BANGKOK.Krung Thep Mahanakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร) or known to us as Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand, a country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. Only about 3 hrs 20 mins flight from Manila. GMT +7 hrs.
The Suvarnabhumi Airport was huge. Upon arrival, there were staff from the tourist information desk who approached us and gave tips and brouchures on the local area and tourist spots. At first I was hesitant to entertain them as I thought they will just forcefully sell tours but they didn't! In fact they were so nice and I never thought there is still "free smile" in the world! Then he wrote our hotel address in Thai alphabets and that piece of paper became very helpful to us. ( I advise you to have this too) We carried it with us all the time because most Thai taxi drivers do not speak english. We went out and took the airport taxi lined just in front of the airport. There was a THB50 airport surcharge in addition to the metered fare.
Things to do In Bangkok.
Eat Thai Food!
If there is anything on top of my Bangkok to do list, it would be to eat, eat and eat more Thai food! Don't despair, coz its cheap! Of all the places I've been to, this is the only place where I indulge in dining out! Imagine on our Japan trip, breakfast was cup noodles bought from the nearby family mart, in London, we packed cooked adobo (a filipino dish made of either pork or chicken) in our luggage and heat in our London apartment and ate it for two days! =D (when it was announced on the plane that certain type of meat is banned in U.K we got so nervous thinking we would be deported back because of adobo in our luggage, hahaha! but at least because of our adobo we spent less british pounds!) This is what made Thailand different from my previous travels, everything seemed cheap.Have A Thai MasSage.Second on my list is, to get a soothing thai massage! There are plenty of massage houses in Bangkok, you can even let them come to your hotel room. Perfect for recapping the day of sightseeing and shopping. The price starts from thb300 (though according to my friend she found a thb150 massage in a residential area).
Go ShoPping.
There are lots of Shopping Malls in Bangkok. Many tourists come here to shop for clothes and then sell it again because its cheaper in Thailand. From bazaars to upscale malls, from pirated or copied designers bags to genuine, expensive brands your dollars will come a long way here :)
The upscale, SIAM PARAGON
Thais are devoted Buddhists. 95% of this nation are Buddhists. No wonder temples are all over. In fact, its top tourist's attractions are the Temples. The big three include: The Wat Phra Kaeo, The Wat PHo and Wat Arun.
Wat Phra Kaeo or the Temple of Emerald Buddha.
There is an entrance fee of 200 baht to enter this temple, there are also english speaking guide if you wish to learn more about the temple, Buddhism and to better explore the place.
And it is not allowed to enter it wearing revealing clothes, shawls are available at the entrance
'love the intricate details of this structure! 
Wat Pho or the Temple of the reclining Buddha just south of Grand Palace is the temple of the reclining Buddha, said to be the oldest temple in Bangkok established in the 16th century. An entrance of 50 baht is to be paid. There are "tuktuk" outside the Grand Palace that offer services to go to the other temples nearby. We paid 20 baht good for 2 persons sharing the "tuktuk" .
Stroll in the PaRk.At about 4pm, before sunset, we decided to spend the rest of the day in Lumpini Park, just right at the heart of Bangkok. We almost didn't get to reach to the park as another "scam "almost stopped us! Scammers are all around this city and it's just sooooo annoying! One tuktuk driver said that Lumpini park is closed, we walked and ask another driver and said there are no people in the park and its better to go there in the morning, but we insisted to still be taken there and when we reached the entrance it was not close at all. Even when we already reached the place the tuktuk driver was still discouraging us to enter the park instead he wants to bring us somewhere else, and I knew he will only take us to a gem store!
Bangkok Transport: There is the famous tuktuk which can accommodate up to 2 persons only, price starts at 20 baht. It can take you almost everywhere in the City. Be wary though as tuktuk driver might overprice. You have to make sure that before you board you have already talked about the price for the service. There are also lots of colorful taxis available too, insist on the meter as even taxis do overprice. Like the tuktuk, they are also doing the scam like they will give you a fix price and then take you to the gemstone before you are brought to where you want to be. Bangkok also have a very good subway system that is present everywhere.
Bangkok Scams. Before flying to bangkok, I already knew that scams are everywhere in Bangkok's touristy places that's why I never thought I will be victimized by it. Believe me they are just too good to perform this. When we got down infront of the Grand Palace from the taxi on our first day in Bangkok, a man wearing ID presented himself to us and ask if we are thai, then knowing that we are not, he said, foreigners should use the other door, I didn't know that this was already the scam that I read on the net, so although I was hesitant, we obliged then suddenly another man came saying that it is close at that time and suggested he will bring us to Wat Pho by tuktuk for 20baht we'll get to see 3 places including the gem store. This was when I realized that this is indeed already the famous scam in Bangkok! We then left them and proceeded back to the main entrance and found out it was open and will close at 5pm!
Again when we went out, we were already very hungry and decide to take the taxi, to my surprised the taxi too was doing this scam! It took us long very we finally agreed to ride the taxi. Since we were already hungry and no taxi seemed to be available that doesn't do scam, we then just took the taxi that charged us 50 baht to take us to MBK mall but first we have to drop by at a gem store! He told us all the lies he can, like he said, the government is promoting gems that is why he has to take us first to the gem store, by that he will be given a coupon for free petrol! It's definitely a lie because in the map that we got from the airport, there is a warning there about these scams but if you show it to them, they will say our map is not good!!!lol
There are more scams in Bangkok, to be aware read bangkokscams.com or search the net before going.
I've been to Bangkok and your are correct there are lots of scams. We were going out of the Wat Po when we were approached by an ID wearing man from tourism if we want to see 3 other temples for a 4o baht tuktuk ride for 2 waiting at each time until we are back to our hotel plus a free trip to the Gem stone. Luckily, I have read about the Gem scam in the net prior to going there. So we politely declined and rode a taxi and head off to Pratunam where you can buy wholesale items are incredibly low prices.
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