I gotta say, this is incredibly late to post this story about my trip in Bangkok, but since I already made a promise, here is the blogpost! I went to Bangkok on the beginning of May 2017. Actually it was a very sudden plan since I needed vacation after months of working on a long project for work.

This was possibly the most unplanned and spontaneous overseas trip I've ever done. I usually arrange my itinerary way before the day comes, but because of my work (and it just finished one day before my departure) I couldn't make it. I only had few places in mind to visit but there's no further plan for them.

My next destination: Bangkok, Thailand!

It kinda made me nervous since I planned to visit Bangkok, Thailand as first timer. I was also pretty sure the language barrier would be my main issue there. So everything's done spontaneously when I arrived.

I took morning flight, which I went to airport at 5.00 am. After had quick breakfast, I went straight to the check in counter then waited for my flight. I chose connecting flight since it was cheaper than the others, but I still got high price for May 5th and 8th. From Jakarta to Bangkok, I chose Malindo Air with 1 transit in Kuala Lumpur.

I was surprised when I got drink and snack during my flight, like "Is this for real??", because when I went to Singapore I didn't get any beverage for free. CGK-KUL is also close. I got orange juice, pizza, and brownie! Wow!


KUL Terminal 2 is huge. It's clean and looking so good. I waited 3 hours for my flight to Bangkok, and it was totally worth it. The waiting room at first was very quiet, it was like having my private room, haha.


Again, during my flight to Bangkok, I got snack and free flow drink! Seriously, I was amazed. It's the similar snack but I didn't mind. Anyway thanks to free snack, I was able to have lunch on KUL since I didn't have any Ringgit Malaysia on my pocket.

I arrived at Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok. When I was on the immigration gate, dude, it was so freaking crowded.

Before I left the airport, I bought local SIM card first. I chose to use local SIM card because it's much cheaper. The conversion from IDR to THB wasn't too far, I'd say it's almost the same. I went to AIS SIM Card counter then buy the traveler SIM card only for 399 THB, it's for 4GB data and 14 days of active days. I needed more internet data since I knew I would use Google Maps very often.

By the way, I recommend AIS if you are planning to go to Bangkok, the internet is fast. Don't forget to prepare your passport, because you need to show passport then the attendant copies it to get the SIM card.

After that I went outside from the arrival terminal, then.... "Oh damn."


I was confused which bus I should take to go to Chinatown since my hostel was there. The language, oh man... I wasn't ready for it. Possibly seeing me as a confused tourist, thankfully an airport staff helped me to explain which bus I needed to take and after that I continued to reach Chinatown by MRT.

The MRT is great. Since I didn't have any MRT pass I needed to buy one ticket to go from Chatucak to the closest MRT station to Chinatown, Hua Lamphong. It cost me 42 THB. Actually I didn't get a ticket, it was more like round token.


My first impression about Bangkok? It really reminded me of Jakarta, hahaha. The traffic was pretty similar but in a better way, I guess. But if talking about the surroundings, this city is quite comparable to Bandung, which I love it!

Talking about public transportation, I am so surprised how cheap it is. The shuttle bus from Don Mueang Airport to nearest MRT station (in this case, Chatuchak Park) only cost me 30 Baht; it's around IDR 11K or USD 1. This rate is applied wherever your stop is. What I really like, the system is so simple yet organized: bus only makes stop on signed bus shuttle.

I walked for 10 minutes from Hua Lamphong Station to my hostel at Chinatown. It's called "Bunny Burrow Hostel". I found it on booking.com and I was quite curious about the hostel. Actually I reserved another hostel before, but after checked more about the transportation around it, it was too far. Thankfully I could cancel without any fee and I could choose my current hostel.

It's a new hostel, I could see from all the furniture and facilities. Mostly were brand new. I also liked the concept, it was like a capsule and I'd like to have privacy while resting.


Even though I was tired as hell after quite long flight of Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok (I never thought having connecting flight actually drained so much energy), I decided to take a walk and visit a place. Done with unpacking, I searched the best route to reach Asiatique Riverfront. Then I took a bus to get there. Bus stops were very close from my hostel so it was easier for me to go somewhere. It was kinda funny because I took the right bus but I chose the wrong route so I gotta pay double.

Why Asiatique Riverfront? It's the closest public attraction which opened until midnight and I was curious about the ferris-wheel, hahaha. Actually I wanted to see the skyline of Bangkok at night.


I gotta say, it was quite hard to take pictures of the skyline since the ferris-wheel kept moving fast. Also, my body trembled because I had great fear of heights. I freaked out, screamed, and panicked as the ferris-wheel went higher and higher. At this point I really wish I weren't alone because I couldn't handle my fear. But slowly I could relax, tried to enjoy Bangkok skyline and the view of Chao Praya River.



Okay, things were getting more interesting after I left Asiatique Riverfront. Since it was around 10 pm, I couldn't find any bus to go back to my hostel. I just kept walking and walking... Until I saw a food stall. It served seafood and I was curious to try. I looked at the menu then showed the cook which food I wanted to order. I couldn't speak English to her since she didn't understand, so body language was the best option that time.


I waited for my food, then when it came... The shrimps were raw. Completely raw. I dazed for a moment. Apparently I ordered food that was actually a salad. I really made a dumb decision. So I approached the cook, then her friend tried to help me. I used Google Translate to tell what I meant, but he also didn't understand Thai because he's Cambodian.

The next thing I knew, he took my food then came back in a minute. The shrimps were finally boiled! 😂😂 In the end I could eat something that night; I haven't eaten anything that day!

After having late dinner, I continued walking to my hostel. In the end, I walked 3,7 km in the middle of night in Bangkok where the streets were very quiet. Many stores were already closed. I was worried something awful could happen since I didn't know the place very well. Fortunately I could hit my hostel and nothing bad happened.

Day 1 in Bangkok was tiring but surprisingly fun!