Thailand The Ultimate Travel Guide

My first trip abroad was in Bangkok, Thailand. For the first time, everything is very strange in a foreign land. My friends and I had days of exploring here with different interesting, attractive, and colorful destinations. For more than 4 years, together we have planned a self-sufficient excursion with everything. But it's also fortunate that we have a member who often goes to Thailand, so also have a lot of experience. So we were less worried. Before going to Thailand, we gave many choices for attractions, entertainment areas, shopping, dining,... We have made a list of some places to explore in Bangkok, such as Safari World, Dreamworld, Cookin Nanta show, Calypso Cabaret show, Chinatown, Chatuchak market, Asiatique night market. Come on, let's get lost in Bangkok and enjoy the special food with us!

Our first-day journey

That is the fatigue on vehicles from bus, car to plane. We chose Nok Air to fly to Bangkok, landing at Don Mueang airport (the oldest international airport in Bangkok, Thailand). And Nok Air is a low-cost airline, also based here. When landing safely, checking in, and waiting for luggage, we booked a grab car and checked in at M hotel.

Note that when you arrive here, you should buy a 3G/4G sim right at the airport to Activate and book a grab/taxi or find your way more easily. After checking into the M hotel, we got hungry again in the middle of the night because we had to move for so long. With no other choice, the first dish here is "McDonald's fried chicken". After eating and drinking, we cleaned ourselves and went to bed with a night of good sleep. End of day 1.

On our second day journey, what do we have?

For convenience, simplicity, and saving time, we booked a taxi to move from the hotel to Safari World. If you want to save more money, you can go by public transport such as BTS Skytrain, bus or minibus. As for the entrance ticket, to quickly and avoid queuing to buy tickets, we have booked through the travel service pages before, the ticket includes the entrance ticket (Safari open zoo + Marine Park + Animal show) + lunch buffet. We spent the whole day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm exploring here.

Safari World Thailand is the largest open-air wildlife zoo in Southeast Asia. Not far from Bangkok you can visit the aquarium and wild animals, in the park there is a restaurant and a convenient snack area for visitors to have fun everywhere, you can also feed the giraffes closely, very suitable for families. This is a place to live and preserve much different flora and fauna. Especially for endangered wildlife.

Safari World Thailand has been open to visitors since 1988 and is divided into two separate zones. That is the open zoo Safari Park and Marine Park - a zoo with many special animal shows, food stalls, and souvenir shops. In addition, you will be able to see the wild creatures firsthand. Like giraffes, zebras, antelopes, gaurs, rhinos, etc. In addition to visiting animals, we can also watch fun shows of talented animals that are trained professionally.

These can be mentioned as Show dolphins, sea lions, or boxing monkeys. We are also very excited to see the scenery of the American West with the cowboy and the spectacular sound effects through the thrilling and extremely attractive gun battles at the Hollywood Cowboy Stunt Show.

Ending the visit to Safari, we continue to move to the unforgettable Food Street in Thailand - Chinatown. Chinatown, whose Thai name is Yaowarach, is located in the Samphanthawong district, the central area of Bangkok, where the two cultures of China and Thailand meet. Around the 1700s, the Chinese came to this area to expand the "silk road" to trade with the Siamese (today's Thais), many of whom stayed here to choose to live and work.

From those migrations, Chinatown became famous and the largest in Asia as it is today. Here we can enjoy the specialties of the two countries. Coming to snacking paradise, remember to leave an empty stomach to take in all the food.

We will see eateries or carts on the sidewalk. Here, we ate dishes such as Pad Thai, mango sticky rice, pomegranate juice, grilled skewers, Tom yum, Thai milk tea, Papaya salad (Som Tum Thai), Sang Kaya Fug Tong, Tong Yip, Tong Yord, Foi Tong, Thai-style roti, etc. Some of the restaurants we had to wait in line to buy were too crowded. When we were full, we returned to the M hotel to rest and recharge to continue the journey. End the second day with tired legs.

Where does our third-day journey go?

That is Dreamworld park. This most famous amusement park in the land of the Golden Temple was officially opened on November 12, 1993, with a large scale of about 25 hectares, Dream World is considered a miniature Disneyland. Dream World Bangkok Park is located quite far from the city center.

We had to travel about 43km to get from the center of Bangkok to here. It will be a bit inconvenient because you can't go directly to the BTS Skytrain but have to move two or three stages. However, once you have reached Dream World, the paradise here will surely make you satisfied. Similar to Safari World, in order not to have to wait in line because just entering the information room, you can present the QR Code for the authorities to scan and take the wristband to enter the amusement park, so we booked a ticket in advance.

Package ticket includes + entrance ticket + lunch buffet + Snow town + 4D Adventure + Water Fun + shuttle bus to the park from the city center and vice versa. A few small notes that you should wear comfortable, lightweight clothes to participate in outdoor activities because Thailand is also quite hot and so is Dream World. In addition, you should also bring a small backpack to store your coat, phone, sunscreen, hat, umbrella, and miscellaneous items.

Dream World Bangkok Park is divided into 4 main sightseeing areas, including Fantasy Land, Dream Garden, Dream World Plaza, and Adventure Land:

1. Dream World Plaza – is a European-style square with fantasy-themed shops and a series of colorful houses lining the streets.
2. Dream Garden – A garden with many beautiful flowers, entertainment, and famous architectural wonders of the world, including the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
3. Fantasy Land – This is where you will visit Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the Dwarf's house, Cinderella's carriage, the pond where the frog turns into a prince or the giant's house, etc.
4. Adventure Land – The largest area in the park. There are international parades, circuses, animal shows, etc. For those who like thrills, they can also experience the games Space Mountain, High-speed roller coaster…

It can be seen that this place is suitable for children because the game areas here are extremely diverse and attractive, but it is also an ideal attraction for adults because there are equally adventurous games.

There are many unique outdoor activities to experience: from water skiing to aerial activities, roller coasters, animal shows, street parades, or private attractions with interesting scenery. In addition, you will be immersed in the snowy city at -8 degrees Celsius, just hearing it makes you feel cold, right? To get in here, we had to queue for a long time, about 20 minutes. We will be given our coats and boots to walk in the snow, we can touch the snow with our hands, play snowballs, ski slopes, etc. The ideal virtual life photo is like real snow in real life.

After completing the trip at Dream World, we had a full dinner and started moving by a whirring tuk-tuk to have time to immerse ourselves in the Cookin nanta show. The Cookin Nanta Show is entertaining (with a humorous bias) on the stage of chefs. However, it is not a cooking show or a demonstration of food processing but the characters will use chef uniforms, kitchen tools, cooking ingredients, etc. to perform a play without words, which combines: circus skills, drumming skills, performance skills, acrobatics, martial arts, music,... to create attraction for viewers.

On the stage is the kitchen scene including 4 characters dressed as chefs and 1 restaurant owner. They use simple kitchen tools to prepare food, combine a few kung fu martial arts and circus dishes to create sounds, which then combine into resonant rhythms, pleasing to the audience's ears. 90 minutes of performance is the process of combining performances with skills, creating unique, super beautiful, super cute comedy situations even though there are only 4 artists and not a single word comes out. It can be said that this show is very impressive to us because the show has an extremely high ability to satisfy the eyes and has a high sense of visual humor.

What's interesting about our fourth-day journey?

Chatuchak Market has a history of nearly 80 years, was built and opened to visitors in the 1940s. Until now, the Chatuchak market has been increasingly developed and expanded to become one of the attractive tourist shopping destinations. In Bangkok, this place can be compared to a quality commercial center with affordable prices of the land of golden pagodas. The market is only open on weekends, so it is called a weekend market.

With an area of over 11 hectares and over 15,000 stalls selling a variety of goods, Chatuchak Market is one of the world's largest markets. So when you come to Chatuchak, you will be overwhelmed by the huge amount of goods with a variety of categories from fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, handmade, technology, electronics,... If you want to explore all the corners of the Chatuchak market it is impossible. Because the market is designed quite complicatedly like a maze, you need to spend 2 to 3 days. It will be easy to "forget the way back" if you don't have a map in hand.

That said, you just need to remember the main roads and the locations of the stalls, the vastness of Chatuchak market will not make it difficult for you. However, perhaps I still remember that because we were so engrossed in shopping at Chatuchak market (at the market that it was so big, we couldn't find our destination) but we got lost and had no way of contacting each other. But, after that, everything was all right because before going to the airport, we all bought a single Sim to use. Then I and a friend of mine groped asked all kinds of questions to return to the hotel. So, if you just want to come to buy the necessary things for yourself, you need to accurately locate the stalls selling the products you need to save time and avoid getting lost.

After returning to the hotel to rest, take care of personal hygiene, and eat. In the evening of that day, we moved to the Asiatique night market. It used to be a bustling international trading port and has since been transformed into the most popular shopping experience center in the city. Here you will come to a huge complex, which is the busy trading point of the city. With more than 1,500 stores and 40 restaurants located in a huge warehouse area, finding a place to sell the goods you like is not easy at all. Of course, that's when you can't find it on your own without getting some guidance. This is probably the only market in Bangkok where you can find a stall by looking at the map. You'll find most of the small shops selling souvenirs, handicrafts, jewelry, and clothing.

Asiatique is definitely worth an evening for you. Besides, dining options at high-class restaurants can be found on the waterfront side with Italian, Thai restaurants and fresh seafood dishes. Several Indoor and outdoor bars provide entertaining and relaxing spaces every evening. In Asiatique, there are branches of KFC, Pizza Company, Au Bon Pain and MK, etc. The night market is like one of the bustling entertainment paradises.

Asiatique is also the place to find the perfect new products that offer more than you can imagine. And if that's not enough, check out some nightly shows like Calypso ladyboy, a show of transgender or female people, and a traditional Thai water puppet show. As well as all the food and shopping there are two biggest entertainments: the Joe Louis Theater's Thai puppets and Calypso Cabaret, one of Bangkok's popular ladyboy shows. The market is open from 17:00 every day, guaranteed to be an interesting entertainment spot every afternoon. You'll find something you want to eat, cool things to see, explore the many entertainment activities, nightly wine shows as well as enjoy a classical puppet show of Thailand. Because this market is located next to the Chao Phraya River, you can take a leisurely boat ride to the market, combined with visiting the scenery on both sides of the river. Boats usually run until 23:00 every day.

From the boat, you step onto a long footpath running 300m long. Besides, moving to this place can also be reached by road, which is quite convenient if you want to save more travel time, use the BTS train to come here, it only takes about 15 minutes. Also, because the area is heavily trafficked, the traffic is "chaotic" so it's not recommended that you take a taxi as traffic can be terrible in this area.

Our third destination that day was to enjoy the Tiffany Show. This show is an art show, performed by transgender people in Thailand. This is a unique show ranked 4th in the top 10 most-watched shows in the world voted by TravelCom Magazine. Tiffany shows Thailand is a rendition and performance of professional dancers expressed through gorgeous costumes under shimmering lights and vibrant music. To become a dancer in this show, the dancers must be selected very strictly in terms of appearance and facial features. Besides the talent and professional training of the dancers, elaborate stage finishing is important to the success of the show.

Tiffany Show and Alcazar Show are both cabaret and vaudeville performances with hot and fiery ladyboys. Along with that is the transformation in performance costumes – almost a fashion show with all kinds of costumes from many different countries: carnival feathers, traditional costumes of different countries (Japan, Korea…), and even Ao Dai. And that's what's exciting about our hectic Wednesday.

Feeling a bit about the traffic when going there is probably the tuk-tuk with rushing speed like a hurricane sweeping with crooked turns and the traffic specialty in Bangkok is the traffic terrible jam. In addition, experiencing the MRT subway or BTS Skytrain is strange and exciting. The MRT currently passes through many major and famous tourist attractions in Bangkok such as Kamphaeng Phet (near Chatuchak market), Sukhumvit (near Terminal 21 shopping mall),... Therefore to save money, travel time as well as avoid traffic jams when using road transport, tourists or locals here will choose MRT or BTS to move.

The fifth day of our journey is going home. The end of my first trip abroad was wonderful and colorful, I was able to experience, learn about the culture and was lost in a new land. It is also a pity that on this trip we have not been able to visit the Royal Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, the largest and most famous temple complex in Bangkok. If you have the opportunity and arrange your time, quickly explore and tell us about your experiences in this land of “the Golden Buddha Temple”.