Bangkok

Arriving in Bangkok

We had a long journey from Koh Tao behind us when we arrived in Bangkok, and were eager to enjoy a bit of city life after having spent the last couple of weeks in more remote locations. Getting to Bangkok was a lengthy process involving a long ferry ride back to the mainland and then taking a direct bus to the city. We booked the all-in-one transport package on 12go.asia, this route seems to be well established, with tourist crowds filling multiple buses upon departure. Now, let’s see what to do, where to stay and what to eat in Thailand’s exciting capital!

Things to do

I suppose you could spend weeks and weeks in Bangkok without ever getting bored. The bustling capital has so much to offer! We were aiming for a nice mix of visiting popular sights and wandering around the neighbourhoods at random.

Wat Arun

The Buddhist temple, officially called Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan, majestically towers above the Chao Phraya River on its west bank. The temple was completed in 1656 and a major restoration took place in 2017, giving the intricate carvings and vivid colours a much-needed refresh. You can easily spend an hour and a half just walking around the complex and taking in the details of the excellent architecture here. The hour before sunset offers a great photo opportunity, with warm sunlight reflecting from the golden main prang.

You can conveniently approach from one of the two ferry piers serving the area. The entry ticket costs 200 Baht (€5,50 / $6,50), which you can buy directly at the entrance.

Dress Code in Temples

Keep in mind that all temples and religious sites have a strict dress code in the country. For both women and men, shoulders and knees need to be covered. As the official website of the Wat Arun temple states: “Strictly conservative, if you’re unsure, then it’s a no.”

We learned this the hard way when we visited the Grand Palace in scorching hot weather wearing shorts and were denied entry. We had to go all the way back home, change, and get back to the Palace, which took almost two hours. They usually conveniently have small stalls selling long elephant pants and sleeves near the main sites, if you’re into that kind of fashion.

The Grand Palace

The palace has been the seat of Thailand’s ruling king since 1782. The rectangular area is divided into three onion-layered courts, with the inner court reserved exclusively for use by the royal family. The well-kept buildings display classic Thai architectural style, surrounded by meticulously maintained gardens.

Unfortunately, you cannot enter the buildings of the palace; therefore, the visit is limited to walking around in the garden and viewing the buildings from the outside. One exception is the Museum of the Emerald Buddha Temple, though, which serves as the main artefacts repository. On display are various weapons, pieces of art and architectural elements and, of course, the Emerald Buddha himself.

The complex is located on the east side of the river, and a nearby pier is conveniently served by the river boats, you can even combine your visit to the palace with Wat Arun. The entry ticket costs 500 Baht (€13,65 / $16) per person, and the same dress code restrictions apply as in temples like Wat Arun.

We discovered a cute café nearby called Favour Café – if you’re in need of a refreshment, make sure to drop by after your visit!

Lumphini Park

This is where the giant monitor lizards hang out! These are the second-largest lizards in the world, right after the Komodo dragon, freely roaming around in the bushes and ponds of Bangkok’s parks. Their ever-growing number has turned them into a tourist attraction, of sorts – chances of spotting one, at least in Lumphini Park, are high! The lizards seemed to be relatively calm and used to the presence of humans, however, it’s better to keep a safe distance and not to feed them. They are still predators, in the end.

Floating markets

Sadly, most of the original markets are gone nowadays and have turned into a tourist attraction. We visited the Khlong Lat Mayom floating market, which is also frequented by tourists but has still managed to retain much of its original character. We saw many locals buying fresh produce and eating at the food stands, not just tourist crowds. There was also a band of elderly gentlemen playing music and many small craft stands around for visitors. Worth noting is that only a small section of the market is actually floating – most of the buildings are built on dry land. We tried some delicious Thai dishes and some fresh smoothies here (our stomach was totally fine afterwards).

We also took a boat tour, which included visiting little temples and cruising around the neighbourhood. We made a couple of stops, one at another market area and one at the home of a local family, who served us some tea. Traversing the landscape by boat suddenly revealed why these floating markets make sense. Many houses used to be accessible only from the water, meaning that people had to travel by small paddleboats. Not only the residents but also the merchants used to do this – they simply floated by your house, selling food and fresh produce from the farms.

All in all, it was a very tranquil experience. Highly recommended! We paid around 100 Baht (€2,75 / $3,25) per person for the tour and booked a Grab to and from our hotel to get there.

Beauty & Wellness

Ahh, we still miss those amazing Thai massages! Bangkok has no shortage of options either, with a huge number of parlours concentrated around touristy areas, like Khaosan Road. After having read a lot of negative reviews, we finally found a place called Nangchoo, where we had a really nice massage. The salon is conveniently located near Lumphini Park, so you can even combine your visits, if you wish.

Isi also had a facial treatment later at Darin Beauty and Spa, which was surprisingly good, despite the location in an extremely touristy area. The one-hour treatment cost around €20.

If you still haven’t had enough pampering, you might want to check out a nail salon, also very popular amongst visitors – good-quality nail treatments with gel nail building go for around €10-€20, an unbeatable price compared to Europe, at least.

On the lookout for art

Warehouse 30 is a really cool artsy district with galleries, vintage clothing shops and cool cafés, we could have spent a whole day here! Make sure to check out the Charoen Krung 32 Alley running next to the district, you will find very interesting street art murals on the walls. Location

Another surprising find was the Creative & Design Center, located in an old but still functional post office building. You can also go up to the roof, the view of the city is really cool from there! Location

Chinatown

It might come as a surprise, but Bangkok is actually home to one of the largest Chinatowns in the world! The bustling streets are lined with huge neon lights displaying Chinese characters, narrow alleyways are filled with merchants selling basically everything you can imagine, from spices to stuffed animal toys. Tiny makeshift street food markets wrap around corners, with vendors cooking fresh Chinese food atop their pushcarts. We ended up taking a wrong turn while looking for restaurants and wandered through an abandoned, maze-like market at night. It felt like being in a horror movie all of a sudden, but, after hastily consulting Google Maps regarding our whereabouts, we managed to escape the murderous alleyways. Jokes aside, it isn’t dangerous there at all, but a truly unique experience and a perfect place to wander around even without a plan!

Khaosan Road

Just for the sake of completeness, we have to mention the famous pedestrian street in central Bangkok you might have heard about already. It’s a popular backpacker hotspot with many bars, restaurants, massage parlours, hotels and shops selling souvenirs and counterfeit goods. We didn’t spend too much time here, as we didn’t like the street or the area at all.

Other things to do

…that we didn’t have time for, but were planning to.

• King Power Mahanakhon: Glass-floored observation deck at 310 metres overlooking the city. They offer various experiences, including a virtual reality parachute drop ride! You can also enjoy a cocktail at Thailand’s highest rooftop bar there. Location | Official website
• Wat Sam Phran: Also known as the pink dragon temple, it is an 80-metre pink building with a gigantic dragon wrapped around it, very popular for social media pictures. Location

Accommodation

We stayed in the Bang Rak area near the river and enjoyed the location very much. It was close to a ferry port, meaning that we could easily take the city boats to explore the sites. It was our favourite mode of transport, as you can see so much of the city from the water.

We chose a hotel called The Myth – Sud Sathon, run by a family in a finely renovated building with more than 100 years of history. They offer a freshly cooked breakfast menu consisting of Thai classics and international breakfast staples for around €24 ($28) per person per night.

We returned to Bangkok a second time a couple of weeks later and spent a night near Khaosan Road, as our shuttle bus was set to depart from there. This was a wholly different experience – the area seemed to be extremely touristy, with many bars, shops and restaurants around, mostly catering towards tourists. The overall feel of the area was much shadier (not dangerous, though). We are glad that this was not our first impression of the city as we felt like we would have left with a much less positive experience overall.

Here, we booked the Roof View Place; they have clean, cozy and affordable rooms in a quiet street, yet not too far from the action. The freshly prepared breakfast was really delicious! We were also considering the Squirrel House near Lumphini Park with good metro access, and the Yellow Ribbon Hills, an apartment-style hotel with gym access.

Hotels with rooftop pools overlooking the city are also very popular. If your budget allows, definitely check them out, as they are very affordable and offer great amenities!

Transportation

Bangkok has a comprehensive public transport network consisting of the BTS Skytrain, the MRT subway, multiple river boat lines and an extensive bus network. The affordable public system is complemented by Grab, the ubiquitous ride-hailing app in South East Asia. Bus fares range between 8-25 Baht (€0,20-€0,70), a metro ride will set you back around 21-71 Baht (€0,55-€1,98), while a single ticket for the boat costs around 30 Baht (€0,80). The system is integrated into Google Maps, so navigation is not really an issue.

We mostly used the river boats, given the proximity of the ferry pier near our hotel. It is a great way to travel along the river quickly, passing by the ever-growing traffic jams during the day. Even if you don’t necessarily need to take the ferry, we would recommend taking it at least once during your visit nevertheless – you will discover a completely different side of the city from the river. A colourful mix of old and new buildings lines up along the waterfront, and you might even have a chance to zoom by the impressive Iconsiam, a luxury shopping mall with stunning architecture. The ferries depart roughly every 15 minutes.

We traded the bus and the subway for Grab this time around. It is so much more affordable than any taxi offering in Western countries, and if you can divide the costs between you and your group, the price is unbeatable. You will surely get stuck in a traffic jam at some point, but oh well, you might as well view this as a slow sightseeing opportunity. 😀

Food & Restaurants

Bangkok is a paradise for food lovers. You can find not only the Thai classics but also many restaurants serving international cuisine. No matter the budget, you will be well fed; there are many street markets, which present a great opportunity to sample a lot of different things, be it simple mango sticky rice, Taiwanese-style bubble tea or even a juicy burger.

The city also has many popular rooftop bars such as lebua at State Tower (featured in the movie The Hangover 2) and Seen Rooftop Bar at the Avani Riverside Bangkok Hotel. We did not check them out this time, given some restrictions on our budget, but will definitely return at some point to indulge in some nighttime activities!

Here are some of the places we really liked during our visit:

• Coffee Roaster by li-bra-ry: located in the Warehouse 30 contemporary art complex, they serve delicious coffee and cake in a cool industrial setting. Also a nice place to get some work done on your laptop. Location

• Favour Café: a super cute café with unique decoration, serving not only coffee but warm dishes too! Location

• Zaozen Tomyum Noodle: a simple restaurant specialising in Tom Yum noodle. Very delicious! Location

• Baan Suan Sathon: an ultimate Instagram café & restaurant located in a big space with plenty of outdoor seating opportunities featuring a koi pond, waterfall, little jungle, paradise birds and sculptures. There are a couple of popular cafés like this in the country, so it was interesting to check one out. The greenery and steam blown around the café create a dreamy, mystical atmosphere (if you ignore the influencer photo session at the table next to you). Location

• Chinatown: while our choice of restaurant was not the best here, there are many restaurants and street food stalls in the area. You can simply try wandering around until you find something you fancy – there is no shortage of options here. Location

• There is a food court next to Central Bangrak mall (near our hotel) with many local and international options that we definitely recommend visiting if you are staying in the area. We tried some delicious spicy duck noodles there. There is a night market in the Charoen Krung 50 Alley right next to the mall too. Location

• Hia Yong: a fun find! A tiny, unassuming, family-run restaurant offering Thai classics and cold beer. Not a fancy-looking place, but the food here was excellent. You can even watch the (half-) naked chef conjure up the most delicious pad see ew in his wok! Location