Travel Destinations - Thailand - Bangkok

Bangkok: Wat's New

Louis Bechtel visits Thailand's Wat Chalaw and savours the calm before the tourist storm

From this distance, it's enough to make a grown man quake. A strange, shadowed hulk soaring above village rooftops – eyes protruding, nostrils flared and fangs jutting from a grimacing mouth. From her neck hangs a garland of jasmine buds and a sparkling pendant. Clenching a crystalline ball and tassel [ read more ]

Bangkok: Skin Deep

Tattoos of numerological symbols, Buddhist text and motifs are thought to protect the wearer from evil spirits and ill fortune
Steve Tauschke goes to Wat Bang Phra in Thailand and experiences the spiritual side of tattoos

With its gold-lacquered facade and dragon-tail roof tips, Wat Bang Phra looks like just another Thai Buddhist temple. It's not, though. This wat is famous throughout the Kingdom for its magical tattoos and the resident monks who etch them. Locals consider it the holy headquarters of protective body art - [ read more ]

Bangkok: One Night in Bangkok...

Vertigo
and the world was once your oyster. Olivia Edward digs about in the Thai capital's bars and finds everything's still pearly, but high glamour has largely replaced low sleaze. Not completely, don't panic.

There was a time when mentioning 'Bangkok' in the same sentence as 'nocturnal activities' conjured up X-rated scenes where the lighting was dim and the action was not something to be watched with your mother. Thankfully, times have changed. Thailand's capital is now on the up, cultivating the region's hottest [ read more ]