Travel blog: Bangkok and tuk-tuks for only 10 baht
Thursday, 15, Nov 2007 06:05
Anna Kainberger is taking a year-out from her career to travel in south-east Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific, along with Hawaii and the USA. This month she will be reporting from the Thai capital Bangkok, and will be going on a trekking trip in Northern Thailand. Here is the first of her blog entries:
When I decided to go on a round the world trip, I always knew that I wanted to start in Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country, fairly safe for single women travellers, plus the exchange rates for sterling pound into baht are also very much in my favour and lets face it, I am on a budget here.
And so naturally my first stop when booking my round the world ticket with STA Travel, had to be Bangkok.
The flight was pleasant enough, BA/Qantas in general offer very good deals with several flights daily out of London Heathrow. 13 hours and little sleep later I arrived some time in the afternoon at the brand new Suvarnabhumi Airport, which I have to say looks rather spectacular in shape and design and headed straight for the bus terminal to catch a bus rather than a taxi into town.
Buses leave straight from the airport, every 20 minutes and cost 150 baht, provide air-con and take you to any destination desired.
As I had already booked my first two nights' accommodation back in London I headed to Banglamphu, where the famous Thanon Khao San is located and found myself checking in only about an hour later. Khao San Road is the number one place for a backpacker to find cheap accommodation, as well as company, used backpacks, travel guides among a million other things offered at the market stalls in and around the area.
Hotels and hostels start from something like 150 baht for a basic room, that is if you are, like me on a tight budget. Booking a hotel in advance was recommended back in London, however the travel agent will always offer the more expensive room and in and around the area are so many hostels and hotels, that you will always find a cozy place to stay, without your travel agent making a cut from your booking.
I am a big fan of Lonely Planet travel guides, and usually try and see one of their recommended hostels and hotels to stay at, if you are unsure of the place, ask to see a room first for cleanliness before checking in.
Bangkok for an experienced ex-Londoner, like me was not a huge shock to the system, after all I survived Christmas shopping on Oxford Street. The only thing to remember here is: if someone offers you a deal that sounds too good to be true, it usually is. A tuk-tuk for 10 bhat rented for an hour, will not show you the sights, it will take you past all the shops it has a backhander going with.
Also don't believe anyone who tries to tell you that the Grand Palace is closed today and only open for the monks, as it is a special holiday - it's just another way of luring you away from where you want to go.
The things to do and see in Bangkok for me were: the Grand Palace, Siam Square, the area in and around Khao San Road, China Town and the famous MBK. Getting around town is easy on the normal buses, which only cost 7 baht for any distance up to 10km and the conductors, who reminded me very much of the ones we used to have on the old buses back in London, and will be more than happy to tell you when to get off.
In general, you can expect people to be very friendly and although the constant offerings for hand made AKH frogs, food and tuk-tuks can be a bit tiring, remember that the minimum wage in Thailand is around 150 baht per day and most people are only trying to make a living. As a tourist or 'Farang' stay responsible, friendly and calm and just move on if you are not interested.
I threw all cautions to the wind and tried literally every food I fancied from one of the many food stalls along the Khao San Road and in around the area of Soi Rambuttri.
You can watch your cook prepare your dish and as the area is so well visited by tourists pretty much anything will be safe to eat. Stay away from tap water, though bottled water is always fine and I can whole heartedly recommend fruit shakes served in specially designed plastic bags to take away or banana pancakes, when you feel a bit peckish.
Along Khao San Road and China town you can spend what would be a fortune back in London on clothes, jewellery, music, dvds and well done faked brands, you can get your laundry done for less than a pound. There are internet cafes everywhere, massage places, tailors, you name it, in Bangkok you will find it.
For me a couple of days in and around Bangkok were enough, before I decided to head down to Damnoen Saduak, 100km south of Bangkok to see the famous floating markets.
Read Anna's next blog entry