Rest in Bangkok - everything you need to know for independent tourists

General information

Royal Palace in Bangkok

Bangkok (Bangkok, Thai. Krung Thep Maha Nakhon) is the capital of Thailand and the gateway to Southeast Asia. It is located in the center of the country, 30 kilometers from the coast of the Gulf of Thailand (Bangkok on the map). This is a huge modern metropolis, one of the largest and fastest growing in Asia. Its population is more than 9 million inhabitants.

Before the formation of the capital, Bangkok was a small village and a fishing port. In 1767, after the old capital of Ayutthaya was captured by the Burmese, the control center of the kingdom was moved to Thonburi (now it is one of the districts of Bangkok on the western part of the Chaopraya River). But in 1782, King Rama I moved the capital to the east coast on the Ratanakosin Peninsula (now it is the historical district of the city, where the Grand Royal Palace, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the tourist district of Khao San, as well as other main attractions of Bangkok are located).

Temple of the Dawn in Bangkok

• Temple of the Reclining Buddha
• Ratchanadaram Temple

Marble Temple

Holidays in Bangkok

Bangkok is rarely visited by tourists as a separate holiday destination. Usually it is simply included in the route at the beginning or at the end of the trip, because here are the main air gates to Thailand – two international airports Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang. It is through these airports that the majority of regular long-haul flights arrive, including from Russia and other countries of the former USSR. It is especially good to spend a few days in Bangkok at the end of your trip to see the sights, go shopping, and then go home with suitcases full of purchases.

In general, Bangkok is a very comfortable and interesting place for a tourist stay: the tourist infrastructure here is well developed, there are a lot of attractions and entertainment. You can easily find hotels of all kinds of categories, travel agencies, excursions. There are several tourist areas, the most popular of which is Khao San Road. But this is not the only place where the tourist infrastructure is concentrated. There are also districts of Pratunam, Siam, Sukhumvit, Silom. All these districts have their own tourist streets or infrastructure concentration zone, but at the same time, each of them has its own specifics and atmosphere.

Two full days are usually enough for a cursory acquaintance with the most important tourist places of Bangkok. But if you want to see other sights, go shopping, have fun and feel the atmosphere of the capital, then you can easily set aside a week for Bangkok, and during this time you will not have time to get bored here.

Of course, you will not find any beach holidays in Bangkok, except only by the pool on the roof of the hotel. But if you really want to leave the city during the day, you can go to one of the nearest beach resorts: Chaam, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Bang Saen, Si Racha.

Khao San District

• Sukhumvit District
• Silom district

But Bangkok may shock someone a little

Attractions and entertainment in Bangkok

Attractions are exactly what you should visit Bangkok for in the first place. There are a lot of them here, perhaps more than in any other capital of Southeast Asia. These are beautiful temples and important shrines, many museums, parks, modern and historical architectural structures. Many interesting places are located near Bangkok, they can be visited in the form of a short day trip from the city. Here are the most important sights that every guest of Bangkok and even the country should see: The Grand Royal Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha; the Temple of the Reclining Buddha Wat Pho; the Temple of Dawn Wat Arun; the Temple of the Golden Buddha Wat Trai Mit; the temple of Sutat and the giant swing Wat Suthat Thep Wararam; The Temple of the Golden Mountain Wat Saket; The National Museum Bangkok; Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall Museum.

For entertainment lovers in Bangkok and its surroundings there are several amusement parks, a zoo, water parks, an oceanarium and much more. Bangkok's nightlife is unique in its charm: it is the countless street restaurants in Chinatown (Chinatown) that open right on the sidewalks at nightfall, and the most modern sparkling discos, and a huge variety of all kinds of bars and entertainment venues. The center of entertainment for adults is considered to be Patpong Street (Soi Patpong), but this is far from the only place of concentration of bars with girls and boys.

See more details:

• All sights of Bangkok
• Bangkok Temple Guide
• Top 10 attractions in Bangkok
• Top 3 temples in Bangkok
• What to see in Bangkok in one day
• What to see in Bangkok in two days

One of the unusual sights of Bangkok is the shrine of penises or fertility

Infrastructure in Bangkok

As we have already mentioned, the infrastructure for tourists in the capital is well developed, the main thing is to choose the right place where you will stay. It is best to stay in hotels in one of the tourist areas / streets of the city, where there is a corresponding atmosphere of eternal celebration, a lot of tourists, restaurants and cafes, massage parlors, entertainment. The most popular area is Khao San Road, but there are also Pratunam, Siam, Sukhumvit, Silom, Chinatown and others. Each of the districts has its own specifics, for example: Khao San Road is an area with the most inexpensive hotels and bustling tourist life; Pratunam is an ideal place for inexpensive shopping; Siam – the most modern shopping centers are located here; Sukhumvit is the most modern area with absolutely everything; Silom is the center of nightlife; Chinatown is the most colorful place in the city. For more information about all areas of Bangkok and where it is better to choose a hotel, see here...

Massage on Khao San street

• Street with Girls Soi Cowboy
• And on Soi Jaruwan the boys

R-Walk walking Area

But even if you stay in a hotel on the outskirts, in most cases you will be able to purchase excursions, tickets for transport around the country, get tourist information at the reception. Everywhere you can find free city maps or brochures with attractions, metro and other public transport schemes, discount coupons for tourist services and entertainment. Consultations, tourist information and assistance can be obtained at one of at least a dozen tourist information centers.

It is best to search and book hotels in Bangkok in the following most popular hotel search engines around the world:

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Bangkok on Trip.com (👍 Mir maps work)
• 🛌 Hotels in Bangkok on Yandex.travel
• 🛌 Hotels in Bangkok on Booking.com
• 🛌 Search for hotels on Ostrovok.ru

Where to change currency in Bangkok

In Bangkok, you can change almost any currency at the best exchange rate in the country, even change rubles for baht. The best rate can be found in Superrich online exchangers, but if you need to change a small amount, for example, $ 50 or $ 100, then you can find a bank or an exchange office with a good rate in almost any area of the city. You can even change money at the Suvarnabhumi airport upon arrival, there is also an excellent exchange rate on the lowest floor next to the airport metro station ARL, look for a number of exchangers there, including one of the Superrich offices. Learn more about how and where to change the currency in Bangkok told in a separate article here.

The best place for currency exchange is the Superrich head office

Shopping in Bangkok

Bangkok is a great place for shopping. Well, actually Bangkok is the best place in Thailand for shopping. In the most modern malls, the largest in Asia, you will find the most fashionable clothes, the most modern electronic equipment. In countless private shops you will see the most delicate Thai silk, handicrafts, clothing, souvenirs, furnishings, antiques, paintings and much more. It is for this reason that it is worth planning a visit to the capital at the end of your trip in order to go home right from here with suitcases full of souvenirs, inexpensive things and exotic products. Learn more about shopping in Bangkok here...)

Trading at the evening market in Pratunam district

Transport

Bangkok is famous for its traffic jams, but thanks to the public transport system, including the underground subway, the skytrain (BTS –Sky Train), buses, river transport along the Chaopraya River and numerous canals, you can move quite comfortably in the city. You can also travel inexpensively by official taxi on the meter, or use the Grab-taxi application, which replaced Uber, which no longer operates in Thailand since 2018.

The cheapest way to get around are city buses. The fare in them starts from 6 baht. But using local buses is not easy at all: there are a huge number of routes, and it is not always possible to ask for help from locals because of the language barrier. But sometimes buses are the only way to get to the right place on a budget, because metro and water transport are far from everywhere.

Transportation on Bangkok street

The subway in Bangkok is new and modern, but its network is not very developed. Basically, the lines pass through modern areas of the city, while the historical area of the Ratanakosin peninsula with its sights is not covered at all. And by the way, this is the fastest way to get around Bangkok.

An excellent and even somewhat exotic form of public transport is water. There are regular boats on the Chaopraya River, along the canals (klongs), and ferry boats to the other side of the Chaopraya River. But the route network, of course, is very limited, although in some cases water transport is simply irreplaceable. For example, by boat you can reach the sights in the historic district.

See more about transport:

• All city transport in Bangkok, what to use to move
• Bangkok Metro
• Bangkok Water Transport
• What is Grab-taxi and how to use it

How to get to Bangkok

Bangkok is the main gateway to Thailand, and it is through its two airports that most tourists and travelers enter the country. Also, theoretically, there is an overland route from Russia to Thailand (by train to Vietnam with a transfer in China, and then by bus through Cambodia or Laos), but it is not advisable to use it, as it will cost more than air travel.

The plane over Bangkok

As for how to get to Bangkok or from Bangkok to other popular resorts in Thailand, all possible modes of transport are available in the capital and at airports, with which you can easily and inexpensively get to any remote point of the country and even to neighboring states. From two airports it is possible to fly inexpensively to the cities of Thailand and neighboring countries, including budget airlines fly from Don Muang. You can go by train to the northern provinces (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai); you can get to the south by train all the way to Singapore via Malaysia; the railway branches go to the border with Cambodia and Laos. Buses can be used to get to almost any place in the country and even to neighboring countries, and this is the cheapest way to travel. Learn more about all the ways to get to Bangkok, read here...

Minimum prices for flights from Moscow to Bangkok:

ЦЕНА	ПЕРЕСАДКИ	АВИАКОМПАНИЯ	ДАТА ВЫЛЕТА	ДАТА ВОЗВРАЩЕНИЯ
Купить от 48256 ₽	2 пересадки		16.10.2024	22.10.2024
Купить от 45361 ₽	2 пересадки		13.11.2024	12.12.2024
Купить от 47178 ₽	2 пересадки		07.12.2024	19.12.2024
Купить от 54836 ₽	1 пересадка		19.01.2025	18.02.2025
Купить от 50652 ₽	1 пересадка		20.02.2025	16.03.2025
Купить от 40564 ₽	1 пересадка		14.03.2025	15.03.2025

Minimum prices for flights from Russia to Bangkok:

Weather, travel seasons

The most comfortable time to visit is from November to February. It is a dry and cool season. But do not think that during this period you will be able to cool off – the daytime temperature is still above 30 ° C and only at night the temperature can drop to 20 ° C.

March and April are the hot season with an average temperature of 35°C, and sometimes it rises to 40°C. This is not the best time to visit Bangkok, and the only way to more or less painlessly survive being in Bangkok during this period is to stay in an air–conditioned hotel room, by the pool, or visit numerous shopping malls and entertainment venues with air conditioning.

Whatever the weather, in order to avoid health problems, do not forget to drink enough fluids, of course, taking the necessary precautions – do not drink tap water.

Seasons in Bangkok by month, when is the best time to go

Current Bangkok weather and forecast

* - прогноз указан по местному времени. Данные получены с https://openweathermap.org. Если отображаются устаревшие даты, обновите страницу с помощью F5+Ctrl.

Time in Bangkok

The time difference in Bangkok and Moscow is +4 hours in winter and summer.

Security in Bangkok

Despite the fact that Bangkok is a large city and the capital, it is a fairly safe place. Serious crimes are rare here, and most often tourists suffer from traditional tourist wiring. The simplest security measures and attentiveness in most cases help to avoid trouble and save your finances:

• Pass by tuk-tukers and other molesters who hang around popular attractions and catch tourists on the way to them and offer free city tours under the pretext of a special day or holiday. Such free excursions will consist only in the fact that you will be taken to a jewelry store or another store, where sellers will "cling" to you with a death grip until you buy something from them.
• Be wary of any "well-wishers" who offer you their help or advice when you don't need it or you don't ask for it. Most likely this is a prelude for tourist wiring.
• Beware of robberies from passing motorcyclists. Bags and backpacks are best kept in front of you.
• In any case, do not mess with drugs. There are very strict punishments for them in Thailand, up to the death penalty.
• Do not conflict and do not communicate with drunk locals. They absolutely do not know how to drink and do not control themselves, as a result, there have been many sad cases when tourists suffered from drunken locals because of a trifling conflict.
• On Patpong Street, be careful when receiving offers to visit Go-go bars and sex shows at a very low price. The main thing in the wiring diagram is to lure you to the institution, and then in fact to issue a huge bill for drinks or an entrance fee.
• Taxis must always use a meter, trips without a meter are illegal and cost more. But sometimes even official taxi drivers use "twisted" counters. As an alternative to traveling by the meter, you can use the Grab-taxi app.

See more details about wiring in Bangkok here...

Food in Bangkok, what and where to eat

As in any place in Thailand, you can find a place where you can eat inexpensively at every turn. Everywhere you can find street fast food stalls, inexpensive cafes for locals, food courts in shopping centers, restaurants. Buying boiled rice with chicken and eating it on the go or on a stool next to the tray will cost from 50 baht. Lunch at an inexpensive cafe for locals will cost from 100 baht. And dinner in a cafe for tourists with drinks will cost about 200 baht per person. Bargaining when buying food is not accepted, but sellers do not overestimate prices for tourists.

Fast food in Bangkok

Useful tips for Bangkok

• Free maps and brochures. At Bangkok airport, at the counters with tour information, in hotels, in tourist information centers in the city, you can get free maps and even whole travel brochures for free. In addition to the fact that they contain a lot of useful information, they also publish quite useful coupons and promotional codes for travel services, visits to restaurants, attractions, etc.
• Currency exchange.One of the most profitable currency exchanges in Bangkok is the Superrich exchange network. You can find these exchange offices and the current rate in them on the official website - superrichthailand.com /.
• Travel by tuk-tuks.Exotic mode of transport tuk-tuks in Bangkok is no longer a cheap local transport, but an expensive means of transportation for tourists. As a rule, a tuk-tuk trip is many times more expensive than a taxi. In addition, tuk-tuk drivers are often part of fraudulent networks to deceive tourists.
• Water transport. Most tourists are afraid to get involved with Bangkok's water transport. However, sometimes traveling by boat along the canals (klongs) or along the Chaopraya River is the fastest and cheapest way to get there. In addition, in fact, mastering this type of transport does not present any difficulties.