One of the fastest growing cities the world has seen, modern Bangkok retains its traditional heart and an unmatched vitality. It was founded in 1782 when the Thai capital moved from Thonburi across the Chao Phraya River to this swampy trading post in the aftermath of Ayutthaya’s sacking by the Burmese in 1767.

Ayutthaya’s layout was recreated, with canals (many intact) dug around the Grand Palace (+6622228181). This must-see stars Wat Phra Kaew, the fantastically decorated temple of the Emerald Buddha, the paladium of independence to this uncolonised nation. Its spires fringe Sanam Luang – a royal ceremonial ground where kites are flown in March winds. It’s ringed by the galleries of Silpakorn University (+6622213841); the National Museum (+6622241333), a trove inside a palace; the sadly underused National Theatre (Thanon Rachinee, +6622214885), the National Gallery (Thanon Chao Fa, +6622822639) and the City Pillar, a phallic shrine where dancers perform for free. The fascinating ancient communities of artisans, apothecaries and amulet vendors around Tha Tien, Tha Chang and Tha Phra Chan pier face uncertainty due to grandiose official beautification plans.

The dazzle of Bangkok’s wats (temples) can start to blur, though dauntless temple-spotters delight in the unique stepped Loha Prasat of Wat Ratchanadda (Thanon Maha Chai, +6622248807), the circular Gothic cloister of Wat Ratchabophit (Thanon Fuang Nakhon, +6622223930), the huge flawless Buddha of Wat Suthat (Thanon Bamrungmuang, +6622249845, behind the Giant Swing, relic of a dangerous Brahmin rite) and the sublime reclining Buddha in Wat Pho (Thanon Chetuphon, +6622225910). Wat Pho is also famed for its massage school, yoga sculptures and multicoloured ceramics, a curious decor also cladding Wat Arun (Thanon Arun-Amarin, +6628911149, +6624666752), the five-spire chedi across the river in Thonburi.

Dubbed the Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun features on tours of Thonburi’s canals where glimpses of a riverine ‘Venice of the East’ lifestyle remain, particularly north towards Nonthaburi.

Leading from Sanam Luang to Dusit, Ratchadamnoen Avenue gets doused with water during Songkran (Thai New Year in mid April) and exuberantly lit for a month from the 5 December birthday of revered King Bhumibol. Hub of royalty, military and government, Dusit is a bounty of Euro-Thai fusion, from marble Wat Benchamabophit (Thanon Rama V, +6622827413) to the Venetian-Gothic Government House and the golden teak of Wang Vimanmek (Dusit Park, +6626286300).

Past and future collide halfway along Ratchadamnoen. The Democracy Monument commemorates the 1932 shift to a constitutional monarchy, a story presented in the new King Prajadiphok Museum (Thanon Lan Luang, +66228034134), across Phanfa Bridge from the just-opened Queen’s Gallery (Thanon Phanfa, +66228153601), the first repository of Thai contemporary art. Looming above this junction of ancient canal and grandiose avenue, the Golden Mount chedi of Wat Saket (+6626210576) overlooks old and new Bangkok.

In every direction, Krung Thep (Thai for ‘City of Angels’) sprawls beyond a horizon bristling with tower blocks. Following the river, the dense, frenetic alleys of Chinatown offer shrines, myriad markets, Little India, gold shops and the solid gold Buddha of Wat Traimit (+6622259775). It merges into the genteel riverside quarter around the Oriental Hotel. Then the diffuse downtown spreads up and beyond corporate Thanons Sathorn and Silom. Its diversity takes in Patpong, the Hindu Temple (Pan Road), Lumphini Park, venom milking at the Snake Farm and the Erawan Shrine (Ratchaprasong), where dancers reward granted wishes.

Westwards, Ploenchit and Sukhumvit Road brim with malls, restaurants, hotels, nightlife and expatriate quarters from Soi Arab (Sukhumvit Soi 3/1) and Korea Town (Sukhumvit Soi 12) to the Anglo-American haunts around Benjasiri Park (+6622620810). Eastwards, Rama I Road skirts the epicentre of Thai youth culture, Siam Square’s eclectic warren of boutiques and the tasteful Jim Thompson’s House Museum (Soi Kasem San 2, Thanon Rama I, +6622167368), two incarnations of Bangkok’s definitive activity: the energetic merging of east and west.