8/11/2019 Hostelworld PDF Guide Bangkok

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Hostelworld Guide for Bangkok

Bangkok is a melting pot of nationalities. It's hard to think of a city anywhere else in the world where somany travellers lay their hat at the one time. The Thai capital is the base point for travellers about to

embark on a trip around not just Thailand, but the whole of South East Asia. The city is also one of themost popular stop off points for those either travelling to or from Australia. Many who travel there start

their journeys on the infamous Khao San Road, the backpacker hub of the universe. Whether you love itor hate it, like so many people do, you won't be able to deny its vibrancy and authenticity - there is

nowhere else on earth like it.

In this Guide...

Useful InformationAfter Dark

Places to EatTop Attractions

Budget TipsWhere to Shop

The Essentials Climate

Getting There

By plane: Bangkok is served by two airports -Bangkok International Airport which is 25km east ofthe city centre and Don Muang Airport which is25km north of the city centre.

The best way to the city from both airports is by taxi.

Make sure to go with the taxis outside the terminal

building and not the hawkers who approach you inarrivals.

B y t r a i n : B a n g k o k ' s m a i n t r a i n s t a t i o n i sHualampong on Th Rama IV.

Most long-distance trains terminate here.

By bus: Travel to Bangkok by bus from the southa n d y o u ' l l a r r i v e i n t h e b u s s t a t i o n i nBoromratchonnani.

Go there from the north and you'll arrive in the oneon Th Kampaeng Petch 2.

Getting Around

On foot: Many of Bangkok's tourist attractions arewithin walking distance of each other but you'll needto use public transport at some stage.

By tuk-tuk: A journey in a 'tuk-tuk' is great fun.They're more expensive than taxis though, andtuk-tuk drivers are notorious for scamming people(see 'Budget Tips' on page 3).

By taxi: Taxis can be picked up throughout the cityand are extremely cheap modes of public transport.

Bangkok facts

Name: Bangkok is also known as the 'City ofthe Deity' which is the English translation of thecity's name in Thai.

Population: Approximately 9 million people livein the city of Bangkok.

Area: Bangkok, which is the largest city inThailand, covers an area of around 1,500square kilometres.

In Bangkok it's hot all year round with temperatureshitting the 30s every month. The driest months areNovember to February while he wet season beginsin June and continues until October. During the wetseason, sometimes it rains at different stages duringthe day like at 11am and 7pm, while other days itrains for the whole day.

Good to know...Language: Thai, English (spoken by thoseworking in the service industry)Currency: Thai Baht (THB)Electricity: 220 Volts, 50 cyclesArea Code: +66 (Thailand), 02 (Bangkok)Emergency Codes: Ambulance 1646 / Fire 199

/ Police 191 / Tourist Police 1155Time Zone: UTC/GMT + 7Central Post Offices: Th Charoen Krung, ThThani (near Th Khao San)Main Tourist Offices: Look out for yellowtourist booths at different places around the city

Embassies

USA: +66 (0)2 2054000UK: +66 (0)2 3058333Canada: +66 (0)2 6360540Australia: +66 (0)2 3446300South Africa: +66 (0)2 6592900Ireland: + 60 (0)3 21612963*Germany: +66 (0)2 2879000Spain: +66 (0)2 6618284/6Italy: +66 (0)2 2854090New Zealand: +66 (0)2 2542530France: +66 (0)2 6575100

*Embassy is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Cheap Eats After Dark

To m Yu n g K u n g , 9 Tr o k m a y o m ( o f f T hJakapong), Banglamphu Ever wondered whatingredients go into Thai food? And what they do?The people of Tom Yung Krung have been kindenough to inform us in their menu. So if you decideto dine here, ponder over the vast menu and you'lldiscover that lemongrass, among other things,c u r e s s t o m a c h a c h e . O p e n d a i l y f r o m 8am-midnight.

Street eats

Street stalls Dotted all over Bangkok are streetstalls where you can pick up all sorts ofstomach fillers. Whether it's noodle soup, cornon a stick, pancakes, pad thai noodles,watermelon...the list goes on. The moreadventurous travellers can even try deep-friedcockroaches, scorpions and other bugs. Andyes, we are being serious.

Siddharta, 144 Rambutri, Taladyan Pranakorn,Banglamphu Neatly tucked down a lane off thebottom off the Khao San Road, Siddharta is a

fusion restaurant that specialises in Indian and Thaicuisine. Here you can treat yourself to a selection ofextremely affordable and mouth-watering maincourses. The dark dcor makes for extremelypleasant surroundings. Open daily from 11am-1am.

Wang Gcsan, 124 Soi 6, Silom Food i sn ' tsomething which people tend to enjoy when playingpatient in a hospital. But the chef's in this resturantaffilated with Silom's Christian Hospital know how tothrow together a decent 'pad thai' among otherdishes. It's a seafood restaurant meaning somemains are pricy but stick to the Thai food and dinnerwon't be too costly. Open daily from 11am-4am.

Noodle 'N More, 513-514 Rong Muang, Th RamaIV, Chinatown When eating from stalls becomestiresome, find this noodle-shop near Hualamphongsubway station. Food is good and it's a great placeto people watch. Open daily from 11am-4am.

Gulliver's Travelers Tavern, 2 Th Khao San,Banglamphu As the name suggests, Gulliver'sTravelers is heaving with backpackers from all overthe world on a nightly basis. Waitresses attend tothem by bringing them cocktails that inevitablycauses them to mount the pool table in the back ofthe bar to the sounds of the cheesiest of charttunes. Open daily from 12 noon-1am.

C a f d e To u r , 1 8 3 - 1 8 5 T h K h a o S a n ,

Banglamphu Maybe i t ' s because i t can besomewhat cramped. Or maybe i t 's becausemusicians here like to play singalong music for theKhao San's endless amount of jovial backpackers.Either way, people always seem to be enjoyingthemselves in this upstairs venue. Don't be afraid to

join in. Open daily from 2pm-2am.

Gay / Lesbian Bangkok

Bangkok is an extremely gay-friendly city andthere are no shortage of gay bars, stage showsand more. Most of the action is centred aroundthe Silom area of the city. Telephone (114/11Silom Soi 4) is the city's best-known gay barwhere every table has a telephone so you cancall people you like at other t ables!

FreemanDance Arena (60/18-21 Silom Road) is home tothe city's best gay cabaret, while DJ Station(8/6-8 Silom Soi 2) is one of the city's biggestgay clubs.

Twilo, 70 Patpong Soi 1, Silom Amidst themassage parlours, go-go bars and flying ping pongballs on Patpong 1, Twilo uses live music as itsmain form of entertainment. Here Thai musiciansplay to those in the area for Patpong's night market.Open daily from 9.30am-3am.

Khao San Center, 80 Th Khao San, BanglamphuThe only 24-hour bar on the Khao San, thiswatering hole isn't the most eventful bar in theworld. But as there's no music and a hell of a lot ofseats, it's extremely easy to meet people here.Once you're finished swapping travel stories youcan move upstairs to the adjoining Irish bar 'TheShamrock' or watch l ife go by on the world 'sfavourite backpacker strip. Open daily 24 hours.

G a z e b o , 4 4 T h J a k r a p o n g ( r o o f t o p ) ,Banglamphu Just around the corner from Gulliver'sTravelers, Gazebo opens later than most places inB a n g l a m p h u . I t ' s a l s o t h e a r e a ' s o n l yMoroccan-style bar as here you can puff on shishapipes while listening to DJs or live music. Open nightly from 8pm-late.

Don't Miss Mark Your Calendar

Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew, Th Na Phra Lan,Ko Ratanakosin Serving as the official residenceof the King of Thailand from the 18th to themid-20 th cen tu ry, the Grand Pa lace i s anarchitectural delight. The intricate detail of the roofsof the palace along with the immaculate groundsmakes walking around it a delight. Beside it, WatPhra Kaew is one of Thailand's most sacredtemples . Open da i ly f rom 8 .30am-3 .30pm; admission 350B. Free guided tours in English are available at 10am, 10.30am, 1.30pm and 2pm.

Golden Mount, Th Chakkaphatdi, BanglamphuFor unrivalled views of the Thai capital you simplycan't miss a visit to the Golden Mount. Up here youcan really appreciate how vast this city is. To get tothe summit you have to climb a painful 318 steps tothe top, but the hard work is ultimately worth it.Open daily from 8am-9pm.

Tour on the Chao Phraya River Along the banksof the Chao Phraya River are a host of attractions.These include the Royal Barges Museum, Wat Arunand the fish farm at Wat Srisudaram. Some toursalso visit the Thonburi floating market. Tourist boat operates everyday from 9.30am-3pm, departing every 30 minutes from Sathorn.

Muay Thai, Ratchadamnoen Stadium, ThRatchadamnoen, Dusit Not for the faint-hearted,'muay thai' (Thai kickboxing) is quite violent but alsoan important part of Thailand's culture. Check local listings for fight times and prices.

The reclining Buddha

Wat Pho, Th Thai Wang, Ko RatanakosimWat Pho, or 'Temple of the Reclining Buddha',is home to an enormous gold Buddha sportingthe cheekiest of grins. This may be largely dueto its nonchalant position in what is Thailand'sbiggest temple. Standing...sorry, lying a proud46 metres long and 15 metres high, it is not tobe missed. Open daily from 8am-5pm; admission 20B.

February - Chinese New Year As Bangkok'sChinese population is huge, so too are the ChineseNew Year celebrations. As you would expect,Chinatown is the setting for most of the celebrationswhen parades and fireworks displays entertainthousands.

March - Bangkok Kite Festival Each March theskies over Sanam Luang (the open ground acrossfrom the Grand Palace) and Lumphini Park are

decorated with hundreds of kites.

April - Songkran This water-throwing festival isextremely good fun and one of the year's mostpopular events. Celebrated throughout the country,Thao Khao San is one of the wetter places towitness it.

May - Coronation Day Commemorating thecoronation of the King and Queen of Thailand in1946, Coronation Day takes place on May 5th andis a public holiday throughout Thailand.

August - Queen's Birthday CelebrationsBuildings on Th Ratchadamnoen and in the areaaround the Grand Palace are doused with colouredlights to ensure the Thai capital looks its best for theQueen's Birthday.

September - Swan Boat Races Bangkok's ChaoPhraya plays host to Thailand's Swan Boat Racesevery September. Over twenty teams f rom aroundthe world take part including ones from America,Australia and, of course, Thailand.

November - Ngan Wat Saket Held around thecity's Golden Mount, this festival is a temple fairwhere merchants sell all sorts of paraphernaliasuch as paper, incense, bells and s affron cloth.

November - Loy Krathong Arguably Bangkok'smost beautiful festival and taking place on theevening of November's full moon, people go down

to their local canal and float 'kathrongs' - ornamentswith flowers and candles.

November - Bangkok Pride This celebration ofeverything camp in Bangkok sees the city's everincreasing gay population take to the streets. Thehighlight of the festival is the 'Pride in the Park'party in Lumphini Park.

December - King's Birthday Celebrations SanamLuang across from the Grand Palace is the settingfor the year's most important royal celebrations.

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Neighbourhood Watch Retail Therapy

Ko Ratanakosin Translating to 'RatanakosinIsland', this part of Bangkok east of the ChaoPhraya River is where many of the city's top sightscan be found. The best known of these are theGrand Palace and the Temple of the RecliningBuddha (Wat Pho). Less-visted ones include theNational Museum and Lak Mueang, the city'sfounding pillar.

Silom Th i s pa r t o f Bangkok i s home to two

industries - the sex industry and the financialindustry. The city's very own version of Wall Streetis here, as is Patpong, a place where you will findbars where (some would argue) talented women dothe unthinkable with their private parts. LumphiniPark is also here, as is one of the city's 'muay thai'stadium.

Sukhumvit Located in south-east Bangkok,Sukhumvit is where you will find Th Sukhumvit,Bangkok's main shopping drag which is also themain street in Bangkok's 'new town'. Incidentally, itis also one of the longest roads, not just inThailand, but in the world!

Backpacker HQ of the universe

Banglamphu Located only ten minutes walkfrom Bangkok's Grand Palace, Banglamphu isthe neighbourhood where you will find theinfamous Khao San Road, the best knownbackpacker strip in the world. It is inevitable thatyou will end up here at some stage during yourvisit, and no matter what time of day or night itis, you can be guaranteed there will besomething happening somewhere.

Chinatown Bangkok's Chinese hub is slightlydifferent to Chinatowns in other South-East Asiancountries. Here you won't find red lanterns orChinese gates. Instead along Sampeng Lane, the

heart of the district, you must walk slowly to makeyour way among the hundreds of people shoppingfor fabric, sweet delicacies and other things.

MBK Shopping Centre, cnr Th Phayathai and ThPhra Ram I, Patumwan Forget the Khao San andPatpong - this is where the kids from Bangkok go toget their rip-off goods. It's a bit odd walking into afully legit shopping centre to see stalls selling fakeArmani t-shirts and Diesel jeans, but who'scomplaining?! Step inside with an empty backpackand you're bound to leave with a far heavier one.Open daily from 10am-10pm.

Bargain hunting on boats

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Thailand'smost famous floating market, where women instraw hats offload their fruit, vegetables andflowers to throngs of tourists, is more a touristattraction than a place to go shopping. Located80km outisde Bangkok, it's fascinating to seehow they operate and is well worth the trip.Open daily from 4am-12 noon.

Th Khao San Market, Banglamphu If your time inBangkok is precious and you're staying in thevacinity of the Khao San Road, you'll still be able to

stock up on lots of things here. On its hundreds ofstalls you'll pick up pretty much anything you'relooking for. Make sure to explore the many laneswhich branch off it. Open daily from 10am-11pm.

Patpong Night Market, Sois 1 and 2, SilomBangkok's best-known night market is moreorganised than the one of the Khao San, meaningthe selection is better. The vast majority of stallshere sell t-shirts, designer underwear or watches. Ifyou're missing an episode of Lost on your travelsdon't worry - you'll pick up an entire series on DVDhere also. Open daily from 6pm-2am.

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Chatuchak Park,Chatuchak Staying in Bangkok on a Saturday orSunday? Then don't miss a trip to the world's

biggest weekend market. Open Sat & Sun from 8am-6pm.

Budget Tips A Day in Bangkok...

Bargain! Bargain! Bargain! When shopping inBangkok (in shopping centres as well as markets),make sure to barter with the traders to get the bestpossible price. There's no golden rule as to howmuch you should offer, but a good guideline is tointially offer half the advertised price, wait for theircounter-offer and then work out a happy mediumsomewhere between the two figures.

Visit the National Museum and Gallery A s

admission charges for both these museums areminimal, they are the perfect places to visit on rainydays. The National Museum (Th Na Phra That 1,Ko Rattanakosin, admission 50B) houses thelargest collection of Thai art and artefacts in thecountry, while the National Gallery (Th Chao-Fa 4,Ko Rattanakosin, admission 30B) is where you'llencounter some contemporary Thai artworks.

Chill out in Bangkok's parks Bangkok can beinsanely chaotic at the best of times, and all it takesis one more person to offer you a tuk-tuk or atailored suit before you may tip over the edge. Toget away from it all take refuge in one of the city'sparks which are free to enter. Try Dusit Park inDusit or Lumphini Park in Silom.

Don't get caught out

Beware of conmen Bangkok is notorious forconmen doing their utmost to scamunsuspecting travellers. Don't get caught out!The scam works like this - you are told by atuk-tuk driver or a 'friendly local' outside one ofthe main temples that it is shut for the day. Asan alternative they can bring you to othertemples in the city for a mere 20B per person.You are then told that as y ou are a tourist youcan buy gems in jewellery shops at discountedprices, and that you will make money by sellingthem double the price in your home country.Don't listen to them! It's a scam! If anybody tells

you the main temples are closed, don't believethem.

Begin your day in the Thai capital at the GrandPalace, Bangkok's top attraction. Make sure to haveyour shoulders and knees covered as if you don'tthey won't let you in!

After the palace take the short stroll to the pier at ThChang. Jump on a boat and take a tour down theChao Phraya River.

Visit Wat Pho, otherwise known as 'Temple of theReclining Buddha'. See how the smirk across theface of the Golden One's is an infectious one.

Wander on down to China town. Walk downS a m p e n g L a n e a n d s e e h o w t h e C h i n e s ecommunity in Bangkok live. Find a noodle shop forsome lunch.

Jump in a cab or tuk-tuk to Thao Khao San, theworld's best-known backpacker strip. Browse thestalls, think about getting your hair braided and chatto other travellers.

Go to the Golden Mount which is about twentyminutes walk from Th Khao San. Climb the 318steps to the top for amazing panoramic views of the

Thai capital.

Cross town to the Patpong Night Market. See if youcan wrangle the best possible prices out of thetraders. If you're male watch out for locals enticingyou into their bars!

Return to the Khao San Road for dinner before anight on the tiles. Indian food lovers should visit'Siddharta', while Thai food lovers should go to'Tom Yung Kung'.

Finish the day off bar hopping along the Khao San.Meet other travellers from around the world on oneof the most vibrant streets in South East Asia.

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