The cult of Kuan Im (aka Kuan Yin, the Chinese bodhisattva of mercy) prompted this massive, gaudy sculpture garden, embellished with wagon wheels, barrels...

Thais believe the guardian spirits of a Thai town reside at its foundation pillar. Bangkok's birth thus dates from the auspicious time on 22 April 1782 when...

Set behind an imposing multi-tiered entrance, the 'Dragon Flower Temple' (aka Wat Mangkorn Kamalawat) is Chinatown's first and biggest. Several sermon halls...

Named after Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, the capital's best green enclave was donated in 1925 by King Rama VI, whose statue dominates the gate opposite...

Founded in the 1860s by resident Tamils, this teeming Hindu temple is dubbed Wat Khaek ('guest temple'). Thais and Chinese, too, make offerings to Uma Devi...

Buried in lanes within the block where the timber merchant street Thanon Boriphat meets Thanon Bumrung Muang, Descendants of Ayutthayan refugees maintain...

These five Central Plains stilt houses were the seat of the late aristocrat Mom Ratchawong Kukrit Pramoj. A cultu-ral colossus, he is best known for his...

This beautiful colonial-ish building from 1922 offers the best English reading in town, plus art shows in the Rotunda. The British Club next door runs its café.

The late Thai-Chinese millionaire Udom Patpongpanit turned banana groves into a playground for locals, expats and aircrews. Patpong went a-go-go in the late...

Meaning 'original palace', King Taksin's compound of Chinese-influenced buildings once included Wat Arun. Rama V gave the palace to the Thai navy, and its...

The shrine of a charity foundation that collects accident victims and conducts funerals for unclaimed corpses. Dealers in funerary paraphernalia gather...

This nondescript arch marks a drama-tic moment, when China's nationalist revolutionary Sun Yat Sen fundraised in Bangkok - and was twice deported. A century...

The king's late mother, Somdet Phra Srinagarinda Boromarajajonani, beloved as 'Somdet Ya', was born a commoner to goldsmiths and practised nursing. This...

In former prison buildings on the site of this park a small penal museum displays instruments of punishment. Amid the gardens' ponds, fountains and a large...