09. - 31. März 2023
Bangkok itself is incredibly fascinating, crazy, and everything at once. You experience so many impressions at once, everything is full of cars and people, and it's madness.
You want modern? Bangkok!
You want traditional? Bangkok!
You want oriental? Bangkok!
You want western? Bangkok!
You want ..............? Bangkok!
YOUR Bangkok, not MY Bangkok, because Bangkok is so diverse. In the capital of Thailand, you can find almost anything imaginable, making the metropolis a reflection of its visitors.
These were a few sentences from the book "555 TIPS FOR BANGKOK, Insider's travel guide for Thailand's capital" (2017) that I can fully agree with. You go around the corner in Bangkok and think you are in China/South Korea/India. There are even 4 Japanese streets or neighborhoods: from the Japanese department store to the Japanese red-light district. And that's not all, there are so many other crazy things in Bangkok. Here's a crazy example: In the Medical Museum at the Siriraj Hospital, also known as the "Death Museum," you can find numerous preserved body parts and bodies that died from various causes. There are sections on cancer, parasites, crime, and accidents... as well as mummies of cannibals and mass murderers from the 1950s, which are displayed here in showcases. I didn't visit the museum, that would have been too much for me, I probably wouldn't have left the hostel for a week afterwards. But I hope that maybe on my next visit to Bangkok, I'll dare to visit the museum.
Bangkok is just crazy. If you're ever in Bangkok, we can recommend the e-book "555 TIPS FOR BANGKOK." We can give you more information about the book, just contact us.
Overall, we were here for 22 days. And in this blog, I will only be able to report a fraction of our experiences because it would otherwise exceed the scope. And we only did a fraction of what we would have liked to see. Our time in Bangkok is marked by many ups and downs. Some days I just love it, and other days it drives me crazy. We had some really nice and awesome days here. And some very annoying and crappy days.
Let's start with the annoying ones. On the trip from Nakhon Si Thammarat, I caught a cold and spent the following days in bed with fever, cough, and a runny nose. Hardly was I healthy again, and Karli got sick. That means 7 to 10 days out of the three weeks in Bangkok, we were sick. I'm so fed up. Then my phone deleted all my files, including ALL photos, and we also had problems with the website again.
I want to discover so much of the city. Many of the days turn out differently than I planned. Every time we made a plan for the day, we had to realize in the evening that the plan didn't work. For example, one day Karli wanted to go to a market, stood in line for ages at a bus stop until the bus came, took a total of 1.5 hours to get there, and then there was simply nothing where the market was supposed to be. And because everything is so much here in Bangkok and so overwhelming, your nerves are used up much faster. It's hard to tolerate other things, such as the quirks of your partner and your own quirks. Karli and I had a few arguments.
There are always two components: first, the "annoying event" itself, and second, "how do I deal with it?" For example, when my phone deleted all my photos, I felt really bad for two days. And that even though I took most of the photos with Karli's phone instead of mine, so I didn't lose "everything." I love taking photos. It's so great to capture a glimpse of this wonderful world. And when all the work of the last 3 months is simply gone... phew... I felt really bad. It's okay to mourn, but after two days I had the moment when I thought, "Janine, you have a choice now, you can cling to it for another two days, and then they will also be shitty days, or you take a different perspective: It happened now. I can't change it anymore. It's time to look forward again and look forward to the experiences of the coming days.
There are so many other situations where I "screwed up." Where I thought, "damn, I made a mistake" or "I imagined the result of my actions differently." But on the other hand, "hey, I dared! I didn't make a mistake, but gained a new experience. Theodor Fontane writes, "He who stops making mistakes learns nothing more."
And then there are also the other moments. The great beautiful moments. Bangkok has such a mega energy and liveliness. We have seen so many beautiful temples, eaten so much delicious food. We have watched monitor lizards in the middle of Bangkok and seen traditional mask dances (for free in a mall). We sipped a cocktail on the 45th floor of a skyscraper and ate at a restaurant whose decor consists entirely of condoms. Bangkok is so diverse and so fascinating.
And we have really met great people here. We have stayed in hostels in Bangkok the whole time. Mostly in hostels with dormitories and sometimes in private rooms in hostels, which is quite comfortable as a couple (or when you're sick). Hostels are regularly more expensive than double rooms in a budget accommodation, but they offer a super big plus point: you simply get to know new people. And I was really looking forward to that. Bruno from Brazil, Tracy from Vietnam, two Germans whose names we forgot again, and so on... The people we meet on our journey make it really special.
With Bruno, we went to Khao San Road, Bangkok's party street, twice to party. Khao San is really crazy. You can get laughing gas on every corner, as well as scorpions and crocodile meat to eat. One evening we suddenly went out with about 10 people from all sorts of countries, Italy, Russia, England, Thailand, and I don't remember it all.
Two other really great people we had the pleasure of meeting here are Iris and Jan. They are from Berlin and have been traveling the world with their bicycles for a total of 18 months, visiting 17 countries. I find that alone incredibly brave and great! And it goes on. In 2022, they founded the non-profit organization "Cycling for Society e.V.," which advocates for the dismantling of stigmatization of people with mental illnesses.
People affected by mental illnesses suffer from the symptoms of the disease. In addition, a large part of individual suffering arises from the denial of equal participation in society. Social exclusion is often based on prejudices, stereotypes, and stigmatization. Non-affected people attribute negative attributes to this group in the form of allegedly truthful assumptions about their behavior, appearance, or life. Prejudices and stigmas against various marginalized groups are particularly observed where there is insufficient knowledge about the affected group and their characteristics.
Iris and Jan's goal is that people with mental illnesses can participate equally in society, do not have to hide, are not excluded, and stigmatized. To this end, they have spoken with affected individuals and their families in all 17 countries they have visited, provided psycho-social counseling, conducted numerous expert interviews for their research, and held workshops for more than 300 people.
Traffic
As an urban planner, I have to talk a little about traffic and public transportation. I'll keep it short and sprinkle in some funny stories! Here in Bangkok, there are super many different modes of transportation: Skytrain, metro (MRT), buses, riverboats, canal boats, and in addition, taxis, TukTuks, and motorcycle taxis.
Skytrain and Metro and Co.
The Skytrain is definitely my favorite mode of transport because the tracks are about 10 meters above the ground. During the ride, you have a great view and it's so much fun to fly over the city!
Skytrain and metro are not very useful for tourists because they only pass by a few tourist attractions. There are a total of 7 lines operated by a total of 4 different operators. For a city with over 15 million inhabitants (as of 2010; the current or true population is likely much higher), that's incredibly little.
I'm a bit of a statistics nerd, so I had to compare it to Frankfurt. It wasn't easy to get the length of the tracks in Bangkok; I had to measure in Google Maps. For Frankfurt, I used the residents of the catchment area of the S-Bahn with 3.4 million people. Frankfurt has a total of 435 kilometers of tracks for the S-Bahn network, U-Bahn network, and tram network. Bangkok has a total of 228 kilometers. That means Frankfurt has almost twice as many tracks, despite having far fewer inhabitants!
If you put that in relation to the population, then in Frankfurt there are 8 inhabitants per meter of track in rail-based public transport. In Bangkok, there are 66 inhabitants. That's 8 times more! The limited offer of rail-based public transport causes major problems elsewhere: the traffic jams during rush hours in Bangkok are legendary.
Buses
The most important mode of transport in Bangkok is the bus. There are countless lines that struggle through the city day after day. With the buses, you can get everywhere. However, tourists are rarely found here. There are three reasons for this: first, it is complicated to understand which bus to take (see also our first bus ride in Bangkok). Second, you never know exactly when the bus is coming. We talked to a Chinese guy who lives here at a bus stop. He said that in the morning on the way to work, he sometimes waits only 5 minutes and sometimes an hour. There are no timetables and departure times. The bus comes when it comes. Third, you have to be careful while waiting! Why? Buses don't stop automatically, you have to show that you want to board. You do this by extending your arm in front of you, with your hand down and moving your arm up and down. In combination, that means sometimes waiting for a loooong time and not being able to do anything comfortably on your phone because you have to look at the road. Or you look at your phone and then wonder if the bus just passed by. All in all: uncomfortable. But adventurous! And buses are unbeatably cheap, more on that later.
Boats: River Boats and Canal Boats
The most well-known public boat in Bangkok is the Chao Phraya Express Boat. These small passenger ships ply the huge Chao Phraya River all day long. Many of the city's historic sights are just a few minutes' walk from one of the piers. This makes the Express Boat an important means of transportation for visitors and more useful than the Skytrain or subway.
There are also canal boats. Bangkok was known as the Venice of the East until the 20th century, as the city was crisscrossed by canals. Although many of the canals have been filled in over time, many remain. In particular, the San Saep canal boat is very practical as it connects the old town with the city center. Unfortunately, the pollution of the San Saep canal is legendary. Only a few of the houses along the canal are connected to the sewer system, so you can imagine where the wastewater ends up. In the book "555 Tips" I found the following creepy story: "The singer of the band D2B (don't ask us about the band, never heard of them) had an accident in 2003 when his car fell into the canal. The Thai pop star got a bacterial infection from swallowing the canal water, fell into a coma and died four years later." 😅
Taxi, TukTuk, and Motorcycle Taxi
Because the bus system requires a bit of energy and endurance to understand, you almost never see other tourists using it. Instead, most people take TukTuks or taxis. TukTuk is mainly a tourist thing in Bangkok, so you pay more compared to taxis (which is not the case in other cities in Thailand). With TukTuk and taxi, the challenge is to explain to your driver where you want to go because they usually don't speak English well and can't read Latin script or maps. And you get stuck in traffic just like all other cars. Oh, and then there are motorcycle taxis. They are not for the faint-hearted: helmets are rare, and they weave through traffic.
Prices
Public transport in Bangkok is operated by different companies. Therefore, you need separate tickets for each mode of transport! But the prices here are really crazy. Skytrain is the most expensive. For the routes we have taken, we usually pay 47 baht (~1.40€). For the metro, we usually pay 30 baht (less than 1€) for the journey. And it gets even crazier: bus rides cost 8 to 16 baht (~25 to 50 cents!) The price of a bus ride is influenced, among other things, by whether it is a bus with air conditioning or not. Taxis can also be really cheap. But beware: always ask for the meter. Without the meter, you usually pay double the price. We noticed how cheap taxis with a meter are when we were standing in front of the closed metro at 1 a.m. and weren't sure if the buses were still running. I was forced to take a taxi. We paid 90 baht (~2.50€) for a 5km or about 20-minute drive. That's nice.
On Foot
Most Thais don't like walking longer distances and don't understand our preference for walks. Southeast Asia doesn't make it easy for pedestrians either. Sidewalks are either very narrow, blocked, like an obstacle course, or not available at all. A "normal" pedestrian light is like winning the lottery. There are very rarely any at all. And when they do exist, they are either not green long enough to completely cross the street or there are many motorized vehicles crossing or both.
Conclusion
No matter where you want to go in Bangkok, it always takes a long time, and nothing happens quickly. Whether it's the bus, Skytrain, or taxis, all modes of transport have their advantages and disadvantages. Which one you should use varies from trip to trip. Karli and I usually take the bus or walk, as it is the cheapest option. Taxis are not expensive for European standards, but spending 5€ on taxis every day still adds up to 110€ after 22 days. With that amount, we could pay for 7 days of accommodation.
It also shows me how big the influence of urban planning is. Let's compare Singapore with Bangkok. Singapore actively promotes sustainable mobility. An important component is the excellent metro network. Even as a tourist, it is super easy to get around the city using public transport. Pleasant experiences as a pedestrian are also considered. There are wide sidewalks everywhere and beautiful promenades. What a huge difference compared to Bangkok.... Owning a car, on the other hand, is made unattractive and expensive. In Singapore, you need a license for your car, but there is only a limited number of licenses available. Additionally, they are quite expensive, with five-digit amounts. The money earned from the licenses is reinvested in public transport. If you want to read more about cars and the metro in Singapore, I recommend the following article from ARD.
According to Vance Ng from Singapore's transport authority, people are not naturally rational: "Studies show that people who own a car tend to become very comfortable. So, we have to provide incentives and think about how to push them in the right direction, how to get them to behave correctly, so that they walk, ride bicycles, and take the subway." (Sandra Ratzow, ARD Singapore, "Singapore: Fewer Cars, More Public Transport" Link 2022)
📷 Be sure to check out the photos in the photo album!
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