Wat Suthat & the Giant Swing

The Giant Swing is one of those things in Bangkok that makes you stop and say 'wait, what?' A 21-metre-tall red teak frame that looks like a massive goalpost stands in the middle of a traffic circle, and for 150 years it was the centrepiece of a Brahmin ceremony where young men would swing to terrifying heights trying to grab a bag of gold coins hung from a pole with their teeth. Several died trying. The ceremony was banned in 1935.

The swing frame was rebuilt in 2007 using six tonnes of golden teak, and it's now essentially a very photogenic traffic obstacle. But the temple behind it — Wat Suthat — is the real treasure. It houses the largest viharn in Bangkok and an 8-metre-tall bronze Buddha from Sukhothai that was transported to Bangkok by river in the early 1800s, a journey so epic they had to widen the city gate to get it through.

The murals inside Wat Suthat are considered among the finest in Thailand — delicate, detailed paintings of the Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha's previous lives) that cover every wall surface. King Rama II personally helped carve the wooden door panels. Most tourists walk past Wat Suthat on their way to somewhere else, which is a mistake — it's one of the ten royal temples of the highest grade, and the combination of the giant swing outside and the extraordinary art inside makes it one of the most underrated stops in the old city.