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 (194 votes)

Submitted by Roblox on Mon, 07/09/2020 - 16:42

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Why you more focused on giving questions on the set of the location. I don't see here that it will help us to improve our reading.

Hello Roblox,

Thanks for your feedback.

There are many skills involved in reading and we try to include a range of these in the tasks we provide for each text. Some tasks are focused on searching for specific information in a text, others on interpreting the author's meaning, others on vocabulary, others on style etc.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Rinaa on Thu, 03/09/2020 - 19:57

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Yes, I would love to visit Bangkok. It's a huge city with many interesting places to see. Its well knows for cheap and delicious street food and historical temples. Also these days, travel companies are offering attractive prices for visiting Bangkok.

Submitted by katyatorres on Thu, 03/09/2020 - 03:02

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Yes, I would like to visit this interesting country one day, it's complety rich in culture.

Submitted by Suane Alves on Tue, 01/09/2020 - 19:02

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No, I wouldn't like to visit Bangkok, it is not site that I would like to visit now, but I love to taste different foods and, of course, Thai food I really want to taste. But it may be that in the future I may visit

Submitted by Sai Minn on Mon, 24/08/2020 - 09:32

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Of course, I would like to visit Bangkok. Actually I have never been to Bangkok but I've heard it's an amazing place to visit when you are in Thailand.

Submitted by julerh12 on Sun, 23/08/2020 - 10:22

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I would like to visit Thailand because its a country that I've never been too, I would like to taste their food and Also I would like to visit the zoo where you can see and touch the snakes.

Submitted by RAHMAN JIAUR on Sun, 23/08/2020 - 06:51

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Bangkok is a most wonderful city of Thailand. There are many awesome tample. Also there are most taste food. Onday I'll visit Thailand after covid- 19

Submitted by melisong56 on Wed, 19/08/2020 - 15:05

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Actually, I planned to visit Bangkok on March 2020 but it got cancelled due to corona virus pandemic. As far as I know by looking at traveler recommendation, Bangkok is a must-visit city for travelling! The city is amazing, with many beautiful temples, and we can experience a modern vibes in this city. The other reason is their street foods! With the cheap price and good taste of most of their foods, Thailand could maybe be the one of the country which has the best street food in the world.

Submitted by Re on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 06:38

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Hello. I'd like to visit Bangkok. It's about a 6-7 hour flight from Japan. There is no need to worry about jet lag, as the time difference is only 2 hours from Japan. I want to see night view and the Wat Saman Rattanaram. It is said that if you make a wish on the statue of your birth day of the week, your wish will be granted three times faster. Therefore, I want to make a wish. In addition, I want to eat Bangkok food. There are many things I want to do in Bangkok.