Travel Tips: Getting around Bangkok

Bangkok is hailed as one of the top cities in Asia for her traffic condition, and anyone who has been to Bangkok can definitely vouch for that. The city is known for the notorious traffic condition; particularly during the peak hours where one could be stuck in a bumper to bumper and even a standstill traffic for hours to get from one destination to another.


The traffic congestion can be a headache for most motorists, and sometimes taxi drivers are even known to refuse rides to potential customers during those peak hours.
If you are planning a trip to Bangkok, do make arrangements to avoid the traffic peak hours. While you may not be planning to take a taxi, the trains can be quite crowded during those hours and it may not be such a good idea to be lugging your luggage around to beat the crowd to squeeze yourself into the train, and your luggage(s).


Getting around Bangkok is not such a complicated thing, with the well-established public transportation system such as the BTS and the abundance of colorful taxis around.
Beware of the Tuk-tuks too; which are small three-wheeled type of trishaws with eager drivers who have no fear of approaching you directly to get you into their vehicle. Do bargain and make sure you have settled on a price before getting on.
However, I would still advise to either go for the licensed taxi or better still, the train.

The BTS is indeed a handy travel companion, but having traveled to many countries, the BTS can be a rather tricky thing especially if you are not a local, or do not know Thai.
If you have been to Bangkok, you would have noticed that most of the station names are in the local Thai language. Of course it makes sense that they are in the local language, but the thing is, it is not friendly to travelers who are foreign to the country, and the places within the city.
Also, I have noticed that the famous landmarks or tourist destinations are not included in the station names.
For instance, some of the names of the landmarks are mentioned beside the station names or the station was just built at the landmarks in cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei.

Therefore, if you are a first timer to Thailand and without a guide, please do your research on the places you want to visit and jot them down in your notepad.

1. Print out a copy of the BTS route map, and study the map.

2. Plan your trip according to No.1, and identify the stations linked to your destinations.
Take note that some of the locations could be reached by more than one stations; but do check out travel books/blogs/sites on the recommended stations to get off as the travelers have real-time experience on getting around the city.

3. Carry enough spare cash and coins with you, as you would need them to purchase your tickets at the stations.

I was fortunate enough to be on a trip with a friend who knows Bangkok city; or at least the few top attractions at the back of her hand and we had not much problem getting around the city with her guiding us around. With a guide, I did my own observations and made my mental notes for future references and the above were what I have noticed during my travel.

Don't worry too much though, as there is always the bright side to it.
For one, you never have to worry about starving if you have missed/skipped a meal, for there are always food joints available at the train station.

 

Scenes of Bangkok's road and traffic; and this is on a Saturday morning, though near Chatuchak market

Street-seeing and Terminal 21 Shopping Mall

This is probably my fourth time landing in Bangkok, and it is finally the one that I get to experience Bangkok a little more than the other times when I just stopover for a night, only taking in the night scenery of the bustling metropolis which stands as the capital of Thailand. Being the capital, it is no wonder that most of the flights to the many attractions in Thailand are to fly in to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport before heading to the other destinations in the country.
While Thailand is famous for the many beautiful beaches and vacation getaways, the capital city of Bangkok was not overshadowed; not in the least, as the city was famed for the sprawling streets and many shopping malls which made this city known to many as the shopping capital. Choices vary from affordable to luxurious, and quality for the affordable range will not fail your expectation.
Besides shopping, the city plays up to its name as the capital with the many temples and even the royal palace which wooed many tourists from all over the globe with its striking and stunning magnificence. (I will be sharing on this shortly in my upcoming post)

I was just excited to be able to finally tour the city although this was more of a relaxation trip rather than a itinerary-busted one. Still, it did not dampen my spirit as I was just keen to explore the streets on foot in my first few hours upon arrival; as we arrived in the late afternoon.



At the BTS station






Food stalls can be found everywhere on the streets; around the corner and even below a pedestrian bridge. The Thais do love their street food, and the food selection varies from every stall. While there may be two or more stalls selling the same thing, but in general, there are many options available and it is really interesting to check out what each stall has to offer.







Grilled food on skewers like these are quite popular; and they look amazing though we didn't stop to try.
Prices were quite affordable too, but I am never one who can take street food well. I blame it on my sensitive tummy.




We headed to one of the latest and most trendy shopping mall; Terminal 21 which was famed for its unique design and creativity.
Each level in the mall was modeled after the theme of a famous city, with the decorations emulating the atmosphere/landmarks of those major cities.
Furthermore, the escalators leading to the next level are also designed in a way where they resembled the departure gates in the airport; taking off to another country theme on the next level. I find this concept rather fresh and amusing; and cool too, after hearing and reading so much about this famous mall.





Hollywood level was logically, for the cinemas and entertainment, which just makes perfect sense!




The escalators span for four storeys high~


The iconic landmark of San Francisco; the Golden Gate Bridge!
(It's interesting how I always see things from my most recent travel; I was only in San Francisco a couple of months before this Bangkok trip)






The San Francisco trolley train


The Royal Palace Guards on the level themed after London










Japan






We walked around and enjoyed many unique sights on each level; while taking photos along the way and window shopped for a short while before our dinner.







Dinner was at one of the famous chain of restaurants; MK Restaurant . Well, typically I post about food in my food blog, but this time, I will just briefly share some of the photos from our dinner here.















Dessert at the food court



Wrapped up the day and the night with the famous Mango Sticky Rice which my friends were swooning about (not me as I am not a fan, yeah, sadly)

My Escapade to Bangkok

I have to admit, that when my friends asked if I wanted to join on an all-girls' trip to Bangkok, I was rather skeptical. Security may be one of the reasons of course, but there was also the part of planning six months in advance which posed a lot of doubts and uncertainties especially when dealing with a work schedule like mine (well, even with work aside, personal things could come up at the very last minute too).
I am not one for early travel planning or for making booking in advance mainly because my schedule can be rather unpredictable and I like to play safe. At least I could travel with a peace of mind once I have everything under control.
However, I decided to take the risk this time for; it sounds like fun, and besides, I have not traveled with the girls before and Bangkok was one place where I hopped on and off the plane most of the time for layovers or extremely short trips where all I remembered of the city was how the airport looked like, and probably the busy traffic. (I was in the cab most of the time, trying to get to the hotel or the airport anyway).
It was really a spur of the moment thing and to be frank, I was almost caught in last minute changes prior to the trip! Apart from that, I was convinced by my best gal pal who was really like me in lots of ways, who was rather familiar with the city and could help us get through the itinerary planning.

There were news of demonstrations the same week of our trip, but nothing major and we went ahead on the trip. It was a rather good reason for me to catch my breath from the stress piling up to my chin; and I was really looking forward to having a relaxing time; traipsing the streets for interesting sights, do a little shopping and catching up with my old school girlfriends.

Flight food (to be frank, I personally find that Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines serve better in-flight meals than any other airlines I have taken).


Our luggages; not planned but somewhat turned out to be in a rather unique sequence in height =)


It was a short flight from KL to Bangkok; probably an hour plus with our neighboring country (our destination) lagging an hour behind us. The one-hour difference did get us muddled up at times, but it was manageable as we were only there for a couple of days. Besides, the worst scenario would be either sleeping an hour earlier or waking up an hour later, right?

A glimpse of our hotel lobby;  recommended by our 'guide' - Novotel Siam Square.



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This is just a short post as a sneak peek into my trip and will be followed by more posts on the vibrant and bustling city...

To be continued...