Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
It's been exactly two months since I left Bangkok and packed all my nearly forty kilos of luggage and took the flight to Finland. At that point, Bangkok was in near civil war and it was neither the nicest nor the safest place to be, as the protesting was at its peak. Just a week after we arrived to Finland, I found myself looking at images of my beloved Central World in flames. Looking back, those are however not the memories I have of Bangkok. I find myself thinking about and missing Bangkok every day. Even though Finland is lovely and has its pros, we could never live the life that we had in Bangkok here. As you might notice, I left a little piece of my heart in that hot, hectic city.
Bangkok is a city that never sleeps and you never run out of things to do. You always seem to find a completely new area that you never even knew existed. Someone said that you truly know Bangkok, only when you are ready to admit that you only know a tiny part of it. Here are some of my favourite things to do in Bangkok.
Siam is the crown jewel of Bangkok - the shopping district is filled with luxury brands and nice restaurants. Siam is also the area where the red-shirts infamously camped for over three months. Siam is in a way the center point of Bangkok, as it has the largest BTS station and the intersection of the two - Sukhumvit and Silom - BTS-lines. Siam has shopping malls and department stores located right next to each other: Siam Paragon, Central World, Siam Discovery, Siam Center and Gaysorn. Siam Paragon is one of the most exclusive malls with stores like Chanel, Hermes, Mulberry and Gucci. Paragon has the most amazing café and restaurant area located in the bottom floor, one of my favourite things in Bangkok. You can just stroll around the area, taste samples and look at the endless bakeries, restaurants, and cafes. Siam Paragon has an amazing Imax - movie theater and the Siam Ocean World - aquarium. Paragon also has one of the best bookstores I've ever visited - a large Kinokuniya store.
Note: I wrote this section still living in Bangkok and CW still existed. However, I heard that they are renovating it very quickly and it should be opening during the wintertime! Central World is one of the largest shopping malls in Asia. Central World has lots of international brand stores, lovely restaurants and cafes and a large department store Zen. Central World has stores like Zara, Massimo Dutti, the Gap, Mango and Forever 21. My favourite is café in Central World is Belle's Cupcakes, which offers adorable little cupcakes. Around Christmas time, there is an ice-skating rink in front of Central World. Located right behind Central World is the Centara Hotel, which has an amazing skybar looking over the city. Having a drink there is an experience! Siam Discovery and Siam Square are smaller malls located right next to each other. Siam Discovery has a large iStudio for the Mac-people! Gaysorn is a more exclusive mall with Louis Vuitton, Tumi and other luxury brands.
MBK is an extremely hectic and frustrating place to go, but if you're looking for bargains, it's the place you want to go. Cheap clothing, counterfeit designer bags and clothes and electronics are best to buy from here. You can also buy and iPad or an iPhone Mini from MBK, even though Apple hasn't even published them! If you want to treat your hair, lots of tourists go to hairdressers' in MBK, so the hairdressers have experience from handling the western hair type! The prices might be a little higher, but they have experience.
Sukhumvit is the hip and trendy part of Bangkok filled with nice restaurants and bars. Sukhumvit also has lots of expatriates as residents, so you'll easily meet up with lots of farangs. If you would move again to Bangkok, I would definitely move to Sukhumvit!
My absolute favourite market in Bangkok is the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, which is also known as Lumphini. Lumphini is a large market area, which has one market area dedicated to young Thai designers in clothing and design. You can also find the touristy things to buy. Lumphini is open during the evenings, I think from around six to around midnight. Lumphini is filled with small corridors filled with vendors and it takes several hours to go through even half of the market area. The area has some nice restaurants with a large stage area with live music. The MRT station Lumphini is located right to the market entrance. Nearby is also a BTS station. Lumphini is also located near the Lumphini Park, which is a beautiful park with real, large lizards running freely in the park!
Chatuchak Weekend Market is the biggest market in Thailand, but also one of the biggest in Asia - Chatuchak Weekend Market. Also known as JJ Market (as in Jatujak Market). Located next to the Mo Chit BTS station and Chatuchak Park MRT station. You can buy literally anything from there, even puppies! You should go into the small corridors between the vending stalls, as it is packed with stores. The JJ market can have up to 300 000 visitors per day, so you will not be alone there! Best to go quite early in the morning or afternoon, as it is nicer to walk around. An irritating thing while visiting the JJ market is that there are a lot of tourists, so taxi drivers usually won't put the meter on as they sense an opportunity to trick a farang. But just be patient, there will always be someone who will put the meter on! Chatuchak Park is a beautiful park next to the JJ market. The park is very well kept and the perfect place for lazy Sunday afternoons!
The Wat Po and the Grand Palace are extremely beautiful places to see in Bangkok. For me they represent the core of Thai aesthetics. Remember that they are very sacred temple areas for Thai people - dress respectfully. Wear something light and cover your shoulders and knees. The Wat Po temple area is famous for the Reclining Buddha, which is over fourty meters long and covered with gold and mother of pearl. I don't know what it is, but it is even hotter in the Wat Po area, so you should visit during the morning.
Khao San Road is what you often see in travel books when discussing Bangkok. It's a street basically in the middle of nowhere, where it is extremely hard to go, as the traffic is so bad. It's a street filled with western tourists, restaurants and vendors selling backpacks, touristy t-shirts and those baggy pants that all farangs wear in Asia! Not my favourite thing in Bangkok.
These are only a few things that you can do in Bangkok. There are literally a million and one things to do there. The thing is, when you are attending an exchange program, you have so much time on your hands because you are away from your normal life and routines. That's one of the things that I miss the most - having the opportunity to be spontaneous and do something new and exciting every day!
Thank you so much for reading this blog, I have really enjoyed writing it as I have simultaneously been writing about my own experiences and expressing my feelings about living in a new culture and also tried to give advice and motivation to people thinking about attending an exchange program abroad. I recommend it from all my heart as it is an amazing experience.
With love, Betina
- comments
Emeline your blog is really interesting, thank you!
Arja Hi Betina, Thank you very much sharing this informatIon. My son and his friend are going to have a 5 months studies in KU. They both are studing in Kuopio University in Eastern Finland My son has a wheelchair, that is why it is kind of difficult to try to find an appartment near KU. I have sent on inquiry to Vibhavaditower apartments and I called there too. I am not sure if they understood. Do you remember any apartment near KU which is wheelchair accessible. We would be very grateful of every information we can get. Are you still in Finland? I live in Espoo. It would have been very nice to meet you.