24 hours in Bangkok: a full day of Pad Thai, glitzy temples, and mango sticky rice
On my 3 month Southeast Asia backpacking trip, I made a few oopsies.
The first one was that I kind of lost track of time and stayed longer than I should’ve in Bali (I mean… can you really blame me?)
And the oopsie on top of that was accepting a travel blog collaboration opportunity that required me to be at the Thailand/Laos Border just 3 days after I arrived in Thailand.
Northern Thailand, where the border in question is located, is a whole day and a half of travel away from Bangkok, which gave me a whopping 24 hours in Bangkok, as well as an even more depressing 24 hours in Chiang Mai.
The good news is, is that it’s do-able (If *I* can do it, anyone can do it) - the bad news is, you miss out on so much those cities have to offer - and not to mention the possibility of visiting other cool cities, like Pai.
Anyways, the moral of the story is that I only had 24 hours in Bangkok, so I decided that I was going to do my best to make the most of it.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t do a very good job - I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon WHICH I blame on Khao San road. So maybe I did do a good job? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Anyways.
How to spend 24 hours in Bangkok
When I landed in Bangkok, it was evening. After grabbing a sim card, taking some Thai baht out of the ATM, and asking for directions, I took the airport shuttle to the part of the city I was staying in. It was super easy, and everyone was very helpful!
Of course, if you’re not on a budget, you can grab a taxi very easily; they all wait outside and it’s super easy to grab one and go. For me, the cost of taking a taxi without anyone to split it with wasn’t doable, but the shuttle was cheap and easy to figure out.
Where to stay in Bangkok
Because you’ll only be here for 24 hours, it doesn’t *really* matter what type of hotel or hostel you stay in - especially if you’re in Bangkok to see the sights and not just lay by a pool.
Most people who visit Bangkok opt to stay in the Khao San road area. Khao San road is the most famous street in Bangkok , and most of the sights that you’ll cover during your 24 hours in Bangkok are in this area. When you have such limited time in a city, you don’t want to waste any time in transit.
I was balling on a budget and traveling alone, so I opted to stay in a hostel. If you’re also in that boat, I highly recommend Mad Monkey! I’ve stayed at 5 of their hostels all over Asia and they’re so social and fun - but this one had black out curtains and relatively thick walls so if you want a good nights sleep you can get that too.
It’s right by Khao San road, but far enough away that you can’t hear it if you don’t want to go.
If you’re traveling with a bigger budget or with a family, try to just choose a hotel in that quarter of the city! Khao San is known as the center of the Backpackers world so there are loads of budget options, but there are also a few 5 star hotels in the area on the banks of the river if you’re a sucker for a view.
How to get around in Bangkok
Listen - I’m gonna make this short and sweet. Please don’t waste any one of your 24 hours in Bangkok dealing with public transportation. Just download the Grab app. It’s essentially Uber, and if you’re traveling alone it has the option for you to book a motorbike, which is so much cheaper and faster.
I know it sounds intimidating, but there are little handlebars underneath the back seat for you to hang on to, and it really is such a fun experience. (and they’re like a third of the price of a car!)
24 hours in bankgok: a full itinerary
Obviously, I only had 24 hours in Bangkok - so the night that I arrived was my only opportunity to experience the INFAMOUS Bangkok nightlife. I was on the phone with my mom in the shuttle on my way to my hostel, and she asked me if I was going to go out alone, seeing as I didn’t know anyone in Thailand yet.
I told her with 100% confidence that I’d make friends. I had stayed in enough Mad Monkeys by then to know it wouldn’t be an issue.
I checked in at 8, got my welcome drink from the bar at 8:30, and was headed to Khao San Road with a group of new friends by 9:30.
(I still talk to three of those people :’) Behold: the magic of Mad Monkey hostels.
Now, if you’ve ever seen The Hangover 2, I’m here to tell you this: It’s all true. Being swallowed by Bangkok is a valid, believable fate - it’s mildly terrifying. Khao San Road is not my cup of tea, although I can see why others think it’s a blast.
At one point I was literally kicking through empty nitrous oxide balloons as I walked through the street, and I couldn’t count the number of songs blasting from every which way. The neon lights were blinding, and finding a bar that didn’t have strippers or prostitutes on a stage somewhere was so much more of a mission than I ever anticipated. It CAN be done - it just took us a few tries. I made the mistake of asking my new friends why there were so many signs for ping pong shows.
After a few drinks and some dancing in a nudity free bar and some late night noodles and cheese toasties from 7/11 (these are absolutely a right of passage for anyone traveling Thailand), we headed back to the hostel - but not before running into my Bali travel buddy from college: Rayan! We parted ways on Gili T, and I fully thought that he had flown back to the states.
Turns out he made friends with some German guys in Canggu who convinced him to miss his flight home and come to Thailand instead - period. I just can’t believe that we ran into each other a week and a half after saying goodbye - in a whole different country without even seeing it on social media and coordinating a meetup. Just in some crusty cowboy bar in Bangkok.
This is why I love traveling :)
The next day, after waking up and eating breakfast at my hostel, I set off on some solo adventures.
The first order of business was to visit the Grand Palace. I donned my usual temple-visiting modest outfit (a maxi skirt, a tube top, and a scarf to cover my shoulders), hopped on a Grab motorbike, and made my way the 10 minutes to the Palace.
Unfortunately, the Grand Palace ended up being a little bit of a jarring experience for me, so in an effort to help you have a better time than me, let me enlighten you as to the mistakes I made.
For the Grand Palace in Bangkok specifically, you must wear a SHIRT that covers your shoulders. No shawls or cover ups will make the cut unfortunately.
There I was, holding up the line, while two old women yelled at me to either pay 10 dollars for a shirt (my daily budget was 30 usd mind you, so 10 dollars for a shirt in Thailand is robbery) or get the heck out of line. Flustered, I paid for the shirt and made to head inside the gates to the bathroom to change, but they barred me from entering until I physically put it on. Luckily I was able to just put it over my tube top, but it was still so embarrassing.
^^ Ft. the shirt in question
For men, shorts are not allowed, like they usually are for men in temples. They do sell pants at the entrance, but it’s so much better to just come dressed accordingly so you aren’t scammed into buying overpriced garments at the door.
Phew. I had finally made it inside the gates, and I went to go purchase my ticket ($15), when it came to my attention that I wasn’t allowed inside the (open air) grounds without a mask. and of course, they only sold masks in a full 50 count box, that I also paid $15 dollars for. I wanted to cry.
And again - these dollar amounts in the grand scheme of things are so small, but as a solo traveler, I was on a very strict budget of $30 per day so that I could make my money stretch for a few months, and I had completely doubled what I intended to spend that day simply by not being aware of the dress code and current COVID restrictions.
I had heard such good things about Thai hospitality, and so being yelled at by so many people in the course of 30 minutes really shook me up.
All of that aside, however, the Grand Palace was, well, GRAND.
After the stone simplicity of the temples of Bali, I was simply not prepared for the glitz and glamour of Thai temples - and I LOVED them. Everything sparkled even on a gloomy day, and I could not wrap my head around how every square inch of these huge structures was covered in mirrored tile, gold gilding, and gemstones.
There were parts of the grounds that were dedicated temples, and one even contained a world-famous Buddha statue that’s carved from a single, massive chunk of pure emerald. (no photos allowed though!) Some buildings had what I would come to know as traditional Thai architecture, while the Palace itself looked like something straight out of the European countryside (with a few traditional Thai details of course).
It was so worth it, although the process of getting in wasn’t the most pleasant (which is avoidable if you come prepared!)
10/10 recommend visiting the Grand Palace during your 24 hours in Bangkok.
The palace is open from 8 to 3:30, So I recommend going in the morning, before it gets too hot! By the time I had gotten in (the fiasco added about 40 minutes)m taken pictures and explored to my heart’s content, I was ready for lunch.
And I was NOT about to have my first full meal in Thailand be something other than Pad Thai, so I found a cute little restaurant called Pad Thai Kratong Thong 5 minutes from the Grand Palace, and drowned my sorrows in shrimp and noodles.
I mean, just LOOk at the size of these shrimp.
It was everything I ever dreamed of.
Next up on my itinerary was Wat Pho. There’s a much longer name, but Wat Pho does the trick. No need to order a Grab or hop in a tuktuk, Wat Pho is just a ten minute walk away from the Grand Palace!
This temple is most famous for it’s absolutely MASSIVE reclining Buddha statue, and also for being the oldest temple complex in all of Bangkok. It’s full of these little spires that are covered in painted mosaic tiles - a little less glitzy then the Grand Palace, but much more full of charm.
Last on our palace/temple tour of Bangkok is Wat Arun!
It is with a heavy heart and a slight tinge of embarrassment that I disclose that I did go home and take a nap in lieu of visiting another temple due to the late night out on Khao San road, but if your 24 hours in Bangkok start in the morning instead of the evening, you’ll definitely have more energy than I did.
However, I still think it is the perfect addition to this Bangkok itinerary!
You will have to cross the river to get to Wat Arun, but luckily Tha Tien Pier is a 5 minute walk from Wat Pho, and the public boats leave frequently (and only costs ten cents!).
It is very similar in style to Wat Pho, but much airier and lighter. Its location right on the river makes this temple stunning not only up close, but from the other side of the river as well!
Listen - if anyone wants to volunteer to be my travel buddy so I can have pictures of myself in these incredible places - lmk in the comments below LOL.
While there is so much more to do in Bangkok, I unfortunately had to go check out of my hostel and get myself to the train station to catch the overnight train to Chiang Mai. I did have time for a foot massage and a quick mango sticky rice before I had to make the trek across the city to the train station - which was the perfect end to my time in Bangkok.
I also got there fairly early, as missing the train was simply not an option for me and my travel blogging deadlines!
If you’re headed to Chiang Mai after your 24 hours in Bangkok, consider taking the overnight train! It’s such a fun experience and definitely something I would recommend. I ordered a pizza to the train station and bid farewell to Bangkok from my little bunk where I had the cutest little slumber party all by myself.
And that’s what I got up to during my time in Bangkok! The city is MASSIVE, and I know there are so many things i need to go back and do. Luckily, it is the hub of all of southeast Asia, so I have no doubt that I’ll be back.
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