Finding Your Way Around BKK

As you all know, I went to BKK recently about a month ago.

So here are some tips for those who are planning on going there! :)

Some tips were from a very nice Singaporean whom I got to know there!

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1. What is the easiest way to go from

one place to another?

image from flickr

Take a cab! It's very cheap anyways. Average about 100-200bhat.

We didn't even try taking any trains there cause we travelled in fours (just nice for a cab).

Each trip is like $1-2 (SGD) per person. So we didn't really care.

The thing about taking cabs in BKK is that...

ALWAYS TAKE A CAB THAT RUNS ON METER!

If they refuse to on meter, reject them and take another cab.

Those that shout out fixed price usually are 2x more expensive.

We've tried that twice. Tested and proven =P

Anyways, their BTS aren't really that accessible. Okays we were lazy to walk.

But if you are keen in taking BTS, you can consider their One-Day Pass or 30-Day Smartpass.

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2. The 3 types of cabs in BKK

i: Runs on petrol

ii: Runs on dieselthen than

Three: Runs on CNG

image from squidoo

I haven't seen these colorful cabs there.

We only took the orange ones, yellow+green ones and hot pink ones.

The more common cabs around BKK are the yellow+green and hot pink ones.

The orange color cabs there usually runs on CNG and we were told that they might explode OMG!

On day one we took a orange one. Thank god nothing happened.

It is cheaper if it runs on CNG, followed by petrol, followed by diesel.

But I would not risk it and would rather give the CNG ones a miss.

We were recommended to take cabs that had a mix of yellow and green (that is their "official" cab).

They had this hot pink cabs too. They are safe to take just that most don't like to run on meter.

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3. Don't take cabs parked outside your hotel.

image from stickmanbangkok

Usually they are not trustworthy. Not trustworthy in the sense that they will charge you more.

There was this place we wanted to go and they said it was very very far away, take an hour to go.

But I search on google and it takes only 30mins!

We ended up walking to the main streets to get a cab and we reached in 20mins!

Conclusion: Always flag a cab along the main streets.

There are plenty of cabs in BKK so no worries about not being able to flag one

that is willing to run on meter.

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4. Don't assume everywhere has the same

opening hours!

Being a shopaholic who only shops at shopping malls and assuming everywhere is like USA

and have a standard 10am-9pm opening hours, I made a couple of mistakes in the itinerary!

I totally didn't check any of their opening hours.

And guess what? Floating markets only opens on weekends.

The famous Thip Samai only opens after 5.30pm.

The Grand Palace closes at 3.30pm.

Platinum Mall closes around 7pm (some online sites say 9pm but most shops are closed by 7pm).

Conclusion: Always check the opening hours before planning the itinerary!

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5. Need data plan?

I did my homework before going to BKK.

As a blogger, I NEED my data plan. I could barely survive Genting for two days without data plan.

I would go on some cold turkey if I have to survive the entire 5days at BKK without data plan.

Forever checking my gmail, twitter, instagram. I know, I'm over-reliant on the internet :(

Here's your solution if you need data plan in BKK - dtac Happy Tourist SIM.

They have this 299bhat card for 7 days unlimited data plan and 100bhat worth of credits inside.

The 100bhat credits can be used for calling or sms :)

It's easy to tell which shop it is. They have a super super long queue.

Tip: You don't need to have a card per person.

If you have portable chargers with you,

you all can always share one card by setting up hotspot ;)

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That's all for this post!

For those who have been to BKK before or heard stuffs about BKK,

feel free to leave comments/tips below to share with the rest! :)

Finding Your Way Around The Big Apple!

My first USA tips blogpost! :)

Not a lot of tips. But 3 important ones! ;) 

To help you save some money and find your way around New York at the same time!

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1. Oh My! The yellow cabs are so expensive!

Want to travel around New York without causing a hole in your pocket?

Take the Subway! :)

Here's the map.

image from MTA

Looks a little messy right? But it can really get you everywhere with a little help of the google map! ;)

And if you know you are gonna keep taking the Subway, 

just get yourself the Unlimited Ride MetroCard!

Usually it's $2.50 per ride but the 7-Days Unlimited Ride MetroCard cost only $29!

That's like the cost of 10 rides and trust me if you are there for 7 days, you will definitely take more than 10 rides. Especially when you are not familiar with the place and might exit the wrong stations.

Do not worry if you are not staying there for 7 days. That's what I recommended cause I stayed there for 7 Days. You can check out their price here and you might be able to find other ways to help you save a little when taking the subway :)

And note:

Many of the subway stations have no lifts/elevators! Only stairs.

So if you are carrying super heavy luggages, I will suggest you take the yellow cab to the hotel.

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2. What?! Even the attractions are expensive!

Want to visit all/most of the attractions but do not want to spend that much?

Get yourself a New York Pass!

Sis recommended me this before my new york trip :) And boy it really helped me save quite a bit!

image from newyorkpass

It's cheaper to buy online. So buy online first then go there to collect your card and book :)

Just look at the list of attractions it covers here. I felt it was like most of the attractions in NY!

Mine was the $140USD 3 Day Adult Pass and the attractions I visited were (not in actual order):

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum Tickets (worth $39) 

Top of the Rock Tickets (worth $25)

Ripley Believe it or not Tickets (worth $32)

 CitySightseeing Cruise Tickets (worth $28)

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise Tickets (worth $36)

Empire State Building Tickets (worth $25)

 Skyride Tickets (worth $41)

 American Museum of Natural History Tickets (worth $19)

 Bodies... The Exhibition Tickets (worth $30)

 Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Tickets (worth $24)

Total Price (without NYPass) = $299USD

That should be all if my memory did not fail me =X

I did not really check all the how much it's worth prices. I But I know after my second day I covered the base price of $140 already! And if I did not remember wrongly, the prices above which I got from newyorkpass's website are correct. And heys! I saved $159USD!!! Good right?

Would definitely recommend this New York Pass to those who are there for attractions!

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3. I cannot live without my phone!

Need a phone plan/data plan? I needed one cause I'm worried I will get lost there and have to contact my friends. On top of that, we needed to use the google map to help us around the place!

And from my "research" and sister's recommendation, I compared a few mobile shops and found that T-Mobile was the most affordable one. Never get your phone card from the airport. They are ripoffs! I had a friend who was charged a sum for "registration fee" on top of the plan fee.

Anyways they also do not have T-mobile at the airports =P

image from T-Mobile

Of course they had other plans too. But I felt these 2 were the more worth it ones :)

You can always check out their website for more plans! ;)

What my sis used was the $50 per month plan and she added $10 for international calls.

What I used was the Walmart special $30 per month plan. They said online/at Walmart. But I went to their normal T-mobile shops to ask and they did that for me too! Yay! Super thankful to that guy who helped us :)

Note:

You can send/receive international smses however you will be charged and it will be deducted from whatever prepaid value you have in your card (which you might have put inside for the future months) And for my $30 plan could not make out-going international calls but could receive. Not very sure about the $50 plan. I chose that plan cause I knew I would skype instead of make international calls. So if you want to make international calls, do check with the shop before paying!

And we chose monthly plans cause we stayed there for very long! I was in USA for 2 months. The last 5 days in USA my plan ended and I used their $2 pay-by-the-day plan. Can just top up by yourself online. If you are planning to get that plan straight, you can check out with the people at the shops!

image from T-Mobile

And there are T-Mobile stores in other states too! Not only New York ;)

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Hope my little tips will help you find your way around New York!

All details are updated as of September 2012.