First steps in Southeast Asia – Megacity Bangkok

Our first longer trip to Southeast Asia (SEA) starts, like so many others, in Bangkok. The city is internationally well connected and located in the middle of SEA, which makes it a very good place to start. We also found that flights to Bangkok are on average cheaper than to other large SEA cities. This is certainly also due to the demand (vacation destination Thailand).

Our flight from Zurich to Bangkok

From Zurich, the airline Emirates will take you to Bangkok. After a longer price comparison both online (skyscanner.com, momondo.de) and requests for offers at travel agencies, we decided not to take the cheapest flight with three (!!) stopovers and to focus on a little more comfort. You can find more about booking flights in our article “How to book the best flight”.

A good friend recommended Emirates to us, because she thought that the price-performance ratio for long distance flights is the best for her with the airline. We decide to try this tip. Since Emirates is an Arabic airline with headquarters in Dubai, almost every long-haul flight from Europe to Asia has a stopover in the capital Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. For us this is quite okay, because this way we have the possibility to stretch our legs, visit a normal toilet and eat something delicious after a 6 hour flight.

How do we get from the airport to the city center?

Bangkok is an international mega-metropolis and you notice that as soon as you arrive at the airport. The Suvarnabhumi International Airport is quite modern and well signposted. This way we get very fast and without major detours to the train station in the basement, where the Airport Link takes us for about 90 Baht per person to downtown Bangkok, which is 30km away.

Two other ways to get to the city would be a cab (watch out for a taximeter or make a fixed price BEFORE boarding, otherwise you’ll surely get ripped off!) and the bus line S1, which goes to Silcom Road and Khao San Road. The bus is certainly the cheapest option with about 60 Baht. It runs behind the cab stand.

But since there is a real traffic chaos on the streets of Bangkok at certain times – I’m just saying extended rush hour – it is clear for us from the beginning that we take the train.

Our accommodation – central but quiet

Usually we are not the pre-bookers, but since we arrive in the evening and it was already clear to us in advance that we would be tired after the trip, we booked for the first nights in the Here Hostel. The hostel is a tip from a friend and we will not be disappointed! Although our booking is somehow lost, we get another room for the first night without long waiting times.

The hostel is very central, but in a side street, so you can sleep a little bit away from the big city chaos and in peace.

The mostly young staff are all very nice and very common, the food is really delicious and it is really clean. We like it here!

Sightseeing in short form

Bangkok as a city is overwhelming for us SEA newcomers. In order not to get lost in the hustle and bustle we use the app Maps.me. This app has already saved us in some situations. You can download the maps in advance, so they can be used offline and with the GPS you can navigate through the alleys very well. It is also possible to mark points and add notes.

The Khao San Road is not far from our hostel therefore one of our first points to visit is the world famous road. Even if this is not the kind of tourism we like, the road is worth a visit, if only to see the bad example of western tourism.

There are hundreds of different small food stands, countless bars and souvenir stores and of course everywhere in between the small massage stores. Here you definitely don’t marvel at Thai culture, but rather at the unbridled consumer tourism of young western tourists, some of whom have left all their inhibitions at home.

Soon we realize that the public transport on the water suits us very well. We enjoy the fast progress without long waiting times with the boats on the canals. The stations to get on the boats are a bit hidden, so we are usually the only tourists. But for this reason nobody tries to rip us off! A trip costs between 8 and 15 Baht, so it is really a bargain.

This way you can experience the city of Bangkok from a completely different perspective. However, it often splashes out of the not so appetizing channels, so close your mouth and best not to carry anything around that may not get wet!

But if you want to experience the authentic Bangkok, it’s definitely worthwhile to take a boat for a short trip!

Since the commuter boats are so appealing to us, we also want to try a boat trip on the Chao Phraya River. We decide to take the public boat, because unlike the tourist boats this one stops at many places and you can get in and out of the boat every now and then. The trip was not bad, but from our point of view not as interesting as on the small channels of Bangkok.

ATTENTION: Buy your ticket directly at the jetty or best inside the boat itself, even if thousands of sellers want to sell you a day ticket before! A day ticket at such a seller costs ± 150 Baht per person, in the boat a one-way ticket costs only 15 Baht!

Of course we don’t want to miss the famous and notorious China Town of Bangkok. And we will not be disappointed! By the way, we came here by boat on the Chao Phraya River. Just drive to Ratchawong Pier or Pier number 5 and dive directly into China Town.

The Yaowarat Road is the heart of China Town. Here you really have the feeling to be in the middle of China! Everything is written with Chinese characters and you can hear that the language has changed here and there. The road is a traffic chaos, it is loud and stuffy. But what impressed us even more was the Sempeng Lane. It runs parallel to Yaowarat Road. The street, or much more alley, is easy to recognize, because it is covered with a glass construction almost over the whole length. Actually it is one single, very long street market. The small stalls are lined up closely together. It is loud, chaotic, colorful, stuffy and narrow. Definitely not suitable for claustrophobics.

In the about 1,5m wide alley between the stalls it feels like thousands of people cavort and in between there is always a motorcycle, loaded with supplies for one of the many stalls. Here you can buy simply everything, no matter what you need, if you take enough time you will find it here guaranteed. And that for sure at an unbeatable price.

We also make a short detour to the Golden Mount. The Golden Mount is an artificially created mountain on which a golden Chedi was built.

We start at the foot of the mountain at the temple Wat Saket. You can visit the temple for free, for the ascent to the Golden Mount you will be charged 50 Baht. There are 344 steps spiralling around the mountain to the top of the golden Chedi. From the top you have a wonderful view over the city. We are up by chance at sunset and enjoy the last sunrays with the beautiful view over the roofs of Bangkok.

Scamming in Bangkok

The Thais are used to the tourists and have long since understood how to make a lot of money out of it. We don’t want to lump them all together, but unfortunately there are many who try to take money out of the pockets of “rich” foreigners.

In general, we think that you should keep your hands off the Tuk-Tuks. There are so many ways to get from A to B, even without the Tuk-Tuks. But if you really want to make such a tuk-tuk ride, you should discuss the exact price with the driver in advance and then insist on it. It is best to ask your accommodation how much the trip should cost, so you have a starting point for negotiation.

In Bangkok there is a Tuk-Tuk mafia and they always come up with new tricks to rip off the tourists. At the time of our stay in Bangkok the trick was to be approached by a relatively nice young man with good English skills in front of a temple or other tourist attraction. He then explained to us that today is a special holiday and either the temple is only open to Thais on this special day or that there is a great promotion where you can visit 4 temples for the price of one. Both is an attempt to persuade you to take a much too expensive Tuk-Tuk-Tour to other temples. In addition to that, it should be mentioned that almost all temples can be visited for free! Only the surrounding area (like the Golden Mount at Wat Saket) comes with costs.

Unfortunately this behaviour makes the locals very suspicious and we have to keep in mind that there are many more people who mean well with us.

4 days Bangkok – our conclusion

As the first Southeast Asian metropolis, Bangkok overwhelmed us a little at the beginning. But the city is so international that it is not difficult to get carried away by the hustle and bustle.

As always when we travelled, we took our time to get involved with the city, sometimes we just swam along and absorbed everything around us. So we only saw a very small part of Bangkok’s sights, but the more of the city itself. But since it will certainly not be the last time we visit Bangkok, we can look forward to a lot more. 

Very impressive was the omnipresent mourning for the deceased king Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king died in October 2016, a good three months before we travelled to Bangkok. Many Thais still dress in black, the color of mourning. The palace is currently not open for tourist visits, because every day masses of cars with Thais from all over the country arrive to pay their last respects to the king. But also in the streets the deceased king is omnipresent on huge posters. In addition, many buildings are decorated with black and white sheets.

For us, who come from a democratic country where many do not even know all the names of our seven federal councillors, this behaviour is very impressive.

 What are your Must-See’s if you only had limited time in Bangkok?