Thailand - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Samut Prakan: Bangkok's Weird Neighbor Who's Actually Cooler Than You Think Let me introduce you to Samut Prakan, Bangkok's neglected neighbor that everyone drives through on the way to somewhere else. It's like that friend-of-a-friend who seems boring until you discover they have a secret life as a competitive fire dancer. Samut Prakan province sits at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, whose name you'll mispronounce no matter how hard you try. The locals call it " Pak Nam ," which literally means "mouth of water," which is both poetically simple and geographically accurate. Unlike most tourist descriptions in Thailand, this one actually makes sense. Paknam: Where the River Meets the Sea (and History Gets Weird) Paknam is the historic heart of Samut Prakan, and it comes with its own bizarre backstory. Back in 1893, France and Siam (old-timey Thailand) had a little disagreement called the " Paknam Incident ." French warships tried sa...

The Ancient City: Thailand's Best-Kept Secret That's Not Actually A Secret Looking for the perfect day trip from Bangkok that doesn't involve negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers or accidentally joining a ping-pong show? Let me introduce you to The Ancient City ( Muang Boran ) in Samut Prakan (basically Greater Bangkok), the theme park your history teacher wishes they could have taken you to. Imagine if someone said, "You know what would be cool? Taking all of Thailand's important historical buildings, shrinking some of them down, and putting them in one convenient location." That's The Ancient City, a giant outdoor museum shaped like Thailand itself. It's 320 acres of "I don't have time to travel the whole country, so I'll just see the greatest hits in one day." The Ancient City is where you can visit 116 replicas and reconstructions of Thailand's most significant historical sites without having to endure 116 different bus rides. Wan...