MANILA, Philippines—Filipino families usually take advantage of travel packages and bring the whole family along on the trip. But when I got the chance to go to another country without my family, I grabbed at it.
For 11 days, my friends and I were in Thailand for the World’s Universities Debating Championship. It was the first time most of us spent the New Year away from home, and for some, their first time to travel abroad without their dads to help carry their bags or moms to make sure tickets didn’t get lost.
After the New Year’s celebration (which was tamer than what we have in the Philippines—less fireworks) my friends and I decided to wander around Bangkok. But first, we took in a bit of culture.
Unlike the Philippines, Thailand is a Buddhist country. We went to the Wat Po temple where the Reclining Buddha is. To get there we had to take the LRT and then a river boat. (A tip: If you’re only visiting one temple, opt for the cheaper river boat fare. If you’re temple-hopping, however, splurge on the 120 baht Tourist River Boat.)
The giant Reclining Buddha is made of gold and spans the whole length of the temple proper. The soles of its feet are made of mother-of-pearl and has the whorls of a toe print. It’s the most detailed statue I have ever seen.
When we got to the temple, there were people lighting incense sticks, hitting a gong and sticking gold leaf into smaller replicas of the Buddha—their way of asking blessings from the Buddha for the New Year, I suppose. It must have been slightly disconcerting that there were a lot of us tourists going there to take pictures while the religious were praying. We were intruding on their space, and that knowledge didn’t make us feel the serenity of the temple.
Take note that if you’re going to visit a temple or the Grand Palace, wear decent clothing like a sleeved shirt and jeans (no leggings!). And socks, since temples require you to take off your shoes.
From the temple, it was back to the LRT, the fastest way to get around traffic-filled Bangkok. With the aid of a map, it’s easy to navigate the stations and streets to get around the city. Taxis charge 20-120 baht and tuktuks often rip tourists off, so the LRT is better.
Mall people
Shopping is one of the main attractions of downtown Bangkok. Like Filipinos, the Thais are also mall people. I was afraid the stores would be closed because it was a holiday, but my fear was unfounded. There’s no rest for the weary shopper even here, it seems.
We started at MBK, a mall in the center of Bangkok that caters to slightly upscale bargain hunters, and one of the more well-known malls in the city. Think of this place as Greenhills, where you can haggle for lower prices. There are two food courts in this mall, the International Food Alley and a local one.
We ate at the International Food Alley thinking that it was better to eat at a slightly more expensive place after eating tournament food for four days straight. But I wished we had tried the cheaper place, too. Still 80 bucks for Pho is pretty cheap, since you get the same in Manila for 120.
We got the popular “Miss ______” shirts for about P160 each and statement shirts for 99 baht each. My friend Erika bought dresses for P200+.
Near MBK is the Siam Center complex. Consisting of three malls connected by bridges (Siam Center, Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery Center), this mall is the Power Plant or Shangri-La of Thai malls. Siam Center is known for trendy clothing, with slightly lower prices than its sister malls because it mainly caters to students from nearby Chulalongkorn University.
Siam Paragon is a different story. It’s the only mall I’ve been to that has a car dealership inside. And, take note, it was for Porsche.
We got curious about this mall after a friend texted us that the grocery at Siam Paragon had really good free-taste stuff. Ever the patay-gutom, we wanted to try it out. But knowing that we’d only run out of money in a mall like Siam Paragon, especially with a Kinokuniya inside which is like Fully Booked except with a wider variety of titles, we opted to go instead to Suan-Lum Night Market to meet up with our other friends.
Suan-Lum is an interesting place, mainly because it’s two whole blocks of stalls. The market has a wide variety of wares ranging from hip clothes to paper lamps and Thai souvenirs.
Being Filipino had an advantage here, as my friends Erika and Biboy found out. Before they could even ask for discounts, the sellers already offered them.
It was different in my case. As I was buying Muay Thai shorts for my brother, the guy selling the shorts asked if I was a Filipino. When I said yes, he replied, “Ah Pacquiao ha. He’s good.”
Still, while the seller was a Pacquiao fan, I didn’t get a bigger discount!
Although Chatuchak Market has a wider range of merchandise, it closes at 6 p.m., while Suan-Lum is open until late at night. Plus, it has many stalls that sell traditional Thai crafts. Buy your thesis adviser a box of mahogany chopsticks or your sister fans with incense scents. Your dad or boyfriend will definitely love getting a genuine Thai silk tie, while mom would really appreciate a pashmina.
After that New Year’s Day in Bangkok, we were whisked away to sunny Pattaya, some three hours from the capital, for the final series of the tournament. Pattaya is a beach resort town that offers relatively cheaper options than other famous beaches in Thailand.
I didn’t like the beach much in Pattaya. I still prefer our own beaches, but maybe that’s just because I’m more used to our sand and water.
Local delicacies
Tanning and swimming (and yes, catching the debates, too) were not the only things we did in Pattaya. My tournament roommate Jessica and I decided to go to a local supermarket to buy some local delicacies. Going there was a challenge since we really looked like tourists and didn’t know how to negotiate getting a ride from a pickup truck or jeep.
Fortunately, we met a woman vacationing from Kazakhstan who was nice enough to haggle for us and even offered to share a cab with us going back to the hotel.
Before our return flight to Manila, we decided to go back to Bangkok and do a little bit more sightseeing. This time we went to Pratunam Complex.
Pratunam Complex is exactly like 168, but the trick to get lower prices here is to buy more of one product. Items are limited, but at night the stalls spill into the streets and the sellers bring out their best stuff. Even better, when night falls, prices go down considerably.
It was definitely an experience going abroad with just friends as company. At least it was something I got to do before I graduated. And I hope that my insights on Bangkok shopping and sightseeing can be of help when you and your friends get the deal of a lifetime and travel abroad, too.
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