A Canberra Girl’s Guide to Bangkok

Posted on 30 April, 2019

I was 20 years old when I first visited Bangkok.

Freshly graduated from my traineeship in retail travel and on my first ever work trip. There is something to be said for first times. Stepping off the plane into the Thai monsoon humidity I was immediately taken aback not only by the oppressive heat but the smell.

My peers, older and better travelled, laughed at my reaction. It was obvious I had never been to Asia before. At that point in my life, the furthest I had been was my father’s homeland of New Zealand. I had never been on a plane without my parents and certainly never been to Asia.

As a first dip into the world, Bangkok was confronting. The city spread in what seemed like never-ending chaos in all directions, the concrete skeletons of abandoned skyscrapers from the 1997 financial crisis loomed against the smoggy skyline. The Thai people, ever keen to make a dollar from a tourist were combative at every turn. Never having eaten Thai food before the flavours were brazen and the textures baffling and the traffic was like an artful game of cat and mouse.

Over the four days, I spent in Bangkok I had no control over where we went or what we saw. The inability to actively participate left me with a feeling of unease about the city and whilst I enjoyed the experience, I didn’t love Bangkok and I have since seen it as a place to pass through, not as a destination in its own right.

But at heart, I am a forgiving person. I wanted to give Bangkok another chance, I knew that it held secrets I needed to discover myself, away from the hand holding nature of my first trip.

I discovered in the passing 16 years the city had changed a lot, the development was astounding and those concrete skeletons had been replaced by shiny high rises and mega malls but I think what had changed most in those 16 years was me.

I now know what I want from a destination and was able to actively seek out those experiences. The key to a destination such as Bangkok is to put the puzzle together into a way that suits you. Your tastes, your interests and your specific travel desires. For me, this means getting the key elements to the trip right and the rest will fall into place.

Bangkok For Foodies

Bangkok is sprawling and I don’t say that lightly, with a population of over nine million and split by the Chao Phraya river the city feels immense and the 50 districts within the city all have their own personalities.

As a foodie I did a lot of research into the various locations I could stay. I wanted to be situated away from the tourist areas where Starbucks and Hooters are the predominant features and be somewhere that locals live, work and eat so I could immerse myself. I was nervous about my choice of the Silom/Sathorn area, it is described as the business district and in many cities that can mean that after dark when all the suits have gone home the area dies. Not in Bangkok.

Bangkok is pumping 24/7 and after dark in Silom the street vendors come out and the locals sit to enjoy their favourite foods till all hours of the night. As a tourist, I felt like the minority which is exactly what I was after and the food scene was incredible. Crispy pork belly hangs in glass cages waiting to be turned into local dishes like pad krapow moo krob which is a stir fry where the pork belly is paired with basil. Deep vats of curries and soups can be consumed for mere dollars and fish balls bob in a sea of oil waiting to be drenched in spicy sauce and eaten from a plastic bag.

Whilst the food scene is very accessible in Bangkok it can be intimidating, the street stalls rarely have menus, little English is spoken and getting the hang of how and what to order can be tricky. A local guide can be the perfect way around these barriers and I can highly recommend a company called Bangkok Food Tours. The Best Eats Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk is a must and will have you whizzing around the streets in a Tuk Tuk convoy but it is also worth digging into some of the lesser known areas of Bangkok such as Thonburi & Historic Bangrak, on all of these tours you will be fed well beyond your comfort zone and you get to interact with locals and street vendors.

The Silom area is also well connected by public transport, which in a city of nearly 10 million cars and traffic jams that will eat away your precious time, is a must. The major roads through this area are dotted with BTS stops and you can jump on and off the train to be whooshed around the city on the lines above street level, free from the traffic. Silom is also a short walk from the riverfront where riverboats and water taxis shuttle locals and tourists through the city on an efficient system that works much like a bus network. The food scene varies greatly through the many districts so it is worth getting out there and trying as much as you can.

Bangkok For Shoppers

On my first trip to Bangkok, the primary shopping mall to visit was the MBK Centre. Whilst large in scale it didn’t have the layout of a western mall, the hole in the wall style shops made the experience more like that of an indoor market. The shopping scene has had a incredible evolution over the last 15 years with modern shopping malls popping up all over the city.

If you base yourself in the Pathumwan/Sukhumvit area you will be well located with access to more than a dozen malls that will offer you shelter from the heat of the city and a world-class shopping experience. For something unique, I recommend Terminal 21 which is set up with a travel theme with each floor decked out like a different country.

A ride on the BTS Skytrain and a free ferry trip across the river will get you to Bangkok’s newest mall, IconSiam. Only opened in November 2018 and the sixth largest mall in Asia this behemoth is decked out with more than 500 shops and a floating market on the ground floor. It’s impressive views over the river and the world’s longest pleated glass facade make this mall an experience for tourists and locals alike.

A word of warning about staying in this part of the city. It has all the amenities a tourist would want, with all the easily recognised brand names that make it all feel familiar – a little too familiar. It really could be anywhere in the world, it lacks the cultural experience you will get in other parts of Bangkok so be sure to spend some time seeing what else the city has to offer away from this main tourist hub. It also suffers from being a hub for sex tourism which can be interesting and at times amusing from a tourists perspective but worth remembering the industry is born from the exploitation of women in poverty.

Once you have had your fill of luxurious malls it is worth venturing into the market scene. With street food abound, bars open to the streets and affordable knock-off shopping, no one does markets like the Thais. If you are in Bangkok over a weekend be one of the 200 000 people to visit the Chatuchak market. With more than 8000 shops winding through 35 acres you could lost in here for days.

If that isn’t enough market for you, then a night at the Rot Fai market is recommended as well as the classic market Patpong which has been in operation since the early 90’s.

A couple of things to remember in markets in Thailand: always barter to get a reasonable price but be friendly and always smile – it is rude to raise your voice in Thailand. And if the vendor tells you it is genuine, it probably isn’t. If you want genuine then best to stick to the malls and even then there are no guarantees.

Bangkok For Backpackers

There is only one place to be as a backpacker in Bangkok and that is Khao San Road. Haven’t heard of it? Then best to break out the DVD player and pop in a copy of The Beach. Khao San Road is where Leonardo Dicaprio bases himself in a seedy hostel before venturing out to the secret island. The 1996 book describes it as “the centre of the backpacking universe”.

Bangkok, in general, is a backpackers paradise. Cheap accommodation, cheap eats, cheap booze and a nightlife that doesn’t quit. Well connected by airlines from all over the world it is the perfect jumping off point for a south-east Asian adventure and whilst Khao San Road itself may not be the cultural experience you crave it is a place to meet like-minded travellers, a base in the centre on the city and the setting for stories you will tell for years.

Bangkok For Sightseers

Many travellers hate the thought of being a tourist but I say embrace it. Put on your ugly yet practical sandals, don your daggiest cargo pants, put that camera strap around your neck and get out there sightseeing. Bangkok is a bubbling cauldron of fodder for the hardy tourist.

Book your accommodation in the riverfront district of Bangrak and use the river as your means of transport. This main artery running through the city is your conduit for exploration, from here you can get to the many temples that tower over the riverscape as well as museums, art galleries and markets.

The national Barge Museum is worth a visit and the flower market Pak Klong Talad is a visual feast. Being the largest flower market in Bangkok and supplying the world-class hotels of the city it is open 24 hours a day. In typical Bangkok style, the action escalates after midnight with the peak being between 3 and 4 am. However, the riverboats do stop running at sundown so best to plan your day around this.

To see more of life on the rivers I would highly recommend booking on a guided boat tour that takes you out to the smaller canals that come off the main river. Here you can see the historic teak houses perched out on stilts over the water, vendors selling their wares door to door via small boats and quaint eateries whose only access is via the water. Down on the canals, it is easy to forget that you are in the heart of such a chaotic city. The city noises are somehow dulled and without cars the pace is slower, you can wander artists houses and enjoy the local life happening all around.

In the evening I would highly recommend a visit to Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. With the sun set the tourists have left and the mosaic-covered stupas are lit up against the black sky, an incredible sight, and to wrap up the perfect day of exploration a visit to a rooftop bar is a must.

Whilst many of the luxury hotels have high-end bars at their peak you want to find a place where your Birkenstocks will be met with indifference. Eagle Nest bar is a low key place to enjoy a beverage whilst overlooking Wat Arun (a buddhist temple that dominates the river). After dark the river settles into calm flow without the constant bustle of riverboats. Bring some insect repellant though, the views are as magnificent as the mosquitos are opportunistic.

I have only scraped the surface here. The great thing about travel is the experience of finding your own way and Bangkok is the perfect city for this. Get in touch with one of Canberra’s great travel agencies to grab a bargain and see this city for yourself.