The Travelling Feet

There are different entry points when you visit Thailand. You can either choose to enter the country by train, bus, boat or by plane. In our case, since we were flying ~1,400 miles to get to Thailand, we definitely had to go there last January 2011 by plane. Cebu Pacific Air released a promo fare three months prior to our departure and we took advantage of the cheap airline fare and as you see, the rest is history.

Ed and Den

This was not my first time to visit Thailand. In fact, this was my third trip to the country. And if you were to ask me again if I’m willing to go back to Thailand, my answer would be a huge YES! That goes to show how I adore Thailand so much. I am always open to the possibility of travelling to other international destinations. In fact, I’ve been trying to find a cheap all inclusive holidays Egypt information among other destinations to carefully plan my future travels. But since a trip to Bangkok won’t hurt that much, I won’t stop flying to this place yet.

lost in translation using the phones

And do you know one of the reasons why I love Thailand so much? It’s actually because of their airport. The Suvarnabhumi Airport is one of the places that made me fall in love with this country. Hahaha. No kidding! I’ve never seen such a huge airport terminal ever. The airport in our country is nothing compared to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. I also asked a couple of friends who’ve been to other international airports and asked them to compare which one’s better. Two of my friends chose Hong Kong as their favourite. They say that both the Bangkok International Airport and the Hong Kong International Airport are big but their design are both unique. What made the HongKong International Airport win was because of their carpeted terminal floors

Suvarnabhumi Airport main terminal roof is designed with structural elements and bays placed in a cantilevered wavelike form to appear to “float” over the concourse beneath. The integration of structural form into overall aesthetic is a phenomenon personally describes by Helmut Jahn as “Archi-Neering”.

photo credit: wiki

Aslo known as the (New) Bangkok International Airport, the Suvarnabhumi Airport is the 3rd busiest airport in Asia. Travellers, especially backpackers find it easy to choose Thailand as their jump off point in exploring the rest of the countries in Asia. On top of that, you can also try making a detour and experience Egypt holidays. Surely, there’s an available flight you can book to reach Egypt from Bangkok!

To me, the Bangkok International Airport is already an attraction on its own and I really love staying in here and allow myself to be engulfed in that sea of brightness in that huge space amidst those steel tones.

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This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – You are reading this now
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport

Finally, after 3 hours, our plane touched down at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand. We hurriedly walked to the immigration gates to have our passports stamped for entry in Thailand. After we claimed Ed’s tripod at our assigned baggage claim area in this huge airport, we hurriedly took turns freshening up for yet another long journey after we meet up with our friend, Den. While we left the Philippines from Clark Airport in Pampanga, Den flew in from the Ninony Aquino International Airport on this trip to Bangkok an hour after we left Clark.

As we awaited for her arrival, I went to look for free maps inside the airport and it showed useful information on how to navigate the City of Bangkok. Aside from those maps, I checked for Bangkok Hotel information online prior to the trip to get access to all the hotels which are located strategically within the tourist destinations of Bangkok. My first choice was to look for Bangkok hotels near Khaosan road, the backpacker’s mecca of Bangkok. Any tourist who would want to see almost all the tourist attractions in Bangkok must consider finding a hotel near Khao San Road since this place transforms into one of the busiest and most sought after place to dine, drink, chill and loosen up while in Bangkok with its bohemian atmosphere. You will see all sorts of nationalities in here chilling at different establishments with those cool lightings and enjoying the vibrant night filled with music, partying and much more.

However, if your are into shopping or if you want the convenience of cheap and easy transportation in this very busy city, you can opt to stay at Bangkok Hotels near Ratchathewi or simply within Bangkok City Centre since you will have access to the BTS Sky Train and MRT and let yourself be surrounded by different shopping malls in the city.

But for those who are flying in early in Thailand for an overland trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap, you might need a place to stay while you wait for the 1st trip to Aranyaprathet the next day. I’d suggest to either book at any cheap Bangkok Hotels near Hua Lamphong to avoid the morning rush or simply kill time by going to famous night spots in Bangkok thereby being deprived of sleep and just show up before 5:55am at the Hua Lamphong Station for the first trip from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet.

Since we arrived close to midnight, and the travel time to Bangkok is approximately 2 hours, we decided to go straight to the Hua Lamphong Station and waited for our 5:55am train ride to Aranyaprathet on our overland trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap. But before we did that, we just took our time and explored Suvarnabhumi Airport since we still have 4 hours to kill before the train schedule

To be continued…

————————-

This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – You are reading this now
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport

If you want to save big time on getting out of the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand, your best bet would be to ride their public bus transportation system.

Taxi

If you hail a metered taxi, it could cost you a whooping 500 baht for the trip to Bangkok from the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Sometimes, taxi drivers will charge you a flat rate (pakyaw) which will cover the toll fees that you will pass. But metered or not, the ~500 baht fare is just too expensive if you are travelling alone, unless you have someone else to split the fare. Travel time: ~2 hours and depends on the traffic

Airport Rail Link

Then there’s also the Bangkok Airport Rail Link which will cut the travel time as well as the costs of getting in Bangkok. From Suvarbabhumi Airport, you may have to pay ~150 baht to reach the Phaya Thai station in 30 minutes.There are plenty of signs in the airport so you won’t definitely get lost when finding the Airport Link station. From there, you can ride a taxi to get to where you want to go or simply take the BTS train. I haven’t really tried this mode of transportation but this one looks really promising as this is definitely cheaper compared to hailing taxi cabs. Travel time: ~1 hour

Public Bus

However, for someone like me who travels on a tight budget, I believe that the cheapest way to travel to Bangkok from the Suvarbabhumi Airport is via a public bus. So how do you find one within the airport? Simple…

You just have to ride one of those Bangkok Airport Shuttle Bus. The shuttle bus is FREE. When you exit the doors of the arrival section of the airport, cross the street (still within the airport grounds, ok?) and look for the bus stop signs and wait for the free shuttle buses.

riding the free airport shuttle bus with our backpacks

There’s enough room on any Airport Shuttle Bus for your luggages too, if you are carrying one instead of backpacks. But since this is a free bus, tendency is you may stand up when there are too many passengers waiting for the shuttle bus. You can either wait for the next bus to arrive or be alert and quickly hop on the bus before the other passengers =)

These buses will take you to the Transport Centre.

the Transport Center

bus numbers vs their corresponding routes

Once you are in the Transport Center, look for the huge board with different bus numbers and their corresponding routes. You can use them as reference to what bus number you will ride. Travel time: ~2 hours depending on the traffic

Public Bus Number 550 on its way to Bangkok

public bus within Bangkok

On my recent trip to Bangkok, we rode bus number 550 to reach the Mo Chit Bus station. The plan was to get to the Mo Chit Bus Terminal and ride a taxi to Hua Lamphong station (which was what we did the last time we were there).  But due to language barriers, we end up getting dropped at the Mo Chit Bus station. From there, we rode another bus going to the Hua Lamphong Station. The cost of the whole trip?

34.00 baht/head - Transport Center to Mochit Bus Station (airconditioned)
8.17 baht/head – Mo Chit bus station to Hua Lamphong Station (we paid 24 for 3 heads) (non-airconditioned)
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42.17 baht/head - Total fare – Suvarnabhumi Airport to Hua Lamphong Railway Station

We were on our way to Siem Reap which explains the need to go to Hua Lamphong train station. But I bet we could have saved more on the bus fare had I known the exact bus station to get off to reach Hua Lamphong Station. After being dropped off at the Mo Chit bus station, we asked some locals if it is cheaper to ride a taxi or a bus and they recommended the bus and pointed us to what bus number to ride. We could have paid a few extra bahts if we hopped on an airconditioned one but this is still the cheapest by far. (TIP: Never hesitate to ask for help)

*esp if travelling alone
**especially when carrying huge luggages

Hailing for taxi cabs is more convenient due to their door-to-door drop off points but you may also end up getting scammed by some taxi drivers. Airport Links could be difficult if you have huge luggages and you will have to walk to reach the bus/train stations. Public buses could also be difficult if you have huge luggages with you and you may have to ask what bus number to ride and wait for the buses to arrive.

So there you go. Even if taxis are the most convenient mode of transportation going to Bangkok, I’d still prefer riding a public bus. The amount of money I will save on a taxi or the airport link will definitely be useful for food trips and shopping in Bangkok!

If you want to know how to get around Bangkok, you can check out the differenttransportation they have within the city on this link:

http://thetravellingfeet.com/modes-of-transportation-in-bangkok/

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This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary

Let me start this entry by expressing my gratitude to my friend, Leah and Donnie, for without these guys, I wouldn’t get the chance to travel outside of the Philippines. Hope we get to travel soon!

One day, while I was trying to check for promo fares at Cebu Pacific I told Donnie-Lee that we should book a flight to wherever. Our first bet was Palawan since we haven’t been to that place yet. But when we consulted our other friend, Leah, she immediately said we should go to Cambodia via Bangkok. Cambodia – to see the place where Tomb Raider was filmed and Bangkok, for Donnie’s benefit – will tell you later about this. :lo:

And the rest was history. I booked our tickets online last January 17, 2008 and paid Php 15,354.00 (Php 5,118.00 each) for the Manila-Bangkok-Manila trip. We also paid Php 5,535.04 (Php 2,767.52) for the Cebu-Manila-Cebu trip. In total, Leah and I spent Php 7,885.52 for our round trip fares from Cebu to Bangkok. Donnie only spent Php 5,118.00 since he was Manila-based.

A month after, we found ourselves having the most difficult converstaions we had in our entire life when we asked some local Thais how to get to the train station. Then we also enjoyed the really long and bumpy ride going to Siem Reap from Poipet.

I had no idea what to expect from that trip. I’ve never been out of the country before. Recalling that day, I don’t think I even felt excited about the whole trip at all. It’s just like “Ok, we’re going to Bangkok. Fine”. – type of thing.

And then people started asking why Cambodia. Leah’s reply was always “Why not?”. Mine was “That’s what my other 2 companions wanted.”

Honestly, I was never into travelling until I saw this All Inclusive Holidays package. Although I liked to travel a lot, my work prevented me from doing so. So this trip sort of awakened my “travelling chi” for now all I can think of is to travel and travel and travel. I’m actually the shy type so you wouldn’t catch me making the first move at open up conversations. Not really an ideal traveller’s attitude. But what the heck. I really love to travel. Riding those planes, boats, trains – less the accidents that could happen anytime, I really love to travel! So if ever you happen to bump on me along the way, please don’t get the wrong impression of me being strict and a snob.

Now back to the trip!

Feb 27th was the day that we flew to Manila on our way to Bangkok. We hadn’t changed our money to dollars that morning yet so we had to go to the BDO Fuente Branch in Cebu to buy some dollars before our flight. I’m OC in this aspect so I didn’t agree to go to the black market to have our peso changed. With this move, I am sure that 1) my dollar isn’t fake and 2) I have the best deal in terms of the  exchange rate. But I’m still not sure which (bank or black market) offers the best exchange rate. The bad thing is I had to photocopy my passport, vaild IDs and plane tickets before I can buy US dollars. This was really a hassle. I had no choice but to comply.

Leah driving on our way to BDO; me with fences still

we $500 dollars richer that day! wohooo!

Recalling that day now makes me wonder how stupid it was to exchange for dollars on the day of our flight Our flight to Manila was scheduled at 11:55 am and yet we were still heading to the BDO branch in Fuente, which opens at around 9am, to buy dollars. If there was a heavy flow of traffic that morning, we could have missed our flight! Geesh!

Leah, boarding the aircraft

Our flight to Manila got delayed. When the plane landed, we went straight to the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) to kill time since our flight to Bangkok was scheduled at 10:05 pm. We watched “My Big Love” then had dinner before heading to Teminal 1 of NAIA.

Leah was still a vegetarian at that time so we bought bread at French Baker to feed our hungry stomach during the trip. Leah’s also a sucker for bread and pastries so you could just imagine those eyes getting bigger at the sight of all those nice-smelling freshly baked breads.

Since we were kinda on a budget, we just bought this Raisin Bonnet. The label says “Buy 8 for only P85.00 and save P11.00. I forgot how this one tasted. I think the bread was stuffed and hard. hehehe

If I am not mistaken, our other friend, Donnie, was already in the airport waiting for us. Our flight to Bangkok was again delayed by an hour, I think, and we arrived in Bangkok at around 2:30 am.

It was chaotic at the airport terminal. There was a long line at the check in luggage and since we were all first-timers, we had to ask where we need to go, what we need to fill up and pay. We paid the international travel taxes and also got forms for the immigration. We checked in our backpacks and also bought Thai Baht at the currency exchange counter in the airport. If I’m not mistaken, the exchange rate was at 1.40 Thai Baht per peso (or was it more expensive?). Anyway, we did this since we knew we had to have Thai’s currency when we arrive in Bangkok to pay for our taxi fares.

Donnie and Leah striking a pose while waiting for our turn in the immigration counter

Leah, trying to convince the immigration officer to allow her to travel to Bangkok

Since our flight was again delayed, we managed to steal a couple of photos while we patiently wait for our aircraft amidst the cold temperature inside the waiting area of the airport terminal.

To  be continued….

————————-

This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport