Chinatown (Yaowarat)

Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest and oldest in the world — a dense grid of gold shops, shrine smoke, and neon that has crowded the banks of the Chao Phraya since 1782. From the hotel it's a 10-minute taxi ride, or take the BTS to Saphan Taksin and hop on the MRT loop; either way, arrive hungry.

Yaowarat Road is the main artery, and after dark it becomes Bangkok's most famous eating street. Charcoal woks flare on the pavement, queues form for legendary stalls — crab omelettes, bird's nest soup, kuay jab pepper broth, grilled river prawns the size of your hand — and the neon signs stacked overhead make every photo look like a film still.

Save some daylight hours for the side streets too: Sampeng Lane's fabric market, the gold-domed Wat Traimit with its five-and-a-half-tonne solid gold Buddha, and Talat Kao, the old market alley where the neighbourhood has traded for two centuries. It pairs perfectly with a Chao Phraya river boat ride back toward the hotel.

Go on any evening except Monday (when many street stalls close). The busiest, most photogenic hours are 6–9pm.