Stay:

• Baan Kachitpan Hotel - feels like a mix between a hostel and a boutique hotel - great if you’re on a budget. Wonderful home cooked breakfast every morning and in a convenient location for tourist attractions

• Stay in Old Town if you want to be near temples/tourist attractions. Stay in Sukhumvit area if you want to be near more modern/high rises/malls.  

See:

• Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha temple)

• Wat Arun (“Thailand’s Eiffel tower”) - my favorite!

• Wat Saket (Golden Mount Temple) - lots of steps (visit at sunset)

• Grand Palace

• China Town - book a guided street tour through Get My Guide at night

• At night stop by Khao San Road (known for crazy bars, backpackers, & edible bugs on sticks)

If you have more time:

• Get a massage - a 60 min massage is only around $6 (try a full body Thai massage - these can be somewhat painful and they’ll give you a change of clothes to wear during the massage)

• Muay Thai match - a bit expensive ($30) but fun to see

• Take a water taxi to Bangkok’s Green Lung (a forested/farmland area) and rent a bike to explore

• If you’re too hot, visit a mall. I liked Terminal 21 mall (each floor themed as a different city) - make sure you stop by the food court

Eat:

• Street food! Just be wary of how long it looks like it’s been sitting out

• I Love Thai Food on Khao San Road

Transportation:

• Grab taxi/Grab scooter is cheapest

• Regular taxi

• Tuktuk is more expensive but easiest to find

Tips:

• For women - bring something to cover your shoulders/knees for visiting temples

• Tuktuk drivers will try to tell you that the palace/temples are closed and try to take you somewhere else to scam you. Don’t believe them unless you hear it from an actual security guard

• When you take a taxi, make sure they use the meter rather than naming a price

Stay:

• Stay in the Old City as it’s more walkable and has more taxi options

• Stamps Hostel is the most popular among backpackers but is often booked. You can still join the bar crawls and hang out at their bar even if you are not staying here

• Sherloft Home hostel is nice and spacious but not social (great place if you have some work to do)

• Suneta Hostel is decent and also not very social, but right around the corner from Stamps! You can get a $15 private room but it’s the size of a closet

• 248 Hostel is more social with a small rooftop bar/pool, also near Stamps and daily night market  

See:

• Elephant sanctuary - I’d recommend Lanna Kingdom (it’s a bit more expensive than others but they cap the groups at 15 people rather than 30+ and they seem ethical based on my research and experience there)

• Doi Suthep temple  

• Cooking class (any of them are good)

If you have more time:

• Doi Inthanon

• Flower fields

Eat:

• Cowboy hat lady in night market - Khao Kha Moo

Transportation:

• Songthaew (pickup truck) - cheapest and most convenient. Wave one down and tell them where you want to go, if it’s on their route they’ll take you for a few dollars. There may be other people in the truck or they may pick up others along the way. This is also a great way to get to day trips around the city if you gather a group of 4+ people to offset cost

• Grab taxi/Grab scooter

• Tuktuk is more expensive but convenient

• Rent a scooter