That city break in Bangkok was quite something – let’s take a quick dip back into it!!
Having been in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City the previous week it was hard to compare the two cities; yes they’re both in Southeast Asia but totally different personalities.
Bangkok is your bold, loud, always got something to say, confident, colourful, never a dull moment extrovert friend. Ho Chi Minh leans more on the modest and softly spoken side lol. Bangkok is not reserved at all, anything goes and consumerism is king….it’s a lot more advanced and geared up for tourism than Vietnam at the moment.
There’s so much to do in Bangkok, I barely scratched the surface but got a good fill all the same.
This is one of those posts where the photographs do the talking better than I can 💻
You need to see Bangkok to believe it though, it’s in a league of its own.
A Kaleidoscope of allsorts
If you’ve never been, a city break in Bangkok is hard to describe without using the words and phrases like quirky, colourful, wacky, super busy, tourist heavy, modern, a bit futuristic in parts, a sensory overload, jam packed and geared for shoppers, food everywhere, tuk tuks everywhere, malls everywhere.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Bangkok was trying to win the Guiness World Record for how many malls and shops, street sellers and street markets can be squeezed into the smallest possible radius – ok Bangkok you won 🏆
Street sellers are practically everywhere, mini street markets tucked away all over the place, especially at night.
All the above plus the striking traditional temples and oriental architecture.
Food thoughts
You’re never far from food in Bangkok.
One of the best meals I had was at….down a back alley somewhere one night, cooked out in the open, sitting on one of the classic tiny plastic chairs – and by the way, this place was Michelin Star rated, yep – and rightly so, delicious!!!
A note on dried mango, it’s everywhere.
In fact packets of dried food seems to be a popular thing – I never knew dried sweet peppers, okra and dried fish snacks were a thing – just don’t buy the dried fruit packs in duty free, the ones I picked up tasted awful and not like the fruit at all, the packets look very pretty and colourful though!! Buy some during your stay and try them out before buying any to bring home.
Although most of the fresh juices I had were pure, there were one or two that I bought that were not – I think they’d put colouring and lots of sugar in it and it tasted horrendous…definitely not fresh juice; that only happened once (in 10 days) so must have been one of a minority of dodgy sellers. Apart from that it’s fresh fruit juice heaven. The pomegranate, lychee, fresh lemon and passion fruit juices were 10/10.
Even more than in Vietnam, ‘Milo’ seems to be a leading brand, you’ll see adverts for it and all kinds of Milo products.
Egg flavoured crisps was a first for me, they did actually taste like boiled eggs, quite a strange thing to get my taste buds around when munching crisps!!
SEVEN 11
They’re everywhere. If Seven 11 was a person you’d think they were stalking you – every two minutes there’s another one or you see the sign poking out from a corner somewhere just a few seconds after there was one across the street.
Not complaining though, they’re very handy.
Admittedly I only bought some items to taste, and didn’t eat the whole thing. There were lots of things I’d never come across before….makes you curious!
Noodles heads up: the black coloured pot of noodles should be named ‘FIRE’ these were too hot – and I love spicy food. Spicy should still leave room for flavour – these didn’t, they were just way too hot and burn you mouth, lips, throat and make your eyes water.
On the other end of the spectrum, the humble coconut crackers had a very mild coconut flavour, barely there, really nice simple savoury crackers!
More on food
Access to food and the variety of food you’ll find in Bangkok is infinite. Never ending.
I didn’t try any fried insects – I passed on those and all the scorpions I kept seeing in the food markets….to be honest, I got the impression those things were just there to amuse and entice tourists – I never once saw any local people eating them.
Love to Shop?
If I had to pin Bangkok down to one defining word it would be shopping. Shopping comes at you from everywhere in all directions, all the time, day and night.
Bangkok shopping is crazy intense, a sensory overload of deals and bargains, mountains of things for sale, consumerism at its finest!!
If you thought Vietnam was a good choice for shopping, Thailand will blow your socks off.
Just to say…….
Despite my frequent ramblings about prices and haggling, shopping doesn’t have to be about buying things, you can always step off the consumerist band wagon.
Sometimes the best part is the curious browsing, the quirky observations and photos we take, the people watching and unplanned interactions.
No need to be buying stuff just because you can – go for the atmosphere, the vibes and the moments!!
Most things in Bangkok have prices on labels, no guessing games ….and for the record, if you’re paying more than 100BHT for a pair of elephant pants you’re paying too much – 50BHT was the cheapest I’d seen them (from one of the night time street sellers), and if you don’t buy a pair of elephant pants have you even been to Thailand lol….well yes, since I didn’t buy any, but I did get a couple of elephant print tote bags.
Elephant print fatigue will quickly set in…there are shirts, shorts, dresses – everything elephant print.
Cheapest shopping? Pratunam Market
Hands down Pratunam Market and surrounding streets and malls had the lowest prices, mainly all wholesale with higher discounts the more items you buy. It’s all tightly packed, crowded and chaotic with the lowest prices around.
Watch for carts wheeling by or motorbikes weaving past in the narrow walkways, and prepare to lose your bearings winding your way around corner after corner.
I thought one day would be enough for this patch but I ended up going back a couple of times to see more of the indoor bits and nooks/crannies of sellers and wander around the surrounding streets where there are yet more sellers, hidden malls, places to eat and opportunities to soak up the hot and humid day to day energy of the place.
Boho Vibes
I got talking to a shop owner sister-brother in law duo in one of the ‘hidden indoor markets’ he’s from Tanzania and she’s Thai (she does all the designs and makes the clothes), many of which are one off pieces because everything depends on what fabrics she can find at any given time, nothing in this shop is mass-produced.
A similar type of shop in yet another hidden indoor market – this shop was giving strong ‘Greece’ vibes, with a lot of the types of dresses you see when shopping on the greek islands.
Funnily enough the lady in the shop said she’d just had a Greek buyer come and buy bulk loads of her dresses to be shipped to Greece…she said the buyer showed her pictures of Santorini and that she gets quite a few buyers from Greece….again it’s a wholesale market so retailers will come and buy large quantities for less, and if you’ve been to Santorini, you’ll know what the ‘Santorini prices’ are like!!
You’ll see a lot of bulk piles of stock in some of these markets, with sellers preoccupied with packaging up shipments and counting supplies….but there are usually a few bits out for sale with a marked retail prices, as well as a willingness to sell you much of what isn’t priced.
Platinum Fashion Mall
Platinum Mall is just across the road from pratunam market and slightly more expensive than Pratunam, some things might be one or two pounds more, not much more really, and all wholesale focused.
Tbh wherever you buy clothes will feel like a bargain compared to western prices but Pratunam Market seems to reign the lowest priced of them all…..especially if you walk deeper into the markets before buying anything – the further in you go, the lower the prices get.
Each floor had a name that sounded suspiciously London themed until we zoom in on the 3rd floor….called Nathan? Am I missing something here?? Random.
There’s also a great food hall in Platinum Mall – you top up a payment card for the smaller sellers, like you do in most Bangkok malls.
In the malls, small food counters take payment from a top up money card – you top it up there and then with cash or card – and get a refund on any money you don’t use or save it for another ttrip – no cash. I prefer cash.
Bigger stand alone restaurant chains will take payments via cash or card…not the pre-pay card….you have to get your head arond all this when all you want is to just sit down and eat.
Central World Mall
Huge.
Lots of recognisable brands, Central World has more of a high street store vibe as well as other local brands and small stands.
I became a bit obsessed with these soaps that look and smell like real fruit, unbelievably realistic – I’ve seen this sort of thing before on other holidays but never paid any attention until now. I bagged some of these soaps, for the curious novelty of them…..but absolutely no idea where I would put them…….a utility room cupboard shelf maybe, for the nice smells.
MBK Centre Mall
Horrendous.
I’d half dreaded it and can confirm I hated it, I don’t know how I lasted around 45 mins then had to get out, it’s a massive dark monster mall and it felt like the walls were caving in!!
Maybe I’m just not good with overstocked, oversized shopping spaces.
Compared to Pratunam, Central World Mall and Platinum Mall – I could see the prices were higher at the MBK Centre – like I said, the going rate for elephant pants are always a good gage.
MBK is the ultimate tourist haunt, thanks to Youtubers, Tik Tokers and all the heavy hype on social media; this mall feels like it’s swallowing you up like Jonah in the whale’s belly type thing…..hoards and hoards of stock.
The ‘luxury’ brand hunters come here in full force to get their cheap copies/fakes….though I suspect you might get them cheaper in Pratunam – the usual brands are everywhere.
Worse than this was the feeling when you get onto the dedicated floor for ‘fake/copy’ designer goods section. The decor is visibly dark and packed tightly with the most LV, Dior and Gucci stuff you’ll ever see in one place and the sellers all stand outside their shops staring at you, calling out to you “handbag madam” which is what they assume all women come here for.
If I’m honest, I do find it strange that people are so addicted to these brands, to the point that they have become no more impressive than cheaper high street brands because everyone’s wearing them (fake or real).
It’s exhausting just walking past and being surrounded by it all – unless you’re on a mission to find certain items….I overheard a man telling a seller “no thanks, I’m only looking for this specific one” showing the seller a picture of something….trainers I think.
Tip: Bring pics of what brand named pieces you’re after to make it easier to shop for them.
The rest is like any other mall with all sorts, including a food court, an electronics floor and a lot of jewelry.
Directly opposite MBK is the Bangkok Cultural Centre – I headed straight there to recoup, admiring some of the art exhibitions displayed at the time – quite, calm and peaceful.
On the Subject of Fake Brand Items
Everyone knows that Thailand is a wonderland for those looking for cheaper/imitation luxury brand items as well as familiar sports brands.
From what I hear, some of it is very high quality and produced in the same factories as the ‘real thing’ or by workers who make the ‘real’ thing and know how to make them pretty much to the same standard on the side….or sometimes it’s surplus items or items that didn’t quite pass all the tick boxes to make it to a luxury store….often indistinguishable from the ‘real’ thing for most people.
If this is your cup of tea you’ll be very happy; however, there are plenty of lovely locally made and non-branded items to shop for as well, something for everyone.
CASH
Cash is usually King in markets, no surprises there and you’re never too far from a money exchange place.
Carrier Bags
I did pick up on what seems to be a Southeast Asian theme – they love an artistic and positive message bearing carrier bag – not many plain Janes around here.
So did I take two suitcases?
No, but I did end up buying a second suitcase for the flight home, from a seller in the Platinum Mall right after he told some other tourists off for their aggressive and rude manner, they were arrogantly demanding a discount. I heard the seller pulling them up on their attitude and refusing to negotiate with them on prices (good for him)…..I’d noticed this harsh rude manner with some other tourists, giving off a sense of entitlement to whatever discount they saw fit to demand, speaking down to sellers.
Anyway, the same seller gave me a very good deal and I bought my extra suitcase in the space of about 3 mins – success.
Don’t ask me what shopping I bought – all kinds of all sorts lol….some were gifts, and some of it will likely come up in a ‘forgotten souvenirs’ post at some point…including my ‘yet to be worn’ 7Eleven socks!!
That landing tip again…
When you’re planning your city break in Bangkok do yourself a favour and book a fast track airport service. I was out of the airport within about 30 mins, instead of potentially 3hrs+, again, highly recommend.
Traffic
In central Bangkok at least, drivers seem to abide by traffic rules, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings – but I did see a few drivers who took the Vietnamese ‘room for everyone’ approach to ignoring red lights and sharing the green man, so don’t drop your guard.
That said, you might find yourself never needing to cross any roads, thanks to the brilliant overhead network of windowed pedestrian walkways that make getting around and across the busy roads below a breeze from busiest tourist areas and to/from metro stations.
Ok I’m exhausted.
Let’s take a moment of calm before the next post, where we’ll dive into Bangkok’s most talked about street market, in fact the the biggest street market in the world…..Chatuchak Market.
