Top 5 Tips for Bangkok!

11:30 AM claire 0 Comments

Don't leave for Bangkok without reading this!

So I just got back from Bangkok about a week or two ago, it was my first time and of course, I made a few mistakes here and here. Here's my compiled list of tips I'd recommend... and I hope you guys learn from my mistakes and benefit from my stumbled-upon luck!




The locals use METER for their cab rides, and you should too, as long as it's not during peak hours. The jam is crazy so you'll be better off in a tuk tuk if that happens. Most of the time we were ripped off by cab drivers charging us 100-150 baht to just drive us within the area. Some even quoted us 200! We just stood our ground and said 100 maximum ($4 sgd so per person would be $1 each? Okay la) If you ask before you get in, they'll know you're a tourist immediately.



Seriously I had the BEST mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream EVER. At Chatuchuk market's food section. Think there was only one stall that sold mango sticky rice and next to it, the stall that sold coconut ice cream!! Here are my food pics. Mango was perfectly ripe and coconut ice cream was perfect for the insanely hot weather!! Plus I got free coconut juice too! (I initially thought it was water).


Too many times in a day, I walked into a hole and almost sprained my ankle. There was one time I was trying to get ON a tuk tuk, right leg on the tuk-tuk, left leg still on the ground (with my weight resting on it) and suddenly my left leg slipped into a hole. My ankle hurt for a while after but I recovered in a bit. If I had an old injury I'm pretty sure it would've screwed me over!! You'll learn to appreciate Singapore roads much more after your trip.



If you haven't already heard, many stalls will quote a cheaper per item price if you buy in bulk. For eg, 1 top is 400 baht, but 2 would become 300 baht each, and if you buy more than 10, probably 200 baht each. Now comes your dilemma. If you buy 2, you'll be spending 600 baht. Whereas if you bought one, it would be 400. Unless you have 10 friends or you're actually going to sell  your items, you're actually paying more money for something you didn't actually want. Diminishing marginal returns!

 5. Do as the locals do.
Thanks to Peggy's recommendation, I checked out Rot Fai Night Market, which surprised the taxi driver when we told him we were heading there! It's a NEW local hotspot, and not many tourists know of this place. In fact, I think we were probably the only OBVIOUS tourists there! Everyone spoke to us in Thai, the items were cheap-ish already, could see a variety of handcrafted items, furniture, vintage cameras etc. There was even a stall that sold puppies!! The best part? There were bars operating out of Volkswagen caravans. If that's not cool, I don't know what is. It's only open on weekdays and gets really crowded from 9pm onwards, so head there at about 7pm and you'll be in good time!