Bangkok(Thailand): One Month

March 2018

We’ve decided to spend a month each year in one place, and Bangkok(BKK) was our first stop. We had been to BKK(population: 8.2 million) several times and always thought we should spend a little more time there.

Food. If you ask me to name the single most memorable thing about BKK, I’d say food. Thai people know what to do with the abundant ingredients they have.

Where we stayed:

What made this decision so easy was the fact that we had free housing. A friend offered us her two bedroom condo for free. The area where we stayed is called Suan Luang, mainly a residential area off this map on the east side toward the main international airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport.

This condo had been built while our friend was a college student in Bangkok, before she came to the U.S. for a graduate program many years ago. It is just a 5 minute walk to a big shopping mall called “9 Center” on Rama 9 Blvd. where there are a food court, a super market, restaurants and shops.

What we ate:

One thing interesting about this apartment: there was no kitchen. In Thailand, a kitchen is optional and up to the owner of a condominium to install it. Being a college kid, our friend did not bother. But we did not find it to be a problem.

The food court opened at 8 AM. We went there almost every morning, picked up our fresh juice, usually mango($1.50), and chose our breakfast ($1-2) from endless options. Everything we tried was delicious.

Right below our unit was a restaurant whose name we never learned because it was written only in Thai. They had excellent food, and we never got tired of eating there. Best chicken wings ever! Most items on the menu cost about $1.50-3, and nothing was over $5. Despite of lack of a common language, they always understood us perfectly.

There are so many great restaurants in BKK. Almost all the restaurants we set foot into were pretty good no matter how cheap or expensive. A meal for two, including a beer or two, would typically cost us from $5 to $20. A few times at a fancy restaurant, we’d spend $30-40. There were super fancy hotel restaurants and such, but we did not feel the need to go to them.

One particular restaurant we really liked, even though we were not vegetarians, was a vegetarian restaurant, May Kaidee. You don’t even notice what you are eating is meatless. It is hidden in an alley not too far from Khao San Road, a bit tricky to find. They have a cooking school on the premise, and there is a branch in Chiang Mai and New York City according to their website.

What we did:

Of all the things we did in Bangkok, what we miss the most now is: the massage. In our condo complex, there were two strong Thai ladies providing one of the very best massages we’ve ever had! We could get an hour of blissful relaxation for 200 Baht($6.50). These ladies meant business: they worked hard on you. You do not get this in a tourist area. They were so good that we always tipped them 100 Baht, and the whole cost each session under $10.

The weather in Bangkok tends to be hot to super hot. Thus, we could not go out all day. We would pick a spot and go there, spend a couple of hours, then come home. We had 9 friends visiting us during our stay, so we had to show them around. When we were alone, we visited mostly night markets or neighborhood local markets.

Swimming can be a welcoming activity in BKK for obvious reasons. Some hotels offer day passes for non hotel guests to use their pool, and our favorite was Anantara Riverside Resort(day pass: $15) which had a nice big pool and a very spacious outdoor jacuzzi. We eventually discovered that there was a swimming pool sitting right on top of our condo building, and it was always empty. Too bad we did not have enough time left in BKK by then.

Bangkok is not an indoor museum kind of a place: it’s more of a being there and feel it place. Modern high rise buildings dot the skyline with old Thai architecture sprouting out unexpectedly all over town. People are gentle and treat you nicely. One month went by quite quickly.

shopping:

We are not big shoppers and we like to carry as little as possible when we travel. In BKK, we always found super bargains in aloha shirts and t shirts at night markets. There were some clothing shops in the Pratunam Market area specializing in slightly imperfect items made in South Korea, and their prices were unbelievably cheap for well-made goods. In our area, there was a night market at the parking lot of Rajamangala National Stadium. It was a smaller market but had enough food and clothing items to browse.

In general, bargains are every where in the city. If you see something you like, just grab it. You may not remember where you saw it later on. Haggling is almost expected, but many shops do have price tags nowadays. We are not good at haggling and most items were inexpensive, so we did not try it much. If we felt a price was too high we would simply walk away.

The Chatuchak weekend market was a great trove of treasures. We had to make room in our suitcases for the impulse buys we made there. It is a bit overwhelming with 15,000 stalls selling everything from food to antiques. It was fun even just to walk around.

Out of town trips:

Thailand has so many places to visit. As a 1,800 year old country, there are tons of historical sites, and then there are lots of ocean side towns and islands.

We took overnight trips to Ayutthaya(an old capital, 1 night, by train), Kanchanaburi & River Kwai(a resort town near the WWII sites, 1 night, by bus), Hua Hin & Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park(a beach town and a natural wonder, 3 nights, hired a driver/van), and Chiang Mai(2nd biggest metropolitan area in Thailand with lots of temples, 3 nights, by plane).

Getting in:

We flew from LAX to BKK via Chengdu, China, on China Eastern Airlines($405, R/T) Cheapest tickets tend to be on a China based airline, and you will have to go through an airport in China. Seoul(South Korea), Hong Kong, Singapore are other cities from where one can find a cheap flight to BKK.

Getting around:

taxi: from our area to the center of town cost around $5-10, depending on traffic, which, could be pretty bad. Within the center, it was $2-3. Grab(like Uber) was readily available & a bit cheaper at times.

metro: there are Skytrain and MRT in Bangkok, but our area was not served by these systems, thus, we did not use them much.

tuktuk: you negotiate the price before getting on, and the drivers tend to charge the tourists much more simply because they know they can. Because of this, tuktuks can be more expensive than cabs in Bangkok. Tuktuks are not all the same size, however. And many tuktuk drivers are willing to cram in more than 4 people. We used it to have our group of 5 together.

car hire: we found that hiring a van service(car+driver) made sense for out of town travel for a group of more than 4 people. We used two different companies, and they all had nice cars and great driver who arrived on time. (1)BKK to Hua Hin and back:4,200 baht, (2) Hua Hin to Sam Yoi Rot and back: 2,500 baht. Both companies offered BKK to Hua Hin  and the Sam Yot Rot transfers, but each had a different price. We chose the local company for each segment.

water taxi: Hopping on Chao Praya River Express Boat  and ferries is one of our favorite things to do whenever we are in BKK. Many of the major sites in BKK are located along the river, and you can get a really nice view from the boat. It costs from about 35 cents to $1.30, s  you can combine different lines to get to where you want to go. Or there’s a day pass for about $3.30.  We usually take our visiting friends on a city tour starting from Sathorn(Taksin) Pier on the east side of the river. (3rd from the bottom)

A new method of waterway travel we discovered was the canal shuttle. We found a stop(Ramkhamhaeng University, the 6th stop from the right) in our general area on this shuttle service, and it was faster than a cab to get to downtown during the traffic hours . The collector counted the stops you want to travel & charged you 2 baht per a stop. With lots of people getting on and off all the time, she/he remembered who paid for what. Amazing!  You can’t quite call it scenic due to the color of water and fact that you are cruising along seeing the uglier backside of houses and buildings, but it is a unique, local experience. The thick plastic “window” goes up and down manually, and whoever is sitting closest to a pulling handle is in charge of this operation. What an important responsibility! You will know what I mean when you try this shuttle.

bus: Our area was not served well by the bus lines, but there were “songthaews.” These are basically a pick up truck with a canvas cover and benches, and they act like mini buses serving designated local areas. In BKK, these have route numbers, and each route has a different price. We paid 6 baht(20 cents) to go from our condo to a local market area 15 minutes away. It started from a small parking area in front of our condo, thus, we always had a seat. It left when there were enough customers, and you paid the driver when you got off.

communication:

Our condo was sitting empty until we arrived. This meant there was no WiFi and no phone. We went to a local mobile store in the “9 Center” and got a SIM card that was good for 4 GB of data plus some local calls for a month for about $15. We could add money for more calls at 7-11 stores. Using my phone as a hot spot, others could get online.

budget:

We spent about $1,000 for food and shopping, $500 for domestic travels, and $405 x 2 for the international flights.

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