What We Learned

 

- Watch out for the scams. Nothing is free and if it’s to good to be true ... it is. If something is unreasonable, walk away. Options present themselves quickly if you have a little patience.

 

- We stayed at Banglumpoo Place five different times. The rooms are big, the location is good, and the WiFi is decent if you get a room next to the transmitter.

 

- Tuk Tuk’s in Bangkok are a joke. Don’t even bother with them. Get a cab.

 

- Bangkokians spend almost a month of their lives, every year, waiting in traffic.

 

- Make sure taxi’s turn on their meters before you start moving.

 

- Taxi drivers here are usually confused at the site of maps. Get your destination written down in Thai so they will understand what you need.

 

- Go to the “Suan Lum Night Baazar.” ... The quality and diversity of the goods is amazing.

 

- Bangkok is a great, safe, cheap place to get quality dental work done. Two wisdom teeth ($270) ... Rachel’s blindingly white teeth (UV Whitening) –> ($300) ... I went to Silom Dental the first time and Dr. Sunil Dental the the second. Both have good prices, Silom took 1 hour 40 minutes to remove and stich up two widom teeth. Dr. Sunil’s surgeon Dr. Padatel did the same thing in 10 minutes! .... 10 minutes! I’d recommend them.

Note: A friend of ours went to Dr. Sunil on my recommendation and felt like his routine checkup wasn’t thorough.

However, I recieved the most “aggresive/brutal” cleaning of my life from Silom Dental. They may be better for that service.

 

- Local bus rides are 7 baht. Find a map with the bus routes and save a lot of money.

 

- Ignore anyone who is trying to “help” you near Koh San Rd.

 

- Try the street food. It’s great. Use good judgement when choosing meat. “If the color ain’t right; Don’t Bite!”

 

- Sunrise Taco in the Siam mall is the BEST Mexican we’ve had in Asia. Be mindful of their 17% (10% Service and 7% VAT) tax though.

 

\- I wouldn’t suggest renting a scooter/mopede in this city. It seems dangerous.

 

- Getting a place to stay over five blocks away from Koh San will get you more for less.

 

 

Bangkok has been our favorite place to wind down because of all the comforts it can offer at great prices. We were able to find a big room with industrial powered A/C, good cable, friendly staff, and WiFi for a decent price at Banglumpoo Place Guesthouse. By the time we leave Thailand, we probably will have spent almost a month there. (We had a lot of wedding and dentist-related things to get done.)

 

Rachel and I were both surprised at the progress Bangkok has made since we visited in 2004. The streets are better, the cars are newer, and the sidewalks are cleaner. It feels more metropolitan than we remember. The food is amazing, the traffic is terrible, and it is a contender for our next place to settle down.

 

 Bangkok wouldn’t have been as fun if we hadn’t hung out with the amazing Jamie, Jay, Lucas, Stani, Richard, Scott, Vicky, Louise, Nick, and Tom. Thanks for the great company.