Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just got back from Bangkok this week...loved it! Super inexpensive, very nice people, delicious food, incredible shopping everywhere, and the best massages anywhere!!!! I will go back!
Bangkok is one of the world's great cities. And fortunately for millions of visitors, it doesn't have to cost a small fortune. Anyway, there's great food of every type, people from all over, and it's fairly easy to get around. Taxis, subways, buses, elevated trains, etc. Just be prepared for oppressive heat and humidity certain times of year, and flooding during the August-October time period.
I agree it is one of the greatest and most iconic cities in the world. Very large, with a population close to New York City, busy, lively and cosmopolitan.
Fantastic restaurants, good shopping, interesting museums, entertainment and night life, friendly people, etc.
In many ways I prefer Bangkok to Singapore, Tokyo or even Hong Kong. Why? Because Bangkok has a much more colorful history and more varied architecture. Bangkok is a Royal city ... a city of palaces, monuments, and temples. As a royal city, you might encounter pageantry ... certainly traditional ceremony and rituals. To some degree Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore are trying to be an Asiatic New York ... Bangkok is more like London and Paris to me.
As mentioned above, the heat can be oppressive and uncomfortable. The traffic can be nightmarish. Some of the business owners and store clerks can be pushy. Although very safe as big cities go, crime is not unknown ... usually they are "crimes of opportunity."
I agree it is one of the greatest and most iconic cities in the world. Very large, with a population close to New York City, busy, lively and cosmopolitan.
Fantastic restaurants, good shopping, interesting museums, entertainment and night life, friendly people, etc.
In many ways I prefer Bangkok to Singapore, Tokyo or even Hong Kong. Why? Because Bangkok has a much more colorful history and more varied architecture. Bangkok is a Royal city ... a city of palaces, monuments, and temples. As a royal city, you might encounter pageantry ... certainly traditional ceremony and rituals. To some degree Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore are trying to be an Asiatic New York ... Bangkok is more like London and Paris to me.
As mentioned above, the heat can be oppressive and uncomfortable. The traffic can be nightmarish. Some of the business owners and store clerks can be pushy. Although very safe as big cities go, crime is not unknown ... usually they are "crimes of opportunity."
Just my opinion.
Yah
Actually I also cannot make decision between working in Singapore or Bangkok but I kinda Like Bangkok more because they gave me a feeling of historical and very beautiful temple. But what I most scare is that the communication. If in singapore they can speak English.
Have been to Bangkok several times and these posts are accurate. Friendly people, great food and relatively inexpensive.
Downsides are hot and humid weather (100%) and some con artists are around (be careful).
Well to work and live I'd rather be in Singapore (more expat-friendly in these respects), but BKK is an hour and half flight away--a flight which I would be taking quite frequently.
Well to work and live I'd rather be in Singapore (more expat-friendly in these respects), but BKK is an hour and half flight away--a flight which I would be taking quite frequently.
you have lived in Singapore before?
I am now already work in Bangkok. But face a lot of communication problems.
more like outside when I want to call taxi or ask for direction. this is very hard to get an understand answer.
How long do you plan to live in Bangkok?
I think you mentioned somewhere that you work in the Sukhumvit Road Area. That's a very long road. Do you work in the heart of the business district (lower number sois)? That would be from Soi 1 to Soi Asoke. Or farther out (higher number sois)? A lot of the taxi drivers in the business district of Sukhumvit Road speak English well enough for communication. If you're at work and you know where you want to go, you can ask a Thai co-worker to write the information in Thai for you. That way you can just hand it to the taxi driver. Also, try to collect business cards from stores, shops and hotels. They are often written in both Thai and English. Again, that makes it easy for a taxi driver to know where you want to go.
Since you feel that communication seems to be a problem, you might want to buy a good English to Thai phrase book and a small English to Thai dictionary. You can always use these books to show what you're talking about. That might help a little bit. It's not too difficult to learn a few common Thai phrases that are useful for everyday communication. You can find some good ones at Asia Books or DK Book. You can google their locations in Bangkok.
You could also consider taking a class to try to learn the language. Even if you don't learn the language well, it can help to better understand some of the broken English (it's often because of their accent). For example, when a Thai says "apple", it often comes out as "appun". Once you learn a few basic Thai phrases, that can help make things a lot easier for you. A couple of other ways to learn the language (in your spare time) is to buy a Thai language course on CDs. Or, there are also small electronic translators that you can carry with you that might help. Some have speech, and some are just written. I'm not sure where they are sold, but you could ask at the book stores where you can find them. At a guess, I would think you could probably find electronic translators for sale at Panthip Plaza. Panthip Plaza sells a lot of computer and electronic things.
Maybe I simply hang around the tourist areas too much, but most of the time I find that the Thais working there can speak a little English. And so can most of the tourists, even those from Europe. English seems to the the default language, other than Thai. Of course, you don't have to go too far off the beaten path to find that you're in an area where everybody speaks just Thai. I suppose knowing a few Thai phrases wouldn't hurt.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
