Bangkok?? Why not...

Bangkok, Thailand, the city that literally doesn’t sleep, from dusk to dawn, there’s always stuff to do when you’re in Bangkok.

Get a massage

Unlike Western massage styles, the Thai massage focuses on pressure points. Treatment often begins with the feet and gradually moves upwards towards the head. Rhythmic compressions and manoeuvres are methods employed in order to relax and realign energies in the body. Varying amounts of pressure are applied to energy lines along the body in accordance with the Ayurvedic principles of balancing one's energy. 

Ride on a tuk tuk

The tuk-tuks found in Thailand are open-air, three-wheeled carriages attached to a motorcycle chassis. Drivers are fond of decorating their rides with lights, colorful paint, and dangling trinkets to get attention. The typical capacity for a tuk-tuk in Thailand is two average-size people, maybe three, but drivers will always find a way to squeeze in an entire family when necessary.

Visit the markets

Markets around Bangkok offer fascinating shopping experiences. Compared to air-conditioned malls, though, they are hot and sticky mazes with alleys after alleys of shops selling everything from one-off fashion accessories to knock-off kitsches to farm-fresh flowers and agricultural produce. 

MBK Center

MBK Center is probably Bangkok's most legendary shopping mall, popular with both tourists and locals, and busy with shoppers every day. There are eight floors packed with 2,000 shops that sell everything from clothing, fashion accessories, handbags, leather products and luggage to furniture, mobile phones, electric appliances, cameras, stationery and DVDs. Launched in 1986, MBK Center is a beehive of activity, especially on weekends, when half of Bangkok converges to shop for bargains. It's not as up-market or stylish as neighbouring Siam Discovery, Siam Centre and the glitzy Siam Paragon, but it offers a mind-boggling range of goods spread over 89,000 square metres and is considerably less expensive.

 Visit the temple

The splendid, much-coveted Thai temple (or wát) is actually a compound of different buildings that serve specific religious functions. Bangkok’s temples provide a multitude of pleasures that range in scope from artistic inspiration to more straightforward urban exploration. Within the temples themselves you’ll see the native Siamese styles of building, as well as examples from historical Khmer, Mon, Lao and northern Thai traditions. 

Sami Chalabi