BANGKOK -- With more than 13 million visitors a year, Bangkok is one of Asia's most popular cities. But Thailand's capital is also one of the most chaotic. Traffic is often bumper-to-bumper and sidewalks are blocked every few feet by vendors selling everything from pirated DVDs to fresh pineapple. Despite this, Bangkok's city administration says it's determined to convert the city into a paradise for tourists who like to walk.

Key to this change: a revamp of the Saen Saep canal (known as a "khlong" in Thai), which meanders for more than 10 miles across almost the entire width of the city. The government is cleaning up the canal's fetid waters and its walking path, which will give people a chance to see a part of Bangkok that could previously only be seen by water taxi.

Work is ongoing but the first 2.5-mile stretch of the canal, which forms the northern border of Bangkok's fashionable Sukhumvit district, is ready for tourists. Sewage tunnels that connect with a new water-treatment plant now takes sewage underneath the canal -- it used to be dumped into the canal. Tourists can wander past local markets as well as traditional wooden houses, often ablaze with the trellised flowers that are a tradition of khlong dwellers. The city is spending $1 million this year to extend the walkway several miles further to the east and to widen the path for bikers.

To sample the Sukhumvit stretch, take the Skytrain to Nana station; walk for about 10 minutes north down soi 3 ("soi" means little street). About 200 yards past Bumrungrad Hospital, on the other side of the street, are stairs leading to the walkway. The path ends at soi 63, where you can take a bus going south to the Ekamai Skytrain stop.