One night in Bangkok is not enough

We’ve been to Bangkok 5 times the past 9 months and it served as our hometown away from home. It’s so easy to get to other countries from Thailand and the city never gets old… it has so many faces!

Here are a few of my favorite spots:

(1) Chinatown

Wander around through the small streets, take in all the smells, enjoy the light fest at night, discover hidden temples and have lunch at Hongkong Noodle.

(2) Wat Pho

This is the largest and oldest temple complex in Bangkok. You can keep on rediscovering its beauty while wandering around. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

(3) Sukhumvit and surroundings

Here’s where I spent most of my time… silly enough I don’t have any pictures of these places because  I never carried my camera with me when I was there. It was lovely to just be.

FOOD

• Villa Market: A quality supermarket where we went shopping while staying at our apartment. The main features: good sourdough bread and sausages (from Sloane’s)!
• Bankara at Siam food court for their GREAT ramen!
• Nahm for Michelin quality traditional Thai food.
• Duc De Praslin Belgium Chocolaterie for their macarons.

DRINKS

• One ounce for onion: coffee, sweets and banana milkshake!
• Casa Lapin: coffee and soda!
• Roast: coffee and a great food menu.
• Mikkeller has great beers and many many of them are on tap! The café is also located in a stunning retro house with a nice garden.

SHOPPING

• MBK center for their multimedia.

CULTURE

• TCDC (Thailand Creative and Design Center): take a look at the exhibitions they’re running.

MARKET

• Talat Rot Fai: a night market filled with vintage stuff and plenty of clothes & food stalls. It’s a little bit off Sukhumvit but definitely worth a visit!

DO GOOD

• Donate excess lugage at the Gift of Happiness foundation.

GET MAIL

• Poste restante works like a charm at Nana Post Office. You can pick it up at the first floor. Have mail sent to you like in this example:
  Mr. Joseph DOAKES
  c/o Poste Restante
  Nana Post Office,
  Sukhumvit Road,
  Bangkok 10112 THAILAND

(4) Wat Mahathat and the amulet market

Wat Mahathat is an important centre for the study of Buddhism and meditation. Walk through the different levels of the Wat to learn more about it and discover the nearby amulet market.

 (5) The floating market

The market is a half day trip away from Bangkok and although it’s quite touristy you can easily find a spot where good soup makers are hiding to enjoy a quiet view of this special place.

Bangkok summary

• Things to do: See above
• Food: See above
• Stay: We always used Airbnb and ended up near the “On Nut” BTS station 4 times in a row. The best place if you want to stay away from the old center. If you do want to stay close to Khao San Road I can recommend New Siam II Guesthouse. It’s smack in the center of the city and still super quiet at night.