There is no excuse not to visit Bangkok as it consistently rated as one of the best cities in the world. It is one of those lovely places where the blending of East and West delivers experiences you cannot miss out on. It undoubtedly stands out among other places of its kind in Thailand and has a lot to offer visitors so here are my 5 reasons to go to Bangkok.
- The Food
I love Thai food at home so of course when I went to Bangkok I had to indulge and the city did not disappoint! While I did try a few restaurants that I found were overpriced for what you got, once I really explored the city I found hole in the wall stalls and street vendors that served the best food at reasonable priced.
A friend of mine lived off street food when he was in Bangkok and ended up with severe food poisoning that had him in the bathroom for three days so as a word to the wise, my antifood poisoning tips are:
- only eat food that is hot not lukewarm and preferably prepared in front of you if you are eating from a stall
- if you are going to eat fruit, eat fruit that you have to peel
- while Bangkok has some of the best seafood, shellfish always has an extremely high chance of getting you sick so eat with caution
- pack something like Pepto-Bismol which can help with stomach issues brought on by jetlag
- if there are bugs on the food, skip it!
- Wats of History Mingling with the Future
Did you know that the official name of the city was Krung Thep Maha Nakhon up until 16-Feb-2022 when the Royal's approved "Bangkok" to be used as the English version of the city's name which had been used by English speakers since 1972. If you want to, you can still use Krung Thep Maha. Bangkok came from the city's original name Thonburi Si Mahasamut. It became Bangkok when France Romanized the original name however Thailand (or Siam as it was called prior to 1949) was never colonized and left as a absolute monarchy until the revolution in 1932. Over the 19th century both England and France tried to influence Siam but neither country could so it was one of the few countries that was not colonized by the Europeans. Now that you have the very basics of the city, you can kind of understand how Bangkok is a mixture of the old and new, rich and poor, ancient Wats and brand new high-rises; the city has always tried to find their place in a very confusing world and has instead found a way to be a middle ground, offering something for everyone.
- Budget Luxury Living
Bangkok is a world class city but it does not have the price that other world class cities like Vancouver or New York have. Due to this you can afford a variety of luxuries from shopping to hotels, car rentals to meals at a reasonable price. If you want to head here to enjoy the high life without breaking the bank then try to book your vacation as far out as possible as deals are usually found around the time that inventory is released.
- Shop 'til you Drop
Across the city you will find a variety of shopping malls which have everything that you could ever need or want and the prices are surprisingly low compared to if you wanted to buy them at home. The reason for this is because a lot of the items are knock offs and they are really well done. If you are shopping and something seems like a steal, take a closer look as some countries will actually confiscate knock off items due to brands having copyrights on the design. If you are buying electronics or DVD's then make sure that they will run on your country's power system or in your electronics.
- It's a Great Jumping Off Point
Since COVID and the anti-Chinese riots have knocked Hong Kong from the title of "transit point to Asia", Bangkok has been gunning to become the new transit hub which has created flights to a ton of different locations all over Asia making Bangkok a super easy city to get to. Due to the difference in geography throughout the country you also have a chance to simply drive to places like Chaing Mai, Koh Chang, Koh Mat, Koh Samet, and more.
