Bangkok

Bangkok has dominated Thailand's urban hierarchy as well as its political, commercial and cultural life since the late 18th century. Although you can shop in air-conditioned comfort in its Western-style malls, the city is a long way from being tamed by commercial homogeneity.

Bangkok proper seethes on the east side of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya (Chao Phraya River), drawing rural Thai folk into its cluttered fold daily. The city is reportedly sinking at a rate of 5cm (2in) every year, but there's too much sanùk (a peculiarly Thai concept of fun) going on for that to get anyone down.

It's worth putting up with the coronary-inducing traffic jams, pollution, annual floods and sticky weather to experience the contrasts of the city: glass and steel buildings shaped like cartoon robots standing next to glittering temple spires; wreaths of jasmine flowers dangling from the rear-view mirrors of buses and taxis; shaven-headed, orange-robed monks walking barefoot along the street beneath a bank of giant Sony screens blasting MTV Asia. Just like any good Buddhist you may have to struggle a bit to reach enlightenment in Bangkok but when it hits you'll understand that famous Thai smile.

Area: 1,569 sq km
Population: 8 million
Country: Thailand
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +7 (Bangkok Standard Time)
Telephone Area Code: 02

Orientation

Metropolitan Bangkok covers 1569sq km (612sq mi) of southern Thailand, sitting smack in the middle of the most fertile rice-producing delta in the world. A network of natural and artificial canals crisscross the city, feeding to and from Thailand's hydrological lifeline - the broad Mae Nam Chao Phraya - which snakes through the city providing transport for passengers and cargo.