Editor’s note: I was in Bangkok for a day as part of a Southeast Asia cruise. While I found the sights to be incredible, the heat, humidity, and crowds got to me. It is a place I’d love to return to, but at a more leisurely pace so as to mitigate some of that. Sam’s experience only reinforces that desire to go back to Thailand. For more of his awesome adventures, click here to visit his index page.
Often, the first city that comes to mind when you think of a country is their largest city; for example: New York, USA; London, UK; Paris, France; Athens, Greece; Istanbul, Turkey; Tokyo, Japan, etc. However, the challenge with some of these places is that they are very expensive. I remember visiting London for a day and nearly going broke. It is a similar story when I have been to New York, Paris, and Tokyo. However, if you want to visit a world megacity without breaking the bank, do a trip to the cheapest, largest city in the world: Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand’s capital and largest city has a population of 9 million people, with a metro area population of 17 million. Nicknamed “The Big Mango” (a play on New York as the Big Apple), Bangkok is Asia’s city that never sleeps with tremendous nightlife, fantastic historical and cultural attractions, and delicious food, all at incredibly cheap prices. While Bangkok was not a place of significance for the first couple hundred years of its history, after the previous capital of Ayutthaya (read about my great daytrip there) kept getting attacked by invaders, Bangkok’s strategic position on the mighty Chao Phraya River leading out to the Gulf of Thailand led to the capital being moved here in 1782.
Bangkok is a massive city that has a light rail system and where it is also common to take a rickshaw, more commonly known as a Tuk Tuk. There are numerous distinct districts in the city, but I found that I enjoyed staying off of Khao San Road. This pedestrian street is full of so much to do despite being only about 400 meters long. On Khao San Road and the surrounding streets, there are tons of places to eat, drink, party, observe street performers, and get massages. Here is where you get to see how you can have the best experiences in the world for the cheapest prices. While it has been a while since I have been to Bangkok (I was there in December of 2016, so I cannot speak as to if these prices are still accurate or not), I remember that when I was there, I could get massages on Khao San Road, or anywhere in Thailand for $7 an hour.
Likewise, in countries that I go to, I love to try the street food, and Thailand had hands down the best street food of anywhere I have been and at the best price too! I had amazing Thai fried rice for $1, a Thai iced tea for $1, and a dessert of sticky rice with mango (another night I chose the hollowed out coconut with coconut ice cream inside) for $1, giving me the best meal ever for $3. If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you might try one of the fried tarantulas, scorpions, or cockroaches that vendors sell. Speaking of food, while you are in Bangkok, make sure you take a Thai cooking class. I took one in the Silom district at the Silom Thai Cooking School, where I got to meet people from all over the world for a fun evening where we cooked Pad Thai, various curries, Thai iced tea, and sticky rice with mango; make sure to put this on your itinerary for an evening.
Not far from Khao San Road are many of Bangkok’s best attractions, the most important at all being the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace has been the official residence of the Thai monarch since 1782 when construction began. The sprawling palace in its current form was completed in 1925, more than 140 years later. The palace is surrounded by four walls with three gates per wall. Make sure that you bring your passport to the palace, as this was required for me to enter. Also, I was not allowed to wear shorts into the palace, but they had pants for me to borrow. I happened to visit Thailand at a fascinating time. The Thai king is an incredibly important figure in the country. His picture was in every home and business, and it is strictly forbidden to insult the king. If you think I am exaggerating, a man was arrested and was facing a potential 37 year prison sentence for making fun of the king’s dog on Facebook. However, after 70 years of rule, the third longest of any monarch in history after Louis XIV of France and Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Bhumibol, the 9th Rama, died two months prior to my visit. As a result, every Thai citizen was to visit the Grand Palace to pay tribute over the course of the year following his death. There were pictures mourning the king everywhere and regular moments of silence prior to plane departures and performances. When I visited the Grand Palace, there were thousands of Thais, all dressed in black to symbolize their mourning, waiting outside to pay their respects.
The Grand Palace is still a working palace, but much of it is open as a museum to the public. There are rows of prangs, or Buddhist spires, golden Buddhist temples, insignias of each of the kings, numerous important historical Buddhist statues and images, and also statues of mythological giants guarding the palace and temples. However, the most important temple in the complex is what is considered by many to be the holiest temple in Thailand, and that is Wat Phra Kaew, or The Temple of the Emerald Buddha. While Thailand has many giant Buddha statues, the green Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade or jasper) is only 26 inches in height. Depending on the season, the Buddha is adorned in golden outfits. Its origins are unknown, with some claiming it was created by a Buddhist sage in 43 BCE. However, what we do know is that it appeared in the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, and then moved throughout Thailand and Laos until it arrived at Wat Phra Kaew in 1785.
One of the places that the Emerald Buddha was kept was at a temple adjacent to the nearby Wat Arun. Wat Arun, meaning Temple of the Dawn, is just a short, cheap boat ride across the Chao Phraya River. Founded in 1656, it is one of Bangkok’s older and more important temples. Wat Arun is covered in porcelain that is primarily white but also with red painted into it. The most prominent feature of the temple is the central prang, which rises to 270 feet in height and is the tallest stupa in Bangkok, and surrounded by four prangs. It is built in the style of Khmer architecture, making it distinct in Thailand and more similar to temples in Cambodia. Inside the temple are many beautiful golden Buddha statues depicting his life, while more giants are on the outside of the temple.
One other must visit temple in Bangkok is Wat Pho, dating back to the 16th century, located just south of the Grand Palace on what used to be an island. At Wat Pho, massage is still taught and practiced in the temple, and there are many statues to see, but most people go to see the bright gold Reclining Buddha. At nearly 50 feet in height, and an astounding 151 feet in length, this is one of Thailand’s largest Buddha statues, which is lying down and in a lounging position. At the base of the Buddha are 108 bronze bowls where worshippers can leave donations, representing Buddha’s 108 auspicious characteristics. Wat Pho’s reclining Buddha was easily the most memorable of the many Buddhas I saw in Thailand.
What many people do not realize is that Bangkok is a diverse, international city, and that just down the block from Wat Pho is Bangkok’s large Chinatown. Spend a bit of time wandering through the many stalls in the neighborhood. While there are floating markets that are popular day trips from Bangkok, one of the best markets that I have ever been to is right in the city, the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Not only is it Thailand’s largest market, but it is also the world’s largest weekend market with 200,000 visitors every weekend. It also has 15,000 stalls and over 11,000 vendors and is divided into 27 sections. You can buy plants, antiques, ceramics, cosmetics, pets (be careful, some birds are part of the illegal wildlife trade), clothing, books, and food. Make sure if you are in Bangkok on a Saturday to have a lunch here at the many food stalls to choose from, some of which are quite adventurous.
However, the best shopping experience I had in Bangkok was doing what every man should do: buying a custom tailored suit. The Indian community of Bangkok seems to dominate this industry, so you can find some great options in the Silom district near Bangkok’s main 19th century Hindu temple, Sri Maha Mariamman. The temple is worth a visit, and at the 20 foot spire entrance are carvings of hundreds of deities, and inside the temple are lively ceremonies and processions and numerous shrines dedicated to various Hindu gods. Back to the suit shopping, I consistently found that the top rated tailor in town was Universal Tailors, run by two Sikh gentlemen named Ronnie and Raj. Raj measured every single part of my body to be able to custom make shirts, pants, and jackets that fit me perfectly. While their suits are not the cheapest in Bangkok, the quality is outstanding. While I heard that many of the advertised $100 suits on Khao San Road will fall apart in a year, the three original suits that I bought from Universal Tailors more than eight years ago, I still regularly wear and am complimented on (and they are way cheaper than anything of similar quality I could get in the US). They will ship your clothes back to you in about a month or so, so no need to worry about shlepping them around with you. What has also been great about Universal Tailors is that every year they come to the United States and do trunk shows for a month across the country. They have my information on file, recheck my measurements, bring hundreds of samples with them, and so you can relive some of your Thailand experience here in the US. 8 years after my initial visit to their shop, I have now seen Raj and Ronnie on visits to Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Salt Lake City. I have now bought 10 suits, a suit jacket, about a dozen shirts, and a couple ties from them, and feel that I am the most GQ rabbi around.
One complaint I have about Bangkok is the reason that some people visit the city, which is that it is one of the sex tourism capitals of the world. Particularly as a young, single, foreign man, I was approached nonstop by prostitutes, sex club promoters, and people advertising sex shows, including frequent references to “ping pong shows.” There was no subtlety at all, with one massage parlor even having a sign in front that said, “Ask us about our testicle massages”. Beyond the sex workers, I found that this permeated into the culture of the tourists there, both men and women, who objectified locals and their fellow tourists alike with no concern to the feelings of the other. While I am a sex-positive person, the level of degradation that I saw made me uncomfortable.
However, despite this critique, reflecting on Bangkok is a fond memory, and it is a city that I would love to return to one day. With its attractions, history, culture, amazing food, and incredible affordability, make sure this is one of the cities that you visit in your lifetime.
Disclaimer: My review of Universal Tailors is completely legitimate. On their recent visit to Salt Lake City, I mentioned to Ronnie and Raj that I was going to give them a shoutout in my travel blog and they gave me one of their custom shirts as a gift to thank me for doing so, but I would have written this same review even without them doing so.
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