I started this year with a very special trip across Southeast Asia covering Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore with my mom. Well, it was supposed to be with the full family but my brother and father had some last minute work come up so they couldn’t join us. Hence, it was just the two of us. Have I ever mentioned that I love traveling with my mom? We have been to London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco together (just the two of us) and I really enjoy showing her around my favorite places in those cities. However, things were different this time since both of us were traveling to places neither of us had been :).   

When people think of Thailand, they think of the beaches and waters of Phuket and Koh Samui. If you were to do a simple Google Image Search with “Thailand” you will see that. It’s weird that despite being the capital city, Bangkok hardly gets the attention it deserves. Bangkok has so much to offer from the tall skyscrapers, bad traffic, hot and humid weather, vibrant nightlife to numerous palaces, temples, canals and busy markets – there is something for every kind of traveler. It should definitely be on your list as a destination in Thailand and not just a stopover. If you know me by now, you know that I really like to visit a lot of places in a short amount of time and this trip was no exception. I tried to see what this city to had to offer in a span of a day and a half. And I am sure that I barely scratched the surface.

How long to stay

We were there for a day and half before making our way to Pattaya. I know, that’s not enough time to see everything. So much for planning a last minute trip covering 3 countries. In hindsight, I would recommend spending at least 2-3 days in Bangkok before moving to other cities in Thailand.

Getting here and getting around

If you are flying in from abroad, chances are you will be entering Thailand via Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. It’s a swanky (relatively) new airport with flight connections to all over the world and offering every single amenity you expect from a world class airport. Well, everything except for one main thing – an efficient immigration system. Having been to over 30+ countries, I am usually forgiving of immigration queues worldwide and anticipate things to take anywhere between 15 mins to 1 hour. But Thailand’s immigration process has to be the worst I have ever experienced. Here is the whole story: So, Indians are eligible for Visa on Arrival for Thailand. I tried filling in the online form beforehand which would reduce our time at the airport but the form didn’t seem to go through. I tried different days and different browsers but nothing was successful. Giving up, I decided to try our luck by standing in the queue at the airport when we land. Think what’s wrong with that? Wait. They don’t take credit or debit cards for payments for processing your Visa. You have to pay in Cash. And that too Thai currency only. I spent some time withdrawing cash at the ATM in the airport only to find out that they have waived the VOA fees around the holidays (no mention of that on their website). Then comes the actual visa processing. Usually, for countries that give or process “Visa on Arrival”, you just take your passport to immigration officer who will look at the passport and any other documents or ask you questions and then stamp your passport and let you in. But, Thailand works in a very weird manner. First, you have to queue up (is it even a queue if people are all over the place and proceeding in haphazard fashion?) to get the “Visa on Arrival”. Once you get the visa on Arrival, then you need to queue up again to get Immigration done. I thought this was the most stupid immigration process I have ever seen. Why can’t the one immigration officer do both? That’s how it is usually done in other Visa on arrival countries. The lines were so long and processing was so slow that it took us over 4 hours from the time we landed to the time we exited the airport. This was longer than the flight time from Lucknow, India to Bangkok, Thailand. Lol.

You can use public transportation to take you from the airport to downtown but it only runs between 6 am – midnight. Since it was only (sarcasm) 5 am by the time we got our bags, I had no energy left to wait for the train so we ended up taking a “Grab” taxi to our hotel. Yes, there is no Uber in Thailand. In fact, no Uber in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Make sure you download the Grab app on your phone before you travel to hail taxi when in Thailand. If you don’t have the app on your phone, good luck not getting ripped off by the exorbitant rate the local taxi drivers try to charge you. I will write another article on tips, tricks and things to watch out for in Bangkok covering popular tourist scams.

Apparently, Bangkok has a decent public transportation based on what I had read online. However, when I got to the city and started exploring, I didn’t find any efficient routes on the Google Maps app. There was no metro near our hotel and all the attractions we wanted to visit. Since we had already lost significant amount of time because of the immigration disaster, we just chose to take Grab and tuk tuk everywhere. I know, so much for blogging about “Living the good life on a budget” – Well, in my defence, the grab prices were really cheap compared to what I am used to paying America and Europe. I totally get it if this isn’t the case for you. If you are planning to rely on the BTS skytrain, metro and airport link for getting around Bangkok, I would recommend looking up the cheapest option for your trip based on your plans. You get to choose from a day pass, number of trips or reloadable value card which is pay as you go. Also, keep in mind that they only take cash for purchasing the tickets. As a tourist, it is very likely that you will only be using the BTS skytrain. There is also an option to take boats if you are hitting up bunch of temples near the river area. At one point, I remember my Grab driver didn’t show up and we were short on time so we ended up taking Tuk-Tuk which was available nearby. Driving is a nightmare in Bangkok and I would totally avoid it.

Where to stay

If you have been following my blog all this while, you know how much I love Airbnb. However, Thailand is one of the few countries where you can indulge in luxury hotels without breaking a bank. In fact, throughout my trip, we stayed at 4-5 star hotels that were less than $50-80/ night. This is, infact, cheaper than some of the options in my home country of India. Based on my research and actual experience, there are lot of nice neighborhoods that you can choose to stay in: Siam Square, Sukhumvit, and Silom. We stayed at the Novotel in Silom paying $76/night.

What to buy

Bangkok has become popular as a shopping destination in the recent years. This is because all the major brands from all over the world have opened stores in this city and the currency is relatively weaker compared to other major currencies. Before you go crazy spending all the money on designer brands, be wary of all the fakes that the market is flooded with.

Thailand, in general, is known for their gemstones. If you are planning on buying some gems, be sure to visit a good store (never trust your taxi drivers, tuk-tuk drivers to take you to good stores) that will give you real authentic stuff rather than the fake ones. Google “Thailand gem scam” to read what I am talking about.

What to see or do

I know, I usually don’t tell people what to pack when visiting a city but I need to make an exception: Bangkok will be hot and humid no matter what time of the year you visit. Even when I was visiting in January, I was sweating like a pig. It may be more comfortable to roam around in sleeveless tops and shorts but beware that you may be refused entry into temples. Grand Palace and other temples enforce a really strict dress code and refuse entry if you don’t comply. You don’t want to be shun away from these attractions so make sure you dress conservatively but are wearing breathable fabric like linen.

A lot of tourist attractions in Bangkok are located in Old Bangkok area aka Rattanakosin. Once you make your way to this area, it is possible to walk to nearby places or do a quick and cheap Tuk-Tuk/Grab ride. Here are some of the things I saw and would recommend:

Grand Palace

You can spend a really long amount of time here if you want to. It does cost 500 THB to enter so make sure you spend enough time seeing everything inside. It’s huge complex of buildings containing temples and is still used for official/government events and ceremonies. Inside the palace grounds you will find Wat Phra Kaew which is supposed to be the most sacred Buddhist temple of Thailand. The area is filled with super well decorated holy buildings and monuments. Be sure to check out the Emerald Buddha statue inside.

Wat Pho

This temple is home to world’s largest reclining Buddha statue. It’s located next to Grand Palace and is cheaper to visit – it’s only 200 THB to enter. 

Wat Arun

This has to be Thailand’s most picturesque temple. So much so, that it has become the cover photo of Thai tourism and is engraved on the inner part of all the 10 THB coins. Definitely worth visiting.

Golden Buddha temple

This temple is dedicated to Golden Buddha. Sure, it’s not as huge as Wat Pho or Wat Arun, but then there is no entry free too.

Wat Benchamabophit

Marble temple aka Wat Benchamabophit, one of the best known temples of Bangkok that is built with Italian Carrara Marble. You can see the city’s ornate style of high gables, stepped out roofs and elaborate finials here. It’s free to visit so you should definitely make a stop here when you’re exploring Bangkok.

Siam Niramit Show

If you know me, you know I love performing arts. And this has to be my favorite cultural performance in Bangkok. The show consists of 150 performers who depict the history, dance and culture of each region of Thailand. Featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest stage production in the world, this 3 Act show is worth every Baht you will still spend. Even though the show starts at 8 pm, but make sure to go there a couple of hours early to enjoy the pre-show attractions covering Thai way to life in bygone time. Although it is possible to find tickets the day of, I would recommend booking it online beforehand. You can also look for promotion code to save you some money as it is not the cheapest attraction in Thailand. 

Safari World

This is the farthest of all the attractions in Bangkok so make sure you budget in extra time for getting to and from here. To be honest with you, if you aren’t into exotic animals or outdoor safari, you will not enjoy it. The 8 KM stretch that takes 45 minutes to cover at Safari Park is filled with all the exotic animals you can think of. The best part – the animals are free to roam freely, it’s you who needs to proceed with caution. You have the choice of taking your own car on the route or you can just take the tour on their bus which leaves every 10 mins.

What to eat

I love Thai food. It has to be in my top 3 favorite cuisines of all times. But so far, the only Thai food I had was in India, US and some European countries. I can’t comment on whether the Thai food I loved was the authentic one or each country’s own interpretation of Thai food. Hence, I was very excited to try how the authentic Thai food tasted compared to what I had been enjoying so far.

Thai food varies so much from region to region in the country. I will try to cover the dishes that are local to the Bangkok area that you must try:

Som tam  

I am not gonna lie that I had no idea that this was the real name of the dish I had been calling “Thai Papaya salad” all my life. It is a spicy salad made from shredded and pounded raw papaya.

Massaman curry

I am a sucker for good Thai curries. My absolute favorite is Panang curry but Massaman comes to a close second. This is a great Thai curry for folks who haven’t tried Thai food yet. It’s delicious.

Khao niew and kai yang

This is a Thai staple dish – sticky rice and grilled chicken.

Satay

Chicken Satay is my “always gotta have one” dish every time I visit any Thai restaurant. It makes for the perfect appetizer. I was delighted to see that this is the most popular street food in Thailand. You can see the vendors on the street selling chicken satay for 5-10 THB with hot sauce and you can eat as much as you want. If this isn’t healthy snacking goals, I don’t know what is.

Pad Thai

One of Thailand’s national dish and a personal favorite of mine. These stir-fried noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice and red chilli pepper make for a fantastic dinner or lunch. You can add chicken or Shrimp to it if you want more protein.

Khao Man Kai

This is a bowl of flavored chicken soup served with rice, sliced chicken and cucumber. Make sure to add the side sauces to get the extra kick.

Kanom Roti

Thai’s take on crepes. These are filled with sweetened condensed milk, sugar and bananas.

Tong Yip

These flower shaped egg yolk tarts are one of the most popular dessert in the region. Thong means gold which represents reputation and prosperity. In Thai culture, people believe that gold will bring something good in your life. And Thong Yip means picking gold. So you can think about the good luck all these calories will bring in your life.

Khanom Chan

This is Thai Jello. Baked in 9 layers because the number 9 represents affluence in Thai.

I know I barely saw the tip of the iceberg in such a short amount of time in Bangkok. What are your favorite things to see, do, eat and drink ? Do you have tips and tricks that would help someone visiting the city in the future ?