Bangkok in general > Reviews

Advantages: Wonderful city
Disadvantages: As with any city, it may take a little time to find your feet.

Bangkok is deservedly a popular destination these days. I find that I'm often asked for advice from those who plan to go for the first time. They want to know if they'll need to take Baht (the Thai currency,) if they'll need to book a hotel before they go, and various other such questions. This op is intended to help those who have never been there before to learn a little of the ropes and to get them through day one without any hassles. I'm assuming ... Read review

Advantages: Immagine the Orient and you're thinking of Bangkok
Disadvantages: Not everybody's cup of tea.

...things you should hate, but Bangkok has a magic and excitement all of its own that brings me back time and again. My wife and I have been there four times now, each time for a full week, yet we still want to return. The city is developing so rapidly that every time we go it has changed – elevated highways, major motorway links and a monorail have all appeared since our first visit in 1988. Many people avoid Bangkok because of its reputation ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap accommodation. Good Night Market
Disadvantages: Easy to get Ripped-off.

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man stumble (or is it crumble). A couple of years ago I spent about three days in an area of Bangkok called Patpong. Ouch! What a scary place. Was like the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, (see op) without the guns and bomb craters. Really, really sleazy and the place was a mess. Was like living in some sort of post-nuclear alien community. At best like a scene from Bladerunner. Got constantly bombarded with “hey ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful, cultural, inexpensive.
Disadvantages: Very difficult to get to without getting caught up in the traffic and chaos.

...We've all seen Leonardo travelling Bangkok in the film 'The Beach'. But is the reality as true as this depiction? Can you really scour the back streets alone in search of snake blood? Bangkok is a thriving metropolis. It is constantly on the go (more so than London - if you can believe that), polluted up to the eyeballs, packed tight full of traffic jams, and this is all centred right in the middle - the very place that tourists want to get to. ... Read review

Advantages: Colourful, vibrant and exciting
Disadvantages: smelly, noisy and polluted

Bangkok is a busy, noisy, smelly city and my favourite place in the world. Everthing you can possibly need or want can be found here providing an ideal stop-over or break whilst travelling. If shopping is your thing vist the New World Trade Centre in Siam Square, although take a meter taxi as a tut-tut driver will rip you off (or at least make you go to a clothes-maker with him for his petrol tokens!) If you want clubs and bars pop over to Patpong ... Read review

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I lived in Bangkok for 4 years and got to know it first as a stranger then as a semi-native. Well, what's it like? It's most famous for two things, traffic and sex, and there's plenty of both. The traffic has improved over the last few years thanks to some much needed road building and most recently a mass transit system. The journey into town from the airport is only 30 minutes now at most times of day. To get from the best hotel The Oriental (some ... Read review

Advantages: A unique place to visit.
Disadvantages: Mosquitoes

Bangkok is my second home away from London. Places you must visit include the many ancient temples,the thai floating market and not forgetting the array of restaurants where you will taste thai food that is far better than any you could find in England. Shopping in Bangkok is excellent. If you don't fancy wandering round a market then there are numerous shopping malls for you to walk around in comfort. Pottery and Thai silks are often good gifts ... Read review

Advantages: Gateway to rest of Thailand, Grand Palace
Disadvantages: Filthy hell-hole

...to glowing reports posted on Bangkok here so far, I have to demur, and say that it is something of a hellhole, albeit one that contains some unmissable delights. The place is dirty and chaotic. It has one of the world's worst traffic problems, and when people aren't in traffic jams, they drive like maniacs. The oppressively humid air seems to crawl with filth. One place in Bangkok that must be seen is the Grand Palace, which is a compound ... Read review