From July 11th to 15th, 2019, our team went to Bangkok to get a first-hand experience of the capital city of Thailand. From our five-short-days trip there, we managed to capture some of the most interesting spots in this buzzling, busy, chaotic, and ultimately beautiful city by the Chao Praya River! We're talking food, shopping, and sightseeing here so get yourselves ready for some in-depth one day adventure in Thailand's most populous city, while taking some great photos with SweetEscape! Sawadhee-Krub!
By now you must have already tried Thai's most popular dish: Tom Yum Soup. The sour and spicy seafood soup is renowned the world over and can easily be found anywhere in the world. But when you're in Bangkok you should really try the really authentic versions of Tom Yum! Our team tried Tom Yum noodle at Pe Aor Tom Yum Kung Noodle, which is rated as one of the top tom yum noodles in Bangkok. The noodle's tom yum broth was so rich and creamy that it made us wanted to order our second servings! Oh, and it's one of the best way to kick-start your day in Bangkok–it will surely wake your senses up!
One of the things Bangkok most famous for is the Siam Square; the shopping and entertainment area, with as many as five interconnected shopping malls, from MBK Center to Siam Discovery to Siam Center to Siam Paragon, and even to Central World and Central Embassy, all reachable by walking through the Siam skywalk spanning all the way from National Stadium BTS Station to Chit Lom Station. Inside the malls are famous attractions like Madame Tussaud's Bangkok, Sealife Aquarium Bangkok, 4DX movie theatre, and many more. Other than the big malls, many street foods, restaurants and shops can be found, including the Line Village at Siam Square One. Walk a little further and you can do your shopping-spree at Platinum Fashion Mall and the Big C Superstore for some bargain deals!
One of the must-see spots when you come to Bangkok are the two famous temples: Wat Arun and Wat Pho. Wat Arun is the famous white-coloured pagoda in old city Bangkok you might have seen before so many times without knowing the name of the place. After exploring the beautiful Wat Arun, take a boat ferry across the Chao Praya to visit Wat Pho–where you can find the giant reclining Buddha statue–and the Grand Palace with its golden architectures!
While in Bangkok, of course you need to try tuk-tuks! These famous, motorized tri-cycle local transport are everywhere to be found in Bangkok and can easily be spotted with their extremely colourful bodypaints, bright LED lights decorations and even some very loud audio system. You might want to hang-on though, they are usually driven extremely fast by daredevils!
Besides the tuk-tuks, there are also other ways to go around Bangkok; you can take taxi or Grab rides to brave the Bangkok traffic, or–more conveniently–you can take the BTS and MRT trains. You might already be familiar with BTS trains lining the skyline of Bangkok, but you might not know that Bangkok has a good, super-modern, underground MRT system too! What's unique about the MRT is that if you don't have the ordinary Rabbit Card used by locals to commute, your single-trip ticket would be a plastic coin token that you can magically tap on the gates at the stations.
If you want to explore Bangkok at night, do make some time to visit Talad Rot Fai Ratchada Train Market, the newest and most famous night market in Bangkok. From 5pm until late, you can find basically anything here; from various street foods to souvenirs to sweets to clothing to film rolls to smartphone casings, all are in a bargain price... Plus a dedicated 21+ section filled with bars and alcohol! Be careful, however, the night market is so packed with people, so be mindful of your belongings!
After walking through the buzzling night market, continue your nighttime journey in Bangkok at Sukhumvit 11 area, where the night only gets younger as the hour progresses. The street is lined with street foods (including Daniel Thaiger's famous burger stall), bars and clubs of multiple themes, but the most unique ones are definitely Havana Social and Apoteka. Havana Social is a Cuban, speakeasy-themed club. What's unique is that the club doesn't look like much from the outside, only a public phone booth labeled 'TELEFONICA'. To enter, you need to key in some 'secret' numbers, and then a secret door swings open to let you in. Apoteka, on the other hand, is a gastropub with soulful live music and a good selection of local and international beers.
There are so many places and things to explore in Bangkok that we didn't have time to do it all! There are still King Power MahaNakhon–the tallest buidling and observation deck in Bangkok, the famous Floating Market, the Chinatown at Yaowarat Road, and you can even take a day trip to neighbouring cities such as Khao Yai and Hua Hin to see a different side of Thailand. Our best advice is for you to simply let yourselves get lost and explore the beauty of this city! After all, treasures aren't found on the mainstreet; they're found in the hidden places.
There you go! 8 wonderful things you can do to experience Bangkok to the fullest! Whenever you plan to go to Bangkok, let SweetEscape capture the moment for you! We capture any moment, any time, anywhere by connecting you to a growing network of photographers in 500+ cities around the world, and your photos will be ready for download in 48 hours after the session via the SweetEscape app and our website. Book your session today and let's #MakeLifeMemorable!