Bangkok

I decided to fly to Bangkok instead of taking the 10hr bus ride as planned.  I just figured I work too hard to be ballin on a budget (quote Big Sean).  My 1hr flight was delayed 2hrs, and I was operating on 5hrs of sleep so I wasn’t a happy camper.  I guess it beats the bus though.  I took a cab from the airport and it cost me ~$14 to get to my hotel.  I came to find that everything was super expensive compared to Chiang Mai (cost me $3-5 max to get anywhere… and usually only 60 cents).  I stayed a few nights on Khao San road which is a big tourist place.  It was packed with people 24hrs a day.

Khao San Rd

My hotel was pretty noisy.  I woke up around 7am thanks to some crying babies and whiny kids who thought it would be cool to play in the hallways for an hour.  I decided to explore a bit, so I walked around Khao San area for an hour or so.

Found this fort

Most my trip I spent trying to get away from Khao San.  During the day there were Indian men grabbing me and literally trying to pull me into their shop to buy a suit.  At night ladyboi’s would walk next to me and offer massages which I respectfully declined.  My personal bubble was violated too often to stay there.


I eventually got a hotel room on Sukhumvit rd which was still busy, but I found to be much nicer.  The hotel was a lot quieter.  Some of the shopping centers there were amazing.  Seven floors of a shoppers paradise.  I’m not a huge shopper, but I enjoy walking around in air conditioning instead of the muggy, hot, and polluted outside air.

MBK Mall

 Central World

 Siam Paragon

One of the highlights of my trip was a water taxi ride down the river.  For 15 baht (~50 cents) it was by far the best “tour” for the money.

Other than that I made a couple new friends, and hung out with my friend Justin from Chiang Mai.  He’s from my language school and was in Bangkok on business a couple days.

Overall I wasn’t overly impressed with Bangkok.  I had fun, but it just seemed like any other big city.  Obviously it had temples, markets, and other things you couldn’t find elsewhere, but I’m used to all that in Chiang Mai.  I was ready to get out of there and head to the islands, which did not disappoint!  I will write up a separate blog for that.