Bangkok

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Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is also the country's biggest city. It's busy and polluted, but offers a bunch of interesting sites, some fantastic shopping, and a tonne of great places to eat for all budgets.

Things to See

  • Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
  • Beautiful complex worth a couple of hours at least. Note, you should wear appropriate attire. Men must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves. If you're wearing thongs/sandals/flip-flops you must wear them with socks. Women can't wear any see-through clothes and should have sleeved shirts and long pants/skirt. You can hire clothes there if you need to (including socks, skirts/shirts).
  • Wat Pho
    Pretty impressive. Home to the world's longest reclining Buddha. Also a good place for a relatively inexpensive massage without the optional extras.
  • Wat Arun
    A lot quieter than the other two. It's a lovely temple. You need to take a boat across the river to get here.
  • Chatuchak Weekend Market
    Yes, there's a lot of crap here, but if you haggle well, you can pick up some great bargains.
  • Chinatown
    I love the Chinatown in Bangkok. It's a little chaotic and gritty, but it's a really interesting part of town. It's not particularly touristy, so it's a good place to escape the touts and explore.
  • National Museum
    Worth a look before you set out to explore other regions of the country.
  • Bangkok Zoo
    a rather miserable place. I wouldn't recommend it.
  • Vimanmek Teak mansion
    Is pretty interesting.
  • Khao San Road - henceforth "KSR"
    The backpacker ghetto of Bangkok. It's pretty much a dive, filled with cheap guesthouses and cafes/restaurants selling banana pancakes, shops selling fisherman's pants and fake designer wear and hungover backpackers. I've never actually stayed on KSR itself because it's just too hectic. It's a handy place to book plane tickets, organise onward travel and pick up second-hand guidebooks etc. and some of the restaurants sell pretty decent food too!
  • Lumphini Park
    Not the nicest park in the world but good place to relax a little in the middle of a very busy and polluted city. You can watch locals practice Tai Chi or go for a run!
  • Snake Farm
    A pretty well run place. It's a red cross-run place where they produce anti-venom.
  • Siam Square
    Basically western shopping centres. The upside is that it's air-conditioned, so if you're dying of heat...not a bad place to go for a couple of hours!

Accommodations

A tonne of cheap hostels/guesthouses/hotels are located in Banglamphu. Perhaps the most famous strip is along Khao San Road. It's very ghetto-y and noisy. I've never stayed anywhere along KSR so no personal preferences.

One of the major pros of the KSR area is that there are a load of travel agencies at hand to plan onward travel. And it's a good place to pick up a shuttle mini-bus to the airport. Pretty much any guesthouse can organise this for you for shuttles between 5am-11pm. You don't have to be staying at the guesthouse to book with them either. If you are travelling solo, it's a pretty cheap and comfortable way to get to the airport.

There is a street close-by to KSR (running parallel and then curling round behind a monastery close to the river) called Soi Rambuttri which has a stack of cheap guesthouses. I've stayed a a few of the places here - many of them have a variety of different rooms on offer, some with private bathroom, some without,

Any of these places are fine:

  • New Siam 1/New Siam 2
  • Bella Bella Guest House
  • Wild Orchid
    The restaurant here is good too.
  • Sawasdee House
    I mostly stay here because of the food, though it's gone downhill a bit. The travel agency here is really good. They now have hot showers! Get air-conditioning. Don't slum it in a fan only room on the 4th floor.
  • My House
    Near Bella Bella, is basic but it's fine.
  • Viengtai Hotel
    A slightly more expensive option on the bit of Soi Rambuttri that is parallel to KSR. I've never stayed here but friends have and love it. The restaurant is pretty good.

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