“If you want exotic, go to Bangkok”
– Robin Leach
Bangkok Has Her Now
Bangkok is Thailand’s capital boasting some of the most beautiful shrines, tastiest street food, and rather lively nightlife; so it was a no brainer when it came to planning a trip there. We took a four-hour commute from Tat’s house to Chicago O’Hare International Airport where we met up with two more friends. We flew China Eastern Airline first taking a 17-hour flight to Shanghai for a layover of 1 hour and 50 minutes and then a 4-hour 15-minute flight finally arriving to our destination of Bangkok, Thailand. After spending three days in Bangkok, we continued our trek through Asia flying one way to Seoul, Tokyo, Phuket, and back to Bangkok to return to the states. We booked our roundtrip flight for $583pp, a steal right?!
Welcome To The High Life
For our stay in Bangkok, we opted for an Airbnb. The apartment, located on the 12th floor of a high rise, featured two bedrooms, one bathroom, and an oversized living room perfect for chilling out with one another after a long day of exploring. It was fully furnished and equipped with literally everything we needed, so it was a perfect stay for us. The nightly cost was only $80 giving us a total of $281 for three nights. Since it was four of us, the total cost per person was only $70.25, talk about balling on a budget! The Airbnb had a 7/11 in the lobby, a mall downstairs, and an even bigger mall and restaurants within walking distance so the location was prime. Here’s where we stayed:
DISCLAIMER: Although you can book an Airbnb, it is actually illegal in Asia. All of our hosts in Asia told us that if we ran into trouble with police while staying at their respective properties, to tell them that we were there visiting a friend. We did not experience any problems here in Bangkok, but we did in South Korea (go check out that blog) so… book at your own risk!
Cruisin’ Down The Street In My 64’
For transportation from the airport to our Airbnb, which was about 30 minutes away, we used a driver that our Airbnb host provided for an additional $20USD. For the duration of our trip in Bangkok, we used an app called “Grab” which is equivalent to Uber. Our Airbnb was about 20 minutes away from the shrines and palaces so we used Grab to take us, which cost about 300 baht/$10 USD each way. We made sure to confirm the price of the Grab to make sure there was not any hidden fees. There are also buses, trains, taxi, and tuk-tuk services available but we chose to stick to Grab App. Although it is an option, you are not required to link your card to the Grab app as you can pay the fare after the ride is completed. There are also motor scooters that are available for rent for super cheap, however make sure that you obtain you international driver’s license (available to purchase at AAA- $20) as saw people getting ticketed for not having their international driver’s license.
SAFETY TIP: make sure that the driver, make, model, and license plate on the Grab car matches with the information on the Grab app.
The Munchies
Food options for our first night in Bangkok was scarce, let me explain why; after arriving in Bangkok later in the afternoon, major jetlag began to settle in and after waking up from an hours-long nap, we went on a search for pizza. We spent about an hour asking different locals where we could find pizza and no one, literally no one, understood us until a local told called it (Pee-zaaah) and by the time we made it to the pee-zaaah place, it was closed. We had to settle for McDonalds. Seriously?!
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The Breakfast Story
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Not Just Another Cup
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Street food on Sukhumvit Road
*Some restaurants re-use water containers (they re-seal the water bottles) so stop by 7/11 and grocery stores and grab bottled water.
From The Windows To The Wall
For a night on the town, we decided to take a Grab to Sukhumvit Road, which is a long road pouring with restaurants, street-food, shopping, music, and bars. We walked up and down the strip to do some exploring and dancing. It is the place to go if you are looking for some fun!
Another cool place that we went to was Nana Plaza, actually located right on Sukhumvit Road. Nana Plaza is a three-story building better known as “world’s largest adult playground.” It is the home to over 25 bars and plenty of restaurants surrounding a beautiful indoor garden lit with raging neon lights. If you are looking to find shows with Ladyboys and go-go dancers, this is the place for you. Beware, there are no elevators in Nana Plaza so be prepared to climb three flights, don’t worry though, it’s worth it!
If you are looking for a grown and sexy rooftop bar, Vertigo & Moon Bar on top of the Bayan Tree Hotel is a MUST! The rooftop sits on 60 floors and gives you a 360-view of all of Bangkok. The dress code is classy and elegant, the food and drinks are a bit pricey but the view is ABSOLUTELY worth it.
P.S. there is a really cool photo station set up on the rooftop with a glass floor and ring light if you dare step-out for a photo!
Sightseeing And All!
We visited Wat Pho, one of the oldest temples in Bangkok and home to the Reclining Buddha. The entrance cost was 100baht/$3.00USD, which also included access to over 20 other temples and structures.
After leaving Wat Pho, we were able to take a 10-minute ferry for 4baht to Wat Arun, another Buddhist temple. Wat Arun is known most for its center prang which dazzles iridescent colors off the seashells that it is decorated with.
Make sure that you are respectful of the dress code policies for the palaces. The dress code is very strict: Closed toe shoes, bottoms must go beneath the knees, no low cut shirts, and no tank tops. It was blazing hot (90F) when we went in November so if you are wearing a tank top or shorts, just pack something light to cover up with while in the temples and Palaces. In addition, there are people selling scarves and garments in the streets nearby just in case you forget.
A Scammer Can't Get Scammed
Or so we thought...
How do you go to Bangkok and not see the Grand Palace?! I’ll tell you how… two days in a row, we became victims to “The Grand Palace is Closed” scam. We will talk more about that in our blog post for Bangkok. Long-Story short, we got played… TWICE! F.Y.I. The Grand Palace, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is open seven days a week from 8:30a.m.-3:30 p.m. with an entrance fee of 500Baht/$16USD that also provides you with access to Vimanmek Palace and Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall.
Although we were scammed out of going to The Grand Palace, some good did come of that. The woman who stopped us in the street on the second day actually had a little family hustle going on. She flagged a tuk-tuk that happen to be lingering (sarcastically speaking) to take us to a boat dock. Once we arrived at this boat dock, we were charged 900Baht/$30USD for the four of us to take a riverboat ride on the Chao Phraya River, a popular body of water in Bangkok. While that price actually was worth it, the local price should have been around 60baht (we were scammed triple at this point). While on the boat, we went through canals that traveled through people’s backyards and we were able to witness local life in Bangkok. This was actually a really cool experience and we ended up having a great time.
Show Me The Mula
We used AAA to exchange our U.S. Dollars for Thai Baht and since we were exchanging over 250USD total, the fee was waived. You can also exchange money through your bank. During our time, the exchange rate was 0.96USD= 30 baht. Everything was SUPER DUPER affordable, we estimated to spend about 169USD each over the three days in Bangkok and ended up spending less than 100USD each.