About Bangkok
One of Asia’s most thriving metropolis. It’s where everything is there to be discovered. This colorful city is where you can experience down-to-earth lifestyles to the most luxurious ones. You can pay from two-hundred to a hundred thousand baht room for a night in a hotel. You can have a 15 baht street side to a million baht for dinner.It’s new but old. The city sets countless sky scrapers in metro business district. The antique lifestyle is also a nice scene on both side of the Chao Praya waterway. If you have one day in Bangkok, this page is a guide for your plan exploring in this wonderland!What you’ve heard lately in the news about the political unrest might sound serious. It is actually unlike the civil war. Outside the protest area, everything happens as usual as it has done. All the fun stuffs are waiting to be explored here in Bangkok!
Places to Go
Despite being an ongoing metropolis, this megacity still remains a numerous historical places where a great deal of Thai ancient story is revealed.
Wat Pra Kaew (The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha) and Grand Palace
One place never to miss, just being there you could feel the energy of the Thai people in creating such a beautiful and elegant Architectural master piece. Be aware of tuk-tuks or taxi drivers trying to scam you that it is close. If you are there before 3pm it is open!
Wat Arun
Also known as Temple of the Dawn or Wat Jaeng, it is located on the Thonburi side of Chao Praya River opposite to Wat Po in Bangkok side. This was the royal compound in Taksin dynasty. The temple is influenced from the mix of Thai, Khmer and Chinese art.
Muang Boran (Ancient City)
The Ancient City Gateway to Thailand’s Cultural Heritage The Ancient City, MUANG BORAN, is an excellent reflection of Thailand’s multi-faceted ancient culture presented in an authentic and visually exciting setting.
Wat Po
This large and extensive temple neighbours the Grand Palace on Thay Wang Road and houses the very impressive gigantic gold plated reclining Buddha which is some 46 metres long and 15 metres high.
Bangkok National Museum
King Rama IV’s private museum exhibiting his own antiques collections. This museum compounds 3 exhibition galleries
- The Gallery of Thai HistoryThe
- Archaeologicl and Art History Collections
- The Decorative Arts and Ethnological Gallery
Shopping
Siam Paragon
An upscale shopping mall located next to Siam Center and opposite to Siam Square. It is one of the biggest shopping centers in Asia including a wide range of stores and retail shops for internationally renown brands, restaurants and food outlet and all kinds of entertainment for city lives.
Central World
An entertainment complex with hundreds of stores and retail shop located at Ratchaprasong intersection. It’s also known by the local people as ‘World Trade Center.
MBK
An enormous shopping mall in Bangkok. 2,500 shops in a of 89,000 square meters area. A whole floor dedicated to mobile phones and electronics. If you are from the west this place may surprise you with the crowd that always get in your way, that’s how popular this place is.
JJ Market
Open air shops, in 35 acres area, with more than 15,000 shops and stalls. Here, the range of products on sale is extensive including house accessories, handicrafts, religious artifacts, art, antiques, animal, books, music, plant, food, etc. It is a good place to buy all sorts of Thai handicrafts and bargaining is expected. Open only on Saturdays and Sundays and it is hot!
Platinum
Clothing and accessories at wholesale prices in an air-conditioned environment attracts a lot of people to visit. Stuffs are in a wide range of price but most of them are cheap. Each of the floors sells different types of fashion items.
Things You Should Try
Thai Traditional Massage
No oil just fingers hands elbow knees and foot applied to you body with bending and stretching. If you’d tried it you massage experience will never be the same.
Spa
Because the nature of Thai people of being serviced minded. A spa experience in Bangkok may be one of the best. There are wide ranges of treatment from massage treatments to body scrub, facial, baths, to hair spa, bust firming and the list goes on.
Food
The Bangkok food scene is enormous. Food from all over the world can be found in this city. It’s everywhere from the street side to high-end restaurants.
Street side
In the city, there are countless mobile stalls and row houses selling foods beside the streets around the city. It is the Thai version of fast food, very cheap and can be very good. Just make sure you find a clean one! Look for ones with a lot of people.
Night Life
Khaosan
Backpacers heaven with bars, clubs and discos, a good combination of foreign and local crowds.
RCA
Over ten dance clubs (808, Route 66, etc), live music and chill out venues (Ratri Samosorn, etc) or even the Gentleman club like the Forte, located as a long street linking the Rama IV and Petchaburi road. It is where you’ll see many Thai teenagers hang out especially on weekends.
Lower Sukhumvit
bars, pubs, dance club, A gogos, you name it, it’s there! Mostly targeted towards international crowds.
Many hotel venues
There are also places to chill out and listen live Jazz music with recommended to ones such as the Living Room at Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit, the Dilomat Bar at the Conrad Bangkok or Bamboo Bar at the Oriental, or the 360 at the Millennium Hilton.
Seems like one day is not enough to explore all these interesting scenes in Bangkok. Even living in Bangkok, we can not keep track of all cool places in the city. So if you are here, just try things bits by bits. You’ll just fall in love with the city for sure.
Getting Around
A rush hour ride on motorcycle taxi
Imagine yourself getting fast through gaps between cars during Bangkok’s rush hour. This will be quite a thrill and you will see how Bangkok traffic is actually like. The pollution is the only bad thing about this try but motorcycle helps get you through it fast.
Meter Taxi
the most comfortable way of transportation with reasonable rates. It’s recommended you try to pick new ones.
Boat
transports along the Chao Praya river and canals around the city. It’s quite cheap and faster than the land transportation usually taken by those who travel to places near the rivers.
Bus
the cheapest way of transportation but it may not be as comfortable in rush hours or the busy routes. Besides, if you’re not familiar with the local area or you don’t study enough about the bus route, it can give you a headache once you catch the wrong one. Check out the info of Bangkok buses at Bangkok Mass Transit Authority website.
Motorcycle
guys wearing numbered waistcoat are found everywhere in Bangkok. They can ride you through alleys or main streets fast even in rush hours. Riding on the motorcycle can be quite a thrill while it costs as much as the meter taxi.
MRT
Bangkok metro system (the underground) runs from Bangsue to Hualampong station.
BTS
The sky trains running along the two main lines: Sukhumvit and Silom line.
Urban Railway System
the most convenient and fastest way of Bangkok transportation running in Bangkok urban area. there are 2 systems which connects at many stations.
Getting to Other Provinces
Taxi? for near by provinces you can take a taxi. Just call on out and ask for a price. From Bangkok to Pattaya the fair can be from 1,000 -2,000 Baht.
Train? you can catch the train at the Hua Lampong station. It is the center of Thailand railway system.
Coach? There are three main bus terminals in Bangkok: Mo Chit station, Southern station and Ake-kamai station. Mo Chit is the center for the northern route while the Southern station is the center for the southern route and buses from Ake-kamai station go East.
Airline? there are two airports in Bangkok: Don Muang domestic airport for Thai Airways and Nok Air , and Suvannabhumi International airport where hosts many different airlines from all over the world.