The main obstacle to a successful sightseeing in Bangkok is lack of time. Most of the temples, palaces and monuments are open for visitors only till 16:30.
Another hurdle is the crazy traffic jams in Bangkok. All radial highways named after Kings Rama I, Rama II... Rama IX, during the daytime look like a mess. Traffic is a bit better on highways, but you still need to think how to get there. And what is really heartbreaking the jams are similarly hard to taxis and tourist buses. This fact makes organized bus tours completely useless in terms of saving time. Unless your route is associated with exiting to the radial highway, a taxi or 'tuk-tuk' is really the most convenient form of transport especially for short distances.
A lot has been written about the problems related to traveling by taxi in Bangkok, namely, that the drivers are very reluctant to start the counter and never have change. Yet, if you smile back politely and ask to turn on the counter and if you have a sufficient number of petty cash notes (20, 50 and 100 bahts), everything should be fine. A much more serious problem is that local drivers don't speak English and, oddly enough, have very poor knowledge of the city.
At the hotel I was given a map of the city in English, and I used taxi every day but only once the taxi driver could read it. The only solution I can suggest is to have the phone number of the place where you need to go to, and call them up and have them speak to the driver in Thai to explain how to get there, or call the nearest landmarks such as subway stations, shopping malls, hotels and famous temples. And if you want to go out of the hotel, be sure to ask at the reception to write the name and address of the desired location in the Thai language. After three days in Bangkok I was able to navigate in the city and was telling the drivers how to get to the hotel.
The quickest way to get around Bangkok is the BTS Sky Train (above-ground metro) and water transportation. The above-ground stations are being permanently improved, the city authorities have built the main branches above the major highways (at the height of 3 floors). It is impossible to get lost here, because in addition to a name each station has a code (letters and digits). The cars are very comfortable and equipped with air conditioning. I used the metro so many times and never felt like being a 'herring in a barrel'. Prices are extremely low: for the first zone the fare is fifteen bahts, each subsequent one is five bahts extra. You can reach any part of the city for as much as 50 bahts.
The transportation along the river is very comfortable and easy. All boats are divided into three categories: express boats, trams (they ride with all the stops) and the third category, something intermediate between the first two. Pier navigation system is similar to that used for the trains. Each boat category has its own flag color that corresponds to the color of the route on the scheme. The only thing passengers should do is to remember whether the boat goes up or down the river.
But even if you're lost, you can always get off, walk down to the nearby pier and change to a boat going in the right direction. An alternative to boats is the so-called water taxi. Normally, these are ordinary private boats awaiting clients at the main piers. This service is more expensive.
What surprised me most about the river transport was the accuracy of timetable and the speedy mooring to the pier. At some point we even had a feeling that it was better and quicker than using conventional land buses.
