Bangkok Travel Guide – A Bit of Chaos, Lots of Fun

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is one of the most visited cities in the world. We planned a nine-day trip to Thailand, spending two days in Bangkok and seven days on the islands of Koh Samui & Koh Phangan. Here’s a comprehensive guide to our exciting adventure.

Bangkok Travel Guide: When to Go?

The best time to visit Bangkok is during the period from November to March. In April and May, temperatures and humidity soar. From June onwards, the monsoon rains begin and last until October. Due to sudden and intense rainfall during the monsoon, the city may not be ideal for sightseeing.

We visited Bangkok in April. Besides the heat, the air was incredibly humid. This made exploring the city a bit challenging during the day. However, the excitement of discovering new places helps you adapt to any weather. 🙂 Fortunately, we were quite lucky in one topic. Our stay in Bangkok coincided with Songkran, the Thai New Year. Thanks to this beautiful coincidence, we got to witness the street festivities and observe how the Thai people celebrated Songkran.

Bangkok Travel Guide: How to Get There?

There are many direct and connecting flights to Bangkok. We researched flights from Dubai to Bangkok and found that the most suitable option for our travel period was the Oman Air flight with a layover in Muscat. If you’re considering traveling to Bangkok, I recommend checking out Emirates’ flights via Dubai, AirArabia‘s flights via Sharjah, Etihad’s flights via Abu Dhabi, Qatar Airways‘ flights via Doha, and Oman Air’s flights via Muscat, Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. You can often find more affordable tickets compared to direct flights.

Regarding visas, Thailand provides a visa on arrival for 30 days to many counties when landing at the airport. The entry and exit process is quite straightforward. You can check from here if you need a visa or not.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Internet

I purchased an e-SIM with an 8-day unlimited internet package for $10 through Airalo. As soon as I landed at the airport, I activated the e-SIM and used it comfortably throughout the holiday. It was especially useful for using Google Maps and reading reviews of places. If you decide to buy an e-SIM from Airalo for the first time, you can use the code IAMONT3974 to get a $3 discount. 🙂

Bangkok Travel Guide: Transportation

Various transportation options, such as taxis, metro, and buses, are available from Bangkok Airport to the city center. Although taxis within the city often do not use the meter, airport taxis do, so they cannot arbitrarily charge you. We opted for a taxi, as we had two large suitcases with us. It costed 300 Baht to go to the city center and an additional 50 Baht for each suitcase.

We mostly explored the city using tuk-tuks and taxis. We mostly used tuk-tuks and taxis for transportation. Before getting into either, we negotiated a lot, so be sure to negotiate and agree on the fare from the beginning. If you don’t want to deal with all this, you can download Grab, Thailand’s equivalent of UBER.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Where to Stay?

Bangkok is a large city with a river passing through it, and it has many different districts and neighborhoods. You can decide where to stay based on what you expect from the city. If you’re here for nightlife, you can stay in the Sukhumvit area. If you’re more focused on shopping, the Siam area with many shopping centers might be suitable.

We stayed in the Silom area. It is a business center with residences, mainly inhabited by expats, and it’s a clean and safe area. We stayed at Sabai Sathon, an apart hotel with a kitchen and a living room. Although we didn’t use the kitchen much, staying in a spacious place was nice. The location of the hotel was excellent, and we didn’t face any issues. You can check the details of Sabai Sathon from here.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Places to Visit

Oh my God! Bangkok is truly a city packed with places to visit. But don’t be intimidated; with a good plan, you can accomplish a lot in a short time. 🙂 What made our job easier in this regard was having two close friends living in Bangkok. They planned our two days thoroughly, and we used our time in the best way possible. In the notes section at the end of the article, you can find the Google Maps map where I pinned all the locations mentioned in this article.

1. Grand Palace

Our first stop on our first day in Bangkok was here. Unfortunately, we encountered an unpleasant surprise as Grand Palace was closed to visitors due to the official holiday for Songkran, the Thai New Year. Grand Palace, located on a vast area, is one of the must-see places in Bangkok. We couldn’t see it, but if you go, make sure to visit it.

2. Wat Pho

Situated very close to Grand Palace, Wat Pho’s entrance fee is 200 Baht per person. The most significant feature of this place is the gigantic reclining Buddha inside. Tourists compete to capture the reclining Buddha in the most beautiful way in a single photograph. The reclining Buddha represents the final stages of Buddha’s life and holds a special significance for Buddhists.

Various Buddhist rituals take place in Wat Pho’s garden. For example, a monk in the garden blessed us by wetting our heads. In addition, we poured water over various Buddhas in the garden, making good wishes.

3. Boat Tour

After leaving Wat Pho, we walked to the location indicated here and boarded tour boats. For 750 Baht, we toured the city for an hour. To be honest, we negotiated a very good price. During the tour, we saw both poorly maintained houses along the river and magnificent temples.

One of the most beautiful places we saw by boat was the largest golden Buddha in the city, Wat Paknam. We passed through a floating market on our route and eventually returned to the starting area of the tour.

4. Wat Arun

The boat dropped us directly in front of Wat Arun. We paid an entrance fee of 100 Baht per person to enter. Wat Arun means “Temple of Dawn,” and it is said to be particularly beautiful at sunrise. However, we did not come at dawn. After exploring the city intensively throughout the day, arriving at dawn was a challenge. 🙂 Wat Arun is unique with its temple colors, patterns, and structure. I really enjoyed my time here.

After touring the temple, we sat down at the Wat Arun café on the same grounds and spent a delightful evening watching the sunset.

5. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Floating markets, markets built on water, are unique to Asia, especially Thailand. Bangkok and its surroundings have dozens of different floating markets. However, the most famous one, and the one we’ll discuss next, is Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We arranged a private tour for Damnoen Saduak and the Maeklong Railway Market through this site. This way, it was comfortable, and we didn’t waste much time on the road, only visiting the places we wanted to see.

Damnoen Saduak is about 1.5 hours away from Bangkok, so we set off around 7:30-8 in the morning. As soon as we arrived, we boarded our boat and had a very enjoyable ride witnessing iconic scenes on the river. I admit that this market is a bit touristy, but I think it was really beautiful. Coconut ice cream came to our rescue in the heat, and we toured the river, watching the vendors. Afterward, we did some shopping in the market area on land, of course, bargaining as we went.

6. Maeklong Railway Market (Rom Hup Market)

This market, located 20 minutes from Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, is unique because a train passes right through its middle. We waited for the train at the viewing point our driver showed us, even though there were only 1-2 minutes left for the train to pass. Despite the imminent arrival of the train, the vendors had not yet packed up their stalls, and I couldn’t imagine how the train would pass through. But when the train appeared, slowly approaching, everything was packed and ready. It was an interesting experience; we were photographing those on the train, and they were watching us.

If you want to see Rom Hup Market, make sure to time your visit to coincide with the train schedule, as shown in the table below.

7. Health Land Sathon – Thai Massage

Coming to Thailand and not having a Thai massage is simply not an option. You can find a massage parlor on almost every street. Among them, we chose Health Land Sathon as a clean, trustworthy place and had a 2-hour Thai massage. It was refreshing after the morning markets and travel fatigue. Whatever you do, even if it’s just for half an hour, allocate some time for a Thai massage, friends. 🙂

8. Chinatown

On our second and last night, we went to Chinatown. This place is a colorful, culinary, and auditory feast—a complete chaos. Thailand is famous for its street food. You can find these small mobile vendors, called street food, on every street corner. We felt this most intensely in bustling Chinatown. There are many street vendors around, cooking various dishes side by side, and therefore, delicious aromas fill the air.

We strolled down the main street of this neighborhood, explored its side streets, and spent the rest of the evening there. Besides numerous street vendors, there are also many beautiful bars and cafes. We came here for dinner and spent the rest of the night.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Activities

There are many activities you can do in and around Bangkok. You can arrange the floating market tours, a day drip to Ayutthaya, night city tour by tuk tuk. Check the details of these activities from here and here, book them online if you want.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Dining & Food and Drink

We had so many delicious meals in these two days that I will try to include them all somehow. Thai cuisine is truly unique with its legendary dishes. If you haven’t tried it before and plan to do so here, consider yourself very lucky.

1. Kin & Koff Café

One of my favorite things about Bangkok is that there are cafes everywhere where you can drink smoothies made from fresh fruits. This café, located right across from Wat Pho, was a lovely pit stop for us. I had a fantastic smoothie made from passion fruit, mango, and pineapple.

2. Charm

For our first dinner, we sat on the balcony of this venue. There was a buy-one-get-one-free promotion during happy hour, and we tried some nice Singha beers. We tried various Thai dishes from Pad Thai to Tom Yum soup and Khao Pad Sapparod, pineapple rice, and they were all delicious.

3. Tichuca

On Saturday night, around 10 pm, we went to this extremely popular rooftop bar, where we waited for about an hour. You need to take a number like an ATM and wait for someone to leave to get in. It’s worth the wait. The view was beautiful, the music was great, and it was worth waiting for.

4. Punjung

A place near the Maeklong Railway Market where you can watch the train pass through beautifully. It’s a place with very nice smoothies. I highly recommend the passion fruit smoothie :).

5. Mahanakhon Cube Food Court

This building, located right next to Bangkok’s tallest building, Mahanakhon, has a very nice food court. We ate chicken Pad Thai at The World’s Best Street Food-awarded ChaTraMue here, and it was fantastic. We paid 270 Baht per person. If you want to taste different flavors, you can stop by here.

6. JSorn Hot Plate – Chinatown

To be honest, our heads spun from the food options, street vendors, and the many alternatives in Chinatown. We tried shrimp Pad Thai at JSorn Hot Plate Yaowarat, which our friends had tried and liked before. It was very, very tasty. We watched people passing by from the street while enjoying Chang beer and a delicious meal. Pad Thai was 100 Baht. Then, we had coconut pancakes from a street vendor whose name I don’t remember, and that was also very good. My advice is, when you come to this area, definitely try a few different flavors from the places you have your eye on. Don’t hesitate to eat from these vendors.

7. Teens of Thailand

A cocktail bar located in the back streets of Chinatown. Most of their cocktails are based on gin, so we can call it a Gin bar :). If you’re looking for a small and unique bar, I recommend checking it out. Cocktail prices are around 400 Baht on average.

8. Wallflower Cafe

A cafe/bar located right across from Teens of Thailand, with multiple floors and a terrace on the top floor. We came here at night and sat on the terrace, but I think it would be much nicer in the late afternoon. Their passion fruit cocktails and cheesecakes were very good. I can say that the drinks cost around 300-400 Baht.

Bangkok Travel Guide: Tips & Notes & Conclusion

• I pinned the places to visit and restaurants in order on Google Maps. If you save the map below, you can easily access the locations even without internet.
• Take clothes that won’t make you sweat; it’s crucial when the weather is hot and humid. When entering temples, you need to wear long pants. Almost all temples have thin, elephant-patterned pants for sale around them.
• Credit cards are not accepted in most places, and you often need to make cash payments. We didn’t take much Baht with us, thinking we would use credit cards, but when we needed cash, we had to exchange money.
• The level of spiciness used in Thai dishes is on another level. If you’re not comfortable with spice, it’s good to mention it.
• You can find my other travel guides about Thailand in here.