5 THINGS I ABSOLUTELY LOVED ABOUT BANGKOK, THAILAND!
A vibrant and exciting metropolis!
I’ve heard mixed reviews about Bangkok, with some saying they absolutely loved it and others saying they couldn’t wait to leave!
Here are 5 things that I absolutely loved about the capital city of Thailand:
1. All the Temples!
There are over 10,000 temples in Bangkok alone! Temple in Thai is ‘Wat’, so you can easily see where the temples are on the map.
The temples are incredible, they are so detailed and well-maintained. Many are also hand-painted on the inside with intricate designs.
My favourite was the Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew), it’s absolutely magnificent and certainly lives up to its name.
2. The Food!
Thai food is wonderfully delicious and there is something for all tastes. Whether you like spicy or ‘mai ped’ (not spicy), the dishes are bursting with flavour.
My favourite dishes (I don’t like too much spice) are:
- Mango sticky rice
- Pad Thai
- Khao Phat (Thai fried rice)
- Chicken and Pork Skewers
- Crispy Pork
I found the best selection of food to be in Chinatown, where you can find both Chinese and Thai street food.
You can go on a food tour of Chinatown with a guide, but these tours can be quite pricey and not suitable for those on a budget!
I would suggest doing it the way I did and just taking your time walking around and looking at the different street food stalls. If anything takes your fancy you can buy a portion and then move on to the next place.
This way you get to try lots of different things whilst sticking to your budget and making your own little food tour!
3. The Shopping Malls of Bangkok
The shopping malls in Bangkok are very luxurious, modern and stylish! In particular, IconSiam is fantastic. Inside there is a mini floating market!
The decorations in each section are different and you can find anything your heart desires here, from food to electronics to kids’ toys, they’ve got it all.
The shopping malls are also perfect places to find air conditioning and shelter from torrential rain during the rainy season!
They are also somewhat of a luxury for me, mainly because we don’t have shopping malls where I’m from and even when I was living in England I rarely visited them.
The shopping malls in Bangkok are extravagant and a must-see!
This photo was taken inside the ICONSIAM shopping mall, Bangkok, Thailand — Photo By Tiani.
4. Chao Phraya River
Taking ferries along the Chao Phraya river is a great way to get around the city and the tickets are incredibly cheap, around 16 baht (£0.37) per journey. It’s also a lovely, relaxing way to see more of the city, the skyscrapers and the temples.
Boats run up and down the river all day. Including a tourist boat which costs 150 baht (£3.51) for a 1-day hop-on hop-off ticket. Different coloured flagged boats stop at different piers. Check with the ticket desk which boat you need when you get there.
5. The Cost of Staying in Bangkok
As far as capital cities go, Bangkok was extremely affordable. I’ve written an article about how much I spent in 5 nights in Bangkok:
How Much?! Total Cost Of 5 Nights, 4 Days in Bangkok
I was expecting Bangkok to be more expensive than it was, but my budget and I were pleasantly surprised at the end of the trip.
You can definitely spend more or less than what I paid, depending on where you choose to stay and eat and what kind of transport you prefer.
As I’m travelling on a budget, I chose to spend more money on tours and activities and less on food and accommodation, for example.
Have you visited Bangkok before? If so, what were your favourite things about the city? Let me know in the comments!
