Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, is a large city known for ornate shrines and vibrant street life. The boat-filled Chao Phraya River feeds its network of canals, flowing past the Rattanakosin royal district, home to opulent Grand Palace and its sacred Wat Phra Kaew Temple. Nearby is Wat Pho Temple with an enormous reclining Buddha and, on the opposite shore, Wat Arun Temple with its steep steps and Khmer-style spire.

Pattaya is a city on Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast known for its beaches. A quiet fishing village as recently as the 1960s, it’s now lined with resort hotels, high-rise condos, shopping malls, cabaret bars and 24-hour clubs. Nearby, hillside Wat Phra Yai Temple features an 18m-tall golden Buddha. The area also features several designer golf courses, some with views of Pattaya Bay.

Bangkok is a fascinating, intoxicating and chaotic place, brimming with sights, smells, thrills, gracious people, contradictions, cultures, cars, noise and bedlam. But as with any teeming metropolis, it’s also got its fair share of potential disappointments and frustrations.

To steer clear of the negative experiences during your first time in Bangkok, dust off that sage old adage, ‘knowledge is power!’ Use our years of hard-earned experience so your first impression of visiting the Thai capital will be an unforgettably great one.

Pattaya has something of a reputation for its risqué nightlife – and it is a reputation which, for the most part, it entirely deserves. A walk on the wild side in this vibrant resort city is a lot wilder than pretty much anywhere else in Thailand and possibly even all of Southeast Asia. The world-famous Walking Street alone is a full kilometre long and home to over 80 go-go bars, dozens of discos and hundreds of bars.