Bangkok

The aircraft that connects Southeast Asia to itself, and a river city that most travellers give two nights and almost no attention.

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Bangkok

Not a stopover, whatever the flight says

Bangkok is the aircraft that connects Southeast Asia to itself. Suvarnabhumi carries more regional routes than any other airport on the mainland, Don Mueang takes the budget carriers, and between them there is a departure to almost everywhere several times a day. That is why most travellers meet the city as two nights between two other places, and leave with the wrong impression of it.

It is ten million people on a flat river delta with no old centre in the European sense. Rattanakosin, the royal island inside the canals, holds the palace and the great temples. Chinatown is a dense grid of gold shops and food carts a few kilometres east. Sukhumvit and Silom are the modern business city, where the skytrain works and where nearly everyone sleeps. The distances between them are real: crossing the city at five in the afternoon takes an hour.

Long-tail boats with Thai flags crowd the Chao Phraya River beneath Bangkok's hazy skyline.

A market stall in Bangkok displays mangosteen, rambutan, and peeled durian while a vendor prepares fruit for sale.

The Chao Phraya · A city market

Getting about

The river does what the traffic cannot

The Chao Phraya is the reason the city stands where it does, and the public boat along it is still the quickest and cheapest way through the old quarters. Orange-flag services run every fifteen minutes or so and the piers connect to the skytrain at Saphan Taksin. Behind the west bank at Thonburi the khlongs survive — narrow canals with teak houses on stilts and temples with their steps in the water. An afternoon on the river and the canals shows you the city that existed before the roads, and we would refuse to cut it from a two-night stay.

Golden chedi spire rises against a clear blue sky at Wat Phra Kaew temple complex in Bangkok.

Rattanakosin

Priorities

Where we would actually send you

The list of things to do in Bangkok is long and mostly indifferent. Five entries are worth defending.

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew — crowded, strictly dressed, expensive by Thai standards, and still the first thing to see. Be at the gate when it opens.
Wat Pho, two minutes away, for the reclining Buddha and the massage school, which repays a slower hour.
Chinatown after dark — Yaowarat road and the lanes behind it — which is the best eating in the country and costs nothing to walk.
Jim Thompson’s house, an hour, and the only museum here that most people finish wanting more of.
The floating markets sold as a half-day: Damnoen Saduak is largely staged. Amphawa at the weekend is the honest version.

Crowded narrow alley lined with shop signs and vendor stalls in Sampeng Lane, Bangkok's Chinatown. — Chinatown

Planning

Heat, rain, and how many nights

November to FebruaryThe dry, cooler half — 25 to 32°C with low humidity in December and January, and the only stretch when walking the old city at midday is reasonable.

March to MayThe hottest weather on the mainland, regularly above 38°C in April. Plan mornings and interiors, nothing at two in the afternoon.

June to OctoberThe southwest monsoon, which here means a heavy hour in the late afternoon rather than a lost day. September and October flood some streets.

Two nights or threeTwo if Bangkok is a connection. Three if you want the river, Chinatown and a day out as well.

Onward

Everything leaves from here

No other city in the region connects like this, which is why so many of our six-country routes begin and end at the same terminal.

Onward leg	How long	What to know
Siem Reap, Cambodia	1 hour by air	A flight, not a road. The Thai – Cambodian land border has been closed to tourists since June 2025.
Chiang Mai	1 hour 15 by air; 11 to 13 hours by overnight sleeper	Leaves in the early evening; costs a night rather than a day.
Ayutthaya	1.5 hours by road; about 1 hour 45 by ordinary train	A day trip, and on the way if you are driving north.
Phuket or Krabi	1 hour 20 by air	Dozens a day from both Bangkok airports.
Vientiane, Laos	1 hour 10 by air; around 11 hours by train and road via Nong Khai	Friendship Bridge I at Nong Khai is open and the Lao e-visa is valid there.
Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	1 hour 45 to 2 hours by air	Bangkok is usually the cheapest hinge between the two halves of the region.

Entry

Arriving, and the route that no longer exists

Entry is simple, and it changed twice in the last year, which is why much of what you will read online is now wrong.

Checked 20 September 2026

Since 15 September 2026 the visa exemption is 30 days rather than 60, for sixty countries and territories including the UK, EU, US, Canada, Australia and Japan, for tourism only. Entering overland on that exemption is capped at twice per calendar year. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is compulsory, free, and filed within three days of arrival. Visa on arrival now covers three nationalities only; everyone else is exempt or uses the e-visa. Separately, the entire Thailand – Cambodia land border has been closed to tourists since 23 June 2025 and remains closed, including Aranyaprathet – Poipet and Hat Lek – Cham Yeam, so Bangkok to Siem Reap is a one-hour flight. We do not publish visa fees: the current figure is on the official portal, and your coordinator confirms it before you travel.

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Common questions

Questions travellers ask most

How many nights does Bangkok need?

Two if it is a connection between two other countries: one morning in Rattanakosin, one afternoon on the river, one evening in Chinatown. Three if you want a day trip as well, which is where Ayutthaya usually goes.

Can I travel overland from Bangkok to Siem Reap?

No. The whole Thailand – Cambodia land border has been closed to tourists since 23 June 2025 and remains closed, Poipet included. The flight takes an hour and is the only sensible way across at present.

How long is the Thai visa exemption?

Thirty days since 15 September 2026, for sixty countries and territories, and for tourism only — it was sixty days until then. Overland entries on it are limited to two per calendar year, and the Thailand Digital Arrival Card must be filed within three days of arrival.

Journey ideas