Read more from our Total guide to Southeast Asia in this month's issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine on sale now
06:00 See Bangkok in a new light with a long-tail boat tour around the Thonburi khlongs (canals) at sunrise. For around £30 for two hours, the leathery old seadogs on Sathorn Pier will spin you past the five pagodas of Wat Arun — the Temple of Dawn — before ducking into sleepy backwaters strewn with watery fields of Morning glory, warped wooden houses, and grandmas shooing away lizards so they can hang out the washing.
08:00 Back on dry land, make a beeline for the Rocket Coffeebar (Sathorn Soi 12) for a bowlful of coconut porridge with fresh mango and pomegranate (£2.20) and a house espresso (£2) so strong it’ll blow your flip-flops off.
10:00 Skip Bangkok’s could-be-anywhere malls and take the Sky Train to Terminal 21 (Sukhumvit Soi 19), a kooky nine-storey shopping centre, where unfeasibly long escalators stretch between floors themed around world cities.
14:00 Shopped out? Feet aching? Tuk-tuk down the road to Thann Spa (Emporium 6th Floor; thann.info). Its massages are pricey (from £30), but the dark den-like rooms, tip-top therapists and artisanal products make them worth splashing out on.
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17:00 Check into nearby Cabochon, a heritage hotel with creaking floorboards, French doors, fresh white interiors, and a palm-fringed rooftop pool. Doubles from £77, B&B (00 66 2259 2870, cabochonhotel.com).
19:00 You’re now just a hop from the restaurants in the trendy Thonglor district. Try Soul Food Mahanakorn (56/10 Soi Thonglor; 00 66 027 147708, soulfoodmahanakorn.com; mains about £4) for spicy samosas, juicy chicken wings and craft beers.
22:00 Save space for dessert. Cross the overpass to the outdoor food market on Sukhumvit Soi 38, where you’ll find the queue for Ning’s Mango Stand — and the best sticky rice in town.
23:00 Bar-hop until you drop. Start at the hidden J Borowski Bar School (Sukhumvit Soi 5, Thong Lo), then on to the blues-y Fat Gut’z Saloon and the sci-fi-themed dance bar Clouds (both in Seenspace courtyard, Thonglor Soi 12/13).
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This article is a taster from The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, the glossy monthly sold separately from your Sunday Times subscription. To read more from the magazine, buy it at newsagents and supermarkets (priced £3.70) or subscribe here