Bangkok floods you from minute one: gold-blazing river temples, markets that float or fold for passing trains, malls the size of towns. River-and-old-city first (Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Wat Pho), then the astonishment markets (15,000-stall Chatuchak, floating, railway), then future-grade malls. BTS/MRT beat the famous traffic and the river is transit-as-tourism; halal abounds around Soi Nana Arab street and every mall; the humidity dictates morning-evening rhythm with air-conditioned siestas.