Sydney or Bangkok?
 

I know this is a stupid question to ask here but everyones been so helpful, so far....

I have about 10-12 days vacation and I wanted to split between Bangkok and Sydney and I am realizing that I will put about 4 days into travel to just get between places.

I know these cities are 2 worlds apart, why should I choose Sydney over Bangkok, or vise a versa?

Is 7 days in SYD too long?

Sydney is 10 hours flying time or thereabouts from Bangkok so why are you taking 4 days?
Secondly all we can say to you is that you should do some research on both and make that decision yourself as we do not know all your likes, dislikes and preferences.

Hi, Richard?

What time of year are you coming in? 7 days would certainly not be too long to spend in Sydney and environs (Blue Mountains, Canberra) in Spring (October-November) or autumn (March-May), but in the middle of windy August you may yearn for the sights of Bangkok! Also, surely, Bangkok is one of those places where you MUST choose the right season to visit, or else have your vacation ruined by constant rain or unbearably hot temperatures. I don't know which is the "ideal" time for Bangkok (nor the time to stay away at all costs).

Let the weather make your decision for you!

Oh, April is when I am planning which one of the hottest and most humid months in BKK...

I want to go to BKK cause its exotic and different.

I want to go to Sydney because it's civilized and inexpensive.

and don't let's forget the most important thing - it's my birthday in April...you can deliver my present in person if you come to Sydney! :)

I wouldn't call Bangkok exotic, its a large city, polluted, congested with traffic...thats why most Australians visiting Thailand, go somewhere else apart from Bangkok.

April? Then it should be Sydney.If the fact that it's "civilised and inexpensive" is a turn-off, don't give it a moment's thought... we'll tell you where all the most expensive places are, and I'll ask Neil_Oz to hang around wherever you are and provide so many uncivilised touches that it will positively revolt you.

I'm inclined to agree with tropo, even though I wouldn't have said it first, not having been to Bangkok myself.... but, from what I've heard second-hand, it's lately turned into one of the least-desirable cities in Asia to visit, and you may find it especially disillusioning in its hottest and most humid month. If you do go to Thailand, I hope you'll take tropo's advice and seek a haven in one of the outlying areas which really would be exotic; on the whole, however -- since April is my favourite month of the year in Sydney -- I would leave Bankok for a cooler time and head straight for Oz.

You say the nicest, things Alan, and as always I'm happy to oblige. But richardab, am I missing something here? Sydney is INexpensive? Surely not in comparison with Bangkok?

Neil, B'kok has got out of hand in costs. Sure you can get a feed which is cheaper but then you will probably have to get the prescription pills to help you out so you get caught for $ with that.
Bangkok used to be a delightful place and it was the first place in the world that I wanted to visit and it did not let me down. Now it is sooooooo polluted that you cannot see the sun through the smog. The traffic is dreadful and the smell even worse. Unfortunately Westerners have helped in giving B'kok the name of being the biggest brothel in the world and although there are some really great aspects of the city it is one that I have managed to avoid like the plague for the last 10 years. Unfortunately if you get out of B'kok you then miss a great deal of what Thailand is about. One of my absolute BEST trips was to the Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand where we trekked from village to village and stayed with the tribal Head man each night. Apart from running into a decapitated head in the river whilst bathing ( drug dealers fights presumably) and listening to the sounds of gunshots across the Mekong River at night from Burma it was a wonderful experience. The Thais are a wonderful people and the food ( especially in the Seafood Markets - picked by you and given to the Chef to cook in the Thai maner) is terrific but its so darn hot and humid that I have never come away without a nasty URTI.

BKK has some wonderful things to see, and wandering the streets is fine after the sun sets. It is seriously hot most of the time. It can be exotic - the street life - but is also, as the above have said, very polluted. The traffic is manic. It's a wonderful place to break a journey between Europe and Oz (not that there is a great deal of choice in that department). Public transport out of the city is good and cheap and there are loads of places to go not too far away. But I would never pick it as a destination in itself.

Sydney - loads to see; loads to do; loads of eateries; great vibe; plenty of one day outings.

Another vote for Sydney.

Yikes. I posted the same question on the Asia board and if you look there they say to go to BKK, here everyone says SYD. What else would I expect?

1. I said SYD was inexpensive because the value of the US Dollar is good. It is also inexpensive as compared to Paris, which i usually go to.

2. When I said that Sydney was "Civilized and inexpensive" I meant that in a good way. I would just like to eat, shop, walk around and not be assulted!

3. The one thing that turns me off about BKK right now is that it is the hottest month. But those on the Asia board say every month is hot.

4. My god Liz, what is a URTI?

URTI is upper respitory tract infection or as they call it in Bangkok, bronshitis but I would call it more like pneumonia.
I am not surprised that on the Asia board they say Bangkok but unfortunately in Asia ( with the exception of Singapore) the people don't seem to notice filth, flies and pollution. Clean is not one of their common words either. HOWEVER if you want a snippet of Asia, with the cleanliness of the western world, safety, and without the chance of people touting for drugs then take your trip but go to Singapore. Whilst some Singaporians feel that the sweeping changes that Lee Kwan U ( can't spell his name) brought in the 60s and further on were too strict, it has meant that Singapore is probably the cleanest city in the world and the safest. You can still get fined $500 for dropping a cig. butt but at least they are a most efficient and clean culture.
There is plenty of Asian culture still left there in Singapore, see Little China and Little India and there really is plenty to do as well. Eating at the outdoor stalls at night - can't remember the most famous area but someone will know it, is safe, cheap and a real buzz. The Government sees to it that the stalls are licenced. You can take a bus over to Malaysia as well and/or a train up to Malacca for a trip, which is the old Portugese trading town.
However if you want aids, or some other sexual disease then Bangkok is your place. I even had a man ask if he could walk with me because he was sick to death of being touted by call girls there - but even though I was with him that did not stop them. It is all about what you want out of Asia or Australia. B'kok is much hotter and humid than Singapore and on a 1 - 10 on the clean scale its probably a 2 with Singapore a 10.

Liz doesn't sound like a fan of Bangkok

Richard its really all about the weather. If it has to be April make it Sydney which is pleasant then and yes Bangkok is always hot but April is the very worst month. Save it for November through February. See you in Sydney town!

richard if i was to be honest i would'nt waste my money going to either. i was due to spend 10 days in bangkok but left after 2, it was the most sleazy, polluted city i have ever seen. i headed out to the islands of koh samui and koh tao which were beautiful especially koh tao. the closest thing to paradise i've experienced. so my advice is fly into bangkok and get a flight out again to koh samui which is very cheap, then get a ferry to koh tao.

now i spent 2 weeks in sydney and was bored out of brains there.its just that apart from the beautiful harbour there is nothing to do.i went to the blue mountains etc etc and i only seen a few hills, talk about rip off the tourists.anyway
now melbourne is a city of style, go there for a good time.
hope i was of help to you.

No Richard I do happen to find Bangkok very interesting, or rather I should say I did find Bangkok very interesting. I think the Thais are lovely, the devotion to their religion and their King is truely amazing and of course the Royal Palace is a wonderful experience to see.
But nowadays the cons outweigh the pros of the city and for me I would prefer to give it a big miss.
Responding to the previous poster - I think you are being a tad too hard on both Sydney AND Bangkok. Koh Samui is OK but there are many, many other places on earth which are better. You do not get the flavour of Thailand at those places as they are full of tourists.
My favourite city in the world is Sydney. It is vibrant, clean, cheaper than most cities in the world, great climate, beautiful and most of all it has been rated as the best city in the world to visit in most travel magazines.

I was ready to accept hollydhero's appraisals of both Bangkok and Sydney as genuine until the very last sentence, when I tumbled to the fact that he/she was putting us on.... he couldn't find anything to do in Sydney, but he found plenty of excitement in Melbourne??!!

Well, hollydhero, next time you come to Australia, have I got some exciting places lined up for you! Burren Junction! Ivanhoe! Booligal! Uralla!Muswellbrook! Come on, Liz, I bet you can think of a few more where the excitement is almost as intense as Melbourne!

I do think, however, that for a visitor, two weeks is a little more time in Sydney than is needed... since there's no "culture shift" for Americans (unlike, for instance, Bangkok), then one feels at home right away, and after that, all there is to see are the sights. That can be done in four days in Sydney, and in a day and a half in Melbourne.

To Hollydhero I would say if you are tired of Sydney then you are tired of life (thank you Dr J). I would also say that Ko Tao and Ko Samui are about as touristy as you can get. To Lizf and her complaint about asia being about "flies, filth and pollution" - it's ASIA for heavens sake. If you want everywhere to be just like home - then stay home. Singapore? A sort of theme park for visitors - especially those who just want to shop.

It all depends on what you want!!

What I enjoy is difference - if you want sameness then Singapore would be good - no GBR, no great spaces, just malls and safeness. Little India, etc - don't make me laugh.

One place that is worth visiting is Changi - and the National Museum.

C'mon Alice "flies, filth and pollution" - it's ASIA for heavens sake"

Why do those two statements 'have' to go together?
I have to admit that for a lot of years I thought that Singapore had become too sterile until I went there again on a stopover with my daughter and as she had never been before I rediscovered it and I was pleased with what I rediscovered.
I have never inferred that I wanted places to be just like home - for heaven's sake I have crossed the Globe so many times and gone to so many places that most people will never see that to say that to me is nothing short of a joke.
Anyway getting back to Asia - there are many, many places in Asia that are not filthy, that are not over-polluted but Bangkok makes the worst smog from LA look like a heaven's breeze, you can taste it, and you feel it when you breath it in. The stench of the river and the canals is over-powering and the heat just intensifies that.
I agree that Singapore is very cluttered but it has some wonderful aspects to it. The Japanese gardens, the Chinese gardens, the Orchid gardens, Jurong Bird Park, breakfast with Ah-meng ( sp??) at the wonderful zoo there etc etc. There is also the historical sites around the city and I did mention going over to Jahore Baru and further.
At least there you get to see Asia at its cleanest and most efficient ( most Western countries could only wish to the same) its safe and if you really open your eyes there are many places to see and go.
To Alan, I am so excited about going to Melbourne next week that I can hardly wait after reading hollydhero's report. I must open my eyes more so that I too can find the excitement and style that he mentioned. As for some exciting things for him to do around Sydney I can come up with lots to go with yours I can tell you. I always fall back on "count the Aussies game" if I am at a loss for things to do. But my favourite would have to be punting at Putney. Yes, I know that I have not mentioned this on this site before but it is one of those things that you wish to keep to yourself just like a secret place. Then of course there is my favourite... Rookwood .. but that is all you will get!

To LizF - "flies, filth and pollution" was your phrase not mine.

I cannot even imagine using it to describe a country in Asia. You could only use it if those things registered on your radar. And, after the event, were the things that you found most memorable (sad).

Hey Liz, Rookwood's always nice, unusual!

Please stop fighting on my post and tell me about Sydney

Oh you are a Party-Pooper Richard. Ok if you have 12 days then split your time between the two 5 in B'kok and 5 in Sydney and travel in beteen and that should be a good split. 5 days in B'kok will give you the highlights and you will have had enough of the oppressive humidity by then.
April in Sydney is a terrific month, the weather is lovely and the surrounds will be also.
There are many, many things you can find to do in Sydney from exploring the historic Rocks section, the harbour, the beaches.
A trip to the Blue Mountains is lovely too and here I will answer one poster who said that it was a "rip off" because they are not big - true, but obviously that poster did no research as no-one has ever suggested that they were and that is not the reason people go there anyway. The Blue Mountains is an ecological delight with hiking paths everywhere and down on the valley floors there are many beautiful waterfalls and unique animals and plants - one of which was only rediscovered recently having been thought extinct for many years. Its beauty lies in its villages, caves, views and ambiance.
Sydney itself is a cosmopolitan, vibrant city with all that goes with that.
There is no comparison between Sydney and B'kok as they are as different as say Istanbul is to Anchorage but each has its own interesting aspects and each is worthy of a visit. B'kok because of its unique cultural aspects perhaps and Sydney because of its beauty and charm as well as its own cultural aspects, which will be different from your own but not in such stark contrast as perhaps B'kok.

What is Istanbul like?

Istanbul? Its fabulous as is the rest of Turkey, very interesting particularly the historical aspect and geographical aspects as well. I found Istanbul to be probably one of 'the' most intersting places in "Europe/Asia" and would love to go again. The beaches down the south west are lovely and everyone was very friendly. However, I have always been a fan of parts of the Middle East and if I had only one more place that I could go to my choice would be to return to Jordon and spend more time in Petra ( which I think is the ultimate place that one should see before they die).

Richard-

If you do your planning and research, you will enjoy either Bangkok or Sydney.

We just got back from Bangkok over the holidays- the weather was hot but bearable. Although the traffic is still horrendous, we found the air quality to be much cleaner than in the past. The Sky train and Subway make for cool and clean movement around much of the city, and even the taxis are cool and cheap despite the long commute times on the road.

The hotels and restaurants are wonderful and cheap and the shopping is fabulous.
In addition, the people are very kind and the temples and local markets and neighborhoods fascinating. There are many ways to get out of the tourist loop and see the Thai culture in the city.
You will definitely know that you "aren't in Kansas anymore"

Sydney is a whole different experience.. It a civilised western style city. That said though, it is a really nice city with lots of interesting things to do: We loved the beaches, the bridge climb, the markets, the pubs, and the friendly and interesting locals and their culture. I hope to go back sometime soon.

I don't think you'll be unhappy with either city, but I would not attempt these two countries in 12 days. Instead, I'd go to Australia OR Thailand and visit two cities.

I was surprised originally when Liz said she preferred Singapore to Bangkok as I found Singapore almost antiseptic ( a decided change from the days when the fabulous smell of spices hit your senses as soon as you left the plane!).However perhaps I too need to revisit as she did? It certainly is attractive in terms of plants and trees etc but I feel it has (or had?) lost personality ( can a city have one?).I too find Bangkok polluted and the traffic has always been horrendous but I still find it fascinating. I'm wondering, since I haven't been since the skytrain was introduced, whether that has made much difference to the traffic situation? Also is there an underground railway there these days? Cheers!

I don't think the Skytrain has alleviated traffic any...there are still way too many cars on the roads.

We did find it to be a wonderful way to zip around the city..very fast, clean and cool. for 100 baht per day you can have unlimited rides.

We used it a lot...often taking it to the nearest station, then cabbing or walking fronm the station to our actual destination. In 10 minutes we could get 1/2 way across the city. 10 minutes in a cab will often just get you around the block!

There is a new subway as well...just opened a couple months ago. It connects with the Skytrain and covers a different route, so you have even more options to avoid the streets!

OK - beemersgalore - I loved the National Museum and said so. What was snide about my reply? What else do you do in Singapore but eat and shop? Go on - sell it to me as a destination (rather than a stopover) please? For itself and in comparison to other "Asian" destinations?

You say it's your "new countrÿ" - what was the old?

bemergallore, your attack on alice13 was ill-mannered (rather ironic for someone advocating "Asian good manners"!)and unwarranted. This is NOT merely an "information" forum for people to tell you where something is and how to get to it; any travel brochure, with its maps and pictures, could fulfil that function much more effectively. We try to give something "extra": as residents (or past visitors) to Australia, we editorialise, as the brochures never could, about our own personal preferences which maybe you'd like to share, or the particular frustrations which made our lives a misery, which perhaps you'd like to learn from. It is perfectly reasonable, therefore, to be critical of a PLACE; a tirade against a PERSON, however (especially one with the good reputation of alice13, who has helped so many of us on this forum)is less-excusable. If, as you say, you come from Singapore, you are in a great position to advise people on the Asia forum who need help planning their Singapore holiday. Yet, when I just now did a search of that forum, I couldn't find you, either when I entered your pen-name or when I entered "Singapore" (I did, interestingly enough, find alice13 several times). Does this mean that you would rather demean people than help them, or do you simply change your pen name when you decide to throw stones?

Alice13: am looking forward, as always, to reading more of your excellent and well-thought-out appraisals, be they positive or negative.

Well it looks like I will have to answer Alan who has championed Alice13 because I did to her just what she had done to someone else. It amuses me tho' to see how someone jumps to her aid but does not jump on her for being such a So and So, whether or not she has given negative or positive reports. She was just plain rude or perhaps she just does not read things properly or understands them.
You will not have found my ID because when I moved to Australia for my Post Graduate studies I had to change it as I was using someone's PC and I have not bothered to change it since.
However I have been writing on the different boards for some time now whenever I got the time.
In reply to Alice regarding Singapore here are but a few of the things you could do.
Zoo and gardens with perhaps the night safari. Jurong Bird Park. Sentosa - which yes is a bit of a theme park feeling. - Pulau Ubin island where you can see what Singapore was like 30 years ago. Kasu Island for snorkling amongst other things.
Walk the historic trail in Singapore. Visit the 13 museums and Heritage Centres.
Visit the Buhat Tamar National Reserve where on 164 hect. you will find more species of plants than in the whole of the North American continent.
There are a further 12 Nature parks and reserves.
Perhaps a time in the 11 themed attractions followed by the 7 WW2 sites.
Take a visit to Jahore Baru and spend a day there.
All this BEFORE you start to do any shopping which incidently I feel is expensive compared with Australia - but whatever.
Finally Alice you asked where I am from - Singapore - and now I am here to finish my Post Graduate Degree.