I have spent the last two days on the canal boats zipping up and down the Khlong Saen Seap, one of Bangkok’s most quintessential experiences. You hop into the boats as they briefly moor then speed on again, conductors perched precariously along the sides and commuters – women in headscarves, local shoppers, gaggles of kids and office workers – dodging deathly splashback by raising plastic sheets at the sides of the boats. Along the way, you pass traditional waterside communities, brightly painted toy-town mosques and concrete walkways brightened with graffiti and bouganvilleas. At the end of the route is the Mall in Bangkapi, a vast shopping centre which I liked for its very local flavour (and thus non-tourist prices), wide range of shops, lavish food hall and – when I was there – fun, if cheesy, Avatar exhibition.