Why should you see Bangkok?
Why do some tourists hate Bangkok? This post investigates whether this is justified and what you can do about it. We feel that Bangkok is one of the best cities in Thailand to explore Thai art and architecture, culture and cuisine. We will highlight the best places to visit and why.
Author & Photographer: George Mitchell
Our recommendations are not influenced by affiliate links – we have none. Our content and advice is derived from our personal experience and knowledge based on spending five months in Thailand as well as travelling three years around the world.
All of our recommendations are top-rated by Google Maps Ratings, which is based on everyone, not just tourists. Each place recommended in our custom Bangkok Google map is appended with a Google Maps Rating (G0 to G5).
Why do some people say to skip Bangkok?
Many people on Facebook and Quora tell first time travellers to Thailand to skip Bangkok. Why? One person (Aussie?) wrote “Bangkok is like marmite: you either love it or hate it!” Another person wrote “don’t spend any time in Bangkok, the rest of Thailand is SO much better”.
Some people complain about the pollution. Some worry about safety. Others bitch about the noise and traffic. But are these valid reasons to reject Bangkok?
Los Angeles LAX and New York NYC are very polluted, busy, hot AND crime infested. Droves of people still go there and want to go there. Would you tell tourists to skip LAX and NYC? Let’s look at the facts to see if these complaints are valid.
Air Quality
As we can see in the table below, March is a high pollution month for both Chiang Mai and Bangkok. This is the burning season when fields are burned in preparation for planting just before the rainy season.
However, the overall average annual Air Quality (AirQ columns in the table below) is quite low and just a bit higher than Los Angeles. If you want excellent air quality, then Vancouver and Ottawa, Canada, are the best cities in the world.
Solution: avoid March-April
Traffic
The traffic complaints about Bangkok are valid. It takes an awful long time to travel by tuk-tuk or taxi. But Bangkok ranks better than Los Angeles and New Delhi.
Solution:
- Stay in the old city, Rattanakosin. You can walk to all the major sights.
- Use the LRTs (called BTS Skytrain and MRT) and river ferries to get around. You can even get a train from the airport to downtown.
Safety
In terms of safety, Bangkok is safer than Los Angeles and New York, Dublin and London. Chiang Mai is even safer!
Air, Traffic, and Crime Metrics for 10 Cities
| City | AirQ 2022 | AirQ 2023-03 | Traffic Index | Crime Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Delhi, IN | 89 | 134 | 286 | 59 |
| Hanoi, VN | 40 | 185 | 104 | 36 |
| Chiang Mai, TH | 18 | 137 | NA | 24 |
| Bangkok, TH | 18 | 71 | 213 | 40 |
| Los Angeles, US | 11 | 24 | 321 | 53 |
| New York, US | 10 | 22 | 168 | 50 |
| London, GB | 10 | 19 | 55 | 162 |
| Vancouver, CA | 8 | 6 | 160 | 42 |
| Dublin, IE | 7 | 89 | 162 | 53 |
| Ottawa, CA | 7 | 7 | 170 | 31 |
The sources and explanations of these metrics are given in the Index Data Sources section below.
ISO Country Codes
CA = Canada; GB = Great Britain; IE = Ireland; IN = India;
TH = Thailand; US = United States; VN = Vietnam
Index Data Sources
Air Quality Index, Wikipedia
derived from Canada, Malaysia, Singapore…
Crime Index by City 2024, Numbeo
Crime Index is derived from surveys conducted by visitors to the Numbeo website. The index ranges from 0 to 100 using data up to 36 months old.
Traffic Index by City 2024, Numbeo
Traffic Index is a composite measure that considers factors such as commute time, dissatisfaction with time spent in traffic, CO2 emissions, and overall traffic system inefficiencies. It provides insights into the overall traffic conditions in a city.
World’s Most Polluted Cities, IQ Air 2022
Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics
| Levels of Concern | Values of Index | Description of Air Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Good | 0 to 50 | Air quality is satisfactory. Air pollution poses little or no risk. |
| Moderate | 51 to 100 | Air quality is acceptable. There may be a risk for some people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. |
| Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 101 to 150 | Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected. |
| Unhealthy | 151 to 200 | Some people may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. |
| Very Unhealthy | 201 to 300 | Health alert: The risk of health effects is increased for everyone. |
| Hazardous | 301 and higher | Health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected. |
Too Overbuilt
Tourists complain about lots of high buildings and few green spaces. Is this true? Yes. But is Bangkok that different from New York if you take away Central Park?
Solution: Visit Lumphini Park, a short distance south of Erawan Shrine. You can also visit the Dusit (palace) area, which is a park-like area littered with palaces. On the way to the weekend market, visit Chatuchak and Queen Sirikit Park. Go to a wat, which means an enclosure, not a temple. Behind the walled temple complex is an oasis of quiet that sometimes comes with orchids, large, shaped trees, and pleasing statues.
Too Overcrowded
Yes, you really feel the 11.2 million residents in the commercial area but most of them do not go to the old city, Rattanakosin. Does population size stop tourists from going to 10 million strong London or 37 million strong Tokyo?
Too Hot
Welcome to the tropics.
Solution: If you don’t like the heat, come in the “cool” season, Nov. to Feb., when it is 30 to 33°C. Avoid the hot season, March to May, when it is 34 to 35°C.
Too Hard to Choose Where to Stay
Actually, it is fairly simple. If you want high end hotels and shopping then stay in the Sukhumvit area for nightlife or the Siam area for shopping malls. Use the BTS and MRT trains to get around.
If you want to immerse yourself in historic Bangkok, architecture, culture and cuisine – then stay in the old city, Rattanakosin. Choose the Khao San Road area for nightlife and night markets. Choose the Feung Nakorn Road area for quiet streets. The main sights are walkable from both areas – tuk-tuks and taxis are not needed.
Templed Out
In my opinion, there is another reason why people say they do not like Bangkok. They are not really interested in wats and culture. We feel this is because they have not read enough about and do not understand what they are seeing. The end result is that many people are overwhelmed by Thai culture and get “Templed Out”.
Unlike Italy, there are very few tourist guidebooks for cities and museums in Thailand. Lonely Planet does not provide the level of detail needed to understand what and why you are seeing these sights.
Solution: read more about Thai Buddhist culture and about each of the places you are visiting. The posts on this website try to give you with enough information to make each place more relevant and interesting.
Why should you visit Bangkok?
Bangkok is a noisy, frenetic, traffic-clogged city. It is easy to forget that there are some truly spectacular sights and wonderful wats from a solid gold Buddha in Wat Traimit to a not-real Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew. The old city, Rattanakosin, is walkable if you get a hotel in this area — either in the Khao San Road area to the north or the quieter Feung Nakorn area to the east.
We have spent 5 months (over 3 trips) in Thailand. We have written detailed descriptions about our experiences, the places we would recommend in Bangkok, and why they are significant. They are arranged into four self-guided walking itineraries and come with an associated custom Google map. The links to the detailed itinerary posts can be found in the Bangkok’s Top 4 Self-Guided Walks section.
Day 1 – Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace
Going to Bangkok and missing Wat Phra Kaew is like going to Rome and missing the Pantheon. Why must you visit here? This wat was modelled over the destroyed main wat in the former capital, Ayutthaya – the Rome of Southeast Asia. In other words, the old capital of Ayutthaya would have been filled with temples like this one!
Day 2 – Wat Pho, Wat Arun, & National Museum
These wats will show you what Ayutthaya used to look like before it was sacked by the Burmese. They are ornate and unbelievable.
What is the purpose of the pointed chedis in Wat Pho? Why are you visiting the Reclining Buddha statue, besides that it is famous?
Why are there demons guarding the entrance to Wat Arun? Why is Buddhist Wat Arun a temple for the Hindu god Aruna, who brings the sun each day (dawn)? The wat is also called the Temple of the Dawn. How is this interrelated to ancient Western beliefs?
Why is it worth visiting the National Museum?
Day 3 – Less Visited Gems
Since there are more Thais than tourists, there is no place that is really a hidden gem, just less visited. So there will be Thai people but you are here to see everyday Thai life.
Why is Wat Suthat decorated with Chinese statues? Why was the massive Golden Buddha in Wat Traimit only discovered in 1955? Why is the Erawan Shrine dedicated to the Hindu deities Brahma and Erawan?
Why does every building have a spirit house? Why does Thai Buddhism incorporate Hindu deities and animistic beliefs? Find out at:
Days 4 & 5 – Become A Local
This itinerary includes many other less-visited places, antique homes and lush gardens that are now museums, art collections, silk production, and shopping.
We also visit Erawan Shrine again because you can never get enough of seeing Thais pray for good luck or watching Thai women dancing in beautiful traditional costumes.
As an extra activity that would need a fifth day, you can visit one of the floating markets. But, they are usually on Saturday and Sunday mornings only. One of them is located within Bangkok, accessible by local transportation.
Bangkok’s Top 4 Self-Guided Walks
What if I have very limited time in Bangkok?
You could combine the Day 1 and Day 2 itineraries by leaving out most of the places. The keys things to see are Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. You would have to minimize your time in the Grand Palace to the few buildings we found most photogenic (the ones in the post Bangkok — Do not Miss Wat Phra Kaew). The Day 3 itinerary would stay the same.
Final Comments
We hope this post will encourage you to spend a decent amount of time enjoying Bangkok. It really has a lot to offer.
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Itinerary Map & Resources
TH is the ISO Country Code for Thailand; THB is the ISO Currency Code for Thai Bahts. THB 100 = CAD 3.84, EUR 2.62, GBP 2.27, USD 2.81
Google Maps Ratings
Google Maps provides a rating from 0 to 5 for all sights, hotels and restaurants (but not cities). All of our recommendations are appended with the rating (prefixed with a G) from Google Maps. As it is based on feedback from tourists and locals, it is much more reliable than travel booking websites. We consider a score of 4 to 4.39 to be Very Good; 4.4 to 5 to be Excellent.
Other Places to Add to Your Itinerary
While some posters complain about hectic Bangkok, others suggest visiting 6 places in 9 days. Really!
Say you only have 9 days. Each change to a new destination requires a travel day with check-out time, taxi/bus time, check-in at the departure airport, and transfers from the arrival airport to a hotel. So if you go to 3 places, you lose 3 days! That leaves you with 6 days or 2 days per place! That is not relaxing, and not enough time.
Best Places
Where else should I visit in 7 to 14 days? There is no single set of places in Thailand that everyone must visit. You have to decide what your interests are. Basically, you have to choose if you want beaches, relaxation, nightlife, parties – or do you want to explore the real Thailand. You could also do a bit of both. All options are valid.
If you want to explore art and architecture, culture and cuisine of real Thailand, then we highly recommend Bangkok and Chiang Mai. And you can still enjoy the nightlife. Please note that in the ideal world:
- Bangkok needs at least 4 full days.
- Chiang Mai needs at least 3 full days.
- Ayutthaya needs at least 1 full day.
Also note that 4 full sightseeing days mean 5 nights.
Food
Some hotels and restaurants may offer western-oriented food or non-authentic Thai dishes. As the expression goes, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. The Thais eat primarily at food stalls and night markets. Make sure you go beyond Pad Thai and Satay. For food recommendations, read the Chiang Mai Food post below, which describes some of our favourite Thai dishes and their ingredients that we cook from scratch at home.
Understanding Thai Buddhist Culture
Read the following articles to learn about and understand Thai Buddhist culture that permeates all of Thailand.
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When is the Best Time to Visit?
Based on average maximum temperatures from NOAA:
| Month | Season | Max Temp | Rain Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov-Feb | Cool | 30 to 33°C | Nov = 4 |
| Mar-May | Hot | 34 to 35°C | 5 to 13 |
| Jun-Oct | Rainy | 31 to 33°C | 9 to 17 |
The data supports the fact that November-February is the best season to visit. November and April strike the best balance between fewer tourists and the best weather. The east coast is best to visit from January to March and from July to September.
The high season is November to March, when the weather is “cool” and dry. Prices will be higher and tourists will be many.
The shoulder season is April to June and October. The weather varies and is generally pleasant but hotter. It is more pleasant to be along the coast than inland.
The low season is from July to September. It coincides with short afternoon showers or monsoons. This is not like monsoons in South Asia. It usually rains for a part of the day. The east coast (Koh Samui) experiences heavy rainfall from October to December.
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