A Weekend in Bangkok

A WEEKEND IN | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

Photographer and writer Harrison Thane shares a personal guide to Bangkok, a city he first visited on work assignments but began to love for its royal precincts, excellent food, glass towers, and older lanes where craft and trade still set the pace. If you're heading to Thailand's beaches this summer, don't overlook its culture-rich capital. 

HARRISON THANE | CABANA TRAVEL | 20 MAY 2026

Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand © Harrison Thane.

Bangkok first entered my life through work trips: short turnarounds, locations recce, client meetings, then a spare hour here and there that hinted at a deeper city. After enough returns, those fragments started to form a reliable map. On a September assignment last year, I stayed on for a few extra days and turned that map into a practical guide. Bangkok can feel like several cities: the Chao Phraya River with its ferries and longtails, royal precincts, glass towers, and older lanes where craft and trade still set the pace. All are worth exploring.

Siamotif Boutique Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand © Harrison Thane.

Where to Stay

Siamotif Boutique Hotel: The traditional option: an old wooden house on Bangkok Noi Canal, set in Thonburi, with hand-painted surfaces and a lived-in, canal-side feel.

Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok: A riverside institution on the Chao Phraya, the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok traces its story to the hotel that opened here in 1876. The Author’s Lounge sits within the historic Authors’ Wing, dressed in white rattan, tall French windows, and framed portraits that nod to generations of writer-guests, including Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham and Noël Coward—an address for afternoon tea with the weight of a century of arrivals and departures behind it.

The Siam: The Siam reads like a living museum on the Chao Phraya: teak, shaded courtyards, and interiors built around antiques, archival photography, sculpture and books, assembled with the care of a private collection.

Aman Nai Lert Bangkok: Aman Nai Lert Bangkok sits inside Nai Lert Park, a private garden enclave created around the Nai Lert family estate built in 1915.

Siamotif Boutique Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand © Harrison Thane

Where to Eat & Drink

Arunwan, Ekamai Soi 17: A much-loved noodle house tucked away off Ekamai, known for deeply flavoured pork noodle soup, crisp wontons, and the kind of unfussy atmosphere that makes Bangkok eating so rewarding.

Or Tor Kor Market: One of Bangkok’s best fresh markets, full of exceptional produce, satay, curries, and fruit. It offers a vivid, ingredient-led glimpse into the city’s food culture.

EAT ME, Silom: A long-standing Bangkok favorite for a more polished evening, serving refined international dishes in a smart, low-lit setting. The date pudding is a signature.

Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand © Harrison Thane

Tep Bar, Chinatown: A lively Chinatown bar with a strong local identity, pairing inventive drinks with modern Thai music played on traditional instruments. It feels rooted in Bangkok rather than anywhere else.

Wallflower Cafe, Chinatown: Set in a former flower shop, this bar has a hidden, slightly romantic atmosphere, with a more intimate and decorative feel than many of the city’s louder night spots.

Havana Social, Sukhumvit: A playful speakeasy entered through a phone booth, designed with plenty of theatrical flair. It is fun, stylish, and built around the pleasure of the reveal.

What to See & Do

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew: Go early for light and breathing room. Tickets cover the palace complex and the temple precinct.

Neilson Hays Library: Neilson Hays Library began in 1869 as the Bangkok Ladies’ Library Association. In memory of Jennie Neilson Hays, her husband Dr. Thomas Heyward Hays funded a permanent home on Surawong Road. The neo-classical building, designed by Italian architect Mario Tamagno, opened 26 June 1922; its domed rotunda now hosts exhibitions.

Jim Thompson House Museum: is a compound of traditional Thai teak houses beside a canal, assembled in the 1950s by Jim Thompson, the American who helped revive Thailand’s silk industry. Inside are Southeast Asian art, ceramics and textiles in rooms built for shade and airflow. Thompson vanished in 1967 while holidaying in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands.

Yaowarat Road: Yaowarat Road is the main artery of Bangkok’s Chinatown, laid out in 1891 during King Chulalongkorn’s reign. By day it’s gold shops, traditional pharmacies and shophouse trade; after dark it turns into a street-food strip under neon signs, with busy side lanes running through Talad Noi and the old riverfront.

Rajadamnern Muay Thai Stadium: Rajadamnern Muay Thai Stadium opened on 23 Dec 1945 on Ratchadamnoen Avenue and is widely regarded as Thailand’s first purpose-built Muay Thai stadium. It remains a main stage for title bouts, with ringside shouts, gamblers’ hand signals, and the sarama music driving each round. Go for the theatre as much as the sport.

Where to Shop

Pak Khlong Talat: Pak Khlong Talat is Bangkok’s main wholesale flower market, set near the Chao Phraya. Open around the clock, it supplies temples, hotels and households with orchids, lotus buds and marigold garlands. Its name translates as “market at the mouth of the canal,” a nod to the waterways that shaped this district.

Don Kai Dee Benjarong Village: Don Kai Dee in Samut Sakhon, west of Bangkok, is known for benjarong porcelain—hand-painted enamel ware whose name means “five colors”. Small workshops let visitors watch painters fill fine patterns, layer by layer, before pieces go to the kiln. It’s an easy half-day trip when you want Thai decorative craft at close ran.

Pak Khlong Talat Flower Market © Harrison Thane