How to have an exciting start in Bangkok
Or what to get passionate about from a day one: river channels, boats, nights, parks, nature, coffee, cinemas, shopping malls, rooftop views and pools, a coexistence of ultra-modern architecture and huts, how murmur the Thai language sounds
Thai geolocation names fascinate me: Ko Phangan, Phi Phi, Phuket ... Don’t these even sound paradise-like? I also like Thai “hello” and “thanks” — “souwady” and “kaphunka”. I like how their alphabet looks — it is beautiful. I like many things about this country and glad to get inspired to write this post after just going through my photo archives some years after the actual visit.
Bangkok, according to Wikipedia, consists of “Bang” meaning from Thai “a village on a stream” and “Ko” — “island”; another version suggests it from “Bang Makok”, where “makok” is a plant with olive-like fruits that grow around here. Things to like about this VILLAGE ON A STREAM:
Public transport
1.As the first-timer in Asia, I was overwhelmed by so-called tuk-tuks. I saw them in movies but seeing them functioning right in front of you and not just as a tourists attraction but as a vehicle serving locals day-to-day needs — that is impressive.
Tuk-tuks did not impress me on islands or in smaller towns but in Bangkok, with its 9 million population and insanely busy traffic, they came as a surprise. Many luxuries apartment buildings have them scheduled to bring their inhabitants to malls, business centres and nearest metro stations.
2.Bankgok is located in a delta of the biggest river in the country — Maenam Chao Phraya (where “Ma” means “mom, “Nam” — “water” and Chao is for “chief”). The city is very much like Venice covered with a net of bigger and smaller river channels. There are countless bridges as well as boat lines and ferries functioning as public transport and to transport goods.
It can be challenging to get in as such boats are shaky. Imagine lots of people in a hurry entering at the same time — you need to watch out, and when inside too, especially for your phone and camera to not get wet.
Walks along the river banks, passing boat stops, crossing small and big bridges was my absolute favourite activities in Bangkok. If you are lucky to have quick access to it — it’s the best place for running in this city — it is refreshing next to the water and not busy at all compared to normal streets.
3.The metro and skytrain are the fastest way to get around the city. They operate roughly from 5 am till midnight.
It is easier to buy a ticket from a terminal as some counters only sell day passes and long-distance tickets. There is as well an “airport link” which is a faster way to get in or from the airport than to take a taxi.
4. Renting a scooter or car is not the best idea you can come up with.
There are many sarcastic jokes about Bangkok’ horrendous traffic and parking trouble — the city is barely keeping up with its rapid development.
Accommodation
Various great and affordable options to stay in Bangkok is another exciting thing about the city. Those airbnb apartments that are nice and close to the metro priced on average at €30 a night. Prices on a longer term stay for a studio condo are in a range of €200 to 500 per month.
The airbnb owner we booked with sent the instructions to say at the reception we were his friends. Do not be surprised if you will be asked for something similar. Companies maintaining this sort of condos are on a mission to keep their places clean and safe for residents as there are lots of shared spaces in such buildings: gyms, pools, terraces and even kitchens where residents can invite guests if they do not want to give parties in restaurants or at home.
Startup and Coworking Scene
There is a good read on a local startup and coworkings scene explaining pros and cons of running a startup from Bangkok.
Thai government aims to shift into a service based economy, they launched a transformation program called Thailand 4.0 (fourth industrial revolution).
“Cookly” is a Thai startup you should know about as it is a platform to book cooking classes!
Street-food
Bangkok’s street-food is surely to be tried. I can even say that after some time spent in Thailand I felt safer ordering from a food-stand (for sure you need to choose a decent one) than having something in a restaurant based on exported ingredients. A friend of mine got food poisoned with spoiled camembert. Since then I decided to avoid ordering non-local ingredients based food, at least not in tropical climate countries.
Makkasan area
The house on the picture below is located just five minutes away from Saphan Nana Nua Pier on a way to the most expensive cinema in Bangkok — Diplomat Screens at Central Embassy mall. That is a rich old town area, well known as a place for expats and still, it is a place where you can find whole streets of such huts standing next to luxuries condos. The district is called Makkasan.
I was surprised to observe the doors of each hut on that street to be open whenever I was passing by. Peoples’ belongings are just outside and nobody really watches after all of that stuff and nobody seems to worry about thieves. The latter certainly delivers a lot into an overall feeling of being safe and secure in Thailand.
Ah, these river channels, walks and runs along — priceless memories!
Enjoy Bangkok!
Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index ranked Bangkok to be the number one in 2018, followed by London and Paris. On average visitors stay for 4.7 nights here and spend over US$173 per day which is more than in London ☺
Interestingly enough according to the same Mastercard report, not Bangkok but Phuket is the place where visitors spend the most per day in Thailand — US$239.
My August 2019 update to this article
I have got absolutely thrilled to find a Dutch documentary that seems to be filmed very same days as I have been visiting Bangkok, even matching some of the locations I have randomly checked and photographed while there. This documentary matches in so many ways the way I felt and experienced Bangkok and adds more details and lively videos that put rides over Bangkok channels so real in front of my eyes again. Can’t suggest something more:
