 November in 2026 — 100,000 candle-lit floats go on the Chao Phraya, hotels along the river sell out four months ahead, and rates on the water hit their annual peak.

April routinely hits 40°C by 2pm and drops to 30°C at midnight, so plan the day around three shaded windows and one very cold hotel room.

Three days of city-wide water fights, 95°F heat and hotel rates that jump 40-70% — here is how the week really runs.

Bangkok has three seasons — cool, hot, and wet — and 8 of the 12 months are genuinely comfortable if you pick the right one.

Thai school holidays run March-May and October, and they reshape the city — domestic flights double, malls fill, temples empty, and mid-week Bangkok hotel rates fall 20-30% while weekend rates in Hua Hin and Pattaya climb.

Two long breaks (March-May and October) plus a dozen short ones — when domestic tourism surges, prices rise and attractions get 40% busier.

Cool season means 30°C afternoons and 20°C nights, hotel rates at their annual peak of $150-320 for four-stars, and clear-sky rooftop views — but the trade-offs are the ones nobody warns you about.

Three days of street parades, red lanterns and hotel rates in Chinatown that double — how to actually experience the biggest Chinese New Year outside China.

Yaowarat closes to traffic for two nights, hotel prices in Chinatown triple, and roughly 30% of family restaurants across the city shut for three days — here is how to plan around it.

PM2.5 regularly hits 150-200 from late January through March — here is what it means for your trip and when to reschedule.

Dusit is Bangkok's royal government district with 10 sights, three hotels worth staying in, and rooms at $40-120.

Pattaya is 150 km southeast of Bangkok, 90 minutes by minivan, and beachfront rooms start at $25 a night — here is who should base here and who should stay in the capital and day-trip.

Phra Nakhon is Bangkok's original heart, covering the palaces, Khao San and Chinatown's edge, with rooms from $20 to $500.

Kanchanaburi is 130 km west of Bangkok, the raft-house rooms start at $18 a night, and the town has more sightseeing than any single day trip from Bangkok can cover — here is who should sleep here.

Rattanakosin puts you on foot from the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun — book here if temples are the trip and you’re willing to trade BTS access for atmosphere.

Thonglor is Bangkok's expat nightlife district with 200-plus bars and restaurants and hotel rates 40-60% above adjacent Ekkamai.

Chinatown is Bangkok's best street-food strip in a district where hotel rooms undercut Silom by 25% — book here if dinner is why you came.

Nakhon Pathom is 56 km west of Bangkok, home to the tallest stupa in Thailand, and hotel rooms run $20-45 — here is the honest case for and against sleeping here.

Ekkamai sits one BTS stop east of Thonglor with hotel rooms at $70-180 and easier access to the eastern bus terminal.

Ratchathewi is Siam's cheaper cousin — one BTS stop west, 20% off the room rate, and the same 6-minute ride to the airport link.

Ayutthaya is 80 km north of Bangkok, rooms cost 40-50% less, and the ruins are a five-minute cycle from most guesthouses — here is when to base yourself here rather than day-trip.

Pratunam is the wholesale-clothes district with 4am market energy and hotel rooms 30% cheaper than Siam next door — book here if you’re shopping in bulk or watching a budget.

Ari is a residential BTS suburb north of Chatuchak with 40-plus specialty cafés and hotel rooms at $55-140.

Samut Prakan sits between Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Gulf, with rooms 30-50% cheaper than downtown Bangkok and BTS access in 40 minutes — here is who that suits.

Siam is where six malls, two BTS lines and a Skywalk meet — book here if your Bangkok trip is 40% shopping and you don’t mind paying a 10% location premium.

Thonburi is the west bank of the Chao Phraya, and river-view rooms here run $80-250, roughly 30% less than the same view from the east bank.

Rattanakosin has 90% of Bangkok's must-see sights and 5% of its hotel beds — the maths of where to stay in the old town is not obvious.

Sathorn is Bangkok's quiet corporate boulevard — the five-star pick when you want the skyline view, a proper pool and a room 20% pricier than Silom next door.

Nonthaburi rooms run 40% cheaper than Sukhumvit and the MRT gets you downtown in 35 minutes — here is exactly when that maths works and when it does not.

Sukhumvit is 30 kilometres long and 8 completely different neighbourhoods stacked along one BTS line — most first-timers book the wrong stretch.

Banglamphu is the 8-block riverside neighbourhood around Khao San, and mid-range rooms here run $40-80 with the noise turned down.

Silom is the city's original business district by day and a night market by dark, and rooms here run 15-20% cheaper than the equivalent in Sukhumvit.

Bang Rak stretches 3 km along the Chao Phraya between Saphan Taksin and Si Phraya — here is what a night costs, who it suits, and how it compares to Silom next door.

Sukhumvit is 15 kilometres of hotel strip along one BTS line, and picking the wrong stretch of it costs you 40 minutes a day.

Khao San runs on a $12-40 dorm-and-guesthouse economy, and this is who should book it and who should not.

Chatuchak rooms run 30-40% cheaper than Sukhumvit and you wake up 5 minutes from the biggest market in Southeast Asia — here is who that actually suits.

Seven days built around one neighbourhood a day, with 48 hours out of the city and honest advice on which days to skip.

The 7 places to see Bangkok from — ranked by what the view actually delivers, not by how tall the building is.

Eight indoor stops linked by covered walkways and the MRT, tested against a real July storm that dropped 65mm in three hours.

The 12 Thai phrases that carry a two-week trip, plus honest coverage of where English does and doesn’t get you through.

Bangkok is one of the safer major cities in the world for tourists — the honest risks are 3 specific ones and none of them are what you have been warned about.

Monsoon dumps 40mm in an afternoon here — a full-day plan that uses skywalks, malls and museums to stay dry across 8 hours.

The 8 errors that eat the most time, money and goodwill in a first Bangkok trip, ranked by how often visitors actually make them.

Three days, four ages tested (5 to 12), 6 attractions kids actually like and 4 that adults tolerate, with 3 pool afternoons built in.

A 6-kilometre stroll from Sanam Luang to Wat Mangkon, timed for a January morning, with the four shortcuts locals actually use.

Bangkok isn’t a museum city the way Paris is — but these 6 are genuinely worth an afternoon, ranked by how much you’ll learn.

Seven famous Bangkok experiences that do not repay the effort, and 7 better ways to spend the same time and $50.

One 8km loop through Rattanakosin and Banglamphu that hits 4 temples, 2 markets, 3 canals and 1 fort, with 6 stops for food and coffee.

A Friday-to-Monday spine with 14 named stops, honest transit times, and three hotel neighbourhoods that shorten your day by an hour.

The 8 rules that separate a respectful visitor from an oblivious one, with real numbers for what to leave and where.

Not all wats deserve your morning — here are the 7 that do, ranked by what you’ll actually remember a year later.

The 8 skyline bars worth the elevator ride, ranked by view, drink and how much they’ll actually sting you.

One day gets you 3 temples, a river crossing, a Chinatown dinner and a rooftop nightcap if you start by 7am.

One walking-and-BTS day that eats northern, northeastern, central and southern Thai food at 8 stops, total spend under $50 a person.

Not a list of restaurants but a list of where to base a hungry evening — 7 neighbourhoods, ranked by what a full night of eating actually delivers.

Bangkok has thousands of street food stalls; these are the 8 areas and dishes that are actually worth the queue.

There are 8 genuine day trips from Bangkok worth doing and 3 of them are much better than the rest — but the famous ones are not always the best.

Rent a car for 48 hours and see 3 provinces, the River Kwai bridge, a floating market and the salt flats — total drive time 6 hours over two days.

Eight quiet-hotel categories in Bangkok compared for real noise levels, from truly silent riverside setbacks at $180 a night to the loudest streets you should never book on.

Nine Bangkok hotel rooftop bars ranked on view quality, drink price, dress code strictness and whether the cocktails justify the elevator ride.

The small pet-friendly market in Bangkok explained, with seven realistic options, real fees from $20 to $80 per stay, and the honest reasons most hotels here still say no.

Bangkok has around 15 hotels that are meaningfully adults-only, and picking the right one saves you the $220-a-night trap of a five-star full of kids at breakfast.

Ten hotel Thai restaurants in Bangkok that locals actually eat at — ranked on regional range, spice honesty, price per head and whether the food justifies staying in for dinner.

A frank assessment of accessibility in eight Bangkok hotel categories, from truly step-free international five-stars at $220 a night to boutiques that shouldn’t be marketing as accessible at all.

Bangkok has over 400 hotel spas and around 30 of them are actually worth booking a room for — the rest are treatment menus glued to a gym.

Bangkok's remote-work hotel scene has grown fast — here are nine setups compared on Wi-Fi speed, desk ergonomics, monitor availability and how much the day pass actually costs.

Bangkok has two airports 50 km apart and traffic that can turn a 40-minute drive into 2 hours, which is why the shuttle question matters more here than most cities.

A ranked guide to Bangkok hotels that will actually give you a room at 3am — with honest notes on which "24-hour" desks make you wait until 2pm and which do not.

Bangkok has more markets than any traveller can visit — here are the 7 worth your afternoon, ranked by what they actually deliver.

Eight kitchenette formats compared for one-to-four week Bangkok stays, with real weekly rates from $420 to $2,100 and honest notes on what you can and can’t actually cook.

The right family hotel in Bangkok saves you around 90 minutes of daily transit and, roughly, the sanity of two parents.

Nine hotel types compared for travellers landing at Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang between midnight and 5am, with honest prices for the extra night versus a day room.

A rooftop pool in Bangkok is not a nice-to-have — it is the reason you booked, and around 30 hotels do it well enough to matter.

Nine club-lounge tiers in Bangkok compared on breakfast quality, evening canapes and whether the $80-a-night upgrade actually pays back.

The 7 things Bangkok does well for accessible travel and the 5 it does badly, based on how the city actually is in 2026.

Bangkok is 60% accessible in the modern zones and 20% in the old ones — here is how to plan around the difference.

Three and a half days across the city on the BTS, MRT, Chao Phraya express boat and one klong boat — total transport cost under $30 for two.

Nine transport-first Bangkok neighbourhoods compared on interchange access, walk distances to platforms, night-time noise and which one saves you the most on taxis over a five-day trip.

Twelve BTS stations compared as hotel bases, with honest walk times, interchange penalties, and which stops actually save an hour a day versus which just sound convenient.

Every major tourist link mapped to the right transport mode, with real fares and honest limits on where the trains stop working.

The honest list of what moves in Bangkok, with 7 modes ranked by when each one is the right call.

Nine hotel cooking programmes compared for depth, price and skill retention, with real class costs from $45 to $180 and honest notes on which teach recipes you’ll actually cook at home.

Bangkok isn’t a walking city, they say — but these 7 routes prove that wrong, ranked by what you’ll actually see on foot.

$50 a day in Bangkok is a real budget that gets you a private room, three cooked meals, transport, and one sight per day — with honest trade-offs.

The 7 things you need to know before your first taxi ride, with real fees on 4 different ways to move money.