In 1782 when Rama I, first king of the new Chakri dynasty, moved the capital to Bangkok and began building the Grand Palace, the traders were relocated to a small alley called Sampeng Lane, the nexus of today's Chinatown.Today, the narrow pedestrian lane is packed with wholesale stores selling paper, fabric and bric-a-brac, and teems with haphazardly roving snack merchants and careering motorbikes overloaded with wide bolts of fabric.

Chinatown has always been synonymous with commerce. At almost any hour, someone is selling something somewhere in Chinatown. Even before the first Bangkok department stores opened on Yaowaraj in the 1930s, the Chinatown markets sold goods found nowhere else in the city.

Locals believe that they owe this good fortune, wealth and prosperity to the mythical Golden Dragon, the guardian spirit that has watched over the community for centuries.

To first-time visitors, Chinatown can seem like a daunting maze of traffic- and people-choked lanes and alleys. Yet to fully appreciate the panoply of sights, sounds and smells that give Chinatown its unique character, it's essential to wander off the beaten track where such hidden delights as 100 year-old shrines, tiny neighbourhoods and countless other treasures await. (A major thoroughfare is rarely more than a block away so getting lost isn't really a problem.)

It's easy to spend an entire morning or afternoon visiting temples (Buddhist, Taoist, Chinese, Sikh and Chinese shrines). Others might choose to focus on Chinatown's many markets (food, clothing, electrical goods, hardware, audio) or wander along streets devoted to a single product. The area abounds with restaurants (from fancy indoor eateries to open-air stalls) and unusual juxtapositions: a modern fast-food restaurant next to a vendor roasting chestnuts in a streetside wok; Chinese herbs adjacent to Buddhist temple supplies.

Any list of quintessential Chinatown sights will include a visit to a gold shop on Yaowaraj. With their deco-style arches and rolled steel ornamentation, these red and gold palaces resemble old-fashioned cinemas. (Though cinemas don't hire armed guards to protect the merchandise!) The most opulent shops display their wares in massive curving counters overhung with awnings decorated with dragons.

Among must-see temples on most tourist itineraries is Wat Traimit (near Odeon Circle and Hualumpong railway station) which houses the world's biggest solid-gold Buddha statue. Another favourite with locals and foreigners is Wat Leng Noi Yee, Chinatown's biggest temple, which lies behind a grandiose entranceway on Charoen Krung.

Two unusual religious edifices in the area are Wat Chakrawat, a peaceful temple whose two ponds is home to several large and languid crocodiles and the European-style Wat Kalawar (Holy Rosary Church). Built in 1787, the church is located near the southern end of Chinatown, on riverside land awarded the Portuguese by King Rama I.

China segues into India at Sri Gurunsingh Sabha Sikh temple, a spacious four-storey structure near Pahurat market. The nearby environs feel more Mumbai than Bangkok, especially on ATM alley (named after an adjacent department store). This funky pedestrian passageway is crowded with rows of open-air shops selling incense, Indian CDs and DVDs, Ganesh statues, saris, bangles and authentic chai tea.

ATM alley leads to the labyrinthine Pahurat cloth market, an indoor version of Sampeng. Once across Pahurat road, you're back in Thailand at the multi-block Old Siam shopping mall, which offers many Chinatown items in comfortable, air-conditioned surroundings. On the ground floor, women in traditional garb practice the rapidly disappearing art of Thai snack preparation, recreating popular standards like 'khanom krok' (coconut milk batter poured into small wells in a cast iron pan and cooked over a charcoal fire).

Other clearly delimited Chinatown markets include the network of streets around Nakhon Kasem (still called Thieves Market even though stolen goods are no longer on offer); Khlong Ong Ang market (for second-hand stereos, cameras and other audio items); and Talat Fai Chai--the so-called Flashlight Market--which operates 24-hours from Saturday afternoon until Sunday in the area around Worachak. (Its name is derived from night-time buyers who bring torches to separate junk from treasures.)

Until western food emporia opened elsewhere in Bangkok, Chinatown's food markets supplied Bangkok with delicacies found nowhere else. Back then Soi Issaranhuphap was the place for imported fruit. Famous Chinatown wet markets (so-called because the concrete floors are constantly washed down) include Talat Kao (a 200+-year 'old' food market) and Talat Mai, (a 'new' market which is only around 100 years old)

Whichever aspects of Chinatown you decide to explore, the most important accoutrements are light clothing, comfortable shoes, plenty of liquids, and above all, a spirit of adventure. A good map is also helpful (Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok highlights scores of sightseeing and shopping tips in an easy-to-read graphical format). Don't forget, however, that Chinatown's vibrancy is an essentially intangible quality that transcends the confines of cartography.