Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn. This is one of the first places I visited on my first trip to Bangkok in 1976. My wife's family lived very close and we could walk to it easily. It is the starting point for the Floating Market tour early in the morning. It is one of the awe inspiring visions of Bangkok I will never forget: the sun coming up over its stupa from the tour boat on the river.
China Town. This area is a true China town. It is crowded, noisy and exotic. Seems the Chinese were brought in and contracted as the business people when Thailand or Siam, as it was called back then, opened up to the Western world. The Chinese have been the backbone of the Thai economy ever since. They make up only 12 percent of the total population of Thailand but make up over 60% of the Bangkok population. The Chinese own about 80% of the Thai economy. Thailand is the only country in the world that has successfully assimilated its large Chinese population into its own culture and society. Today, a Thai/Chinese will always say he or she is Thai. Anywhere else, the Chinese would say Chinese first.
