A Buddhist monk updates his Facebook profile on a wireless laptop outside a temple in Bangkok

Arriving in Bangkok is not quite the cultural smack-in-the-mouth that it used to be.

Visitors now arrive at the brand-new (September 2006) Suvarnabhumi Airport, some 30km to the east of the city. When the airport express train from Suvarnabhumi to the new City Air Terminal at Makkasan (in Central Bangkok) opens in late 2007, the trip to the city will be seamless; but for now, count on a 60-90 minute trip by Airport Express Bus, along roads that despite the city’s new Metro (subway) system can still be some of the most congested on the planet.

The backpacker hub of Bangkok is Khao San Road, with wall-to-wall hostels, cheap hotels, bars and cafés. The downside is that Khao San is also notorious for ripoffs and for scamming the innocent, with buses heading upcountry out of Khao San often carrying foreigners only, on buses with sub-standard amenities that no Thai traveller would accept. Those seeking a more authentic Bangkok experience would be well advised to choose an alternative place to stay, such as Sukhumvit or the quieter Thonburi precinct, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River.

If you want to be popular with the locals, refer to their city as Krung Thep (“City of Angels”) rather than Bangkok. Krung Thep is the official name, an abbreviation of a much longer title that sums up the city’s sights in a nutshell, with references to the Emerald Buddha and the Royal Palace. These and other sights are well-documented in any number of guide-books and brochures. But if you want to cut loose from the guide books, the best idea is to go down to the Chao Phraya River and take a ferry or water taxi along the river, getting off at any place that looks interesting - of which there are numerous examples.