Neil Aronson We had not visited Bangkok for a while, so we finally made a trip to the capital city for a couple days of sightseeing and fun. We decided to stay in the Sukhumvit area of the city for the action there, and to access other locations by BTS train. Two days is not enough anywhere, but it was all the time we had after visiting Hua Hin and before heading back home to Chiang Mai.
Once is Bangkok, again we stayed at the Hilton Bangkok Grande Asoke in the Sukhumvit area. Like in Hua Hin, we highly recommend this Hilton. Both Belle and I loved it. It is high end but not too expensive. The location is perfect, next to Terminal 21Mall, Asoke BTS station, and more party streets. More on that below.
Another great luxury hotels in Sukhumvit is The Westin Grande, which is connected to the convention center, steps from Terminal 21 Shopping Mall.
One of the best ways of getting to Bangkok from Hua Hin is by train. Trains serve Bangkok from Hua Hin, and take around 5 hours with prices from as low as TB45 to TB260 as it depends on what type of class you prefer. Another option to get to Bangkok from Hua Hin was to hire a private driver, which we did. It only cost 1,700 baht in a new car straight to our hotel in Bangkok. Shop around if you are in Hua Hin, you will find many different prices. You can also book a driver, train or bus to get to Bangkok on 12Go.
Sukhumvit Area Fun
The location is perfect, right by the Sky Train station to get around, and Terminal 21 shopping mall, one of the biggest modern malls in the area. For more on the Best Places To Stay In Bangkok, we have you covered.
This area is also home to some famous party streets, like Sukhumvit 11 with lots of nightclubs, and next to the Hilton is Soi Cowboy, a small street with fun bars are ‘Bar Girls’. There are also lots of great local restaurants to walk to here.
Soi Cowboy is a short streets lined with bars. In the afternoon it is easy to get a table on the street, but later on it gets crowded. Most of the bars have happy hour pricing in the afternoon. This is a fun place to people watch. Also many have live music, and usually really good.
At the Bangkok Marriott Sukhumvit, is Octave Rooftop and Lounge, is one of the first rooftop bars on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Road. It’s also more than a place for watching the sunset or having a romantic meal. No rooftop bar in the city has a 360-degree view of Bangkok that matches this, and the top floor of this 3-level venue is one of the highest spots in the city for a party.
Benchakitti Park covers a rectangular area of about 208,000 square meters just opposite the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The park forms a narrow swathe of green around the expansive Lake Ratchada, with dedicated bicycle and jogging tracks encircling the whole park. The park is a short walk from Asoke BTS station and our Hilton Hotel. We took a little stroll around the park, but then needed to get to the bar.
Behind the Hilton Hotel on Sukhumvit 23 road is a good place to find some really good local restaurants. We went for Japanese at Uma Uma a couple blocks walk away. The food was great.
Terminal 21 is the main shopping mall in Sukhumvit. One of the floors in dedicated to all types of food. And you will find most of your name brands.
If you want more shopping, hope on the BTS and just a few stops away is the Siam area of Bangkok, and one of the most popular shopping areas. Siam is famous shopping in Bangkok and has the city’s highest density of shopping malls – MBK, Siam Paragon, Central World, Siam Discovery, Siam Center, and Central Chitlom are all here. I worked for the Sea Life Center over 10 years ago!
Getting Around
Getting out of Sukhumvit area to explore other areas on Bangkok is very easy. There are several BTS stations (Asoke, Nana), right by Terminal 21 shopping mall. Of course for local trips there are Tuk Tuk’s or taxis. Walking around the Sukhumvit area is easy as well with good sidewalks and overpasses.
We took the BTS from Asoke, transferred at Siam, and went out to a river location to take a river taxi to do some sightseeing. Typical River Boat Piers. They are all up and down the river, especially near tourist spots, so it is easy to see places.
Along the river you can see many sights just from the boats, which is one reason to go this way. River city shown here, is newer, and is the premier hub of art, antiques and cultured lifestyles center in Bangkok.
Exiting around Wat Pho is a good area if you are looking for a Canal Tour. You can book ahead or there are vendors at the Pier.
Tourist For A Day
We exited the water taxi near one of the Wat Pho piers. Wat Pho is one of the most popular and visited temples in Bangkok. And as you can see just across the river is the most famous temple in Bangkok, Wat Arun. Which makes it easy to visit both in just a couple hours.
Next to the temple is the Museum of Siam. It was created to teach the national identity and history of the people of Thailand, and their relationships with neighboring cultures. The motto of the museum is “Play + Learn = เพลิน” (which means ‘joyously’ in Thai); through a series of interactive exhibits, the museum shows the development of Thailand from the past to present. Definitely a great stop, and educational exhibits for kids.
From there it is a short walk to Wat Pho. Full name: Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan. It is a First Class Royal Temple and is an ancient temple, which King Rama I the Great ordered to be built for monks to study Dharma.
It is one of the oldest temples in Bangkok, and the specific date is unknown, but dates back to the 16th century. Unlike temples in Chiang Mai, you need to pay to enter. It is also called the temple of the reclining Buddha, which has one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand.
Outside the temple there was a street market with street food, and many restaurants between the temple and the boat pier. So don’t worry about finding something to eat.
On our day of exploring like crazy tourists, after Wat Pho, we hopped back on the water taxi and basically across the river, is Wat Arun. One of the iconic symbols of Bangkok.
On the other side of the river, the river taxi takes you right to the temple, which has its own pier stop. And of course this pier can get very crowded, as this is one of the biggest tourist stops. You need to pay a fee to enter the temple if you are not a Thai citizen.
Wat Arun is also called The Temple Of Dawn, and and gets its name from the Hindu god Aruna. The temple dates back to the Ayutthaya kingdom and was a different temple on the same site in the 17th century. In the early 1800s the main Chedi and massive spires where built. Of course the site is very large. Unfortunately, a lot of the buildings we being renovated when we were there, so I mainly stuck to the main Chedi area.
You can actually walk up and around the Chedi and spires, as there are steps and walkways. A very popular thing to do for Asians is to dress up in traditional Thai outfits and take photos. There are numerous ‘professional’ photographers on site you can hire.
From climbing up high you get nice views and can see across the river to Wat Pho.
After leaving Wat Arun, we hopped back on the water taxi to go to one of Bangkok’s newest mega malls, Iconsiam. There is a pier stop at the mall, which also serves a huge residential complex and nearby is The Millennium Hilton Hotel, one of the best in the city if your looking for a high end river front hotel.
The complex includes the tallest building in Thailand, the 70-floor Magnolia Waterfront Residences, and the country’s sixth tallest building: the 52-floor Mandarin Oriental. ICONSIAM meaning is ‘The Icon of Eternal Prosperity which presents the best of Thainess to the world’. ‘
In front of ICONSIAM is a park like area, which also has great views across the river.
The shopping mall inside is very nicely decorated for a shopping mall. The food area has dozens of stands and high end restaurants to choose from. The shopping is mostly high end, and where you will find your designer brands. Right when you walk in is the Rolex shop. We ate some food, got some coffee, walked around, and headed back to Sukhumvit. In the back of Iconsiam is a trolly station that will take you to the main BTS.
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After Iconsiam, we took the BTS back to our hotel in Sukhumvit. There we enjoyed some more beers on Soi Cowboy and dinner around the corner on 23. Our flight back to Chiang Mai was the next morning, so our short sightseeing trip was over, but we will be back soon. Daily flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai are fairly cheap on Air Asia.
For more on where to stay in Bangkok, we have a good list for you.
Resources
Agoda is the best place to book cheap affordable hotels in Thailand, especially Chiang Mai. They also book flights as well.
Expedia is my favorite place to book flights, hotels, cars, and more. Their group includes Hotels.com and Vrbo for vacation rentals.
Viator is the top choice for activities. Book everything from a cooking class to tours outside the city to places like Doi Inthanon National Park to see some incredible waterfalls.
12Go is the top transportation source for Asia. From busses to trains to regional flights.
