Loy La Long

Loy La Long is a teak house on stilts over the Chao Phraya, tucked into the grounds of Wat Pathum Khongkha in old Chinatown. You reach it on foot, through the temple courtyard and down a narrow lane, which is half the pleasure. The house is around a century old and has been kept rather than modernised, with dark timber walls, shuttered windows and six rooms named for their colours, each opening onto a terrace that wraps both floors above the water.

There is no television and no lift, just river breeze, hammock corners and the constant traffic of barges and ferries. Breakfast is served on the terrace and the day tends to start slowly there. Outside the temple gate, Songwat and Talat Noi are among the most rewarding streets in Bangkok for street food, coffee and old shophouse architecture, and the public pier at Ratchawong puts Wat Arun and the Grand Palace a few stops upriver.