By Harry Nara · Last updated
Yes, and Bangkok is a far gentler introduction to Asia than its reputation implies, but it has one organised nuisance that every first-time visitor meets: a friendly man near the Grand Palace who tells you it is closed today and offers an alternative. It is open. That single piece of knowledge prevents most of what goes wrong here. Beyond it, the city is cheap, safe, extravagantly well fed, and much easier to move around than the traffic suggests, provided you stay off the roads.
Bangkok makes a bad first impression and a very good second one. The heat is genuine, the traffic is worse than genuine, and the first hour in a taxi from the airport is nobody’s favourite. Then you get on the Skytrain, eat something on a street corner for the price of a coffee at home, and the city rearranges itself.
Very little here is dangerous and a great deal is designed to separate a new arrival from money in a mild way. The scams are well worn and easy to recognise once named. The etiquette around temples and the monarchy is the part worth taking seriously, because it is the one area where causing offence is both easy and genuinely serious.
How long do you need in Bangkok?
Three days is enough for the shape of the city and four is comfortable. Bangkok is often treated as a stopover on the way to islands, which is fine, but the version of it people dislike is usually the two-day version spent entirely in Sukhumvit and the Grand Palace. The third day is where the river, the markets and the neighbourhoods get in.
Before you go
A well-dressed, friendly, excellent-English stranger near the entrance will tell you the palace is closed for a ceremony, a holiday or a private visit, and will helpfully arrange a tuk-tuk to an alternative temple, which comes with a stop at a gem shop or a tailor. The Grand Palace is open, every day, and it does not close for any of the reasons you will be given. Nobody standing outside it is authorised to tell you anything about its opening hours. Walk past, go to the actual ticket window, and the problem evaporates.
The Grand Palace enforces its dress code at the gate and it is stricter than most visitors expect: sleeves for everyone, long trousers or a skirt below the knee, and no sleeveless tops, cropped tops, see-through fabric, shorts, ripped jeans or flip-flops. People are turned away daily, in heat that makes the rule feel absurd. Light long trousers and a shirt with sleeves solve the whole trip, since Wat Pho and Wat Arun expect much the same.
Bangkok’s traffic is not a rush-hour phenomenon, it is a condition, and a journey that looks like fifteen minutes on a map can take an hour in a car. The Skytrain and the MRT are fast, air-conditioned and cheap, and the river boats are public transport that happens to be the nicest way to reach the old city. Where a route works on rails or water, take it, even if it looks less direct.
The BTS Skytrain and the MRT are run by different companies, and the Rabbit stored-value card is a BTS product rather than a city-wide one. For a short visit the simplest approach is single-journey tickets on whichever system you are using, rather than assuming one card covers everything. One BTS quirk worth knowing: there is a time limit on how long you may stay inside the paid area, currently 300 minutes, and overstaying is charged at the maximum fare.
Once you are there
Insist on the meter or use Grab, which prices the trip in the app. A driver who quotes a flat fare from a tourist area is quoting several times the metered price. Tuk-tuks are a different proposition altogether: they are not cheaper than taxis, they are negotiated, and the ones idling outside temples are frequently attached to the shopping-stop arrangement. Ride one for the experience, once, having agreed the price.
Never point your feet at a person or a Buddha image, never touch anyone’s head, and stand when the royal anthem plays in cinemas and some public spaces. Thai law on insulting the monarchy is severe and enforced, and it applies to foreigners. This is not an area for curiosity or jokes.
The stall with a queue of Thai office workers is a better bet than the restaurant with a laminated English menu, and the hygiene logic that makes visitors nervous runs the other way: high turnover means fresh ingredients and a wok hot enough to sterilise anything. Eat where it is busy. Avoid the tap water, including ice from unbranded sources, and drink the bottled water that is everywhere for very little.
Between roughly eleven and four the outdoor parts of the city are punishing for most of the year. Build days the way residents do, with temples and markets early, an air-conditioned middle, and the city again after five.
What it costs
Bangkok is inexpensive at a level that surprises people and the range is enormous. A plate of excellent food on the street costs a fraction of a mall food court, which in turn costs a fraction of a hotel restaurant, and the street plate is very often the best of the three. Accommodation is the one place where paying more buys something meaningfully different, mostly a pool and a location on a Skytrain line.
Cash still matters more here than in Singapore or Tokyo. Street stalls, markets, small restaurants and tuk-tuks are cash businesses, and ATM fees for foreign cards are charged per withdrawal, so take out larger amounts less often. Decline the machine’s offer to convert to your home currency; the rate is always worse than your bank’s.
Tipping is not traditional and has become common in tourist-facing places. Rounding up a taxi fare and leaving small change at a restaurant is plenty. Nobody is offended either way and nobody will pursue you.
Going with children
Thailand is one of the warmest countries in the world towards children and Bangkok reflects that: staff will play with them, restaurants will find a way, and nobody minds noise. The limiting factor is climate rather than culture. Heat and pollution both peak in the middle of the day, and small children flag faster than adults in it, which makes an itinerary of consecutive outdoor temples a bad idea. The city is unusually well supplied with the antidote, since the malls are enormous, cold, and contain aquariums, ice rinks and play areas that are destinations rather than time-fillers. Pushchairs are difficult on Bangkok pavements, which are uneven and frequently occupied by stalls and parked motorbikes, and many Skytrain stations mean stairs; a carrier is easier for the smallest.
Going alone
Bangkok is a straightforward and sociable place to be alone. Eating by yourself at a street stall or a food court is the default rather than the exception, the city is safe by the standards of any large capital, and the backpacker infrastructure means company is available whenever you want it and easy to avoid when you do not. Two things are worth naming. The approaches described above are aimed specifically at people walking alone, so the friendly stranger with perfect English near a temple is more likely to find you. And the nightlife districts operate a separate economy of inflated bills and bar fines that is best understood as a commercial transaction rather than a night out; a solo visitor who wanders in unaware is the intended customer.
Mistakes worth avoiding
It is open. The person telling you otherwise is the first step of a tuk-tuk ride to a gem shop. Keep walking to the ticket window.
The dress code is enforced at the gate: sleeves, long trousers or a below-knee skirt, no flip-flops. Visitors are turned away every day of the year.
Ask for the meter or use Grab. A flat fare offered outside a hotel or a mall is several times the real one.
Traffic will take the afternoon. Build the day around the Skytrain, the MRT and the river boats, and accept a less direct route that moves.
You are paying more for worse, and the busy stall with Thai customers is the safer bet on turnover alone.
Thailand’s lese-majeste laws are severe, enforced, and apply to visitors. This is not a subject for opinions or jokes, online or in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bangkok worth visiting for a first-time traveller?
Yes, and it is a far easier introduction to Asia than its reputation suggests: safe, very cheap, well supplied with English, and served by a fast modern rail network. It makes a poor first impression because of heat and traffic and a much better second one. The main thing to arrive knowing is the Grand Palace scam, which almost every first-time visitor is offered.
How many days do you need in Bangkok?
Three for the shape of the city, four to enjoy it. Bangkok is often given two days on the way to the islands, and two days is exactly the version people come home disliking, because it is all Grand Palace and Sukhumvit. The third day is when the river, the markets and the ordinary neighbourhoods appear.
Is the Grand Palace ever closed to visitors?
It opens daily, and the man outside telling you it is shut for a ceremony or a holiday is running the city’s best-known scam. He will offer a tuk-tuk to an alternative temple, and that ride includes a stop at a gem shop or tailor. No one standing outside the palace is authorised to tell you its opening hours. Walk to the official ticket window.
What should I wear to the Grand Palace and Bangkok temples?
Sleeves for everyone, and long trousers or a skirt covering the knees. Sleeveless and cropped tops, sheer fabric, shorts, ripped jeans and flip-flops are all refused at the Grand Palace gate, and enforcement is real rather than nominal. Light long trousers and a sleeved shirt will get you into Wat Pho and Wat Arun as well.
What is the best way to get around Bangkok?
Trains and boats, not roads. Traffic is a permanent condition rather than a rush-hour event, and a fifteen-minute journey on a map can take an hour in a car. The BTS Skytrain and MRT are fast, cheap and air conditioned, and the river boats double as the most pleasant way to reach the old city. Note that BTS and MRT are separate operators, so the Rabbit card is a BTS product rather than a universal one.
Are taxis in Bangkok safe to use?
Yes, but insist on the meter or use the Grab app, which fixes the price in advance. A flat fare quoted outside a hotel, mall or tourist site is several times the metered cost. Tuk-tuks are negotiated rather than metered, are not cheaper than taxis, and the ones waiting outside temples are often part of the shopping-stop arrangement.
Is Bangkok good for families with young children?
Socially, extremely: Thailand is welcoming to children almost everywhere and restaurants will accommodate anything. The constraint is heat, which peaks with pollution in the middle of the day and tires small children quickly, so consecutive outdoor temples is a poor plan. The malls are the local answer, being enormous, cold, and containing genuine attractions. Pavements are hard work with a pushchair.
Can you drink the tap water in Bangkok?
No. Bottled water is inexpensive and universally available, and ice in established restaurants and cafes is made from treated water and is fine. The caution is ice and drinks from unbranded roadside sources. Street food itself is not the risk people assume; a busy stall with high turnover is often safer than a quiet restaurant.
Is Bangkok safe to visit alone?
Yes, and it is one of the simplest cities in Asia to spend time in by yourself. Eating alone at a stall or a food court is the default rather than something to explain, and the travellers’ infrastructure makes company easy to find or avoid. Two cautions apply more to solo visitors than to groups: the friendly stranger near a temple is looking for someone walking alone, and the nightlife districts run on inflated bills that a lone newcomer is the intended customer for.
Checked against The Grand Palace, practical information, Tourism Authority of Thailand, dressing to visit royal palaces, BTS Skytrain, tickets and Rabbit card conditions.
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