Does anyone have any good local eating, sightseeing or local culture recommendations in Bangkok?

Have a suit made

Visit a temple

Check out the flower market

Street food or any hole in the wall Thai restaurant are perfect (a particular favorite dish of mine is Tom Yam Kung or Tom Yam Moo). If you want to ruin KFC for yourself (forever) try Thai Fried Chicken off a food cart. The mushroom and pork sausage is to die for, especially with some green chilis. If I go on talking about Thai food this will be 10000 words long so I'll stop myself here. Curries and Pad Thai are a very small part or what Thais really eat.

As for local culture go to Pattaya and hope you have the willpower to leave at some point.

Haaaha..

Why you want to leave (assuming your not broke)?

To go make more money and repeat the cycle.

I've never been to Pattaya, but I've heard there is one bar and one club with a few pretty girls in each one. And once in a while you might see a pretty girl walking on the street....and maybe a couple who look like girls, but...

There is a reason there is a song about one night in Bangkok.
Nana Plaza. The bars are temples but the booze ain't free:-)

Another chance for me to say:

Shut up Cliff, since you don't know what you are talking about.

Agreed,

Cliff, you're clueless.

I normally use a little anecdote to demonstrate Pattaya's reputation to the unaware... If you google "world's 10 most sinful cities" you'll find that 2-10 vary from person to person, but number 1 is always the same.

I'll take your Nana Plaza and raise you Pattayasaineung Soihok, literally the greatest street in the world.