24 hours in Bangkok

You always need more time in Bangkok – we realized it as we were rushing through the place with less than 24 hours with us before our flight back home.

Bangkok is for folks who like to eat, spend and party wholeheartedly. And there is absolutely no dearth of places to do that. But amidst the plethora of options, if you are also pressed for time in Bangkok like us, may we suggest you things that you can still do to make that 1 day memorable?

1. The Grand Palace

We booked our stay at Khao San road for easy accessibility, making maximum of our time. Throughout our holiday we had explored parts of Thailand at a leisurely pace, but now was our time to put the running shoes on. We headed to the Grand Palace, the seat of Thai royalty and I was floored at the magnitude, the intricate carvings and the master craftsmanship done by Thai artisans to put together something so surreal. Since the day was blazing hot, we came back at night to witness this place dazzling with a golden glow leaving everyone humbled!

2. Tuk Tuk Ride

Since tuk-tuk ride is a must-do in Bangkok, we had one drop us by the Palace. For the record, the ride was really aggressive with the engine grumbling at every turn we made. The driver clearly hated to take his foot off the pedal and we were always right on the edge on losing it. Quite a ride!

2. Wat Pho and Wat Arun

Wat Pho is a 5 minute walk away from the Grand Palace. Also known as the temple of reclining Buddha (a 46m long reclining statue of Buddha being the highlight), the temple complex is tastefully built to contain stupas, shrines and halls.

From Wat Pho, we moved towards the pier to take a boat across the Chao Phraya River and visit Wat Arun. The 70m high spire when lit during the night looks magical!

3. Asiatique The Riverfront

A gorgeously lit open air mall on the banks of the river turns out to be a sweet surprise! A really nice place to stand at the waterfront, take a walk, shop some goodies and gorge on Thai cuisine. A clean, organized and high end version of night market that is not to be missed.

4. Night market at Khao San Road

As the night approaches, the street of Khao San turns in to a crazy mayhem with music blasting out of bars, drunken tourists dancing in the middle of the road leaving barely any space to pass through and local vendors selling all sorts of things. We saw a really rough cake fight and I barely escaped getting my own face decorated with it. Anything to be back on that street again, though!

5. MBK Mall

Even the stingiest, most frugal person you have known in your life, once in Thailand will definitely buy something. Anything! Even we are the ones who mostly avoid exuberant purchases as we are always trying to save up for the next destination but Bangkok will definitely lure you into indulgent shopping – a launchpad for shopping spree if I may say so. And for shopaholics, it turns out to be totally orgasmic! We witnessed many of them maddened by the vastness of the MBK mall – a perfect destination for a shopaholic who wants to avoid the chaos and congestion of the night markets.

Have you ever spent 24 hours in Bangkok? Please let us know about your experience and some great places to explore at a leisurely pace!

We are definitely going back there.....but, don’t we all!