Introduction to Bangkok Travel Guide by ThaiTrav
If you plan to visit Bangkok and do some google like “things to do in Bangkok” or “Bangkok attractions” there will be hundreds of websites listing twenty Bangkok’s top attractions or more. But I’m sure that almost every website would recommend the same places with a lot of details.
However, instead of having long writing, I want to present Thailand and its attractions in a different way by using infographics to supplement content and make it easy for you to reference quickly.
There is a FREE BANGKOK TRAVEL GUIDE that includes full details of the 3 Days Bangkok Journey & Itinerary. It’s only required your email to receive that PDF file.
- recommending journey for the perfect sequence of places to visit
- transportation options for getting from point A to point B
- background or history of the places
- things to do and average time spent at each attraction
- other essential information, opening hours, admission fee, restrictions, etc.
(It’s 100% safe to download because I use SendOwl – the world’s leading e-commerce platform, to sell digital products. It’s fast and secure delivery.)
Bangkok Journey
Thailand Trip Planner
Siam Square Area & Chinatown
What to do in Bangkok - Day 1
First things first
If you have never been to Thailand before, the places below are major tourist attractions for first-time visitors. The attractions are put in the sequence, which I recommend you follow it. Because you’re not familiar with Bangkok, so this journey will help you not to waste time going back and forth.
The travel guide is going to save your time from a detour. Providing essential information like how to get there, what main activities are, brief background and history of the places, and the distance between each location, for example.
On the top left corner of the picture, it’s essential information showing what days of the week that this journey works. For this journey, it can be taken everyday. However, for some other journeys, it might work only for weekend such as JJ market that only opens on Saturday and Sunday.
For a clearer explanation about how to read the plan, please scroll down to the bottom of this post for instruction.
Let’s start the journey
You may take a taxi or use BTS Skytrain and get off at Chit Lom station to reach Central World, the largest shopping mall in Thailand. It offers everything that a modern shopping mall suppose to have, brand-name clothing, eateries, beauty shops, cinema, etc. I personally favor Central World because it has more common space and good zoning, making me feel more comfortable when strolling around.
Then use a skywalk to go to Siam Paragon, which is only 400 meters away. However, if you have time, when you’re leaving Central World, you can pay a short visit to Erawan Shrine. The shrine’s located diagonally across the street.
Siam Paragon was opened in 2005, 16 years after Central World. It a direct competitor to Central World because of the offering. Almost the same range and prices of products and services, but still has different brands. Siam Paragon is more popular and more crowded since it has a slightly better location as it is at BTS Siam station (the biggest and busiest Skytrain hub).
Across from Siam Paragon is Siam Square. It’s an outdoor shopping place but also has several community malls in the area such as Siam Square One and Digital Gateway, which offer many more restaurants, cafes, IT stuff, and local brand clothing stores. Some are hidden in soi (soi = alley) or even on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the shophouses. This shopping district mainly offers foods and fashions that are less expensive than Siam Paragon and Central World.
After that, you can walk to MBK center (Mah Boon Khrong), the most famous Fake Market in Thailand. It can’t compete with Siam Paragon or Central World because it’s totally different in product and service positioning, but it has its own charm.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, MBK seems to have the most impact than other shopping malls because main shoppers are foreign tourists.
However, MBK is now perhaps 80% recovered, I just visited it on Oct 2022. Much more people than last year. Shops have already re-opened, but still, some vacant units are on the upper floors.
[Updated] MBK pictures were taken in October 2022
I think we have had enough mall experiences for today. The next attraction is more related to Thai culture & tradition located in the center of Bangkok, Jim Thompson House & Museum. Six gorgeous Thai wooden houses over 200 years old, plus elegant furniture and a rare art collection, were turned into a museum but still look like houses. Unaccompanied visits are not permitted in the house, so you need to buy a 200 baht ticket for a 30 min guided tour. Jim Thompson House & Museum is relatively small but still very impressive. I strongly recommend it.
The tours are provided throughout the day in Thai, English, French Chinese and Japanese, but you can’t book in advance. You have to wait for your tour to be called, but you’re allowed to explore the ground floor in the meantime by yourself.
And last but not least is Chinatown or Yaowarat, the mixed culture of Chinese and Thai culture. The best way to get to Chinatown is by taxi, but a TukTuk is also a good choice as it’s a Thailand signature ride. However, TukTuk can be pretty expensive, so do not forget to negotiate the price with the driver. Another option is taking MRT (Subway) to Wat Mangkon Station, but there is no MRT that close enough to walk to from Jim Thompson. That’s why I would recommend a taxi.
At Chinatown, you’ll find a lot of street food and desserts along the street. When I come with friends, we will order only 1-2 dishes per restaurant and share them together so we can try many more restaurants before getting full and enjoy exploring the whole street and soi.
In conclusion
For today journey, you will visit four famous shopping malls that locate in Bangkok City Center, Central World, Siam Paragon, Siam Square, and MBK. After hours of strolling and shopping in the malls, you’re going to visit Jim Thompson House Museum, the 200 years old Thai wooden houses. These elegant design houses have rare collections of antiques that would make your day.
The last destination is Chinatown which you can experience the mixed atmosphere of Chinese and Thai culture and a great variety of street food.
Lastly, I hope you like this Thailand Trip Planner, and if you want to see more to get an idea of what to do in Bangkok. Check this out, Day-2 Bangkok Journey & Itinerary that introduces you to the most famous temples in Thailand and some other places. Or you can download a PDF guide at the buttons below.
How to read the plan
