When you hear of Bangkok Thailand does your mind imagine exotic experiences delicious cheap street food exciting bars and fun times?
It should because Bangkok is all that much more. Over the last few years I’ve been fortunate to have visited Bangkok many times. At least 30 times.
The first time was in 2011, I arrived from the Philippines where I had lived in Manila for a month or so. I’d never been to Thailand and so jumped on a flight and arrived one afternoon.
The first thing to surprise me was the airport. It’s huge and very modern. Then the line for a taxi was surprisingly organised and fast moving. Bangkok is gigantic and has around 8 million residents. Plenty of freeways a sky train system and tons of high rise buildings.
I had booked a hotel in an area called Nana on a street called Sukhumvit Soi 4. I had remembered having a conversation in a pub in London with a guy who frequented Bangkok. He recommended the area.
It’s full of bars, restaurants and some of the best street food. One of my favorite bars called The Morning Night Bar is located at the top of Soi 4. I still manage to go there for at least a few drinks every visit to the city. The bar is one of many owned by the Hillary Group which is headed up by Hillary, a super successful entrepreneur. I met her at the opening of one of her many bars about 2013.
Sitting in the Morning Night, watching the world go by outside is amazingly entertaining. Sometimes with Theary, we play a game of “spot the ladyboy” I lose more often than I win.
On my most recent trip I stayed in a totally different area as you will see in the videos. We got a condo on the river for only $24 per night on AirBNB. It was well appointed, very comfortable and extremely affordable.
We arrived at midnight from Phnom Penh and the host was still there to greet us warmly.
In the morning I made the first video for you I hope you enjoy
We went back to Khao San Road the same night for another meal. We knew it would be much more crowded and more interesting. It was.
The next night we wanted to go on a river cruise to see the lights, temples and just relax. The boat we were on was modern, clean, safe and was a great 2 hour cruise. Cost per head including buffet dinner and live entertainment was $30.
Have you ever seen the “Hangover” movies? The second one was set in Bangkok and near the end there was a big scene at a skybar. It’s a real bar and we went there and documented it for you in part four of this series.
Beware, if you ever go there, the drinks are mind bogglingly expensive as I reveal in the video. Still, the view was breathtaking and well worth the visit.
Well there you have it, a Don Reid tour of Bangkok. Hope it entices you to come visit and to make your own tour and your own fun.
Living a life of adventure beats any time spent working.
Next off we’re going to southern Thailand to sample the beaches we’ve all seen in videos and photos a million times. Pretty sure real life will beat any photo.