First Impressions: When I first arrived in Bangok, the first thing I noticed were the massive crowd of people and the huge number of cars/buses/motorbikes/tuk tuks. The city itself is big, stretching from Chao Phraya river towards the district of Ratchapidasek. Getting from one place to another can be quite tricky esp for tourists! Bangkok is always alive. There is anything and everything, everywhere! You don’t even need to go looking for it, it is right in front of you! I recommend to do a thorough research on how to get around and where you’d want to go before hand, as Bangkok can be quite confusing to some. Google maps always helps but sometimes walking to your destination under the hot sun might not be so pleasing. (PS: Bangkok’s temperatures get up to 40°C!)

Getting around: There are many ways to get around Bangkok. During my time here, I’m glad to say I’ve taken all possible transports to get around. At least I can make a fair comparison with all options.

1. 1. BTS/MRT/Airport Link These are light railway transits that are convenient and easy to take. Most stations are in central places such as nightmarkets and plazas. With all stations accurately recorded on Google maps, you can easily find your way through. This was probably the best mode of transport for me. The only thing is that it limits your way if you’d want to go somewhere further out of Bangkok.

1. 1. Buses Buses can be quite hard to take unless you are well prepared before hand with the routes and the location of the bus stops. Most of the time you can find the bus stop, although no route information availabe (I usually get it from Google maps) However, sometimes the bus stop may not be an actual bus stop (once we could not find any bus stop sign or whatsoever even though we were right on the location pointed by Google) Bus is a good option to get to places where the light railways can’t reach.

1. 1. Tuk Tuk Last option. Only go for it when you are couragous enough to haggle and don’t mind paying a little extra more (esp when you really need to get back and get around the traffic). I would recommend you to take the tuk tuk at night, as it will give them less of a chance of bringing you around to “other places” that you didn’t request for. Always keep Google maps on, so you know where you’re actually going. (UPDATE: the Thai government has posed strict rules for taxis running without meter, so please make sure it follows! Otherwise, just keep looking for another cab)

1. 1. Taxis The taxis here do not run by the meter obviously. Try your best to haggle. You can easily cut the price down by half. Sometimes it is ok to pay a little extra more for your safety. Especially when you’re new and not sure where to go, you need to close an eye and pay a “tourist” price to keep both you and the taxi driver happy. Sometimes taking the tuk tuk instead of the taxi is a better option as it can easily maneuver its way out of traffic, reaching your destination in a shorter amount of time.

1. 1. Motorbike You may rent a motorbike but I would not recommend it especially when the roads in Bangkok are so complicated and the traffic law is quite different and not as straight forward as it seems. There are also “motorbike taxis” These are motorbikes with a rider bringing you to a place/station. You can easily identify them off the streets, wearing an orange coloured vest as part of their uniform.

1. Minibus/Minivan This is an ideal transportation mode if you want to go towns that are much further out of Bangkok. Most of it includes places like : Ayuthayya, Kanchanaburi. These are cheaper options compared to following a tour. One way per person to Ayuthayya costs us 60 Baht per person, comparing this to the train would have cost us 300 Baht per person.

Due to the vast number of people, cars, buses and bikes all moving at the same time, it makes Bangkok one of the most busiest cities! Not everything is standardised; cars are driven on the left side of the road but going up on escalators and such were on the right side (observed in train stations/shopping malls). There are no “road rules” for motorbikes/tuktuks in the like. They move anywhere and everywhere (which makes them kind of an efficient mode of transport esp in Bangkok’s traffic). Most buses do not make an actual stop, people just get on and off easily. Traffic lights are not strictly obeyed and you can find any kind of any stalls anywhere off the street. No matter how disorganised the city may seem, Bangkok seemed to work in its own kind of way. Everyone seem to know exactly what they need to do; and that I find that amazing. It is what you say….an “ORGANISED CHAOS“

Culture

Bangkok, is actually short for its city name. It is the longest city name in the world, spelled out : Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. YEA, try pronouncing that. The city itself is quite unique. Surrounded by tall modern buildings, in between lies beautiful temples, nicely crafted with intricate details. It is a quite an experience walking along the streets in Bangkok surrounded by sky scrappers well known for their rooftop bars and yet, literally just down two streets you will see a temple, filled with locals, embracing holiness of the Thai people. Though I must add, it seemed to me that most temples in the central are mainly focused to cater for tourists; a lot of them charge an entrance fee. Also, most temples did not provide any booklet or any kind of information about its built or history which I found disappointing.

The Chao Phraya river is known as the “venice” of Asia. Unfortunately, at the time I was there, it did not live up to its name. The river was not impressive, although I can see it is a common mode of transport. Bangkok is a very big city and there is a lot to discover. During my stay, there were only so much things I could do. If you have limited days in Bangkok like me, you can check out my list of things to do whilst there.

THINGS TO DO:

1. 1.  Eat, eat and eat (anything and everything)
   2. Visit a few temples (I recommend Wat Arun, Wat Benchamabophit and the Golden Buddha – most temples look the same after a while and some charge high fees. I would actually save the temple tour for when in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai)
   3. Visit some of the shopping malls (Bangkok is a shopping paradise)
   4. Watch a “ping pong” or “tiger” show (if you dare) I was actually hesitant to recommend this activity because I’m not a fan of this industry but this THE place for it. You need to be careful with this though, go with someone you know.
   5. Take a walk in the parks, take the public transport like a local
   6. Visit Chatuchak weekend market – you can get anything you want from there, with over 15,000 stalls. It opening hours are selective and specified for different type of goods. For more info: Chatuchak
   7. Make a day trip to Si Ayuthayya (the city before Bangkok)
   8. Beware of the gem scams (I found a site that really helped me, read more about it here)
   9. Drink Thai tea and buy some home
   10. Try a local beer (Singha is my preferred option over Chang

Food you must try:

1. Pad Thai (the best PadThai is in this restaurant place called ThipSamai, otherwise anywhere off the street are quite decent)
2. Coconut ice cream
3. Fried chicken (Gai Tod)
4. Fried curry crab in Somboon Potchana (cheap and extremely tasty!!!)
5. Tom Yum seafood soup
6. Fried Banana pancake (Roti Gluay)
7. Braised pork rice
8. Thai tea crepe cake
9. Pork soup noodles (Guay Tiew Moo)
10. Herbal beef noodles
11. Green curry, yellow curry and red curry! (eat it especially with coconut rice)

Places/Area:

1. Khao San Road (for the street life – food, stalls, shopping etc)
2. Ratchaprarop Road (Main road where all the shopping malls/rooftop bars/nightlife are)
3. Ratchadapisek Road (Street filled bars/nightclubs – known as the new area for partying; I highly recommend Route 66)

There is so much of Bangkok to explore. I did my best to summarize it. The best way is to head there yourself! Take home some key pointers as a guide but just walk off the streets on your own to really discover Bangkok.