A travel guide

A travel guide

Read a travel guide about Bangkok to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Whether you're travelling to the islands or the mountains of Thailand, you're likely to spend at least one night in its capital city on the way. Bangkok might be noisy and polluted but it's also an exciting city with plenty of things to see and do. Why not make it a longer stay?

Where to stay

The Khao San Road was a famous traveller spot even before Leonardo di Caprio's character in the film The Beach stayed there. But it's noisy, not very pretty and not very Thai. For something more authentic, Phra Kanong offers an alternative place to stay, with its fantastic street markets where everyday Bangkok people eat, work and live. It's not as convenient for the main tourist sites, but it has a Skytrain station so you can be at the Grand Palace in 20 minutes.

How to get around

Bangkok's traffic can be a nightmare. Sure, you can easily take a taxi – if you want to spend hours stuck in traffic jams – but there are two much better ways to get around the city. To explore the temples and historical sites, catch an express boat river taxi or a longtail boat along the Chao Phraya river and the canals. For the modern part of the city, the Skytrain is a fast, cheap way to travel from the river to the shopping malls and nightlife of Sukhumvit, and the famous Chatuchak street market.

Where to eat

The simple answer is: everywhere! Thai street food is among the best in the world, and for around $5 you can eat a filling and delicious meal. Some food stands have little plastic seats where you can sit and eat and they cook the same dish over and over, like fried chicken on rice or Pad Thai noodles. Head for Chinatown – Yaowarat Street – and choose whatever looks most interesting from the many excellent Chinese and Thai restaurants and food stands.  

What to do

After you've seen the main sites like the Giant Buddha at the temple of Wat Pho and the spectacular Grand Palace, and shopped at Chatuchak market, check out the snake farm and watch the live snake show. You can even touch a snake yourself if you want to!

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Average: 4.1 (210 votes)

Submitted by Olena on Tue, 11/02/2020 - 20:45

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Wow! It’s really interesting!

Submitted by Nguyetlouis on Sat, 08/02/2020 - 04:40

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I would like to visit Bangkok because it has many similar things like my country: good food, specially street food culture ; tropical climate which usually make me feel very pleasant, and last but not need, the beauty of gold temple here, i'll really take lots of photographs of them and send them to my friends. Wait for me, the country of smile
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Submitted by mtalebi on Sat, 11/01/2020 - 05:46

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Yes, I would like to visit Bangkok. It has a lot of things such as beaches, new foods, historical sites, different culture.

Submitted by Fikymaulana on Sat, 28/12/2019 - 09:12

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I haven't visit to thailand yet. But my friend told me that thailand is one of the best holiday destination. The food, gift are cheaper than other even with Bali. And particulary the nightlife, He added.

Submitted by Yeasman on Mon, 25/11/2019 - 15:09

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I would like to stay in Bangkok because it is beautiful city where I can eat something special and visit many places

Submitted by Maksmatt on Mon, 25/11/2019 - 10:11

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I would like to visit Bangkok. This must be a great experience to stay there for some days; i think 3 or 4 days might be enough.

Submitted by Ali Hussein on Fri, 22/11/2019 - 21:11

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Yes I'd like to stay in banghok ,why? the answer is easy : First of all ,visiting a place which contains too many historical places with low cost is very tempting . Also visiting the city sites using a boat is sound a lot of fun , the most annoying thing may be much traffic but as the passage suggest , there are many solution to overcome this .
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Submitted by Smiley1 on Thu, 14/11/2019 - 03:57

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I've never been to Bangkok. All I know about the country is.... there are many Buddhism monks wearing orange clothes who are highly respected by the people; hot meals; bustling streets; people speak Thai which sounds like "ping pong pang" to me. ;)

Submitted by HelianG on Wed, 13/11/2019 - 21:18

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personally I do not like crowded places,and bangkok seem like a very crowded place I would rather go to silent places like mountains,I do not like to be surrounded of a lot of people.

Submitted by Angelica castillo on Wed, 30/10/2019 - 23:59

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I would like to see Bangkok sound like a fun city that has nothing to hide, although I don't know if I would like to take a Skytrain because I usually get dizzy.