Bangkok

Paradise on Earth, City of Angels

Wednesday 7th January 2009.
We landed at Suvarnabumi airport at 11:45 AM as scheduled on Air Asia's free flight. Everything went smoothly and we then took a taxi to Khao San Road which cost us about B350 for the 1 hour ride into the city. Spent 2 nights then moved on to Pattaya for another 2 nights before returning again for another 3 nights.

 

It was certainly one of our most memorable holidays.

Quick Facts about Bangkok
Capital of Thailand


Map of Bangkok, Thailand

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Quick History of Bangkok

The city started as a trading post at the Chao Phraya estuary during the Ayutthaya era (13th to 18th century).

1768 Became the capital of Siam after the fall of Ayutthaya.

Full Ceremonial Thai Name of Bangkok
Guinness Book of World Records Longest Place Name

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.

Meaning "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam".

Religion in Bangkok

The 92% of people living here are Buddhist. About 6% are Muslims. There are more than 400 Buddhist temples, 60 mosque, 10 churches, and a couple of Hindu temples, synagogues and a Sikh gudwara.

Election of Governor

We were fortunate to be there during the recent, 2009 gubernatorial election. The election was won by Sukhumbhand Paribatra. Bangkok and Pattaya are the only 2 cities in Thailand that elects their governors. The other cities and municipalities have theirs appointed by the government.

We notice something very unusual during our time there. During the day of election, no alcohol was to be sold in the major supermarkets, including 7-11 stores. However you can still get your fix at the hotels or at the smaller retail shops. Guess it's like the mini prohibition.

Moving About in Bangkok

BTS and MRT

The rail systems of BTS and MRT are among the better choices of traveling around the city. It connects you to many of the places of interest including Chatuchak, Siam Square, Sukhumvit, and Silom. At the end of the line you either connect with the Chao Phraya River at Saphan Taksin Jetty or at the Hua Lampong Train Station. The rides on these trains are quite comfortable and cost between B15 to B40.

We took an all day pass on one of the days when we were there. Cost only B120 per person. We make good use of it and rode from end to end a couple of times, stopping at many interesting places along the way.

Tuk Tuks

Tuk Tuks are another form of transportation that you must try. They are tri-wheeled taxis with a covered hood for protection against the sun and a little bit of rain protection. It's really like the old trishaws which have the reputation of being king of the road. The fare is B20 per pax for short distances and more for longer rides. It's always better to bargain before using them.

Tuk-Tuk Scam

And more importantly, beware of the famous Bangkok Tuk-Tuk scam. The touts who do not look like one and will claim that they are teachers in a university. They skillfully engage you in conversation and before you know it will be introducing you to some interesting place to visit. Or some store or export business having a one day only sale and you just have another hour or two before they close. They then very helpfully tell you that they will talk to the tuk-tuk driver in Thai and get you a cheap price. You'll then be thinking what a nice chap he is. And he'll be thinking that he's just met another sucker.

Another of their unmistakable trademark scam is to ask you for your tourist map. They will then go ahead and make all sorts of markings on your map like it belongs to them. These markings they make on your map are their secret codes for their partner touts that they try to send you to.

They will sometimes try the Government versus private tuk-tuk trick on you. They will tell you that the tuk-tuks with white number plates are Government sponsored tuk-tuks meant to take tourist around the popular temples at just B20 per person for whole day use, or something like that.

Miraculously a "Government" tuk-tuk just appeared from out of nowhere and agrees with the tout to take you to all the places of interest for just B20 per person.

We were almost done in when we were there recently. Luck was with us and we were not scammed as we preferred to walk. We had no less than four encounters with these so called "teachers" who spoke very good English.

Saying all that, we still took the tuk-tuk at 5:00 AM in the morning to go from our hotel in Pratunam to the wholesale market at Bo Bae Market. The tuk-tuk was honest and asked us for B60 per tuk-tuk. But it was really cold that morning. We were without our jacket that morning. Had a nice hot coffee when we arrived there though.

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