I was actually only in Bangkok for 22 hours but who’s counting? 🙂
I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 1 am in the morning. First thing was a short trip to the currency exchange counter at the airport. I have read that you get a better exchange rate at the city counters or withdrawing cash from ATM’s but I was in no mood to maximize the currency rate. However, one thing I would definitely advise everyone is to avoid currency exchange counters at US airports. The USD-THB exchange rate at LAX was about 15% higher than what was offered at the airport here.
I then made my way through to immigration. That late, there were about 300-400 people already in queue but luckily there were about 6 counters open for foreign passport holders. I had already secured a transit visa from the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles, even though Indian passport holders can get visa-on-arrival. After collecting luggage and clearing customs, I followed the Public Taxi signs outside the airport.
The taxi driver refused to turn on the meter and asked for 450 Baht. I knew that under meter the cab fare was going to be around 300-350 Baht so I didn’t bother to argue with the driver. Mai pen rai.
Since it was late night/early morning, I arrived at my hotel (Aloft Bangkok) in approximately 25 minutes.
The next day I woke up around 9 A.M. and decided to have some breakfast. Even though I wanted to be adventurous and try out the famous street food stalls in Bangkok, caution got the better of me and I settled on a continental breakfast at the overpriced (by Thai standards at least) Au Bon Pain cafe at Soi 11.
After breakfast it was time to visit the prime attraction of Bangkok. No, not Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy but the Grand Palace. 🙂
I flagged a cab and on started the LOS (Land of Smiles) “ripoff the tourist” scheme. Since I didn’t have all day and was not in a mood to haggle with the entire cab industry of Bangkok, I settled on one cab and asked the driver to take me to the Grand Palace.
After the Grand Palace visit, which lasted about 2 hours, I went back to the hotel. I was craving some Indian food and there were at least 4 Indian restaurants right on soi 11. I decided to try out the Bawarchi Restaurant as I had read decent reviews about it. I knew that it was not the cheapest fare in Bangkok but I just wanted to make sure I was not going to risk getting ill eating street food in Bangkok. I will definitely try out street food on my next visit.
After lunch I spent some time relaxing in the lounge at the hotel.
Pretty soon it was time to go to the airport. This being Christmas Day, I wanted to get to the airport a few hours earlier than planned to account for traffic.
Check-in was quick. Since I came out of the transit area, Thai Airways charged me a departure tax of 700 Baht. If United had given me the boarding pass for the next Thai Airways flight from BKK – CCU, I could have avoided this expense. Thanks United !! 🙁
