Bangkok

If you're planning to buy a round the world ticket for travelling on your gap year, there's a high chance that Bangkok will be one of your stopovers.

Bangkok is the type of city that totally divides opinion - you'll either love it or hate it. Bangkok is both noisy and polluted, suffering from some of the worst traffic jams in Asia. On top of that the weather in Bangkok can, at times, be almost unbearably humid. That's the bad bits about Bangkok over with! Most backpackers generally agree that Bangkok's plus points far outweigh its negatives. Bangkok has a unique, frenetic atmosphere. There are also loads of sights in Bangkok, cheap accommodation and some excellent food. Many people find Bangkok to be one of the most exciting cities they've ever visited.

If you are backpacking in Thailand, the chances are you'll head to the Khao San Road area of Bangkok for accommodation. This is the area of Bangkok featured in the movie ‘The Beach' starring Leonardo di Caprio. Khao San Road is the undoubted travellers' epi-centre of Bangkok and is packed with countless guesthouses, stalls selling counterfeit goods of all description, restaurants and cafes. Bangkok's ubiquitous tuk-tuks (three-wheeler taxi-bikes) and taxis constantly pick up and drop off travellers. There are so many backpacker hostels and cheap guesthouses in this part of Bangkok that the best thing you can do is wander around quite a few until you find somewhere you like. Always check your room in Bangkok before committing to it, as in some cases a ‘room' can be just a small cubicle with a single bed, partitioned off from the next ‘room' with some bamboo or chipboard. As a general rule in Bangkok, you get what you pay for.

Bangkok has some fantastic places to see. A great way to see Bangkok is to hop on to one of the many river-buses on Bangkok's Chao Phraya river. One popular Bangkok river trip is to see the famous floating market at Thonburi.

An undoubted highlight of any visit to Bangkok is to wander around the Royal Grand Palace. The palace is home to Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew, (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). Bangkok has about 400 wats, or temple monasteries, and another one well worth visiting is Wat Pho (the temple of the reclining Buddha). Wat Pho is the oldest and largest wat in Bangkok and its centre-piece is a 46-metre long giant reclining Buddha. If you visit a Buddhist temple in Bangkok or anywhere else you must always remember to take your shoes off before entering, and generally dress and behave soberly whilst inside.

Aside from Bangkok's more traditional must-see sights, Bangkok is also the original Asian ‘sin city'. Strolling around Bangkok at night is a real experience - even if you firmly fit in to the ‘look but don't touch' category! Patpong Road is a good place for a bit of night-time Bangkok voyeurism. There are all kinds of massage parlours along this strip of Bangkok, along with bars showing live spectator sports such as Thai kick boxing.


Back to Where to travel on a gap year

Back to Gap Year Advice Main Menu