Meet your guide, followed by a short brief before taking to walking the streets to Saphan Hua Chang pier, board a boat on the infamous Klong Saen Saep canal. Disembark and head to the Golden Mount of Wat Saket, a pagoda situated on an artificial hill, created by King Rama III and completed in the reign of King Rama V. Today the pagoda still commands a panoramic view over old Bangkok.

Visit the stunning Silver Pagoda, built during the reign of King Rama III, in 1846, for the princess granddaughter. The temple is best known for it's 37 metal spires, signifying the 37 virtues. The design almost appears Burmese, but in fact is a copy of old Buddhist design found in Sri Lanka.

Continue to Bamrung Muang, Bangkok's first shopping street. Today it caters to temple supplies where you will find monk robes, candles, incense sticks, books, and many golden statues of the Buddha.

Walk to Wat Suthat, a royal temple constructed during the reign of King Rama I, and completed in the reign of King Rama III. The main ordination hall sits at the center is where the sacred Phra Sri Sakayamunee Buddha image, relocated from Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai, is enshrined. It is also one of the largest ordination halls in Thailand with 72.25-meter-high ceiling, completed with stunning wall paintings. In front of Wat Suthat is the Giant Swing - formerly used in an old Brahmin ceremony, and constructed in 1784.

Walk to the Democracy Monument, the monument was commissioned to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d'état which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.

Continue down the once bloody streets of Ratchadamnoen Ave to the 14 October Memorial. One of the biggest and most notorious demonstrations ever to have happened in Bangkok was the fateful student-led protest of October 14, 1973, when half a million people gathered to demand an end to the autocratic regime. It was savagely quashed and turned into a bloody riot that culminated in the death of several hundred protesters at the hands of the police and the military - today the memorial is a shrine to those who died.

Stop for a drink at the Royal Hotel, built in 1942 in the heart of the old capital, the hotel has a dark secret, notorious as a shelter for political demonstrators, and used as an emergency hospital during many political conflicts, many have also died here.

Walk across the streets to Thammasat University, passing Sanam Luang, the Grand Palace & Wat Phra Keo to the left. The university was the birthplace of the student uprising in 1973 and 1976, the center stage of the demonstrations was located on the football field. Today Thammasat University remains one of the top political universities in Thailand.