help on getting around in Bangkok
 

Hello everyone who can help me!!

I am a 31 year old woman from Denmark and I am planning a trip to volunter at the Tiger Temple at Kanchanaburi. I have never been to Thailand, and I have never travelled alone outside Europe so I am a bit concerned about managing such a long trip myself. I am trying to figure out how to get to the Southern Bus Terminal, where busses to Kanchanaburi leaves from. I have read that the busride to Kanchanaburi takes 3 hours and from there I have to take another bus to the Tiger Temple for around 40 min, for then to have to walk 1.5km to the Temple.Is it safe to travel by myself, and is it safe to take a taxi from Kanchanaburi to the temple?? Is it best if I arrive during the day in Bangkok, to stay overnight in a hotel by the airport and start the rest of the trip the next day? I hope I can get a lot of help, as its a bit of a worry for me how I will manage this trip.

looking forward for all replyes.

kind regards

Karina ( kat )

Ooo.....I jealous! We were at the Tiger Temple in January and had such a wonderful time.

We used a guide who goes there frequently - perhaps you could get a ride with her?

Her name is Tong and her email is

[email protected]

She seems to know a lot of the people at the Temple........I'd start with her.

Have a great time!

My kingdom for an edit function

"I'm jealous".......!!

Dear Elizabeth,

thank you so much for your reply and the email for the guide. I will certainly email her!!

Did you just visit the Temple or did you work there also? It would be nice to get in touch with someone who has been on the grounds.

kind reagards

Karina

It is safe to travel alone in Thailand. You can get a taxi from the airport to the bus terminal. If you are arriving late at night, you may want to spend a night in Bangkok, though not necessarily near the airport. Will you have any time to see Bangkok? You might want to plan a few days at the beginning and the end to explore Bangkok.

Tong is a highly recommended guide, but I don't know that you want a guide to get you to Kanchanaburi - that's a rather expensive way to go. You could also get a taxi (or one of the car services) directly from the airport to the Tiger temple.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no "Elizabeth III". Hence, the offer of your Kingdom for an edit function is hereby rejected as premature. I suspect this may be the summer of your discontent.

Dear Katie,

thanks for replying. I am very lucky to have found Fodors!
What would a taxiride from the airport to the temple cost aprox.? Will it not be more expensive than hirring Tong?
Are the taxis safe to take when you are travelling solo as a woman?
I havent planned any days in Bangkok other than probably the days that I will stay when I arrive and leave depending on the flightschedules. Maybe I will plan some more when the time get closer.

thanks a lot!

kind regards

Karina

sorry!! Kathie

must be very tired...its a bit late in Denmark!!

Snuffle Kat (great name!) - we visited the Temple with Tong - here is a link to our blog with pictures

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/2...kok/index.html

Kathie - I was actually thinking Tong might just help with a lift - she likes having people there she knows - gets you to the front of the line faster! (or the baby tigers first before they get grumpy) - I think it's worth asking her.

Gpanda - as I survey my kingdom I fear you are right.

Unfortunately, my "kingdom" can be surveyed with a magnifying glass. But I doth bestride it like a colossus.

Hi Elizabeth!

thank you for the blog. I went in and read about half of it. Its very good and with a lot of humor and the photos are fantastic. And all the photos of the food!! I am so hungry now!! I will read the rest of it tomorrow. Its seems like Tong is great, maybe it would be a good idea for me to use her services if I decide to stay an extra couple of days in Bangkok before I head home. I am getting so excitted now that a lot of my worries are evaporating with all this help!
Snuffle is the name of my domesticated "tiger" and kat are the initials to my name.

Have a nice day or night.

cheers

Karina

Kat, it is safe to take a taxi, but you'd be best off to use one of the car services. It would be less expensive than hiring Tong, but Elizabeth may be right that she might allow you to ride along if she were going that way with some customers. Given that she seems to be booked all the time, it would depend on her schedule.

JamesA, who lives in Thailand recently gave a price quote for a car to Kanchanaburi. I'll see if I can find it for you.

I located the message I was looking for, but it was Michael (not James) who gave this info on taxis from the airport to Kanchanaburi:

"You can convince a taxi to take you just about anywhere, for a price. The question is, why would you want to spend all that time in a car that's generally barely roadworthy? There are a lot of limo services that can take you there. Depending on the size and type of car, Oriental Escape charges 2,400 Baht and up for a one-way transfer."

Oriental Escape is one of many companies that offer this service.

Kat-Tong is a great guide. However, it will cost you about 3000 Baht for a very full day with her. This is about $90 US. She is worth every dime, but there vare much cheaper options for getting to the Tiger Temple. I would use Tong if you wanted a wonderful day in and around Bangkok. For mere transportation, I would consider less expensive options.

Dear Kathie and Gpanda,

thank you very much for all the information. I will keep that in mind about Oriental Escape. And Tong for a day in Bangkok. Afterall its the first time in Thailand so I have to try a lot even if it cost a bit more. I am feeling very reasured from all your responses. So I will sleep well tonight.

Have a nice day everyone!!

cheers

Karina

A cheaper way to get there is to take a taxi to the Southern bus terminal which is located on the Thonburi side of the river. Buses leave every 15 minutes starting at 5.30am and take around 2 hrs. Cost for a 1st class bus is 100 baht or $3. Once in Kanchanaburi hire a taxi to take you to the Tiger Temple.

I agree. I wouldn't hire Tong for just transportation there. You don't need a guide...you just need a ride. I'd hire a car service. You'll be jetlagged to death. I wouldn't want to be bothered with taking public transportation upon arrival. I'd also take the car service during the day. So if you arrive into Bangkok late at night, just stay overnight and then get up the next morning and go there. Plus you have to consider the heat in Thailand if you're not used to it. So,you'd probably be miserable trying to get to a bus station and then take the bus. And don't stay in a hotel near the airport. There are plenty of hotels in town that will be easy to get to. Just have the car service pick you up at one of them the next morning and take you on to Kanchanburi. Before leaving Thailand it would be very good if you could give Bangkok at least 4 full days. It's a fabulous city. When are you going on this trip and how long are you staying?

Jeg haaber at det har hjaelpet dig og ha' en meget god rejse. Menneskerne er meget dejlige i Thailand og det er et meget smukkt lande.Jeg er paa ferie der 2 gange om aaret. Undskylde hvis jeg har skrevet darligt. Ordbogen er hjemme og jeg er paa arbejd. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Guenmai,

And how long has it been since you posted in Danish?? (just to be sure you are not giving the board a bad name, I'm going to have my son translate that tomorrow!) Smiles.

Hi Scotters!,

thanks for that input. Depending on what time I will be arriving in Bangkok and wich state I am in I will either take a bus or a taxi. I am much more reasured now after all this information I have received on Fodors.

cheers

Karina

Dear Guenmai,

thank you for the information. Do you just find the car service outside the airport or is it something you have to book in advance?

I dont know when I will come to Bangkok yet, it depends when Tiger Tempel will have a free spot for me. I think that I will stay a month and a couple of days, because I want to have 3 weeks at the Tempel, and then a few days to travel back and forth and then probably a couple of days to walk around Bangkok. But for that I think that I would want a guide. I am too chicken to walk around all by myself:-) I am pretty sure I can handle the heat as I grew up in Greece and the summertemperatures can get around 40 degrees.

So whats the deal with the danish you wrote? Are you danish or do you just speak the language? Its quiet well writen;-)

Thanks again.

cheers

karina

Guenmai is an international figure, unbound by mere geopolitical norms.

Kat-how did you learn of the Tiger Temple volunteer opportunity?

Snuffle_kat...As for the driver, when you exit the baggage claim area, there is a car service desk unless they have moved it. It's called AOT. You can ask them and try to arrange something with them. You'll have to bargain. I needed a car from the airport to my apartment building in Bangkok and they wanted to charge 1200 baht. A taxi costs 300 baht, but I had a bad knee injury and was in a lot of pain so I needed a private car right away. I told them I could get a taxi for 300 baht, so then their price suddenly dropped to 900 baht for a private car. You have to bargain.

You could also try to contact the service that Kathie mentioned. At least now you have an approximate price of 2400 baht so you can bargain from that price point.About everything is to bargain for in Thailand. If you keep in contact with me, I have a driver that I use and he's supposed to be buying a new car soon if he hasn't already bought one. I had him in Dec 2006/Jan 2007 to get me around with the bad knee although I mostly took the skytrain. I'll be in Bangkok next month for a week. So, I can try to get a hold of him and ask him if he could drive you either from the airport or from a hotel if you overnight in Bangkok. It's always good to have a Plan B and C in Thailand. He's very nice and dependable and speaks quite good English.

As for the Danish, I vacationed in Denmark almost every summer for 20-plus years during the 70s/80/90s. Although I didn't have to learn Danish since many speak English, I got up every morning, summer after summer, and went to school to learn it. Then I did a university degree in it. I haven't really used the language in decades and spelling is slipping my mind, but the language is still there and pops up from time to time and I still occasionally dream in Danish. I'm not Danish although a few years ago, my father called and said that he'd been contacted by a lawyer who was fighting a family land case of ours and that the real spelling of our family name isn't how we've been spelling it fo over a century. We've been using the French spelling as some of our family migrated from France to the States long ago. So, I wrote down the real spelling and my Danish sister...not by blood...was visiting me here for the first time a few years ago and while on a little day trip up to Solvang, Ca, I went into the shop that researches names and found out from their computer search that my last name...the original spelling... is an old form of a modern Danish last name. My Danish sister was jumping up and down and hugging me and saying that maybe we ARE blood related. She was so excited. What a small world. And I had been in that store before with the spelling of my last name that we've always used and in the one million listing of names, it wasn't in the book. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Hi Gpanda,

I found out about it from their webside under HOW CAN YOU HELP
http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/
I first saw the program on animal planet and after that found it on the internet.
I just really hope that they can accept me as a volunter!!Its my biggest dream to be able to be near tigers...and to actually be able to kiss them on their big heads:-D Otherwise I must travel to se them as a turist...and spend my whole holiday there!

cheers

kat

Hi Guenmai,

hvordan har du det? tak for dit svar og din hjælp!
I would aprecciate to have a plan B and C when I come to Bangkok. So I would like the information for the driver please. But I really dont know when I will be making this trip yet, I just know that it going to happen one way or another and its always good to be prepared for everything. Especially if you are like me and worry about everything that goes wrong!
Its a funny story about your name. So your father married a danish woman, and thats why you vaccationed in Denmark for so many years? Its not like Denmark was a very tropical and ecxitting place to spend every summer:-( But very unsual to learn the danish language if you dont really have a use for it if evrybody speaks english. We can always have some small practise mails in danish if you want to;-)
Du kan jo bare skrive til mig på min email!!Det ville vaere hyggeligt at skrive noget mere sammen. Hope you have your dictionary with you at work now.

Personally I think that the 2400 batt the car service is asking for to drive one all the way to Kanchanabury is quiet cheep after danish standards. Its around 400 kroner and it costs me over 100 kroner just to take a taxi home and it only has to drive for 1 km!!So I do strongly lean to a car ride all the way to the temple.

Take care and have a good day at work.

cheers

kat

Kat...My father did not marry a Danish woman. He has only been married once...to my mother. I call my Danish friend my Danish "sister" because we are so close. We've known each other and our families have known each other since the early 70s...so she's like a sister to me and she always refers to me as her sister. I lived with her and her family for two summers before I moved on to rent a room in a kollegium for my summer stays.

Yes... og det ville vaere meget hyggeligt at skrive til hinanden. Jeg er i Bangkok naeste maned og ogsaa i Dec/Jan. En amerikaniske ven ,der har boede 41 aar i Kobenhavn, kommer paa besog hos mig i Bangkok. Han ankommer til Bangkok omkring Dec 13 og bliver der i tre uger. Jeg bliver ogsaa i Bangkok i tre uger. Vennen skal bo paa hotelet. Men vi skal ud i byen sammen.
I've got to go now. My driver info is at home. I'll first try to find out next month if the driver is still driving. Things change a lot in Thailand. As for writing me in Danish, no problem. I read it just fine...my spelling can get a bit rusty. My Danish sister writes to me in 100% Danish and I answer in English when we are too busy to write in our second language. Ha' det godt! Happy Travels!

Correction...hjulpet...not hjaelpet....now I get to do typo corrections in languages other than my first language. How fun...Smiles...Happy Travels!

Hi Guenmai,

sorry about the sister/father mistake. I just asumed that when you were not sisters by blood that it would be halfsisters. Thats nice to have such a close relationship with another person that you consider them family.
Det lyder rigtig hyggeligt at du faar besoeg af din ven i Bangkok.Er det paa grund af dit arbejde at du er så tit i Thailand eller er det bare en stor kaerlighed til landet der goer at du rejser der til saa ofte??
Hvad skete der med dit knae i december og har du det bedre nu? Har du vaeret ude og besoege tiger templet?? Skriv endelig til min mailadresse, saa er der ikke andre der kan laese hvad vi skriver:-)

Bor du i Californien?

Hav en god eftermiddag.

danske knus

Kat

My visits to Thailand are not work related. They are purely for vacation and yes, it's because of my love for the country/people that I go there so often. But, I also have that kind of connection to Denmark...even a stronger one, but the weather in Denmark limits me to only being able to travel there during certain months. I detest really cold weather and tons of rain. I'm from Los Angeles County...kommune...I don't have to worry about weather here or when I go to Thailand.It's generally very good.

To answer your other question...as for the knee situation...that's kind of a long story, but it's better now although it flares up from time to time.

As for the Tiger Temple...no, I haven't been there. I'm not THAT into animals...so I can't imagine being near tigers. Sounds kind of scary. Smiles.

And, I have written down your e-mail address and will keep in touch from time to time. I'll check out my driver when I go to BK at the end of next month and ask him if he drives there and if so what he charges.

By the way are you from Kobenhavn? Happy Travels!

Wintersm...I just read your message. How funny. It's been a while since I've had to write in Danish. I used to have to write all of my Danish-subject papers in Danish back in my university days, but that was decades ago, so that's why I wrote in above, in Danish, to excuse me if I had mispelled something because I'm not at home where my dictionaries are to look up a few words. There are a lot of silent letters in Danish which can make the spelling a bit difficult unless one is writing the language regularly. Happy Travels!

Guen - I'm glad that's cleared up! I just thought I should check the propiety of this board since the Hawaiian posts got erased!!!

Actually, I did have my son read the lst post (kinda mundane after the other 'foreign word' posts!) but couldn't keep his attention when they got longer. He lived in Kobehaven for 4-5 years and still uses his Danish and Swedish.

Well - you impressed me! I'm always impressed by those who actually can converse in more than one language.

I once had a Swedish exchange student and she and my son would switch to Swedish when they wanted to 'talk behind my back'! And it worked - cause I couldn't learn Swedish in a hurry!

Liz-I loved your photos.The food pictures made me drool. We have Tong reserved in October for 2 days and it looks like we will throughly enjoy ourselves-Chris

Hi Guenmai,

hvordan har du det??Håber alt er vel. Jeg har haft travlt med at finde ud af hvad jeg skal mht Bangkok. Jeg tror jeg beslutter mig i første omgang at rejse på en ferie til Bangkok og besøge Tiger Templet nogle gange under mit ophold der. Jeg tror ikke jeg kan oversgue at skulle arbejde som frivillig i tre uger lige nu, fordi jeg har meget dårlig ryg som jeg skal træne op. Men jeg prøver at hyre Tong i de 7 dage jeg planlægger at være i Bangkok, fordi jeg tører ikke at rejse alene rundt der.

Dú skal snart afsted. Du må glæde dig rigtig meget. Jeg rejser selv hjem til mit fædreland Grækenland på fredag og skal være på Rhodos i tre uger og besøge min mor og far.

Håber at du har det godt.

knus

Karina

You absolutely DO NOT need to hire Tong for 7 days. I can't even imagine being in a hired car for 7 days. Part of the fun in Bangkok is roaming around. I travel alone and roam around the world all the time. I've been out and about since I was 17...over 3 decades. I think you're worrying too much about things. Bangkok is a great roaming city. Why pay on the clock for a hired car especially when you're out shopping or eating when you can get from place on the skytrain faster than you could if you took the s-tog in Kobenhavn. Order a Nancy Chandler map of Bangkok...nancychandler.net...and start studying the map and read the little booklet that comes with the map of places of where to shop, eat,etc.

When do you plan to be in Bangkok? If you're there mid-Dec/ early-Jan,then my Amercian friend who lives in Danmark and I will be there and now possibly two of my best male friends from here.

As for the skytrain, we are SO lucky to have the skytrain now in Bangkok.It hasn't been around for that long and when I first went to Bangkok in the 90s I walked a lot of places in the heat since traffic was in gridlock. So take advantage of it. Get a good guidebook, your Nancy chandler map and write up some plans before you go.

And yes, I think it best that you just plan a vacation first and then drop by the Tiger Temple to check it out, but not volunteer right now and especially with your back situation. I've got to go. Have fun in Greece. Take care. Happy Travels!

English correction..."from place to place". And in Danish what does "mht" stand for? Happy Travels!