Bangkok – Love it or Hate it, Part 1
Just like me, many of the expats living in Bangkok suffer from an extreme love/hate relationship with the place. The city can be an immensely frustrating place, filthy and dirty, hot and sticky, and it can be difficult to get around places without spending hours and hours on end stuck in traffic jams!
Love it!
On the other hand though, Bangkok can be an immensely enjoyable place – For all kinds of reasons. It’s a lot more accessible that most other Asian cities that I’ve traveled to.
Also in Bangkok, I have found that it is one of the easiest cities in the world to get talking to people. In Bangkok it’s possible to meet both friendly locals and travelers from all over the world.
The people of Thailand must be some of the friendliest in the world, with almost everyone, from shopkeepers and noodle sellers to school children and business men happy to wave at you and say hello.
Meanwhile, foreigners can meet and mix easily in Bangkok, something about the fact that this place is so different in so many ways seems to draw westerners to stick together to discuss the weird and wonderful goings on in this complex city.
It really is possible to meet friendly people almost anywhere in Bangkok, whether your’re walking around the traveler’s ghetto of Khao San Road or wandering around at the Siam Paragon mega mall. There’s rarely a day that goes by when I don’t meet someone interesting to talk to.
Hate it!
However, this friendly atmosphere can soon be put into perspective when you step outdoors, and are confronted by the intense heat wave that slams into you like a train.
The heat can be terribly oppressive, spend five minutes walking down the street and you’ll be dripping with sweat, with your t-shirt clinging to you and trying to drag you down into the filthy gutters below. The pollution is another thing.
It’s not only the dirt and rubbish littered everywhere, the biggest thing is the choking fumes from the relentless hordes of buses and motorbikes constantly crunching their gears and roaring past in endless waves.
Love it!
But this will all be forgotten the moment you get where you’re going to, and there’s always so much to see and do in Bangkok. From its stunning temples and other tourist attractions, to it’s wealth of shopping malls and markets, one thing is certain – You’ll never be bored in Bangkok!
And one of the best things about shopping in Bangkok is of course the price, everything is so cheap here! Well, not everything of course, but many things are, for instance, clothes, electronics, handicrafts and so on can all be bought at very low prices here.
This turned out to be quite a long post. So, I’ll be back in a few days with the conclusion. Until then…
I’ve been to Bangkok first. I hated the pollution but loved the shopping…but overall for me, I’d say it’s more love than hate =)
can’t wait to be back!
I think Bangkok grows on you. I didn’t like it too much at first either. And there certainly aspects that I still don’t like. But overall it is a great city and it’s a shame that many visitors never get to see the beauty and charm beneath the surface as they jet through to their destination.
Thanks for the comment Lilian 🙂