Side trips from bangkok

[orson]

I plan to have stay 10 days in Thailand, my arrival point it will be Bangkok, where else could I make a side trip to make good use of my time. 

I would usually make a side trip to Pattaya, but since the gogo places are closed, it maybe a waste of time. 

[New Londoner]

One -day trips? Ayutthaya is only fifty miles away....if you are interested in history. 

[spoon]

Maeklong, kanchanaburi, ayutthaya, erawan falls to name a few.

[yp11]

Khao Yai

Koh Sichang

Hua Hin

[orson]

Thanks for the suggestion. Are these something one can do diy or it needs a tour guide? 

[Guest]

Just now, orson said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Are these something one can do diy or it needs a tour guide? 

In my view, when we have google, no one ever needs a tour guide for major tourist destinations.  

e.g. Ayyuthaya  (Day Trip)

Lots of old ruins.    Google will quickly find you a map of those.  It's also a good chance to sample Thai railways, so here's the Thai railways website:     https://www.railway.co.th/Station/StationList

I note that someone has mentioned Erawen.    Lots of spectacular blue waterfalls & pools.   I went in December, at the start of the dry season, so still plenty of water.   I've no idea what it's like at the end of the dry season, but you might want to make enquiries.

It depends what your idea of a side trip is.    On my first trip to Thailand, on day 4 I got on a train from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet, crossed the border into Cambodia, then shared a taxi with a Polish tourist to Siem Reap.   After 3 days there (not enough), I went overland to Pattaya.     I probably wouldn't recommend that just yet, due to the Thai Pass and all the nonsense related to that, however, you can go a long way in a few days.

A lot does depends on what you like.  

 

[tm_nyc]

My sister was visiting me in BKK a while back & together we took a 'Canal Adventure' tour (something I would never do on my own).  We were met at the Wutthakat BTS station, escorted to a long-tail boat nearby & spent about 6 hours traveling on the canals west of the river.  The tour included visits to a couple of temples, a market, an orchid farm, an artist's house plus lunch.  The sights were interesting but not amazing.  However, it was very enjoyable to travel by canal boat & see different parts of BKK, far from Silom & Sukhumvit.

Ayutthaya is definitely worth a visit.  I also did a side trip (by train) to Bang Pa-In Palace, which I liked a lot.  It's called the Summer Palace & was used formerly by the Thai Royal Family.

[TMax]

I once did a tour to Ayutthaya and booked through TAT (several years back now and was in a mini bus), went via Bang Pa In - return was by river boat with buffet lunch. Well worth it too, had a great day out and the river boat ride back to Bangkok was nice and relaxing.

[spoon]

13 hours ago, orson said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Are these something one can do diy or it needs a tour guide? 

I did maeklong and ayutthaya on my own, took a day tour to kanchanaburi (local train tour, bought at hua lamphong station previously). Ive yet went to erawan sadly but definitely in my list to go. 

For ayutthaya i took the train, and deal with motorsai to bring me around all the temples. For maeklong, i missed the train in the morning, so i took a minivan from the station bus on the way there, but used the train going back to bangkok. 

 

[thaiophilus]

(usual disclaimer; in "normal" times these were all straightforward but I don't know about the present, so check before travelling.)

Khao Yai: From Bangkok it's the most accessible national park - 3 hours or so by bus, minibus or train to Pak Chong. Hotels provide guided jungle tours and transfers from the bus/train station. The usual deal is a 2-night stay: arrive afternoon, take afternoon/evening tour including millions of bats leaving their cave at dusk. The following day take an all-day tour. There are longer options including overnight camping.

See for example  Bobbys Jungle Tours.

 

[pong2]

It all depends if you are the one who wants to be taken by hand or is used to find his way on his own. And if you want just daytrips=come back to enjoy the cooler evenings in BKK or go away a few days-but in a total stay of 10 days incl. also seaside Pattaya that seems a bit too much to me. How did you cope with TH (other script, strange habits, etc in previous trips?

All major hotels-like about anywhere in this world, will have day-tour programs.

Now with the rise in e-bookings etc it also should not be too hard and deliver good prices for a day rental of taxi+driver. Or hook up with a guy you fancy and let him suggest some explorations-most likely that will not be the obvious touristy places-and his family probably lives way too far out in the sticks for a visit.

On weekends there are special excursion trains from the state railway-100 bt each. BUT dep. at 6.00 or not much later!!

ALSO note that the old station Hualampong is no more-for trains. Its now the brand new ´central´ giant oversized thing near bang Sue=near weekend market

[thaiophilus]

16 hours ago, pong2 said:

ALSO note that the old station Hualampong is no more-for trains. Its now the brand new ´central´ giant oversized thing near bang Sue=near weekend market

... (except for the Mae Khlong line which departs from Wongwian Yai station, and the Kanchanaburi line from Thonburi station, of course.)

[fedssocr]

There are lots of travel YouTubers in Thailand. So you might want to take a look there for ideas on places to go. 

For trips out of the city I personally don't mind paying a bit more to have a guide/driver. Given how hard the tourism industry has been hit I'm sure those people would be thrilled to have some work at this point.

Getting back to YT, I watch a lot of videos on the Global Travel Mate channel which is run by a Dutch guy who lives in Bangkok. He's been documenting the incredible expansion of the BKK public transportation network. A lot of changes have been happening in the city since I was last there. He also does a lot of trips around the city that are reachable by public transit. He also does a lot of biking if you're into that. His videos are great for those of us who miss the city.

This cute Aussie boy is just starting out so his videos are not superb quality and he makes some mistakes, but he's trying hard. Here's his Ayutthaya video.

 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, pong2 said:

ALSO note that the old station Hualampong is no more-for trains. Its now the brand new ´central´ giant oversized thing near bang Sue=near weekend market

Is that actually the case ?    I can't find any evidence of that.

There was a much publicized closure of Hualampong last December, but it didn't actually close at that time.  

In late January, I took a train out of Bangkok, where the timetable showed it starting at Hualamphong & going through Bang Sue.    I considered starting at Bang Sue, just to try the new station.   However, I started at the old station, on the basis that it was closer to my hotel.     Just as well I did, as when the train stopped at Bang Sue, it stopped at the OLD Bang Sue station, not the massive new one.  

Just out of interest, today I checked trains running to various destinations on the Thai rail website.

Trains towards Pattaya, Aranaye Prathet, Ubon Rachathani, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai & Surat Thani are all shown as departing from Hualamphong.

Trains to Kanchanaburi all go from Thon Buri.

That's covered most of the lines and it's just like the old days !

 

Bear in mind, the construction of Bang Sue station has served it's primary purpose, which was to give someone a profitable construction contract and buy lots of cement.   Other factors like running a world class rail service, or having efficient interchanges really don't matter to the planners. 

You only have to look at Makkasan station for an earlier example.     An absolutely massive station, constructed with promises of check in for flights at the station and both a commuter and express service.   The check in service never happened and the express rail service was abandoned, leaving just a commuter service.   So we end up with a massively over sized and under utilized station, which is actually in the wrong place, as it should be above Petchaburi MRT station to function as an efficient interchange.  Of course, you can walk from one station to the other now, but it's far from intelligently designed.     They should send the people designing this to Tokyo for a month, just to see how it should be done.

 

[thaiophilus]

For another relaxing day excursion, how about Bang Krachao/Phra Padaeng. Taxi from Khlong Toei MRT to Wat Klong Toey Nok, or from Bang Na to Wat Bang Na Nok, from either place take the ferry across the river, hire a bicycle and spend a few hours in the jungle.  Or stay overnight among the trees at the Bangkok Tree House - somewhere a bit different for a night out of the city (and somewhere to impress a friend if you take one 😉)

[Guest]

1 hour ago, thaiophilus said:

For another relaxing day excursion, how about Bang Krachao/Phra Padaeng. Taxi from Khlong Toei MRT to Wat Klong Toey Nok, or from Bang Na to Wat Bang Na Nok, from either place take the ferry across the river, hire a bicycle and spend a few hours in the jungle.

You can also get to that ferry port by bus.  

There's a great tour guide from LA who can help out with these things, AKA Mr Google, with his maps.    It's very good for getting Thai bus numbers.    It will probably be about 12 baht for the bus.   I paid 10 baht for the ferry, probably a farang price, as the lady in front paid 20 baht for 2 people and got change.  I took the other ferry under the Bhumibol 1 bridge, which cost a remarkable 3 baht.    The baht bus on the other side is 8 baht, but it doesn't seem to go all the way to either ferry port, so a little walking is needed.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/''/Wat+Klong+Toei+Nok,+36+Sunthonkosa+Rd,+Khlong+Toei,+Bangkok+10110,+Thailand/@13.7177904,100.5462198,15z/data=!4m19!4m18!1m5!1m1!1s0x30e29f24634e2365:0x560b8a0e448b1246!2m2!1d100.5456664!2d13.7257642!1m5!1m1!1s0x30e29f729d39dcf5:0x61871a35a2bdde80!2m2!1d100.5633377!2d13.7079738!2m3!6e0!7e2!8j1651230000!3e3!5i2