Bangkok runs on contrast — gilded temple spires next to elevated highways, street-food carts parked outside glass-towered malls, total chaos that somehow always works. The Chao Phraya River cuts through the middle of it, and a few baht buys you a boat ride past temples that have stood for centuries. It's one of the few cities where five-star luxury and a life-changing $2 bowl of noodles sit two minutes apart, and neither feels out of place.