Bangkok Province hotels collection

Bangkok was built on water before it was built on land, and the Chao Phraya remains its main street. One goes up it by boat between temples with glazed roofs and towers of glass, crosses to the Thonburi side, where the khlongs still run past teak houses on stilts whose steps go down into the water. At the far end, Bang Khun Thian keeps its mangroves and wooden walkways at the edge of the gulf, a shore the city has not yet swallowed. The air smells of jasmine and lemongrass, the monsoon arrives on time, and the monks pass at dawn, barefoot, with their bowls.