I just spent a most awesome week in Bangkok. The food was good, the hotel was fantastic and the people were really friendly. I really had so much fun and I can not wait to go back there again.
I took a flight at seven in the morning on the first day. As it was new years' there were not many people on the flight, and we got assigned a seat next to the emergency escape (read, extra leg room). We landed at about 10 and took a train to Paya Thai station, which costs about 40 baht. From there we took a taxi to our hotel in Makksan, soi wattanawong, Tango living place. It was the most fantastic hotel, at a very affordable $50 a day. It even comes with one hour of free Internet everyday. The sheets were very clean, rooms were spacious and very beautiful, and it is within walking distance to two MRT lines as well as a whole bunch of massage parlours and street vendors. After checking in, we took a train to the Chatuchak weekend market. Fifteen thousand shops, covering thirty five acres of land, it is cheap shopping heaven. The design of the place was very much like wu fen pu in Taipei, with small shops arranged in so many rows it is practically impossible to find your way back to a store once you have walked past it. As the sun set, we made our way to Patpong night market for more shopping. Unfortunately, Patpong very much caters to tourists, especially Caucasian ones, and the prices are ridiculously high as compared to Chatuchak. There were also touts all over the place trying to get us to watch the world-famous thai-girl shows. Patpong consists of two parallel streets, as well as the main roads that connect the two streets. The first street is as I have just described. However, the second street is just filled entirely with dark murky bars and loud music. Venture there only if you are feeling adventurous. Overall, patpong was an overcommercialised disappointment. Its only saving grace was the stewed pig trotter rice across the road. Thai food never fails to disappoint and this dish is probably my favourite one in Bangkok. Anyone who is going there has got to try it.
The second day was designed as a cultural and heritage day. We first made our way to The Grad Palace, next to Wat Phra Kaew, or the temple of the emerald Buddha. It was so jam-packed with people and cars that we abandoned our taxi a few streets away and walked over. They do not allow ladies to wear shorts there and will charge you 50 baht for a skirt to wrap around your body. There is an additional 50 baht deposit which you can claim from any vendor at the exit. It took about two hours to visit the temple, make offerings, and then walk over to the grand palace for a short stroll. After the temple visit, we took a tut tut over to the ratchadamnoen boxing stadium for a muay thai match. Here is a tip: The touts outside will know you are foreigners and push you to buy the first-class ring side seats for 2000 baht. They will claim that you don't get a good view at the second and third class sections and you will not get to seat down. That is a lie. The best experience in my opinion will be to get the second class tickets. There will usually not be a full capacity crowd on a given day, and you will get to have a seat. Also, it allows you to get the full muay thai experience as there is a lot of betting going on there and emotions run high. If you make your way to the front of the section, you also get the best view of the fight as you are at the same level as the ring. On the first-class seats on the other hand, you do not get the same sense of excitement and the view is frankly not as good. However, on the chance that you decide to just go for the first class seats, it is possible to bargain your way down to 1600 baht for the entry. This is only 100 baht more than the ticket for second class. The programme goes on for about four to five hours, but it is better to come midway through the programme as the earlier fights usually are between kids of about 12 years of age and are pretty boring. We rounded the day off by visiting Chinatown. It felt great to be able to talk with the vendors and people around you normally. That place is chock full of stalls selling birds nest and sharks fin soup. I have no idea why that is so popular there.
On our third day, we went to the eastern bus terminal and took a bus east to Pattaya. The ticket costs 113 baht, which is way cheaper than the 1500 baht to hire a taxi there. Once there, there is a 30 baht tuk tuk ride which you have to share with other tourists to get to the beach side. You can visit the tourist information centre to book a hotel, but the hotel list they have is either not complete, or certain hotels are paying them to advertise. The lowest rate I found there was about 1400 baht a night, but we were able to find a host of 650 baht and 950 baht hotels a short walk away from the beach, right behind the walking street. Prices there are touristy too, but can be bargained down to more reasonable levels. Massages are about 200 baht for a Thai massage, which is only 50 baht more than the cheapest near our hotel in Bangkok. The south beach of Pattaya is were the most action is at as it is right next to the walking street, a street that transforms into a bevy of bars, pubs and clubs at night. They close off the street from cars so you can just stroll anywhere you want and soak in the atmosphere.
Pattaya was so awesome that we stayed there till late afternoon on the fourth day. Did a facial and bought a pair of sunnies. Chilled on the beach with beef noodles and a nice cold coconut watching people jet ski around. It was late by the time we took the 2hour ride back to Bangkok and we visited only one small night market before heading home.
The fifth day found me at the snake farm, inside the Thai red cross institute. There was a 200baht entrance fee, which includes a snake show at 2.30pm. After that, you can wonder around the various exhibition of some of the most beautiful snakes around. Went to MBK in the evening for more shopping fun. Did not shop much though, for some reason. I guess I have not had the full experience of shopping in Thailand this time around.
The sixth day was a tour day. Left bright and early at 7.30 in the morning for the floating markets of damnoen saduak. The tour included a paid-for boat which took us around the canals, stopping at any riverside stall that caught our fancy. Spent quite a bit there as it is certainly a novel experience floating from store to store. Next we continued on the bus to pick up our guide, who took us to the tiger temple. To me, this was the highlight of the trip. The tiger sanctuary had about forty tigers and we got to take pictures with practically all of them. In addition to tigers, there were wild boars, deers and water buffaloes, all just hanging and chilling. It is only when you get up close to these big cats that you fully appreciate their majesty and get a sense of their raw power. They are just magnificent to watch. Took a ton of photos before we left for the next destination: lunch. Remember to watch what you eat and know what can or cannot be ordered when they say that lunch is 'inclusive'. It usually just means a certain amount that you can order that the tour guide will pay for. Headed off to the elephant jungle trek in Saiyok. That camp is somehow very attractive to Russians, and I amused my self by humming the tune to the trololo song near them. Then it was back into the bus and to the bridge over the river kwai and the tour was concluded. At night, we visited mansion 7, located at 14 Ratchadaphisek Road. It was a mall with a really interesting and novel concept. Really an indie mall, which has the strangest things going on. A haunted house, weirdly shaped pool tables, live bands and a really really good mango smoothie defined the place. This place is a must see, if not to shop, but to gawk.
Day seven took us back to Chatuchak as well as to Pratunam shopping centre for some last minute shopping, and also where we experienced some racism in our favour. Noticing that the shop owners were mainland Chinese,
Me: ke yi pian yi yi dian ma?
Owner 1: Zhong guo ren dang ran ke yi!
Owner 2: Ta men bu shi zhong gui ren.
Owner 1: Hua ren jiu ke yi!
Me: :)
Took a MRT back to the airport and had to run for our plane due to a crazy long queue at passport control. Remember to go in early next time.
So here it is, seven days in Bangkok. I have learnt so much and I cannot wait till I next get to see this beautiful, friendly city. It really makes a difference when you plan your own trip and see everything at the local level. It certainly a wonderful cultural experience.
I took a flight at seven in the morning on the first day. As it was new years' there were not many people on the flight, and we got assigned a seat next to the emergency escape (read, extra leg room). We landed at about 10 and took a train to Paya Thai station, which costs about 40 baht. From there we took a taxi to our hotel in Makksan, soi wattanawong, Tango living place. It was the most fantastic hotel, at a very affordable $50 a day. It even comes with one hour of free Internet everyday. The sheets were very clean, rooms were spacious and very beautiful, and it is within walking distance to two MRT lines as well as a whole bunch of massage parlours and street vendors. After checking in, we took a train to the Chatuchak weekend market. Fifteen thousand shops, covering thirty five acres of land, it is cheap shopping heaven. The design of the place was very much like wu fen pu in Taipei, with small shops arranged in so many rows it is practically impossible to find your way back to a store once you have walked past it. As the sun set, we made our way to Patpong night market for more shopping. Unfortunately, Patpong very much caters to tourists, especially Caucasian ones, and the prices are ridiculously high as compared to Chatuchak. There were also touts all over the place trying to get us to watch the world-famous thai-girl shows. Patpong consists of two parallel streets, as well as the main roads that connect the two streets. The first street is as I have just described. However, the second street is just filled entirely with dark murky bars and loud music. Venture there only if you are feeling adventurous. Overall, patpong was an overcommercialised disappointment. Its only saving grace was the stewed pig trotter rice across the road. Thai food never fails to disappoint and this dish is probably my favourite one in Bangkok. Anyone who is going there has got to try it.
The second day was designed as a cultural and heritage day. We first made our way to The Grad Palace, next to Wat Phra Kaew, or the temple of the emerald Buddha. It was so jam-packed with people and cars that we abandoned our taxi a few streets away and walked over. They do not allow ladies to wear shorts there and will charge you 50 baht for a skirt to wrap around your body. There is an additional 50 baht deposit which you can claim from any vendor at the exit. It took about two hours to visit the temple, make offerings, and then walk over to the grand palace for a short stroll. After the temple visit, we took a tut tut over to the ratchadamnoen boxing stadium for a muay thai match. Here is a tip: The touts outside will know you are foreigners and push you to buy the first-class ring side seats for 2000 baht. They will claim that you don't get a good view at the second and third class sections and you will not get to seat down. That is a lie. The best experience in my opinion will be to get the second class tickets. There will usually not be a full capacity crowd on a given day, and you will get to have a seat. Also, it allows you to get the full muay thai experience as there is a lot of betting going on there and emotions run high. If you make your way to the front of the section, you also get the best view of the fight as you are at the same level as the ring. On the first-class seats on the other hand, you do not get the same sense of excitement and the view is frankly not as good. However, on the chance that you decide to just go for the first class seats, it is possible to bargain your way down to 1600 baht for the entry. This is only 100 baht more than the ticket for second class. The programme goes on for about four to five hours, but it is better to come midway through the programme as the earlier fights usually are between kids of about 12 years of age and are pretty boring. We rounded the day off by visiting Chinatown. It felt great to be able to talk with the vendors and people around you normally. That place is chock full of stalls selling birds nest and sharks fin soup. I have no idea why that is so popular there.
On our third day, we went to the eastern bus terminal and took a bus east to Pattaya. The ticket costs 113 baht, which is way cheaper than the 1500 baht to hire a taxi there. Once there, there is a 30 baht tuk tuk ride which you have to share with other tourists to get to the beach side. You can visit the tourist information centre to book a hotel, but the hotel list they have is either not complete, or certain hotels are paying them to advertise. The lowest rate I found there was about 1400 baht a night, but we were able to find a host of 650 baht and 950 baht hotels a short walk away from the beach, right behind the walking street. Prices there are touristy too, but can be bargained down to more reasonable levels. Massages are about 200 baht for a Thai massage, which is only 50 baht more than the cheapest near our hotel in Bangkok. The south beach of Pattaya is were the most action is at as it is right next to the walking street, a street that transforms into a bevy of bars, pubs and clubs at night. They close off the street from cars so you can just stroll anywhere you want and soak in the atmosphere.
Pattaya was so awesome that we stayed there till late afternoon on the fourth day. Did a facial and bought a pair of sunnies. Chilled on the beach with beef noodles and a nice cold coconut watching people jet ski around. It was late by the time we took the 2hour ride back to Bangkok and we visited only one small night market before heading home.
The fifth day found me at the snake farm, inside the Thai red cross institute. There was a 200baht entrance fee, which includes a snake show at 2.30pm. After that, you can wonder around the various exhibition of some of the most beautiful snakes around. Went to MBK in the evening for more shopping fun. Did not shop much though, for some reason. I guess I have not had the full experience of shopping in Thailand this time around.
The sixth day was a tour day. Left bright and early at 7.30 in the morning for the floating markets of damnoen saduak. The tour included a paid-for boat which took us around the canals, stopping at any riverside stall that caught our fancy. Spent quite a bit there as it is certainly a novel experience floating from store to store. Next we continued on the bus to pick up our guide, who took us to the tiger temple. To me, this was the highlight of the trip. The tiger sanctuary had about forty tigers and we got to take pictures with practically all of them. In addition to tigers, there were wild boars, deers and water buffaloes, all just hanging and chilling. It is only when you get up close to these big cats that you fully appreciate their majesty and get a sense of their raw power. They are just magnificent to watch. Took a ton of photos before we left for the next destination: lunch. Remember to watch what you eat and know what can or cannot be ordered when they say that lunch is 'inclusive'. It usually just means a certain amount that you can order that the tour guide will pay for. Headed off to the elephant jungle trek in Saiyok. That camp is somehow very attractive to Russians, and I amused my self by humming the tune to the trololo song near them. Then it was back into the bus and to the bridge over the river kwai and the tour was concluded. At night, we visited mansion 7, located at 14 Ratchadaphisek Road. It was a mall with a really interesting and novel concept. Really an indie mall, which has the strangest things going on. A haunted house, weirdly shaped pool tables, live bands and a really really good mango smoothie defined the place. This place is a must see, if not to shop, but to gawk.
Day seven took us back to Chatuchak as well as to Pratunam shopping centre for some last minute shopping, and also where we experienced some racism in our favour. Noticing that the shop owners were mainland Chinese,
Me: ke yi pian yi yi dian ma?
Owner 1: Zhong guo ren dang ran ke yi!
Owner 2: Ta men bu shi zhong gui ren.
Owner 1: Hua ren jiu ke yi!
Me: :)
Took a MRT back to the airport and had to run for our plane due to a crazy long queue at passport control. Remember to go in early next time.
So here it is, seven days in Bangkok. I have learnt so much and I cannot wait till I next get to see this beautiful, friendly city. It really makes a difference when you plan your own trip and see everything at the local level. It certainly a wonderful cultural experience.
posted by lyarn at 3:10 am
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