Visiting Bangkok
According to pretty much any survey you consult, Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is right up there on the list of most visited cities. It is a national and regional transport hub so to put those statistics in perspective, most visitors heading anywhere in Thailand can hardly avoid at least passing through Bangkok while a stopover at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is equally unavoidable on route to neighbouring destinations such as Laos and Cambodia. Among those visitors however, we do run into quite a few who can’t wait to get out and there may be a temptation to book a connecting flight to Chiang Mai, Samui or Luang Prabang but after your 12-hour (that’s if it’s direct) flight from Europe – or far worse from North America – do you really want another 3-hour wait in the airport followed by yet another flight? Better to chill out for a couple of days – see what Bangkok has to offer – and move on refreshed to other parts. Below then are a few tips on visiting Bangkok.
If it’s your first visit, then Bangkok’s sheer size may come as a surprise; the city is huge. central Bangkok is estimated to contain some 9 million people, while the greater Bangkok Metropolitan District weighs in with an estimated 17.5 million. It is then sprawling, congested, noisy and hectic and while – unlike 17.5 million other people – you might not want to live there, it is also a fascinating, exciting and vibrant metropolis to explore and we’d even go so far as to say that Samuel Johnson’s famous quote, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”, could equally be applied to Bangkok.
However, when you step out of the air-conditioned airport concourse and the heat and humidity hit you, compounding your jet lag from a 12-hour flight, it can seem a bit much and that quote may well go out of the cab window; especially when your Thailand travel plans perhaps mainly envisaged lazing on a tropical beach on a southern island or mooching around the mountains and forests of northern Thailand.
While a city lover could find enough varied things to see and do in Bangkok to keep them busy for weeks, most visits to the city tend to be in the form of 2 or 3 days at best, tagged on to either the beginning or end of a Thailand tour. To get the best from visiting Bangkok, particularly on a short visit, and avoid that overwhelmed sensation, the timing and pace of your stay are going to be all-important.
Definitely a city of contrasts What not to do when visiting Bangkok
Bangkok is home to dozens of museums, hundreds of temples and palaces and numerous street markets not to mention several of the World’s largest and fanciest malls. You’re not going to see them all and don’t try to. In our opinion, the last thing you should do would be to rush around trying to tick too many sites off an unrealistically lengthy list; that’ll wear anyone out and you probably won’t enjoy any of them anyway. It’s hot and sticky at any time of the year, you’re likely to be sleep-deprived and this is not the time and place to attempt to hit the ground running.
Plan a conservative list of ‘must-sees’ for the following day then half it. The Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Po and Wat Arun are the most famous sites in the central, historic district, but, stunning as they are, they will inevitably be crowded, occasionally stressful – (if you do run into one of Bangkok’s infamous dodgy tuk-tuk drivers or faux guides, outside the Palace is the most likely place) – and above all energy-sapping.
Also, bear in mind that rushing around from site to site means a lot of taxi or train fares, sitting in jams in the first case and a lot of time spent consulting Google Maps. The entrance fees and taxi fares are cheap by European standards but they would mount up for say a family of four.
So, keep your programme realistic and don’t try and do too much.
Market vendor, Thewet, Bangkok See and do in Bangkok
If you arrived in the morning then plan to do little or nothing for the rest of the day. Relax by the pool, try out a Thai massage, sample a cold Singha Beer or two and have an early night to recharge your batteries for the following day.
If some of the above-mentioned popular sites are on your list then get to them as early as possible. It’s less hot and there are fewer people. Bear in mind the National Museum is across the road from the Palace and Wat Phra Kaew and is air-conditioned, generally quiet and displays some fascinating exhibits so makes for a great break. Make sure you have plenty of drink stops and don’t hesitate to try local cafes – they’re better, cheaper, more fun and you’re also helping to spread the tourist dollar around.
If you do find yourself wilting in the late morning or early afternoon, then don’t force things. Grab a cab back to the hotel, recharge with a siesta, another massage or another dip and head back out later. A lot of areas (e.g. Banglamphu or Chinatown), are best visited late afternoon or evening anyway.
Canal-side cafe in Banglamphu So, what to do on your Bangkok visit? Keep your pace leisurely and flexible and include plenty of breaks for noodles, fruit juices and the wonderful, local-style iced coffees.
Bangkok walking tours
The city’s a classic mixture of old and new; of busy, state-of-the-art malls and skyscraper-lined, congested boulevards as well as mazes of traditional, narrow back streets and pavement market stalls. Prathu Nam and Siam Square are nearly door-to-door shopping centres separated only by overhead Skytrain lines; Sathorn is all steel and glass banks and offices but certain areas such as Banglamphu, Chinatown or Talart Noi are old-style, undeveloped, low-rise, labyrinths of alleys and canals lying right in the city centre. Surprisingly, much of central Bangkok is ideally suited to walking tours.
Nothing better after all those hours on a cramped plane than to hit the streets and in our experience, that creates a ‘good tiredness’ as opposed to what we find the rather stressful effects of all that queuing and trudging around in museums and palaces. It’s still hot of course but you can stop where and when you want, and you’re never going to be far from a cafe or coffee stand in Bangkok. You can find some very good planned Bangkok walking tours online and in Chinatown, for instance, Bangkok authorities have even erected some Heritage Walking Tour signs but you hardly need that. Just get yourself to an interesting street or district and wander whichever way you fancy.
You can’t get very lost and bear in mind that Bangkok is far safer than most European or North American cities. You’ll certainly see more interesting and unusual sights than you would in any temple or museum and you’ll also gain a far better feel for the real Bangkok.
Our favourite areas for a wander are, in no particular order; Chinatown and Little India, Talart Noi, Charoen Krung Road and north Banglamphu, all of which are easily reached by the Chao Phraya Express Boats. (Stops/piers are respectively: Rajawong, Harbour Department, Oriental, and Pra Athit to Thewet for a Banglamphu walk.)
Street art near Thalart Noi Getting Around when visiting Bangkok
The City’s transport system has improved a lot over recent times and you now have the choice of the overhead Skytrain or underground Metro along with river and canal boats, buses and of course taxis and tuk-tuks for visiting Bangkok. The Metro is good but lacks the Skytrain’s views while both, of course, avoid traffic jams. Canal boats are fun although the service is more limited than the Chao Phraya Express Boats. Again, traffic isn’t an issue but both services can get very busy during rush hour. Overall all 4 systems are fast and cheap and ought to be your primary go-to forms of transport. (Note for the Chao Phraya boats you don’t need the special ‘tourist boats’ – regular ones are fine.)
City bus services are comprehensive but not really orientated towards overseas visitors and are hard to work out with most info posted in Thai only. (Including bus destinations.) The airport bus services are worthwhile – as long as you don’t try during peak times of the day – and connect Sukhumvit, Sathorn, Banglamphu and most major tourist centres to both Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airports.
Metre-taxis are ubiquitous and generally ok but ride-sharing apps such as Grab are arguably more reliable and slightly cheaper. (Grab is the most popular but there are several alternatives.)
Regrettably, tuk-tuks are the last of our visiting Bangkok transport options. Bangkok tuk-tuk scams are notorious and while you can’t tar all drivers with the same brush, a worryingly high number of those who frequent tourist hot spots such as Khao San Road or the Grand Palace are…for want of a better word, dodgy. Even when not trying to take you to a jewellery store for commission, their rates are no less than taxis anyway so, for the uninitiated and non-Thai speakers, they’re best avoided.
The Chao Phraya River Some of our Favourite Bangkok Sights
As you’d imagine a city of this size does have something for everybody so compiling any kind of list is a tricky one. As you may have gathered just walking around and taking in the fascinating street scenes, vibrant street life and of course, awesome street food is our favourite thing to do when visiting Bangkok but then we have seen most of the famous sites already. We would say if you’re keen to go to the Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaew then go early or don’t bother – it just gets too crowded. Nearby Wat Po is generally a lot quieter and in our opinion, equally impressive. Wat Arun – the Temple of the Dawn – on the opposite bank of the river is best seen after dark and from a boat so, with limited time, we’d skip that, stay on the boat and get out a few stops further on at Chinatown. The unusual Jim Thompson House Museum is worth a look, particularly as it lies next to the canal so can be combined with a boat trip, which is worth doing in its own right. The start of the boat line is at the Golden Mount which does provide some good sunset views although we’d recommend going to Jim Thompson House earlier rather than later.
We haven’t got enough space to cover the farther out popular sites such as the floating markets, the railway market et al and city malls, markets, shopping centres etc would need an entire blog post on their own. We’ll just mention Chatuchak, the Weekend Market, which is great for a stroll and eating/grazing as well as shopping and is relatively easily accessed by Skytrain although it’s also huge so count a full morning for a visit.
The famous, and slightly hair-raising, “Railway Market’ will have to be for another post Visiting Bangkok with All Points East
Our All Points East Thailand menu includes a Bangkok day tour which includes some of the lesser-known as well as the famous sites plus a more in-depth, 4-day Bangkok Behind the Scenes tour which takes in some of the aforementioned out of town sites such as Amphawa, the iconic Railway Market and so on as well as walking tours in the city centre and the historic sites of Rattanakosin.
