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Bangkok Offerings - Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Heres some tips from a personal point of view (not a books), on where to stay and what to do while staying in Bangkok, before or after backpacking Thailand.Bangkok.
It is almost a must 4 any foreign backpacker to stay in or around Khao San Road:-
Khao San Rd is where "everything" happens in Bangkok. It is here that nearly all backpackers from the world stay. By day the street is dormant, looking like your average run-down Bangkok street. As soon as the sun sets, the place starts buzzing. Hundreds of stalls get setup in the middle of Khao San Rd and the place turns into a "crazy night-time circus". The road is about 350metres long and you can buy anything here at night. Bargaining is a must in Kao San rd and they expect it!
Knives, clothes, hammocks (if your at the start of your Thailand experience these come in handy for the islands), fake id's (yup you want a fake Australian Drivers licence that looks real they'll make it for you), ..to hell- one Thai vendor even tried to sell me a hand gun on Khao San Rd... If you think Target is cheap for clothes, think again; T-shirts have a going price for about 80baht ($2.50). Jeans that I am still wearing today after 4 months and there is nothing wrong with them cost me about $12.. The biggest and strongest hammock you have ever seen that folds up to the size of a jumper cost me $9... Shit, don't forget the CDS... CD's Galore!!! Buy a shitty Discman for about $15 to take away travelling with you (so handy)..DVD's... all of them $3. Ok to put things simply you can buy anything here @ the cheapest prices on the planet without having to look over your shoulder for cops!
**Buy all your clothes that you want to take away on your journey with you, like for example singlets, shorts and t-shirts here! ...**hint:- Do not buy the clothes you want to take back home to wear, from Khao San Rd.. Buy them at MBK department store (mentioned below) which is located downtown Bangkok.
Accomodation is no problem and there is no need to book cos there are ample places to choose from. The place caters for every price range bar the top dollar crap that you don't want anyway. From $3 a night you will get a shared dorm with shared bathroom (watch for tinea), just like boarding school (except with rats and mice, stained mattresses and angry steroid taking owners), then for about 200baht ($6) a night you can get a "decent" single room with own bathroom. The lonely Planet guide will come in very handy here for specific places to stay.
When I returned to Bangkok after backpacking the country for two months, I actually stayed at one of the many hotels about 200metres from the western intersection of Khao San Rd. It was still cheap at about $10dollars a night with great private bathroom facilities and was more than I needed.
Food is no problem either, naturally where there are tourists, there will be plenty of small cafes and restaurants (Must visit the main pub on Khao San Rd "Gullivers" for a drink and try their huge club-sandwich), but my favourite were the food vendors. YOU GOTTA TRY THE BUGS! Haha. for 50baht I got a plastic bag full of the last thing anyone would ever consider eating! Fried scorpions the size of your hand, big black fried spiders bigger than the biggest huntsman you have ever seen, fried maggots, fried crickets, cockroaches, beetles...etc yum! (They actually taste like shit, but, its gotta be tried). Look out for the "banana pancake lady" (shes everywhere in Thailand you go, even on the most remote island)... They are the best!
She'll make the best pancake you have ever eaten in about two minutes... Build your own. Banana, nuttella, lemon, sugar, cream, jam...+ about 10 other ingredients you would find in a pancake.
**Hint... To fill that void after a 14hour bus journey when you just want some junk food to hit the spot; Burger King is located at the far Eastern end of Khao San Rd.
Things to do in Bangkok
MBK... aka... Mahboonkrong.
Known as MBK to the foreigner this is "the place" to do your shopping at the END of your trip. This is the Myer of Thailand, but at next to nothing prices!
**Make a meeting spot. You will get separated... The place is gigantic, with thousands of stores selling everything and anything.
Cd's, Dvd's, all electronics...etc... Incase you get that American crave this is where you will find all the franchises, Mcdonalds, Burger King... List goes on.
I literally spent about $150 Aussie dollars here and got about $2000 worth of so-called "cool" Chapel street clothes (+ a haircut) and they're, (after 10 months) all in original condition bar one T-shirt which shrunk! It is said bargaining is not welcome here, but it worked for me in some stores, but be careful cos one guy wanted to punch my head-in, at another store for bargaining. **hint:- you can also buy a suitcase for about $10 to put all this shit in to take home as well.
If your at the end of your trip and tired of travelling, MBK has cinemas, in English, but be prepared for an unexpected stop halfway through the movie, where everyone stands up and a 5 minute promotional video of the king is shown, before cutting back to where the movie was at. Thailand is on par with Australia with new-releases.
Whilst MBK is an acronym, all taxis and tuk-tuk drivers know what MBK is, so don't bother trying to pronounce the name cos you will end up in a dark alley, like what happened to us when we first tried to go there~!
**Do not leave MBK at around 5pm. This is peak hour traffic and Bangkok is SHOCKING! The Tuk-Tuk drivers and taxis will also charge a higher price to get home. Either leave earlier or stay around and have some dinner in Siam Square located on the other side of the road to MBK.
If you are sick or really tired from travelling there are some good hotels located around MBK. We stayed in the Asia hotel when we first arrived in Bangkok and they gave us a great X-MAS Buffet breakfast the following morning. It is located about 800m from MBK. There are a lot of other famous hotel chains in this area aswell. Lonely Planet will tell you where these are.
Chatuchak Market...aka... weekend market
Another must visit, is the weekend market. A fair way out of town you will need to take a taxi. This place is amazing. Thousands upon thousands of stores. Buy anything here from poisonous snakes to opium pipes. You need almost a full day here, if not a full day! Once again awesome clothes shopping and bargaining is expected so don't be shy. **Hint:- charge your mobiles before you go? cos you will be separated from your friends all day in the congestion!
Patpong
Patpong is Bangkok's red light district which will provide some funny laughs if you need R&R. You will need to get a taxi here or tuk-tuk for it is a little way from Khao San Road. They had recently changed the law from 18-21 years old when we were there and since it was X-MAS/ NEW YEARS time they were being tight-asses which "apparently" they aren't at other times... Anyway we found a way in to the main block of streets.. ( hard to describe but they block off "a block" with heaps of streets in it every night with security guards and rope ). the security guards start their shifts at about 6pm every night.. Hence get there about 5pm and go into one of the many pubs in the "area/block" and have a few cheap drinks and some dinner, then visit one of the hundreds of GO-GO BARS too choose from! Here you will experience some of the most amazing shows on EARTH..... pinpon ball shooting, creative ways of smoking cigarettes, dart shooting, banana peeling, creative ways of opening a beer bottle, where's that whistling coming from... List goes on, but has to be experienced at least once in a life time. **hint:- pimps harass you trying to get you to go to their shows.. Be arrogant and don't talk to them; just ignore them! Choose the GOGO bar carefully! Some make you pay for each individual show which lasts about 10 seconds ie: banana peeling, pinpon ball shooting... Whilst with others, you will simply pay a door entry, usually 150 baht ($5) which includes all shows. **don't buy drinks at these places, one drink can cost $10 where next door at the pub you can get plastered for about $5.
**hint:- Whilst in the area of Patpon watch your WALLET!!! Oh and look out for ladyboys, they are in every bar and pub cracking onto you!
Getting around Bangkok
Two main tourist transports for Bangkok are the Tuk-Tuk or taxi.
For short hops ie: Khao San Rd - MBK or Khao San Rd - "Hualamphong" the main railway station (the place you will catch your trains to South or North Thailand, from), take the Tuk-Tuk. **Beware! Tuk-Tuk drivers are generally nice, but they can be real assholes and after a long time travelling your patience can run out with them very quickly. Three times while we were in Thailand, Tuk-Tuk drivers pulled over demanding us to get out and hand over money because, the traffic was "too bad" and they couldnt "be bothered" going any further. **BE SURE to negotiate a set price BEFORE you leave in a Tuk-Tuk. You can negotiate a price with taxis, but the metre can be cheaper as we found out! If you're brave you can try the public transport. Buses are dead cheap, but be prepared to stand up or be squashed.
- Created:
- Saturday, October 16, 2004 at 10:03 PM
- Last Modified:
- Tuesday, August 16, 2005 at 11:59 PM