The old town is a morning job. Rattanakosin — the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun across the river — is stone, gilt and paving with almost no shade, and from about ten the sun is overhead and everyone in the frame looks as if they have been standing in it, because they have. Wat Arun opens at eight and the costume studios in the lanes outside open with it; the first hour is when the prang is lit from the east and the terraces are still quiet. The Grand Palace opens at half past eight and is the one landmark where a real session is not on offer: the dress code is checked at the gate, the Emerald Buddha chapel cannot be photographed at all, and anything that looks like a professional shoot needs permission arranged in advance, not negotiated at the door.
The evening belongs to the other bank. From Tha Tien pier Wat Arun sits directly across the river with the sun going down behind it, and as the light fades the floodlights come on — the best single frame in Bangkok, five minutes on foot from Wat Pho. Chinatown only starts after dark, when the neon over Yaowarat Road and the food stalls are lit. Rooftop bars in Silom, Sathorn and on the river need a booking, usually a smart-casual dress code and the venue’s agreement before anything bigger than a phone comes out. Two things are fixed: drones do not fly over the old town or near the palaces, and sessions move by river boat and BTS rather than by car — Sukhumvit to the old town at five in the afternoon can take an hour. In the rainy season an evening storm can cancel the sunset, so a spare evening is worth keeping in the plan.
