Where to go in Thailand.
Having travelled to Thailand many many times, I have to admit, I really do not have a favorite location. Each city that I have had extended stays at has it’s own unique charm and has things about it that the others might not have as much of or is just different.
BANGKOK
I figure that it is the easiest to start with as this is where you are most likely going to fly into and land first.
Bangkok is a monster. A really big and fast monster. It is New York City, Tokyo and Dubai all mixed together. Flying in at night, you can really get a great sense as to how grand the city is and how expansive it truly is. With a population of 12 million people in the greater Bangkok area and growing each year, the population is quite spread out.
Bangkok is a mix of wonderful dining, lots of exciting shops and malls, amazing historic temples, lots of nightlife and markets and lots lots more. What powers this well oiled machine, are the amazing citizens of Bangkok. Enter any shop, restaurant, mall, market, or anywhere really, you are greeted with a giant smile.
Places I highly recommend in no particular order:
Wat Saket - Golden Mount - Located a five minute walk from Khao San Road, Wat Saket is a temple over 700 years old. The temple is famous for its 344 step ascension to the viewpoint located at the highest level. Both the views and the many Buddah statues located at the top make the climb worth it. At 50 Bhat, this might be the best deal in the city. The view is worth it alone, but the many attractions on the way up seal the deal.
Khao San Road (and the neighboring streets) — This might not be for everyone. Khao San Road during the day resembles many streets in Bangkok, with markets and shops on both sides of the road, intermingled with restaurants and bars and tattoo parlors. The shops are of the touristy variety selling mostly clothing of all varieties, suit makers, and souvenirs. There is a fair amount of other stuff, but those are the majority. Traffic here is fairly light compared to most areas during the day and one can enjoy themselves. The back side of Khao San Road (who’s name slips my mind at the moment) has some of the nicest restaurants and patios in the city and at night, there is not really a nicer collections of patio restaurants in the city. The variety of cuisine from all over the world makes this one of the nicer areas to combine dining, drinking and people watching. At night, the back side street does get a little louder, and does have a lot of people, but the music is a lot mellower and relaxing compared to the main drag of Khao San Road. At night, Khao San road turns into a monster. Loud, very very very Loud. Those same shops during the day, turn into bars and nightclubs and patios that jut out into the street. The street is blocked off for this nightly party