Bangkok Day 1 (August 3rd 2008)

We left Som Guesthouse very early (about 6 o’clock) to catch our flight which departs on 8.30 a.m. Flight from Phuket to Bangkok takes about 90 minutes. As usual, we use AirAsia (Thai AirAsia to be exact). At 10 a.m., we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. My first impression about this airport is WOW! This airport is such a big, clean, well-designed yet futuristic. I even thought that Suvarnabhumi is better than Changi Airport. Overall, it’s a great airport. Pheww, when will Jakarta have this kind of airport instead of the dirrty Soekarno-Hatta?>_<

We took taxi to reach our hostel. It took about 30 minutes and 300 baht. When in taxi, my eyes can’t stop looking around. For me, Bangkok panorama is quite similar to Jakarta except Bangkok is cleaner than Jakarta and there aren’t so many motorcycle like in Jakarta. Another major difference is you can meet tourist from all over the world in Bangkok easily. They go around the city freely where in Jakarta, there aren’t many tourist hanging around. Bangkok is such an international city.

We arrived at our hostel. We choose Bangkok Center Sukhumvit 25 Youth Hostel as our HQ in Bangkok. Although the room is much less comfortable than som guesthouse (maybe because we choose the dormitory-type room), this hostel is still worth your penny because the location is really strategic, I swear. This hostel lies near interchange between MRT line and Bangkok skytrain. So, it’s very easy to go anywhere you want. Besides, the hostel provides breakfast too. We stayed for 2 nights and we must pay 600 baht per person.

Our first destination in Bangkok is Chatuchak weekend market. This market only open on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily,that day was Sunday so we can shop there ^_^. To go there, you can use both MRT (stop at Chatuchak park station) or BTS (stop at Mo Chit). Chatuchak is really really big market. Trust me, you can easily get lost here. This place sold many things, from clothes,silk, bag, shoes, souvenirs, statue and even pets. We shop alot here, especially for souvenirs. You MUST bargain to lower the price. Overall, this is a great place to shop because of the cheapness (hehehe..) but Chatuchak is really HOT. I sweat alot and easily feel thirsty.

After finished shopping, we went back to hostel to put our goodies. Our next destination is Suan Lum night market. Yup, another market. To go there, you can use MRT, stop at Lumphini station. Overall, Suan Lum sold similar things that you can find in Chatuchak but the price is a little expensive but you can stil bargain. Suan Lum is much comfortable than chatucak. We had our dinner there too.

Our final destination in first day is the infamous Bangkok red light distric, Patpong. It’s not far from Suan Lum. Actually, you can just walk but if you tired, you can use tuktuk.

Patpong is a combination of ordinary market in the middle and sex tourism in the side of the street. There were so many men offering us to watch the ‘pussy’ show. We always decline that because we have zero interest watching that (besides, they will charge you expensively). After enjoying Patpong, we go back to hostel and get rest.

Bangkok day 1

Taxi from airport to Sukhumvit 300 baht

Lunch at McD 158 baht

Bangkok transport (BTS-MRT) 156 baht

Chatuchak shopping 1515 baht

dinner at suan lum 70 baht

seven-eleven shopping 100 baht