Bangkok – The Gateway to Southeast Asia
There May Be No Better Travel Value Than Bangkok
Start Your Adventure Here
Southeast Asia is an adult playground and Bangkok is the gateway! In 2018, before Covid 19, Bangkok was the most traveled to city in the world and for good reason. Bangkok is truly unique in the respect that it has all of the most interesting things you can possibly do in an Asian, first world city, but at a fraction of the price of a city like Hong Kong, Singapore or Tokyo. If you are looking for something different to experience then we would suggest staying a few days (and nights) in Bangkok and see what happens. Come explore, you might not go back home.
For most visitors that are coming to upper Southeast Asia, they will fly into Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and this will be the first place they, or you, will truly start your adventure. If you have the right mindset, Bangkok certainly won’t disappoint you. Weather you are looking for exciting nightlife, bargain shopping, fascinating temples, luxury spas or exotic food you have found the right city.
In this article we recommend six of the most interesting things to do to kick of your Thailand Adventure, three great hotels, three interesting restaurants, five great bars and all the other important things you need to know about Bangkok.
Best Bangkok Activities
When in Bangkok you might as well live life large. With these best activities of Bangkok you can do just that. In fact, when our friends make it over these are the places we take them. We have checked them all out and in most cases we give you an easy link to book the activities by clicking on the picture. We want to make Bangkok easy for you. If you are interested in the experience just click on the picture. If you want full details and the “what to expect video,” scroll to the bottom and click on the video link. You will pull up the full description article and video on that page.
Scroll to the Bottom of this Article for Videos of Each Activity
Best Hotels in Bangkok
Click on each Image for details.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel – Luxury
Mode Sathorn – Best Value
Lub D Hostel – Budget
Anantara Riverside Hotel – Best Pool
Avani + Riverside Hotel – Rooftop Luxury
The Mayu Japanese Style Hotel – Honorable Mention
When we say Bangkok may be the best travel value in the world, no where is that more true than booking a luxury hotel. If you are ever going to spoil yourself Bangkok is without a doubt the city to do just that, and it starts with your hotel. Below, we recommend one top hotel in each price category. Furthermore, after a lot of research, we have partnered with the booking platform which consistently has the best pricing on just about every hotel in Thailand. So, whichever hotel you choose check these out first.
Best Nightlife in Bangkok
Certainly Bangkok is well known for its nightlife and rightly so. Therefore it is incredibly hard to narrow down the list to just the best. Basically, we just want to give you a list of places that will amaze you and get you fired up about going out in Bangkok. This list is more like a great starting point. So, here are a the bars that in our opinion are worth a visit. Click on the Image of each place to read the article with full details.
Best Three Temples in Bangkok
I will admit, you can easily get bored after your second or third Temple in Bangkok. Maybe that is because Bangkok doesn’t have any ancient Khmer Temples, but it does have a few worth a visit. Before you get “templed out” you should visit these three unique temples.
When you go, you should try the “Making Merit” ceremony if there is a monk offering the opportunity. It certainly couldn’t hurt your karma account for this life.
Best Restaurants and Cafes in Bangkok
Bangkok is well known throughout the world for great food, although most of the time it is the street food that gets all the attention. Once you are here it is fun to find your own fantastic spot to eat, so we will just concentrate of a few “must experience” places. Most of the restaurants we recommend are not actually Thai, but don’t worry, great Thai food will be everywhere.
The Best Way to Get to Bangkok
Here are a few things that you may not know about coming to Thailand that are important. The first is that the flight over doesn’t have to be expensive. An economy seat on a non-western airline’s flight from JFK to BKK (Suvarnabhumi Airport) costs about the same as a roundtrip flight from DC to Miami. So, far the average price we have paid for a roundtrip to Bangkok from the USA is $675 USD. That was mostly from JFK in New York.
Check out the airlines below first before you look at any airline like United or Lufthansa. Sometimes the search engine type travel websites don’t include all of these carriers so make sure you look at their own sites directly. If the price is relatively the same, we usually book directly with the airline because you deal with the carrier and not a middle man if you are trying to get a refund. Many people who booked international flights with Expedia during the Covid lockdowns found out the hard way.
The lowest prices for an international flight to Bangkok are usually found on these carriers: China Air, China Southern Air, China Eastern Air, Etihad Air, Emirates Air and Philippine Airlines and all use the same planes as the other airlines. We have found the service to be comparable so give them a look first.
Remember there are two airports in Bangkok. It is important to know that you will most likely be flying into Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) when you arrive in Thailand. Most domestic flights, except for Bangkok Air flights leave from Don Muaeng (DMK) Airport.
Best Currency Exchange in Bangkok
The green Super Rich Currency Exchange Service will give you the best exchange rates in all of Thailand. There is a counter at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the lower level and one on the third floor of Siam Paragon. The best exchange rate within their system is found at the Jewelry Exchange Center (JTC) in the Sathorn business district.
Videos From the Thailand Adventure Network
