One of the most searched for cities and consistently in the top ten on booking sites Bangkok is the epitome of variation. Khanom's home
and our guides pound the streets here even on their days off taking in the wonderful (Golden mount viewpoints), as well as the unusual (Siriraj medical museum). Talking of Attractions and venues let us knock one myth on the head right away, FLOATING MARKETS.
Looking these up on Video and blog sites would have you believing in fairy dust too. The two main floating markets are not within the confines of the Bangkok tourist trail. "Damneon Saduak" is a morning market open every day and "Amphawa" is an afternoon and evening venue and the weekends are when its fully open for locals and tourists. Both of these markets are 90 mins away with good traffic and this includes the famous Train market too. These are depictions of old Siam and are now actively maintained through tourism although at Amphawa you will find it a more local experience.
Damneon is the only one that has a bustling, crazy and sometimes logjammed waterway
and this is because it is a market where boats are the main way around and sellers have their good at the waterside to sell directly to the boats. Some sections can be walked, but in the main the attraction is the boat rides.
Amphawa does have a boat service but most goods are sold on the waterside walkways and its more usual to take a boat here for the ride and not the selling. One reason for its evening status is that as the night draws in there are shuttle boat services taking you to the firefly’s, a short boat ride will send you along the waterway close to the banks searching out the ever reducing firefly population, one old water way scam was to put out fake lights and claim them as firefly venues, however Amphawa does have the advantage of real ones.
This leads me now to the internet favourite hidden gems “floating markets”. Again contrary to what many internet sources may have you believe there are several very small WATERSIDE markets on the outskirts of Bangkok. The best known of these being Ta-ling chan and Khlong lat Mayom. These are places where a very tranquil boat can be taken along a quiet local waterway where some goods are sold almost all are sold land based. There is a huge difference between a very quiet and very small local market like Talling chan and Damneon. Although the smaller markets are fantastic to visit they are not the same experience as the main two contenders and now Khanom will let you into a secret but we are not giving it all away. Near one of the two main floating markets there is a hidden gem that only runs on certain auspicious days of the lunar calendar and
although I have never personally managed to see it I am assured it still runs and the signs to it are all still there. If anyone does find it or even get to see it you are one up on myself.
So one myth expelled now let us explore a little deeper. Bangkok does have almost everything from a huge bustling city atmosphere to places of serenity that you would not think could exist in Bangkok. Shopping and Temples are often talked about as well as night markets and dinner cruises. The food is on every blog you can find, and varies as much as the quality. (eating local and Thai style, eat where you see many locals eating, they know better than anyone how to avoid any unwanted street-food issues as well as anyone can. And if a place is busy with locals choose to wait a little in line instead of heading to the empty place next door.
We talked of some serenity and the waterways of places in Nonthaburi and there awaits one of Khanom's best weekend tour destinations, a tourist free (so far) extravaganza of local food although no serenity is found here, what you will find is a small island with home-made pottery and an onsite pottery to glassware and food at prices that are eye wateringly LOW. Serenity can be found at the green lung of Bangkok, Bang Krachao and along the Thonburi canals where local life lived on the waterside will keep your attention and make you question life in itself. Places of peace are not just located in the temples and touring out with the Guides who walk the streets every day are the only true way to get to know Bangkok.
Bangkok contains over 400 Temples and has a population of 13 million including the surrounding Metropolis with 8 million crammed into its more central division and contains two airports serving
international and domestic flights. It is the gateway to SEA and is mostly the first and last stop on everyone’s travel plans. How much time you spend here is very hotly debated, We have tour customers fly in from Phuket and fly back out to Phuket on the same day as doing a tour with us, (truthfully we have people do this for a tour with us). Others spend a week or more and in one case a group visited and booked every tour we did in 2019, the first and only time that has happened, some fly in for a week just to shop until they drop.
The problem is with so much to do and with many people’s time so short and the concentration on the beaches of the south, many will keep missing out on what makes Bangkok so special. Rest days will be needed as the sightseeing alone can wear you out in a day and with temps that can hit as high as 38plus in a concrete city that soaks up the heat by day and releases it overnight temps can remain high and humid and 7/11 stores will always make a few baht as you rush inside and find an air con vent to cool down under on a regular cycle of stops.
At Khanom we recommend you fly in, check in, check out the area around your hotel and maybe open up with a river dinner cruise in the evening or if late check in an early night. Two days of exploring and learning the city and its transport system (check out our welcome to Bangkok tour, we show you how to use the transport system to move around, then you can be confident to do the
shopping alone). We the n recommend a full day or two before you leave to shop as you don’t want to buy and carry all over Thailand and if you did not start with a dinner cruise than you should end the Bangkok experience with one.
To try and list all Bangkok has to offer would be a pointless task as we said with over 400 temples alone, fine dining to streetfood, night life to streetlife and even graffiti art, serenity to shopping and
khlongs to cat café’s even the children love Bangkok. Children are adored in Thailand and make no mistake in Bangkok they will not be bored and possibly outlasting you on the tiredness trail of
sightseeing in BKK.
Bangkok is one of those cities that has too much to offer and to really make the most of it a guide is a must hire thing, they really can cut through the madness and make your time in Bangkok far easier and far more special than you might believe.
Thailand is what you make it and with Khanom, we make it easy.
Author: Gary C.
Photo Credits:
Unsplash
Khanom Travel Photos
Katie K.
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