Travelling alone in Thailand (Bangkok and Pattaya).

 

Lumphini Park in Bangkok

 This article will mainly describe my experiences with travelling and living in Bangkok and Pattaya, as they are the 2 places I have basically lived in while staying in Thailand.

Pattaya Beach.

Pala Beach, Ban Chang.

I have stayed for some weeks also in Ban Chang, close to Rayong. Very quiet, yet attractive area with lovely nature.

People have different reasons for travelling to Thailand. And different backgrounds.

Some come for business, buying cheap but usually also quality items that they export to their own country. I have done that for many years, and yes: business is quite easy to do in Thailand once you have established the right connections, found the good markets etc.
 
Some come with a lot of money to spend on a luxurious holiday for a couple of weeks. This is the place for you guys!

Many guys go to Thailand for the sexual activities one might enjoy there, if one has cash, that is.

Some people come alone, trying to find wife material. Probably not such a good idea, to be honest. It depends of course on your ability to make sound judgments, it depends from where you come, how old you are etc.
Yes, many thai women are sexy, but most of them do not speak English, so how will you be able to find good wife material?
NOT in the sex industry areas of Bangkok and Pattaya, that is for sure.

Some just want to live in Thailand for long periods, as the weather is warm and sunny, renting quality rooms with swimming pool are very affordable, the food is just fantastic, the infrastructure is very well developped, there is good internet connection, good hospitals etc etc.

I have done that for a couple of years, basically living in Jomtien, outside Pattaya. Very nice place, but it can be lonely and dangerous. There are so many professional hustlers, even though I also met some very nice thai people, of course.
But be prepared to expect the worst, hoping for the best. And be careful with your money, man!

If you are like me, just want to go there without any friends already living there, trying to find some woman that might become your wife, you are in a quite dangerous and difficult mission that might turn out to fail big time!

I must admit that as I have no Thai girlfriend/partners in my life, except for a couple of short lived attempts in later years, I have always found it challenging to get around in Thailand. My first trip to the country was back in April 2008, so that is 10 years ago.

Getting there

Bangkok City is probably where you will arrive at, via air travel. It has 2 airports:

Don Muang - the old one - and Suvarnabhumi - the newest one.

UTP airport, one hour's drive from Pattaya, is a new option that I have very good experiences with. It has direct connections to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, several days a week. The airport is small but very effective. Last time I left Thailand from there, it took me only 10 minutes from I stepped out of the taxi until I was checked in!

And the prices for flying those routes with Air Asia are really amazingly cheap!

Most nationals from Western countries at least, can enjoy a 30 day visa free stay in the Kingdom of Thailand. This can be renewed once for another 30 days. Thailand has become more strict in recent years towards people who do not respect their visa regulations, and you might even end up in jail for overstaying. So do not overstay!

At the airports there are of course taxis and buses. Don Muang is quite frankly a messy place in my opinion, and it may be a bit hassle to go from there to Pattaya. There is a bus station not so far from that airport, so you might try to get there with a cheap transportation if you are looking to save some money. But after a probably long flight, maybe with lack of sleep, you really just want to go to your hotel or room asap. So if it is your first time, use a taxi!

Suvarnabhumi Airport is situated outside of Bangkok City, along the highway that goes to Pattaya.

Taxis are there, of course, and again: If you are tired, just get one of those taxis, but insist on them using the meter. Or negotiate the price if you are going for a longer distance than into Bangkok City Center.

From Suvarnabhumi there is a train going into the city centre. This is a very good option, as traffick might be terrible in Bangkok during peak hours. But if you arrive very early or late in the evening, a taxi might be preferred.

Coming to that country for the first time, without any experience and with minimum of pre-planning and investigation, was in many ways a shock for me.

At the time I was not informed about what to do, where to go etc.
I just wanted to get away from Norway, and actually I was interested in trying to find a good girlfriend there.

So I booked a room randomly in Bangkok, in a small family run pension house not too far from Hua Lampong train station. Very cheap, yes, but location location location!
It turned out to be a bad choice. The place was in a very boring environment. I was basically walking around, trying to get to know the place, and to buy some sun glasses and some T-shirts.

The HUGE problem in Thailand is that virtually NOBODY you meet in the street or in local shops and eateries understand English. Not even yes or no!

So - after spending several hours trying to find a T-shirt and reasonably priced sun glasses, I chose to take a so called Tuk-Tuk (a 3-wheeled small mini car that are often driven by scammers). I ended up in a huge open air market where they sold tonnes of T-shirts. So I finally got myself some high quality stuff at a good price.

While walking around in China Town, I realized that in that area they do mostly sell stuff for wholesale buyers. So in one area, there would be shoes, sandals and ... that's it!
In another area there will be ladies bags, and ... that's it.

Menus and most info are also written in Thai language when you are not in the tourist hot spot areas, and since they use their own alphabet, you can just forget about trying to understand or remember something as what meal to choose.

So I asked a taxi driver to take me to some entertainment venue. He took me to a lousy Karaoke bar not so far from my pension room. Taxi drivers do not usually understand English, and also they will most likely get a comission from the place they bring you too.

At least one of the girls working there spoke some English. But of course the place ripped me off financially.
Before I came to Thailand, I travelled on multiple trips to Bali, Indonesia. There, almost everybody spoke at least some words of English. They were very friendly and talkative. Their alphabet is latin, and many words of the Indonesian main language - Bahasa Indonesia - are of Dutch origin. Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony.

Now being alone in Bangkok, having no friends, nor any clue about how to get around, I took a Tuk Tuk to go around looking for some shopping possibilities. The driver asked if I wanted a girl. I said: It would be nice to meet a woman, yes, to have a friend. In his broken English he then took me to another part of Bangkok, and suddenly I was inside a Brothel, called Happy House. There were around 12-15 women inside, clothed in bikinis, having number tags on their person.

I told the boss that I was alone and needed company. A woman who could stay with me for some days, and she should be able to speak English to some extent.

To make a long story short, I ended up renting a nice, charming 36 years old hooker. When she saw my place where I stayed, she said: This place is very simple, no air con, and far from every thing. So she brought me to the same street where I picked her up, and I got a nice room with AC, bath tub, TV, a small Refridgerator, nice towles, bed etc. For a very decent price, at the time. And it was in walking distance from the so called Sky Train, all kinds of entertainment and restaurants.

A typical room in the hotel I found, today called Asia Inn.

In soi 1 there are some thai restaurants, but if you walk down to soi 3 and beyond, you will find yourself immersed in an area with many Middle Eastern restaurants, nicely blended with all kind of international cuisine.

Enjoying Libanese food in Bamboo restaurant, in soi 3.

Bangladesh restaurant in soi 1, close to the big Bumrungrad Hospital.

One of the water canals that are an important mode of transporting people on in Bangkok. This is walking distance from soi 1 and soi 3.

Soi 4

That place became my favorite destination for my many returns to Bangkok.  Close to an area called Nana. This is an important entertainment area for people who like to visit go-go bars, and maybe find a hooker. Just understand that in this area, the girls inside and outside of those bars, are hookers. No decent serious woman will be there flirting with you. Forget it! They are there to make cash.

Soi 4

When walking along the Sukhumvit Road from soi 1 (soi = side road), you will have an Middle Eastern inspired area on the left side from soi 3 and down some sois. On the right side you have soi 4, that will mostly cater to Western tourists who like to watch the ladies and ladyboys of the night.

Nana Plaza is called "The World's largest Adult Playground" according to the sign at the entrance.

So that elegant and friendly thai lady took care of me, and I was finally getting started to explore Bangkok.
Without her, I would really be in a hard situation, lost in the big city.


Then after some days, I asked her to go with me to a beach resort, and I had heard about Pattaya, so I said: Let's go there.

I was on a budget, but many Asian ladies do not really worry about a man's budget, so in stead of helping me travelling there by bus, we took a taxi.

In Bangkok there are many taxis, some are good, some are not so good (I talk now about the driver's attitude, language skills and honesty levels.) But if you insist on them starting the taxameter, the price will be pleasant for most tourists.
If you plan to travel in Thailand for the first time, it can be a good idea to contact a Traveller's Agent, which there are plenty of in the touristy areas. They can get you the whole trip, including taxi /private car, bus, air tickets etc.

If you find a taxi driver that you like, and trust, you can ask him about the price for going to another city or whatever you want to do: Visiting sights, temples, zoos, shopping areas etc.

I have a good friend whom I met back in 2009 in Bangkok. He was at the time a Tuk-Tuk driver, and later drove taxi. We have a very good friendship, so it IS possible to find good guys there, of course.

My friend Pairoj and his GF visiting me in Ban Chang. We are really good friends for many years.

If you want to travel cheap and safely from Nana area, you can either take a taxi, a public bus or use the Sky Train until you reach Ekamai station, which is a Bus station with big aircon buses going to Pattaya, amongst other destinations.

If you land at the newest Airport in Bangkok, called Suvarmabhuni, there are direct buses that also go to Jomtien.

There is, as I wrote above, a former military airport between Rayong and Pattaya, that has recently opened up for commercial flights with Air Asia, that connects you to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

It is a small but very cozy airport. Jump on a minibus that will take you to your hotel destination in Jomtien or Pattaya. A taxi will take around 1 hour going to Jomtien, a bit more to Pattaya.

The price for using a taxi (some of them do not have taxi ID) will cost around 1000 baht.

Let's go back to my first trip back in 2008. After a couple of days in Pattaya, Beach Road soi 6, my rental GF left me there because she wanted to go home to her family to celebrate Songkran - Thai New Year.

So there I was placed in the very heart of Pattaya, sin city. Trying to find a good girlfriend turned out to be very stupid of me in that area, and my money just ran out here and there and everywhere.

Of course, those people are there to make money, and they are very professional doing so. Their time and attention cost money, almost like if they put on a taxameter.

Now, Songkran in soi 6 in Pattaya was not really something I appreciated.

There were hords of foreigners, and some thai people, who threw buckets of water on people, included myself. Also they used big water guns and canons to harass others. I did not know anything about this before I arrived, and I was really angry, because they could easily have destroyed me video camera, my phone, my passport etc. that I usually carried with me.

And being in the hottest season, I saw on the Asian weather forecasts on Cable TV that the temperature in Bangkok was 38 degrees celsius, while in Bali it was 28.

So - after first considering the Philippines, I jumped on he first plane and went to Bali.

There I had friends already, and people were not ripping me off like in Thailand. So my budget was saved. I even found a girl, but it later turned out that she had at least 2 other foreign boyfriends, one from Italy and one from UK.

Getting around alone in Indonesia is MUCH easier than in Thailand. I have been to both places for long periods later on, mostly in Bangkok for business, but in later years I lived in Jomtien, close to Pattaya for almost 2 years.

But I must admit, I still find it very challenging to travel, getting around in Thailand, due to the language barriers. I did learn a few thai words, so I could communicate at some level with the locals, but again: very difficult.

If you live in a place like the Pattaya area, you are surrounded by Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Germans, French etc, and guys from USA and Canada.
In addition to that, you are also surrounded by Russians (who do not understand English very well), Indians, Africans (basically hookers) and so many people from all over the world.

The rental market is very attractive in Jomtien area, so you can rent a decent studio or condo fully furnished for a super low price if you go in for a long term rental. You might even strike a good deal with a hotel if you plan to stay one month or longer. I have found a nice, modern hotel in Jomtien that offered me a room between 6500 and 8000 baht per MONTH. That is a fantastic price! One night cost 850 baht there, so you can easily save a load of cash by negotiating. And that price includes towels and bed linen being changed, soap, electricity, Cable TV, WiFi and a good modern room with good furnitures, even a fridge if you ask for it. And if I stay there, I have access to use a very nice swimming pool located 1 km away, by the beach road.

Here are some pictures of the studio condo I rented for one and a half year in Jomtien. It was fully furnished, but some of the items were outdated you might say. And the building is not in superb condition when it comes to floors etc. But I paid only 1000 NOK per month (4000 baht).

The bed was very large and comfortable. There was a spilt Aircon that did its job. Good fridge. Hot shower. Towels and bed linen included. I was happy about staying there. The kitchen was out on the balcony.

In Pattaya it is great to get around, renting a motorcycle and visit beaches, shopping malls, islands, all kinds of activities really. It is a tourist machine, so getting around in that area is ok. But the taxis in Pattaya do NOT have a meter, so they will basically try to rip you off!
That is why I prefer to rent my own motorbike.
Be aware! Some motorcycle rentals might try to scam you by claiming that you damaged the vehicle, while the truth is that the damage was already there when you got it. So ask around if some other people who know those companies, can recommend a trust worthy one.

Also, I will NOT advice you to rent a jet ski in Pattaya, as they are criminals who will force you to pay for damages that you never inflicted on that jet ski.

If you do NOT wish to drive your own vehicle, it will be a good idea to find a room that is close to the beach road, as there are a constant flow of pick up passenger cars that will take you along the coastal area for a very small cash.