I've been to Thailand and a couple of other places in SE Asia.
There's a lot to see and do in the Bangkok area. If you want to do the tourist thing, there's a tour where you are bused up to one of the temples (I forget the name). You spend some time there, then you are taken down the river back to Bangkok. You get lunch on the boat.
Zip ties are a good idea, and definitely watch out for pickpockets.
Be prepared to haggle for everything, including taxi fares!
The tap water is not safe to drink, but any good hotel will have a filtration system installed on their tap water - ask when you check in. The hotel I stayed at provided bottled water every day as well.
Oh, if you go to a restaurant and your meal comes with a garnish that looks like a carrot,
don't eat it. It is not a carrot. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but it's extremely spicy - I'm used to spicy foods and I found it way too hot to handle.
Have fun!
