Bangkok Travel Guide
Thailand’s cosmopolitan capital Bangkok can be a chaotic, complex and confounding city – until you cruise the Chao Phraya River, discover the Old City and its glittering pagodas and gleaming spires, and explore the quiet canals. For many visitors Bangkok is little more than a shopping stop punctuating a beach holiday. Yes, there’s cheap accommodation and dirt-cheap street food, but there are also beautiful boutique hotels, heady cafés and buzzy bars, and brilliant restaurants serving inventive Thai food – not to mention new art and design destinations, a rejuvenated riverside, and a rapidly gentrifying Chinatown. Go now.
Bangkok Itineraries
One Day
Itinerary
Two Day
Itinerary
Stay in Bangkok
Luxury for Less in Southeast Asia for Proper Pampering and a Warm Welcome
Luxury for Less in Southeast Asia is possible year-round. While travelling to the region during the low season will get you jaw-dropping bargains on flights, hotels and tours – and help the local economy – [...]
Best Bangkok Riverside Hotels on the Chao Phraya River
The best Bangkok riverside hotels on the Chao Phraya River range from one of Bangkok’s oldest hotels, the Mandarin Oriental, to the city’s most luxurious, The Siam, and everything in between, from riverside resorts with [...]
Book Bangkok Accommodation
Eat in Bangkok
Fresh Herb Salad Recipe – Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok
This fresh herb salad recipe makes a big fragrant bowl of Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant, Bangkok, and comes courtesy of owner-chef Chalee Kader. European in presentation, it’s distinctly Southeast Asian in its sweet [...]
Michelin Guide Thailand 2019 Released – Some Revelations and Reflections
The Michelin Guide Thailand 2019 was released last week – or rather, the Michelin Guide Bangkok, Phuket and Phang-Nga, but that’s too much of a mouthful. Here are some reflections and revelations on the second [...]
Drink Bangkok
Bangkok’s Best Local Bars – Our Personal Favourites
There’s nothing like a few drinks at a buzzy Bangkok bar after a busy week. But we’re freelance travel writers I hear you say! Yes, but we still work every day, we work hard, and we still [...]
Explore Bangkok
Bangkok Riverside Renaissance – From the Village of Wild Plums to Venice of the East
A Bangkok riverside renaissance in the last six years has seen an abundance of new boutique hotels, restaurants, cafés, and bars sprouting along the banks of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, luring locals and expats as [...]
Silom Sathorn District of Bangkok – A Guide to Bangkok’s Buzziest Area
Silom Sathorn district of Bangkok is one of the Thai capital's buzziest areas right now. Home to a spate of new cocktail bars, sunny cafés, seductive speakeasies and two of Asia’s best restaurants, the Silom [...]
Experience Bangkok
Cooking with Poo at the Helping Hands Thai Cooking School
From Klong Toey markets in Bangkok it’s a quick drive and a short stroll through Klong Toey slum to Saiyuud Diwong’s modest kitchen where we’re going to try our hand at, um, Cooking with Poo at the Helping Hands Thai Cooking [...]
Cooking with Poo — A Walking Tour of Klong Toey Markets
“Isaan people eat everything!” Poo tells our small group as we negotiate the muddy paths of frenetic Klong Toey market on a walking tour to purchase ingredients for our Cooking with Poo experience and the [...]
Book Bangkok Tours
Absorb Bangkok
Front Row Seats at Bangkok International Fashion Week
From the buzz of fashionistas chatting excitedly as they find their seats pre-show, to the moment the lights go down, music goes up and the first model hits the runway, fashion shows can be exhilarating [...]
Backstage at Bangkok International Fashion Week
Interviewing Thai fashion designers and photographing models backstage during the 2011 Bangkok International Fashion Week was the last thing we expected to be doing when we went to Bangkok to work on a first edition [...]
Shop Bangkok
Bangkok Shopping Malls: Monsoon Havens & Modern Town Squares
The much-maligned shopping mall makes sense in steamy Bangkok, especially during monsoon season* — just as it does in the oppressive heat of Dubai. Whereas the gritty streets of both cities offer few opportunities to escape [...]
Kicking Back in Bangkok: Talad Rot Fai, Weekend Train Market
One of the best spots to spend a Saturday night in Bangkok at the moment is Talad Rot Fai – the Train Market – also known as Talad Dek Naew, after the vintage-wearing, retro-loving Thai [...]
Festivals & Events in Bangkok
Monks in Bangkok, Visakha Bucha Day, Thailand
When there are 12,600 Buddhist monks from southern Thailand in one street of Bangkok at once, where, as a photographer, do you start trying to document the mass alms-giving that was Visakha Bucha Day? The answer, [...]
Bangkok Local Knowledge
Chef Jess Barnes Guide to Trashy Chinese Food in Bangkok
We believe great food should be celebrated in its many forms, whether genuinely old and authentic or the good old-fashioned bastardised cuisines of the kind we grew up on in Australia that Chef Jess Barnes calls ‘trashy [...]
A Chat with Chef David Thompson at Nahm Restaurant, Bangkok
We recently spent a couple of fun and fascinating days with chef David Thompson at Nahm restaurant in Bangkok. Much of it passed gossiping over coffee. Some of it was spent in the kitchen tasting dishes the chef [...]
Bangkok Resources
Asian Travel Etiquette — Greetings, Gestures and Good Manners
Asian travel etiquette is not so complicated to understand, nor is it mysterious. Almost every Asian guidebook, travel website and those free little tourist magazines seem to have a section on etiquette — how you should [...]
Eating Street Food Safely – Footpath Feasting Street Food Guide to Safe Eating
Eating street food safely is vital when you're travelling. Whether you're on a weekend escape, a short holiday or a long journey, you don't want to spend a day or two in bed (or the [...]
Bangkok Essentials
WHEN TO GO
Nov–Feb The temeratures in Bangkok don’t vary much, it’s the humidity and change of rain that varies, this is the best time to travel and it’s crowded.
Mar–Jun Weather This shoulder season is less crowded but the chance of rain is higher.
Jul–Oct Wet season commences and while it’s a little less crowded, the storms
can be ferocious.
Health
Bangkok has excellent healthcare facilities, in fact it’s where most people in Southeast Asia head for medical treatment if they can afford it and is a medical tourism destination. It’s still of great importance that you get full medical insurance for your visit. Recommended Vaccinations
Visas
Nationals of most countries can get a free tourist visa on arrrival in Thailand, it’s the length of the visa that varies and can range from 15 days to 90 days. Overstaying visas incurrs daily fines and rules can change overnight so be aware. Some visas can be extended, check the Thai Immigration website.
Insurance for Bangkok
CURRENCY
CURRENT EXCHANGE RATES
$1.00 USD = 30.31 THB
$1.00 AUD = 20.68 THB
€1.00 EUR = 33.54 THB
£1.00 GBP = 39.84 THB
The Thai currency (THB) is called the ‘Baht’, and it’s the only currency used in the country. In touristy areas they may acccept USD but and give change in THB but you’ll suffer an unfavourable exchange rate. It is, however, easy to change most major currencies into THB.
LANGUAGE
THAI IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THAILAND.
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY IN THAILAND IS 220 VOLTS. 50 CYCLES/SEC.
LOCAL TIME
CURRENT BANGKOK TIME
Bangkok’s Time Zone is (GMT+7)
Bangkok has never utilised daylight saving.
WEATHER
CURRENT BANGKOK WEATHER
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TEMPERATURE
°C | °C -
HUMIDITY
% -
WIND
m/s -
CLOUDINESS
% -
SUNRISE
-
SUNSET
-
TUE 10°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
-
WED 11°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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THU 12°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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FRI 13°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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SAT 14°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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SUN 15°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
TRANSPORTATION
AIR/LAND/SEA
Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) caters to domestic and international flights. The airport is only 3km southwest of the old city. Local carriers such as Nok Air and regional carrier Air Asia can fly from Bangkok for as little as US$35. Internaltionally, the main desinations are Kuala Lumpur, Luang Prabang and Vientiane. To get around the city, it’s best to use Sŏrng·tăa·ou or Rót daang which are red trucks two rows of seats in the back. You can hire them like a taxi or get on board with other passengers heading the same direction.
Bangkok Daily Costs
Budget
Daily Budget Up To:
US$30
- Guesthouse dorm room: US$3–10
- Cheap restaurants, street food: US$0.5–3
- BTS Daily Ticket: US$3:60
Mid Range
Daily Budget From:
US$31–200
- Air-con hotel room: US$20–45
- Good local restaurant meal: US$5–15
- Medium distance taxi ride: US$4:50
Luxury
Daily Budget From:
US$201+
- Boutique hotel or resort: US$80–500
- Degustation meal without drinks: US$50+
- Private airport transfer: US$80+