Best Things to Do in Bangkok in 3 Days
–a guide for those seeking Things to Do in Bangkok
for 1 – 3 days
You’ve probably seen the movies like ‘Hangover’ which paint various pictures of the chaos and sometimes madness that is Bangkok. And while we don’t recommend that you take such representations of the Thai capital too seriously, it certainly is worth knowing that there is plenty to do in Bangkok, often from diverse and contrasting angles.
So just humour us for a minute here, and imagine that you had a limited time in the city to discover what it had to offer—let’s say 3 days—what kind of activities and experiences exactly could you manage to cover or participate in over such a short period of time?
Of course everyone has different tastes and interests—and thankfully the city can be incredibly diverse in what it has to offer, especially for first-time visitors who have never before set foot on Thai soil.
So let’s have a look at some of the potential options that you could cover in just a few days in Bangkok during both the day and the evening time. Whether you are looking for historical or cultural pursuits, entertainment, retail, cuisine, or some other kind of activity in the City of Angels—you won’t get bored easily!
Day1: The Old Town and River Regions (Including Historic Temples, Buildings, and Chinatown)
If you get some idea of what you can cover in a few days it might be an idea to plan on staying in the area after checking out some of the top attractions. Riverside along the Chao Phraya River is where all the classic Bangkok river scenery is to be found, especially at sunset. There are some really good hotels like the 4 and 5-star affairs along the river like the Anantara.
Nightlife in the area is fairly laid-back with most of it being within a couple of main streets—Khao San Road and Phra Athit Road. Along with some aspects of Chinatown, these areas are continuously being developed or re-vamped in some way—mainly positive—making it an interesting area in which to do a spot of exploring.
Although the part of the ‘Old Town’ of Bangkok which comprises the Chinatown district has largely escaped the wrath of developers, there is a distinct hint of modernisation creeping into the area. This comes largely by way of hip new cafes, bars, restaurants and various types of accommodation housed in many of the old shop houses, including growing numbers of apartment-style vacation rentals like the ones found on airbnb. The MRT subway line extension is gradually getting closer as well which has made the area much more easily-accessible.
One of the best ways to explore Chinatown once you get there is undoubtedly on foot. Just take a wander and see if you can find your way back the way you came without the aid of Google map. The street food is said to be some of the best you’ll ever encounter.
The Old Town District, which is also known as Rattanakosin, is definitely one of the quintessential Bangkok areas containing those classic, must-see-at-least-once historic and cultural attractions, and buildings going back to the days of Bangkok’s beginnings.
Thankfully many of these buildings or attractions are within close proximity of each other in a concentrated historic area of town. Important government buildings and ministries are located within some regions of the outer Old Town districts, and Chinatown at the southern section of Rattanakosin Island has been Bangkok’s main Chinese settlement since the first settlers appeared in the 16th century.
On top of that the famous back-packing tourist spot Khaosan Road is just a short drive or ride away. And if you fancy checking out some of the incredibly impressive hi-end malls that Bangkok has so many of, maybe you can check out Asiatique and IkonSiam which are both accessible by boat.
So if temples, palaces and ancient architecture that signifies the cultural and historical centre of the city is your thing, check out the Old Town of Bangkok. The Old Town of Bangkok is suitable for any travellers, but probably most ideal for 30 and 40-somethings up–although culture-loving younger generations might also appreciate the ‘ancient-meets-developing-modern’ vibe in and around what is known as the Old Town.
Old Town Attractions—Daytime
- Bangkok National Museum
- The Museum of Siam
- Rattanakosin Island/Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall
- The Grand Palace
- Sanam Luang
- Wat Phra Kaew
- Wat Arun
- Wat Pho
- Wat Suthat
- Wat Mahathat
- Wat Loha Prasat
- Wat Traimit
- Chinatown
- Khao San Road
- National Art Gallery
- Asiatique
- IkonSiam
Old Town Attractions—Evening/Night Time
- Khao San Road
- Phra Athit
- Chinatown
- Grand China Hotel Rooftop Bar
- Chao Phraya River Cruise
Day 2: Main Central ‘Downtown’ City Areas
There is not really one main ‘downtown’ stretch in Bangkok as such, as the various spots are not exactly concentrated in one area alone—although the BTS Sukhumvit line and its surrounding areas puts you in close proximity to some of the best leisure and entertainment in the city.
The regions of the central city that qualify as downtown or main areas contain all the best shopping malls and markets. They also contain as much restaurant diversity as you could hope for in the event that you are already having issues with Thai cuisine–not to mention the best nightlife and other entertainment options you could ever wish for.
To most people ‘downtown’ in Bangkok equates to either the regions in and around the main Sukhumvit BTS line (somewhere between Nana and Thonglor) as well as some of the central Siam and Silom areas on the Silom Line. Put them all together and you have quite an extensive range of shopping, dining, entertainment, and nightlife to pick from.
Siam is the main shopping (and eating) area with huge, modern malls like CentralWorld, Siam Paragon, and many, many other retail options including night markets.
This area is one of the busiest in the city and is ideal for singles, couples, and families in terms of amenities. It is amazing what sheer variety you can pack into a 5-story mall, whether that be Thai boxing (commercialised), tutor schools, skating rinks, swimming pools and water, theme, and skate parks—whatever the current craze may indicate—along with kids’ playgrounds, markets, aquariums, food courts, etc., etc.
A bit further along the BTS line you have more hi-so malls like Central Embassy in Chit Lom, then the impressively-huge Terminal 21 in Asok. Going to another stop along the BTS line (which runs pretty much parallel to the main road) you’ll encounter yet more amazing designer malls by way of Emporium and Emquartier (one on each side of the road next to a park) a bit further up the road in Phrom Phong.
The next stop along the line is Thonglor—currently a trendy place for affluent young Thais. Nightlife of all varieties is to be found in these regions, whether you are interested in checking out fine dining options, rooftop bars, huge deluxe movie theatres, trendy theme bars, local and international eateries, clubs, wine bars, cheap bars (if there actually is such a thing) and the slightly seedy go-go entertainment areas of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy in Nana and Asok.
There is no shortage of all types of accommodation along the Sukhumvit line from top-of-the-range hotels to mid and lower-range establishments as well as hostels and a growing selection of airbnb vacation rentals.
Sukhumvit/Silom Attractions Daytime
- Phrom Pong (Emporium/Emquartier)
- Benchasiri Park (next to Emporium)
- Asok (Terminal 21)
- Chitlom (Central Embassy)
- Siam (Paragon, CentralWorld, Discovery Centre, Ocean World Aquarium)
- Silom (Saladaeng, Silom Line)
Sukhumvit/Silom Attractions Evening
- Thonglor
- Phrom Pong
- Asok
- Nana
- Siam
- Silom
Day 3: Parks and Markets (Including Chatuchak Weekend Market)
The thing to know about parks in Bangkok is that there are probably quite a few more of them than you expect. The main ones are huge, green, colourful, and incredibly well-maintained —and they are dotted across the city in various regions. So realistically you wouldn’t get anything like a good look at them all into one day.
As luck would have it though, not one but three of the city’s best parks are located right next to each other—literally. These are all big, scenic, and very natural-looking green spaces on the outskirts of the downtown central areas, each with their own unique angles or quirks. The parks generally do more than impress the people who are expecting a mere concrete jungle of Bangkok.
The easiest park of the 3 to access is Chatuchak Park. This 60-acre park is set along the main road running through the area between the Saphan Kwai and the Central Ladprao BTS stations. It has both BTS and MRT stops right outside the entrance and this is an interchange area between the two systems.
Chatuchak is also probably the most-visited Bangkok Park as far as tourists go, as it happens to be right next to one of the biggest markets in the world–the part-indoor, part-outdoor Chatuchak Weekend Market.
The market itself is a great way to spend a day and if you combine it with a trip to as many of the nearby 3 parks as you can manage in one day, you’ll certainly feel like you’ve done something. The Weekend Market contains all manner of goods and items including clothes, food, crafts, accessories, furniture, plants—even rare animals and pets in one section.
Directly behind Chatuchak Park is a much bigger park known as ‘Suan Rot Fai’ to most people—the ‘Train Park’—although its formal name is Suan Wachira Benchathat. The land used to belong to the Thai Rail Company and you can find a couple of old disused trains along the outer edges of the park near the rear entrance.
All the parks have a number of entrances so don’t worry if you think you are lost! As the Train Park is set away from the main road, behind Chatuchak Park, you have to either go through Chatuchak Park and out the back to go into one of the main entrances, or make your way around the side of the other 2 parks to one of the numerous entrance/exit points.
One of the most popular activities in the Train Park is cycling, and you’ll see plenty of people in the morning and the evening cycling around the park after the sun has finally slipped away. You can rent bikes here extremely cheaply—of course they won’t be the best in the world—and you can find your way around the park contentedly on two wheels for a few hours. In recent years a separate cycling track has been installed within the park to keep the joggers and cyclists from having too many accidents—which has to be good news.
Other attractions inside the Train Park include a botanical garden and butterfly sanctuary, a couple of kids’ playgrounds including a swimming pool, kids’ cycling track away from the main one, and various lakes and gardens that can wander around at a leisurely pace with a bit more elbow room than normal.
Suan Rot Fai is also a top spot for birding and brings in a few local clubs every week who meet up to see what is in the vicinity. If that’s not enough you’ve also got basketball and tennis courts on the outer perimeter of this park, and Bangkok Sports Centre and its Swimming Pool is just inside one of the main gates.
The last of the 3 parks is an exotic and colourful affair known as the Queen Sirikit Park. Many people overlook this hidden gem amongst the trio of parks in the Chatuchak district, particularly weekend market shoppers who mistake the outer perimeter of the park as being that of Chatuchak Park and think they’ve already been in.
And yet this park is almost 20 acres larger than the neighbouring Chatuchak Park, and it contains some of the most colourful and exotic flowers you’ll ever see along with a botanical garden.
Queen Sirikit Park is in fact one of the most exotic parks in Thailand in terms of the flowers and gardens it contains, including a stunning array of colourful blooms, expertly manicured hedges and surrounding lawns, trees, shrubs and bushes. There are a couple of scenic ponds/lakes to relax around a well, which is easy as this is probably the quietest of the 3 parks in the area.
Ideally you’d pick a weekend to make sure that the market is on—then you could aim to make the 3 parks and the weekend market the core activities of your day. Indeed you’ll need all day—possibly into the early evening to get round all that.
If you’ve energy left after that then Central Plaza Ladprao is within walking distance, as is the area’s other, more quirky mall aimed at a younger market, Union Mall. Both of these places will have more than their fair share of restaurants, including the cheaper food court options. Central definitely has the best range of choice for food, shopping, and even cinema.
If you manage to get all of that into one day chances are you’ll be so beat you’ll want to stay in the area. If you do, the highly-rated, 5-star Centara Grand is just behind the Central Plaza Mall. What more could you ask?!
- Chatuchak Park
- Chatuchak Weekend Market
- Wachira Benchathat Park
- Queen Sirikit Park
- Central Plaza Ladprao
- Union Mall
- Centara Grand
The Bottom Line
So there you have it—a glimpse into the almost bottomless pit of activity, experience, entertainment, lifestyle, retail, cuisine, culture, history, and leisure that is Bangkok! There really is something to suit everyone in this city—although sometimes it may take a little digging beforehand to know where you are heading. But–armed with the right information on where to go (and where not to go in some cases) you can be assured of getting the most out of a trip to the Thai capital.
– Related – See All Other Bangkok Guides and Articles
Mark Philip is a writer and lifestyle enthusiast from the Midlands in the U.K. With a background in martial arts and fitness, Mark upped sticks and headed out to Bangkok to delve a bit deeper into the art of Thai Boxing way back in the 2000s, starting to write initially to fund his daily training and escape the rigours of ESL teaching. Since then Mark has authored e-books, articles, and blogs across a wide range of topics for commercial, educational, factual, health & fitness, lifestyle, wellness, and leisure-based purposes.
