Bangkok in a Day: Tasting Thailand in a 12 Hours Transit

Everyone loves Bangkok and if you get a little chance to visit and spend time in Bangkok, don't miss that miss. So I was traveling to New Zealand and had a 12 hours transit in Bangkok airport and had no plans to go tour Bangkok city, and then I suddenly changed my mind, got my visa and explored the capital city of Thailand in 12 hours, the entire day while I was in transit and it was surely amazing.

It was 6 am in the morning I arrived in Bangkok and as I got out of my flight, a thought struck my mind, why not visit Bangkok so I made up my mind to explore the city. As an Indian citizen, I had the benefits of visa on arrival to Thailand so thought of getting one. For those who dunno this, the queue for visa on arrival at Swarnabhumi airport is pretty long and in my case it was almost 3.5 hours standing in the queue to get a visa. Also, there is no atm machine in the arrival section of the airport so if you don't have any cash and plan on using your card, think again to get some Thai Baht or foreign currency which you can exchange at the airport. The visa on arrival is 1000 Baht and then you can get past the immigration.

After I got my visa, I thought of using the train from the airport link as it is cheap and quick and you don't have to get stuck at the morning traffic if you use this. I went down to the ticket vending machine and bought a ticket to the last station in the city, Phaya Thai station which costed me 45 Baht. It was about 10am till I got on the train and it is just about 15-20 minutes ride till you reach Phaya Thai station. Bangkok has a popular locality called Khao San Road, which is a popular hub for tourists and backpackers where you get all your popular guest houses, cafes, restaurants and shopping areas and are close by your popular tourist destination. After I got down at Khao San Road, I thought of taking the two wheeler taxi, which sounded different, adventurous and exciting. Make sure you bargain with the prices as people usually quote a high price and you actually always tend to get a good price after bargaining and I certainly got my ride for just 100 baht to Khao San Road from Phaya Thai. Well, the ride was quite an exciting one, riding along the busy streets of Bangkok, fighting the traffic and well, that certainly was an adventurous ride to start the day. Just a 10 minutes bike ride would take you to Khao San Road, where you find a lot of tourists walking by, shopping and enjoying a glass of beer at the bars along the way.

Khao San Road, Bangkok

For me, I was starving so started looking for a place to eat. The entire street is quite an interesting one, with numerous stalls selling you exotic Thai jewelleries,decoratives and ofcourse the Thai t-shirts. You find a lot of places to eat, great street food and I just wanted to eat somethign quick so stopped at a cafe on the road and dive in to try some Thai delicacies. I ordered a chicken Pad Thai which was a dish I had heard a lot and wanted to try and a cup of coffee. Most locals in this street can understand English but can't speak but that wouldn't be much of a problem. The cafe made their dishes right on the counter and serve it to you fresh and hot. Great thing in this street is most cafes, restaurants and bars have free wifi for their guests so if you're at one, make sure to ask them for their password. Pad Thai is basically a Thai street food which is a stir fried rice noodle dish with chicken and it is absolutely filling if you are hungry and starving like I was. When I reached Khao San Road it was bright sunny and just after a couple of minutes, it started drizzling which didn't' last for 10 minutes and it was sunny once again so the weather in Bangkok is surely an unpredictable one but remember Bangkok is a hot city so people coming from the temperate zones gotta remember, you're close to the Equator.

After a heavy brunch, I moved ahead to the Grand Palace which is a 15 minutes walk from Khao San. It can be a pretty interesting walk, where you see a lot of locals and also try indulging in some street food, probably light ones on the way. The coconut ice cream in Thailand is a must try, as it is amazing, with a flavour you've never tasted before and also helped you beat the heat of Bangkok. The entrance to Grand Palace is pretty crowded and as you get past the entrance, you go through a little security check and you're in. You're not allowed to wear shorts inside the temple due to aesthetic reasons and as a

Grand Palace, Bangk

respect to religion so if you're in shorts, you can find pants for rent just outside the palace for just 3o bahts. The Grand Palace in Bangkok is marvellous with the amazing Thai architecture in the middle of the city. You will find tons of tourists taking selfies and pictures with the astonishing background of the Grand Palace. A further more entry inside the palace requires you to pay 500 Bahts and then you can even check the true beauty of the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace has a lot to see but also do check for the time, since I was in transit and had limited hours, I headed outside, turned left and entered the busy local market.

The local Thai market was really interesting. Quite a noisy one though, you find every small thai decorative items, great street food which you got to try even if you have no clue what it is and I absolutely loved the little desserts you get and of course the fruit salads. At the end of the market you find yourself at the Na Phra Lan Ferry station. I had quite a confusing experience at the ferry as I found no ticket counter and see people going in and out. To add up more to the confusion, there was absolutely not a single person who even understood a word of english but struggling with the language barrier, I came across a ferry to cross the Chao Phraya river and paid only 3 bahts and got in the ferry to reach Wang Lang ferry station. Quite a short ride, but totally worth it, especially paying just 3 bahts.

A much needed selfie at the ferry.

As you reach Siriraj from the Wang Lang station, get ready to explore the streets where you can shop a lot of sourvenirs from Bangkok. This street also has a lot of shops selling packed Thai food products which you get buy if you can have a taste of some Thai delicacies back home. The Wat Arun temple is also quite close and at walking distance from here, but since I had limited time I had to skip that from my one day itinerary in Bangkok but if you have time then you surely got to go visit. For people who are actually on transit in Bangkok and spend one day in Bangkok, do check for time while you explore as you may spend too much time somewhere and not get enough time to spend in another or at worse case, miss your flight. After sometime at Wang Lang, I took another ferry to cross the river and was at the station at Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, right where the starbucks is.

You're never out of options to shop in Bangkok.

Stepping out, I took a left at the streets which is really popular for amazing souvenirs you can buy. These streets have amazing handicrafts, rings, bracelets, statues and everything that depicts Thai culture, Buddha and Buddhism. It is a really good idea to buy these to take home or to gift it to your friends and family back home. Walking along the streets, I headed back to Khao San Road, completely exhausted but I wasn't done yet. It was about 3pm and I hadn't done the thing which everyone does at Bangkok which is shopping for clothes. As I reached Khao San Road, I headed to all those stores selling trending t-shirts, shorts, caps and started bargaining. Well yes you got to bargain a lot. If the shopkeeper quotes you 500 bahts, you quote 200 and there you go. In a short while, I was fitted with bags full of tshirts, pants, a cap, a hat and shorts.

Chang Beer, absolutely perfect after an exhausting day.

After such an amazingly exhausting day I was so tired and needed a chilled beer. Well it started raining again and I quickly went over to a bar. This bar was really nice, with an outdoor as well as an indoor seating. I ordered for a big bottle of Chang beer which is the local beer in Thailand which I had to try. I also ordered for a burger, eggs, ham, cheese and fries and I was absolutely hungry and tired. Well Bangkok makes you really hungry and that's a great thing as there are so many amazing things to try and eat. The Chang beer was perfect, especially after you had a tiring day. I spent half an hour in the bar, using wifi, enjoying my beer, having my meal and yes, waiting for the rain to stop.

And of course the pink tuk tuk.

It was almost 4pm and I needed to head back to the airport as I had a flight to catch. But wait a minute, I wasn't done yet. How could I be in Bangkok and not have rode a tuk-tuk yet. So yes I looked for the pink tuk-tuk from Khao San Road that would take me to Phaya Thai station and after bargaining with the prices, I got one for 100 Bahts that takes me to Phaya Thai from Khao San Road. Well, the ride is amazing and you get to check out with city riding in this little Thai vehicle. Soon, as I reached Phaya Thai, I caught the airport link and by 5pm, I was at Swarnabhumi International Airport ready to catch my flight boarding at 6 pm.

Display at Swarnabhumi International Airport.

So, if you have a transit with long hours in Bangkok, it is a wonderful idea to spend time exploring Bangkok. Though I personally didn't get time to explore the nightlife of Bangkok which it is very popular for as I was transiting in the day time, I have no regrets and have kept it aside for my next visit. Do be careful about how you plan your day, though for me, I didn't even have an itinerary and went with the flow. But be sure to check the time when you travel and plan to reach the airport a little early. And yes, Bangkok has a lot of offer even if you spend less than 12 hours in Bangkok and its pretty cheap as well, so if you're transiting in Bangkok, spending time to travel around Bangkok is an amazing idea.

Check my video on my Bangkok tour for a day below: