But you start on your tour with an impression of modern Bangkok, on Rama I. Road. If your hotel is not in the area, take a taxi  and ask the driver to drop you off at the World Trade Center at the intersection of  Rama I. road and Ratdamri Road.  This is one of the busiest shopping locations of Bangkok. The World Trade Center has  a large department store, countless shops , restaurants, even tennis courts. Directly acress the street is the Grand Hyatt Erawan with the Erawan Shrine that is renowned for granting wishes, especially for success in love affairs and in the lottery. You can always see lots of people bringing flower offerings and occasionally a Lakhon (traditional Thai dance) performance. After your visit to the shrine walk back (to the right) on Rama I. road, past the World Trade Center and on to Siam Square with more clothes and jewellery shops.

About in the middle of Siam Square is the Siam Interconti Hotel - if you are tired already, you might want stop there for a small lunch or a cup of coffee. The hotel has a very large and pretty garden. If you don`t like the  hotel but nevertheless seek refuge from the noise and fumes of the street, visit Wat Pathumwanaram - it is hidden behind high walls with lotos flower carvings, but open for the public. It is not a very spectacular temple, but the tranquil and quiet atmosphere is really nice and soothing  - especially when compared with the noise outside. You can sit down on one of the banks or walk around (behind the temple is an array of small alleys, full of pretty houses and trees).

After your stop at the temple go on walking along Rama I. Road until the intersection with Phaya Thai Road. At the corner you can see the Mahboonkrong  Shopping Centre. In the 6th floor you can find a food market with  lots of small food stalls with hygienically prepared authentic Thai food and refreshments at reasonable prices - highly recommendable. When you are tired of shopping, flag down a taxi and ask the driver (have your card with the name in Thai script handy!) to take you to Jim Thompson`s House in 6 Soi Kaseman 2, Rama I Road (take care, there are two: one is a shop that sells silks -  you do not want to go there but to the museum, so specify the address correctly.)

Jim Thompson was a well-known person personality in the Bangkok of the Sixties; he was an American ex-military intelligence officer (who before his military carreer had been trained as an architect) who first came to Asia during World War II and after the war decided to stay in Thailand.  He devoted lots of efforts to reviving the craft of silk-weaving in Thailand.  That Thai silk today is so famous for its beauty and quality is largely a result of Jim Thompson`s work. On March 27th in 1967, Jim Thompson disappeared mysteriously during a trip through Malaysia and was never seen or heard of again. (Some people presume that he was murdered because of his former military intelligence connections but this could never be proven). Jim Thompson was also famous for his lovely traditional-style Thai house that was built (or rather rebuilt, see below) in 1959, which you are going to visit now.

The museum consists of six very beautiful Thai teak houses, most of them antique. Jim Thompson found them in many different places (as far away as Ayuthaya), had them dismantled, and transported to and rebuilt as authentic as possible in Bangkok. All of them stand on stilts, one floor above the ground (this is a precuation against flooding). They are surrounded by a nice garden with lush green trees and orchids and inside they are furnished with lovely ancient furniture and chandeliers, and Thai art objects. The visit is highly recommended! It is like a trip into the past - a past that was a lot more tranquil and serene than present-day Bangkok. The place was opened for the public while Jim Thompson was still alive and today is operated as a museum, complete with cafeteria (nice, in the garden) and gift shop. There are frequent guided tours through the houses, the first starts at 9.00 am, the last  at 4.30 pm.(You will be rquired to take your shoes off before you can enter the buildings).

In order to make it in time to the two remaining destinations of this tour, however, your visit should be finished by 2.30 pm.  Your next stop is Suan Pakkad. It is located at 352 Sri Ayuthaya Road. (You could walk there but the distance merits a taxi). Suan Pakkad  was the residence of Princess Chumbot and her husband.  Suan Pakkad means "cabbage patch" - but it is a lovely old Thai mansion made up of five traditional teakwood houses in a nice little garden.  Today it is operated as a museum. Inside the houses are a lot of interesting antiques, like manuscript cabinets with lacquer decorations, Khmer and Dvaravati statues or ancient  Baan Chiang  pottery (the princess was an enthusiastic collector of neolithic art). The masterpiece of Suan Pakkad is the Lacquer Pavilion, a smaller building in the garden that was renconstructed from two different Ho Trais. The inner walls are covered with black and golden lacquer work that must be among the finest that exists on earth. Scenes from the life of Buddha, but also charming scenes of everyday life (including pictures of 17th century European visitors) are depicted in incredible detail. (Suan Pakkad is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but closed on Sundays.)
 

From Suan Pakkad you can either take a taxi directly to Wat Arun in Thonburi, or, more interesting, take a taxi to Tha Tien boat landing. Small ferry boats cross the river from here to Wat Arun on the Thonburi side. (Tha Tien is also an Express Boat stop). The ferries go about every fifteen minutes, and the fare is very cheap. Ask for Wat Arun, the people at the pier will show you the right boat. Wat Arun  is, like Wat Pho, one of the most beautiful temples of Bangkok.

Wat Arun is known as The Temple of Dawn, but it is actually most pleasant to visit in the late afternoon, in the half hour before the temple is closed for the public (when most of the other visitors have already gone!). The Wat has a 79 meter high Khmer-style Prang, a special type of chedi that is not bell-shaped but looks like a vertical  ear of corn. The prangs at Wat Arun (there are five of them, the large central one and four smaller around it) are covered  with china and fayence flower mosaics. The five chedis symbolize the buddhist universe with the holy mount Meru (represented by the central prang) in the middle. A staircase  leads high up to a terrace around the central prang,  which  offers a beautiful view of Bangkok on the other side of the river.