A trade hub with the West in the 19C, this district bears the stamp of the many foreigners who built their embassies or company headquarters here. To soak up this bygone atmosphere, take a walk along the River Chao Phraya and around its surrounding streets, where wooden colonial-style houses can still be seen and head to the famous Mandarin Oriental Hotel, once a favourite haunt of writers such as Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham.