Exploring Another Side of Bangkok is an occasional series of not-so-touristy places explored by Peace Corps Thailand Group 135 YinD volunteer TJ Norris.
TJ Norris, 135 YinD
Bangkok is a sprawling city of 11.2 million residents and, according to Statista.com international, visitors in 2024 totaled 35.55 million. As Peace Corps volunteers planning our first trip to Bangkok, we were full of excitement – the Grand Palace, ICON Siam, jazz clubs, roof-top bars, Khao San Road, wats, and river cruises. The list goes on.
As Peace Corps volunteers making a 5th or 6th trip to Bangkok (medical appointments, visits by friends from America, meetings and conferences at post, passing through to someplace else), it’s not that the excitement has waned, but the usual places don’t seem that new anymore.
So, with that in mind, fellow PCV/husband and I decided to start exploring the different neighborhoods of Bangkok.
Our most recent trip had us in the city for Valentine’s Day weekend and then heading out by bus to work with a new group of volunteers and visit our PST host family. We positioned ourselves in the Taling Chan district, close to the Sai Tai Mai bus station, and out of bustling downtown.
The hotel, Sunkiss, was more than we could have imagined. The pool was remarkable, being lined with swaying palm trees. The bed was comfortable and the staff recalled exactly what our morning tea and coffee order was. Towels for the pool were hand-delivered in wicker baskets. The feeling was that of being on one of the islands and not in a city bigger than New York.
Without a car, we relied on Grab and our walking abilities. Our first adventure was a walk, less than a kilometer from the hotel, to a Thai restaurant for dinner. We entered and saw we were the only non-Thai people in the place. The owner came over to confirm that we understood this was a restaurant and not a (fill in the blank.) This clearly told us we were outside the tourist area — just the atmosphere we were looking for. The food was terrific-authentic, of course, highly spiced, and reasonably priced.
The next stop was a Saturday night dinner at Eleven Craft Brewery. I remember the name because we asked if we could have a couple of coasters as a souvenir; it’s something we do. The beer was cold and plentiful. Again, the service was outstanding. We were lucky enough to be there on a night with some local music. A daughter/father duo played ’80’s American pop songs. We knew them all and sang along. Also luckily, there were not a lot of other patrons there at that time to be disturbed by our out-of-tune voices.
As we walked back toward the hotel, we stopped at the Sai Tai Central night market.
It is huge, clean, not too crowded, and has everything imaginable. I was amazed to see a couple of stalls for massages, manicures, and tattoos plus the clothes, the traditional foods — and my favorite — some great desserts. It was maybe the best night market we’ve experienced.
On our last night in town, we opted to taxi to a pizza place a few kilometers away. The owner of Piccololo Sourdough Pizza lived and worked in Boston for a few years. She was so curious about what brought us to Thailand and how we found her 12-seat restaurant. Doesn’t matter how we found it, we were simply glad we did.
Overall, the experience gave us the chance to know Bangkok on a more intimate level. It’s the little neighborhoods that make the city, not the big-name tourist sites. We’re really looking forward to our next visit.
Sticky Rice 