แม่พระธรณี
Mae Toranee is the earth goddess, a deity in Thai Buddhism that is shown wringing water from her ponytail. The statue shows a legend often drawn on the murals of temples. While the Buddha was meditating in a crucial stage of Enlightenment, the evil demon Mara sent out a bunch of earthly temptations and demons to divert him from his path. The Buddha was determined to continue and remained cross-legged. He pointed his right hand towards the ground, calling out the earth goddess. Mae Toranee obliged and wrung her hair, sending a massive gulf of water to wipe out Mara's demons.
Free
When dusk kicks in, the night market at Khlong Lot is set up. It starts around 18:00, but only gets interesting after 20:00. The market has been at the roads surrounding Sanam Luang for years, but was moved to its present location in 2010 when Sanam Luang was sealed off due to construction work. It's a bit like a flea market as locals put a blanket on the ground and wait for customers to buy their stuff. Expect toys, dolls, pets, shoes, bags, pants, mobile phone chargers, remotes, and other stuff. All the sellers have lamps placed besides their ware so it's easy to browse.
18:00-04:00 daily
ศาลหลักเมือง Lak Muang
According to an old Thai tradition, a city pillar has to be built upon the establishment of a new city, to provide a home for guardian spirits. King Rama I had the Bangkok city pillar erected near Wat Phra Kaeo on April 21, 1782, an astrologically determined date for the auspicious founding of Bangkok. The city pillar includes the city's horoscope inside. Every town in Thailand has a similar city pillar shrine, so there are thousands of these all across the country. The original pillar was carved out of cassia wood, measuring 75 cm thick and 27 cm high. In the reign of King Rama IV, the old dilapidated pillar was replaced by a new one that measures 270 cm in height with a wide base of 175 cm. At that time it was placed in the prang-shaped shrine as seen today. Thonburi was merged into Bangkok in 1972, and its city pillar has been incorporated in the shrine. Hundreds of locals pray and place flowers here every day, as they believe the shrine has the power to bring good luck. Traditional dance ceremonies are often held, paid by wealthy families that saw their wishes granted.
05:30-19:30 daily·Free
พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ พระนคร
The National Museum took over the Front Palace grounds, a former royal palace built in the 18th century just like the Grand Palace. The grounds are attractive in parts, but a bit sprawling and difficult to navigate. The permanent exhibits are a mixed bag — there are some terrific new displays and dioramas on Thai history, but many other buildings are dusty collections of artifacts without much by way of explanation. A good way to cope with this is by taking the free guided tour in English (and German, French, Japanese), held on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 09:30. Allow a full afternoon to see this one as it is fairly large.
Wed-Sun 08:30-16:00, hols closed·Thais 30 baht; foreigners 200 baht