The last post on this topic generated a lot of traffic and since I’d taken the lazy way out and sent you over to Greg’s blog before, I wanted to address it in a little more detail.

Like Greg said, Bangkok can be cheap, but it’s not that cheap. Sorry folks, the days of $2/night guest houses have been over for decades. Head to Bangladesh for that (seriously).

Today 34B = $1.00, 47B = 1 Euro, 55B = 1 GBP

But let’s say you are on a really tight budget, and want to know how cheaply you can visit Bangkok and still enjoy seeing the city.

Sure, everyone wants comfort and convenience, but if it’s a choice between traveling on the cheap and not traveling at all, always go with the latter! Below I’ve worked out the realistic minimum you’ll need to spend if you visit Bangkok for three nights.

Sleeping

The cheapest guest houses I’ve seen in central areas lately are 250B per night. That’s about $7.50 in US dollars. For that price, you’ll get a small room, a fan and a shared bathroom.  Expect some dinginess, a sketchy bathroom and a walkup or slightly inconvenient location. Still, not such a bad price. At the end of the day so long as the sheets are clean and there’s running water, it’ll do.

For twice the price, things get a lot better. It won’t be the Oriental, but 500B will often get you your own bathroom and even air conditioning.  Though budget travelers gravitate towards the Khao San Road area or Soi Ngam Dupli, you can find 500B guest houses all over the city.

Cheapest sleeping for three nights: 750B

Eating

Eating in Bangkok is still very inexpensive and you don’t have to sacrifice anything if you want to eat cheaply. The best food in Bangkok is street food and you can find it practically everywhere. It’s freshest, tastes the best and it’s a lot more interesting to eat outside with the rest of the city than in some fancy, air conditioned restaurant.

• A cha yen or café yen (iced tea or iced coffee) is about 12B and it’ll taste better than anything you’ll find at Starbucks.
• A plate of som tam and some rice is about 25B, noodle soups and other dishes are similarly priced.
• Snacks, like fried bananas or a bag of fresh fruit are about 10B.
• A small bottle of beer is about 30B.

You can easily eat breakfast, lunch and dinner for 100B, 150B if you have a big appetite. Add another 30B for bottled water.

Cheapest eating for three days: 400B

Getting Around

If you are on a really tight budget, stay close to the places you want to spend your time and take advantage of public transportation. If you’re here for a few days exploring the city’s biggest museums, wats and other cultural sights, pick a guest house near Phra Athit Road or Khao San Road. You can walk to the sights or take a quick bus ride.  When you want to get to Chinatown or the city center, hop on the Chao Phraya Express Boat. Get off at Surawongse for Chinatown or transfer to the Taksin Bridge stop on the Skytrain for the rest of the city. The boat is 17B, Skytrain to the center of the city is 25B (depending where you get off). A round trip to Chinatown will cost only 35B, to downtown 85B.

Cheapest getting around for three days: 150B

Getting There

If you’re coming from the airport, the cheapest way to travel is by public bus. Take the free shuttle from the terminal to the Airport Transportation Center, then hop on a public bus to your destination for just 35B. If you’re staying in the Khao San Road area, take the 556 to Democracy Monument. From there it’s about a 10 – 15 minute walk depending where you are staying. Check the list here for other destinations. Be careful not to confuse the more expensive airport express bus with the public bus. And stay tuned, because when the Airport Skytrain Link finally opens in a few months there will be another inexpensive option.

Cheapest round trip from the airport: 70B

Admission to Sights

Don’t forget the cost of admission to museums, wats and the Grand Palace.

Admission costs for sightseeing for three days: 800B

Total for 3 days and 3 nights

2,100B or $60 US

Caveats

• Nightlife. If you want to go out at night, you’ll probably spend as much money on drinks and snacks as you will on accommodations. Figure a beer costs anywhere from 30B up depending on where you go.  If you’re going somewhere nicer, you may pay an admission charge.
• Traveling at night. The Express Boat stops running at around 7 p.m., so if you are staying in the Khao San Road area, plan excursions around that or budget additional cash for a taxi home.
• Taxis and Tuk Tuks. Don’t take a taxi unless the driver turns the meter on. In most of Bangkok this is not a problem, but it is a problem in the Khao San Road area. Many taxis will flat out refuse a meter fare and ask for exorbitant rates to take you anywhere.  Tuk tuks don’t have meters but are usually very inexpensive, unless of course you’re in a touristy area. A fair price for a mile long tuk tuk ride is 50B maximum. If you can’t get that price, walk away.
• Doubling up. A double room is almost always cheaper than two singles, so… make some friends if you’re traveling alone.

Just a little tidbit to get you to click over, and no offense meant if you are a bearded hippy :

…if you spend time on Khao San Road, you’ll likely run into some bearded hippies who chastise you for spending more than $5 a day on a place to sleep, but less than $40 on some good weed.

Many people who haven’t visited Bangkok assume it isn’t very developed, including my dad, who until last year was convinced there were no highways and elephants roamed the streets. The last time he visited, in the 1980s, it was like that, but a lot has changed in the past twenty years. There are still plenty of pockets where the city is probably just like it was decades ago, but overall it is a very modern city and it’s this very natural, organic combination of old and new is one of the many reasons to love Thailand’s capital city.

Custom cushions, not the coolest thing you can buy here, but one of the best bargains!

Thailand is a great place to get clothing made (if you go to the right tailor), but few visitors realize that you can also get custom home furnishings made here, too.  This might not appeal to everyone, but if you’re in the market for bedding, pillow cases, furniture covers, drapery, etc., you can save a bundle. It’s also easy to do if you know what you need before you arrive:

• Exact measurements or models to copy are an absolute requirement. Make a sketch of anything complicated.
• If you’re good at estimating how much material you need, you can bring your own from home (while there are some beautiful fabrics here, selection is sometimes limited and imported textiles are generally more expensive).  A friend from Texas recently had all of her crib bedding done here but brought the fabric with her.
• If you want something made using Thai silk, wait till you arrive and head to one of the silk merchants in Pahurat first.
• Schedule enough time to have everything done, usually at least a few days and sometimes more. As with tailors, it’s best to go when you first arrive.

Pirun Thong has hundreds of fabrics to choose from if you don't want to bring your own

Where to go?

My pick:
Pirun Thong
839 Sukhumvit Road (between Sois 45 and 47, closest to the Phrompong Skytrain)
02/258-7296
pirunthong@hotmail.com
Mon. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

I’m highlighting this shop because the staff speak fluent English, the shop is conveniently located on the Sky Train, and I know plenty of happy customers (including myself), but some tailors offer similar services.

Cathay Pacific is offering a great deal to Bangkok. Fly between September and November for just $810 RT from LAX or $1060 from NY (including all taxes and other charges). If you’re flying to Singapore, it’s about $1 cheaper, but why fly there when you can come to Thailand? Seriously though, this is one of the cheapest prices available right now, and Cathay is a great airline with convenient connections.

There aren’t a lot of “attractions” for tourists in the area now served by the Skytrain (most of the things visitors seek out in Thonburi, such as Wat Arun and the Patravardi Theatre, are a little farther north). But the area around Wongwian Yai is full of markets and certainly worth a gander if you want to get away from highly produced tourist fare but, you know, only want to go two stops on the train. Loosely translated, Wongwian Yai means big traffic circle and it really is really big. So if you’re into big rotaries, even more reason to head over.

There aren’t lots of places to shop for souvenirs and organized tours pass through only once in a while, so it feels really… normal. If you want to see what life looks like outside of the big city but only have a day, head here. If you like biking, even better, since it’s a great place to explore on two wheels and there are a handful of tour outfits that offer bicycle day trips.

The good thing about the tours is they give you a bike to use (you know, in case you forgot to pack yours). But if you’re not biking, or have a bike of your own here, there is no reason to go on an organized tour unless you want the company.

Getting There

another longtail boat

Take a taxi to Klong Toie Port  in Bangkok, and walk through the small market all the way to the end till you get to the ferry pier. You’ll pass a wat on your right and might not be able to see the entrance to the pier till you’re up close since it’s a small doorway. Buy a ticket for Bangabua. It should cost about 15B and you’ll travel there on a longtail boat, though when we went this weekend we paid 150B for 4 people since we had to get a larger boat for our bikes.

Bangabua

When you arrive at Bangabua, set out on foot or on bike and make sure to explore the part of town built on elevated walkways. It feels like a shady little village.  Biking on the walkways can be a little scary the first time, and you’ll feel like an even bigger chicken when people from the village passed you on their bikes with about an inch of space to spare.

Phra Padaeng's elevated walkways

You could spend a few hours just exploring this part of the district then go back to Bangkok, but if you want to see something a little more modern, head towards the main part of town for a fantastic view of one of Bangkok’s most impressive suspension bridges, a typical outdoor market and some good Thai food. To get there, head west for about five kilometers on Phetchahueng Road by bike, samlor (bicylcle rickshaw) or bus. All the buses from Bangabua take the main road to the market so you can hop onto any one that passes without worrying that you’ll end up in Laos.

Though there are plenty of street vendors and small shops on the main road, there are also a handful of restaurants along the river near the bridge serving Thai food.

kids jumping into the river

waaah? is that a grown man? don't i know that grown man?

our new friends. when someone does something because the nine-year-old kids said it was fun, you have to worry...

Fastforward to today and Ko Kret is a quirky, charming village with no cars, some nice Mon-style Buddhist wats, pottery workshops and lots and lots of tourists looking at same. If you’re in Bangkok for just a few days, it may not represent the best allocation of time resources. But if you want a break from the city and have a day to kill, check it out. Most of the hundreds of people who visit each day are Bangkok residents so even if it is a popular tourist destination, at least it doesn’t feel like just another stop on the grand group tour of Southeast Asia (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but sometimes it’s nice to think you’re the only foreigner around!).

Getting there is half the fun, if not more

The Chao Phraya Express Boat runs a Ko Kret tour on Saturdays and Sundays. It leaves Sathorn Pier (connected to the Saphan Taksin Skytrain) in the morning, takes you to the island and brings you back by mid-afternoon. Cost — 300B.

A more fun and more interesting way to do it is to take the river ferry to the last stop north, Nonthaburi, then hire a longtail boat to take you to Ko Kret. Don’t just hire the boat to take you there, hire it for the whole trip. A few hours on a longtail will run 600B to 800B for 2 – 3 people, so if there are more than 2 of you, it’s cheaper even when you factor in the 13B boat ride to Nonthaburi on the public ferry.

What you can't see from this photo is that the boat is going about 40 mph and we're about 4 inches from the surface of the river. Fun stuff.

What to Do?

The island is a couple of kilometers wide, so you can either walk it or have the longtail take you to different places. Stop at Wat Poramaiyikawas for some Mon-style architecture, wander the island a little and then stroll through the very touristy but nonetheless charming crafts village.

Ko Kret is known for its pottery. Most is unglazed, fired terra cotta, and is very inexpensive

This potter made about 50 bowls (with some fine detailing) in about 10 minutes. No wonder they can sell each for 70B.

There’s plenty of food on Ko Kret, and while there may be some standout spots, I didn’t find any while we were there. The plethora of snacks and sweets being sold in the crafts village, however, was impressive.

Filled with bean paste, these are more beautiful than they are delicious!

The most popular place to eat seems to be the Thai Dessert Center, which has a large outdoor covered sitting area and plenty of prepared Thai food. People visit by the boatload. That may be enough to turn some travelers off, but the food is fine, and listening to the owner make funny announcements over the PA system is reason enough to visit. He used to be a movie announcer (think Kramer saying “welcome to Moviephone”) and still likes to flex his vocal muscles.

As the name of the place implies, it's all about dessert. Head to the back of the restaurant to watch Thai sweets being made by hand.

Last stop

On the way back to Nonthaburi, stop at Wat Chalermpakiet, a Royal Wat exhibiting a blend of Chinese and Rattanokosin architecture.

See what I mean?

Fine mural work, too.

I was just fact-checking some information for the new Moon Bangkok and came across this deal at one of my favorite funky hotels, Reflections Bangkok — 1,500B per night for any room. Reflections is a really special property, as each guest room has been designed and decorated by a different local artist. Obviously, not the right choice for someone who wants to come back from a day of sightseeing to straightforward, neutral surroundings, but those of you looking for a quirky, arty place to hang out or otherwise interested in the modern art scene here should check it out.

Reflections Room 408, how cool is that?

There are plenty of other great deals around. As I come across noteworthy ones, I’ll be sure to post them but if you’re planning a trip now make sure to have a look at hotel websites of properties you’re interested in.