DON’T Make These 14 Mistakes in BANGKOK Thailand (2025)
There are 14 common mistakes that
tourists make when visiting Bangkok, Thailand. Some of these mistakes
are just funny and harmless, but others could end up draining your budget
faster than a trophy wife. In this video, we’re going to show you what some of the
biggest mistakes are. But don’t worry, we won’t leave you hanging. We’re also going
to teach you how to avoid these mistakes so that you can have an incredible and safe time
enjoying everything that Bangkok has to offer. Welcome to Bangkok, the city of a thousand condos,
more food markets than you can shake a stick at, and a thousand YouTubers telling you how to live
for just a dollar a day. Before you even step foot on the plane to Bangkok, your mouth is probably
watering at the thought of all the delicious food that you’re about to eat. Your first instinct
might be to seek out some of the street food hotspots. That’s not a bad idea, but I actually
recommend starting your food journey somewhere else, and that place is at a food court. In North
America, I avoid food courts like the plague. The food is generic, and unless you enjoy eating fast
food, frankly, awful. But avoiding food courts in Bangkok would be a huge mistake. In fact, one
of the food destinations that I recommend for people visiting Bangkok for the first time is
the Pier 21 food court located at the top of the Terminal 21 Mall. This food court is packed
full of street food style stalls that sell a huge variety of different Thai dishes. The Pier 21
food court is really affordable. For example, the classic Thai dish pad kra pao or Thai
basil minced pork is only around 35 baht, which is just over a dollar. And that’s what makes
this food court such a great place to start. You can try all the different dishes that you’ll
probably see on your journeys around Bangkok or in the rest of Thailand. And because each dish
is so affordable, you don’t have to be worried about not liking it. In the same vein, obviously
if you’re only paying a dollar for your meal, the portions aren’t going to be gigantic, but
if you don’t like it, you don’t have to feel bad about throwing it out. If you’re uncomfortable
with the concept of street food, it’s also a really good place to kind of dip your toes in
the water a little bit and start getting used to it. But there are way more food courts to try
than just Pier 21. In fact, with new malls going up in almost every single neighborhood in Bangkok,
you could try a different food court every single day or for every meal of the day. These local mall
food courts are also a great place to see what the local Thai are eating. For example, if you go
to any of the local malls around dinner time, you’ll usually see all the Thai people coming back
from their commute and picking up some delicious food for their dinner. So, when in Bangkok, don’t
be afraid to check out all the different food courts. And who knows, maybe if you keep an eye on
where the locals are eating, you might just find your favorite meal of the trip. A huge mistake
that tourists make when coming to Bangkok is only eating at tourist restaurants. Not only will
you be spending a lot more money than you have to, but you’re also going to be missing out on the
fantastic and diverse food scene that Bangkok is known for. These tourist restaurants aren’t
always that easy to spot. But typically, if you see a restaurant and it’s only full of foreigners,
then that’s obviously a pretty good indication. Likewise, the location can also be an indication
of whether that restaurant is mainly trying to cater to tourists. We inadvertently made this
mistake ourselves during our visit to Bangkok. We had found a restaurant that we wanted to try out,
and from reading the reviews, we thought that it would be popular with both locals and travelers.
But when we got there, we discovered that it was right across from a huge Ibis hotel, which in
itself is a huge red flag. And sure enough, when we eventually got our food, we discovered
that the dishes had been completely changed to suit the more western tastes instead of how they
would be served in a more local setting. And unfortunately, those dishes were kind of some of
the worst that we had during our time in Bangkok. You might be thinking then that you can’t eat at
any restaurants in some of the popular tourist areas like Sukhumvit, but that’s not necessarily
the case. If you keep an eye out for where the young locals are eating, you can actually
sometimes discover some really interesting and unique restaurants that are catering to a
more local taste. Avoiding tourist restaurants doesn’t mean that you have to exclusively eat at
street stores the whole time either, although you definitely could and you wouldn’t get sick. Keep
watching and I’ll tell you where to go to find some of the best food in Bangkok. We’ve created
a custom Bangkok travel guide and Google Maps so that you can spend your time exploring instead of
planning. The travel guide will give you access to all of our recommendations and the tips and advice
that we learned along the way. Our map includes over 40 location pins for everything from the best
markets, temples, attractions, and neighborhoods. Our custom Google map can easily be uploaded right
onto your phone in the Google Maps app that allows you to have all our tips at your fingertips
whilst you’re out exploring Bangkok so you can get the most out of each location. You’ll find a
link to the custom travel guide and maps right in the description below. Another food mistake is not
ordering food via either Grab Food or Bolt Food. So many small restaurants and local stalls
list their places on these apps that you could honestly experience the entire Bangkok food
scene without ever leaving your hotel. Obviously, don’t do that, but they are a great solution
for when you’ve been sightseeing all day and you just want to come back to your hotel room
and decompress with a good show and good food. The markets in Thailand or Bangkok are a
great way to experience Thai food and culture, but relying on Google Maps to try to find night
markets is a big mistake. Chances are that if a place advertises itself as a night market on
Google Maps, then it’s just a tourist attraction. That’s not to say that there aren’t local markets
that really come alive at night. There definitely are. But chances are that they’re not going to be
advertised as a night market on Google Maps. The night market that you’re most likely to hear about
is Jodd Fairs Market located in Rama 9. It’s a relatively new, well-lit, and well organized night
market. You’ll find a ton of seafood restaurants, more smoothie stands than you can count, and one
really good roti stall. The prices at Jodd Fairs are going to be higher than you’ll see elsewhere
in Bangkok. And the food quality is also going to be worse. Well, except for the roti stall, which
was actually really good. At the end of the day, there’s just nothing really local or
authentic, to use that clichéd word, about the Jodd Fairs night market. Personally, I
probably wouldn’t bother going to the Jodd Fairs market, especially if I was on a tight schedule.
However, my wife is Canadian and she insists that I say something nice about it. So, here goes. Uh,
if you’re visiting Bangkok for the first time, it can be a sort of a soft landing introduction
to what you might experience at other markets in Bangkok. The other nice thing about the market
is that there’s a really big beer tent with comfy lawn chairs right at the entrance. And towards the
evening, they’ll usually play live music as well, so you can just kind of chill out there and drink
your way through a tower of cold beer. Ironically, the most authentic thing that you’ll see around
the Jodd Fairs night market is actually the huge amount of street stalls that line the road as
you exit the MRT station and walk towards the Jodd Fairs market. Around dinner time, you’ll see
all the local commuters picking up a variety of little small dishes for their dinner. Instead of
going to Jodd Fairs, I would actually recommend visiting the Tha Phra Open Air Market. We stumbled
across this market completely by accident, but we were pleasantly surprised by the huge amount
of diversity in the food and also just the huge amount of stalls and variety there. This is most
definitely a locals market, so don’t expect there to be a huge amount of English spoken. And you
should also expect it to be really tightly packed with very low stalls. I pretty much had to squat
the entire time. But you know what? Honestly, with a little bit of very basic Thai and Google
Translate, we had no issues communicating and everyone was really friendly. If you’re looking
for the greatest variety of food, you should probably visit sometime after 5:00 p.m. as that’s
when most of the food stores seem to set up. This next mistake is really important to
avoid. As with most places in the world, the taxi drivers in Bangkok seem to spend all their
free time coming up with new ways to try to scam tourists. Honestly, there are so many taxi scams
that we’ve heard about that we could probably do an entire video on them. But unless you really
enjoy calling out sketchy taxi drivers, I would just avoid taxis entirely. According to Thai law,
all taxis are supposed to use their meter at all times when transporting passengers. But as the
saying goes, rules are meant to be broken. So here are a few of the most common scams that you might
encounter if taking a taxi in Bangkok. Number one, the driver pretends that his meter is broken and
instead quotes you an outrageous price to take you to your destination, which is probably going
to be about 10 times as high as the locals rate, but obviously you as a tourist have no idea
that you’re being ripped off. Number two, the driver turns on the meter but has manipulated
it so that it actually goes up way faster than it should. Once again, landing you with an outrageous
fare. Number three is a favorite amongst taxi drivers worldwide, and that is taking you on
the scenic route. Essentially, the taxi driver will take you along the most indirect and windy
route just to make sure that the meter runs up a nice hefty fare for you. Number four, last but not
least, is the scam where the driver will basically pretend that you gave him a smaller bill than you
did. For example, let’s say that you give the taxi driver a 1000 baht bill, but he then switches
it and insists that you only gave him a 100 baht bill. There are ways to avoid each of these
scams, but honestly, I personally don’t feel like playing the cat-and-mouse game and always being
hyper vigilant. So, I just recommend avoiding taxis entirely in Bangkok. Tuk tuks are beloved
by tourists who are seeking the thrill of dodging Bangkok traffic on a glorified tricycle. Although
tuk tuks might be a good way to get around on some of the smaller Thai islands, taking a tuk tuk in
Bangkok is a mistake. Tuk tuk really just seem to be set up as an elaborate way to scam tourists.
When I first visited Bangkok, this was in the era before smartphones, I didn’t know any better.
So, I kept trying to take tuk tuks as a regular form of transport. Despite multiple attempts and
multiple drives with tuk tuks, I only managed to get to my final destination one time. Every single
other time I ended up being abandoned at a tailor, who I’m guessing obviously would have paid the tuk
tuk driver a lot more money than the fare if I had actually bought anything. From what I’ve seen on
YouTube, some people obviously have better luck than I do and have actually been able to use tuk
tuks to get to their final destination. But even then, tuk tuks are notorious for trying to scam
tourists, and they do it in a couple of different ways. A lot of the scams that you might encounter
with tuk tuk drivers are going to be really similar to taxis, except tuk tuks don’t have a
taxi meter. One of the ways they might try to scam you is by quoting you a ridiculous fare that
you, as a tourist, just don’t know is ridiculous. Another scam that you might encounter both with
taxis and tuk tuks is the switching off the bills. My advice based on my own experience, and this is
also the advice that I followed on our most recent trip, is just to avoid tuk tuks completely. If the
BTS or the MRT can’t get you to your destination or you just don’t feel like walking the last 10
minutes, then just grab a Grab or a Bolt instead. They are so much easier and they’ll help you avoid
scams. If you really insist on trying your luck with tuk tuks, then just promise me that you’ll
try to negotiate the price beforehand. But even if you have negotiated the price beforehand, just
don’t be surprised if in the middle of your trip, the driver suddenly suggests that you should go
visit their friend, the tailor, and that if you do so, you’ll get the ride for free. The good news is
that there are several really good alternatives to taxis and tuk tuks that I’ll talk about in just 2
seconds. For more brutally honest advice that will help you avoid scams and save time planning your
trip, then make sure to subscribe to our channel. According to Hollywood, real New Yorkers always
take the subway. Or is that supposed to be always taking a taxi? Honestly, I can never keep it
straight. But if you want to be a real Bangkokian, or should that be Bangkoker, uh then you
definitely want to use either the metro or the BTS to get around. Almost everything in Bangkok
that’s worth seeing can be reached by either the BTS or the MRT. We found that Google Maps did a
really good job of planning your connections. So, all you have to do is just type in your
destination in Google Maps and where you’re going from and it’ll actually figure out the best
transit connection for you. The one place that the BTS or the MRT really doesn’t serve very well
is the Don Mueang airport. Now, this airport is mainly used for domestic flights within Thailand
and also some low-cost flights to other countries in Southeast Asia, but the airport is located
fairly centrally. So, if you follow our next tip, it’s not really that hard to get to. If you can’t
get to your destination by public transport, then using either Grab or Bolt is going to be the
best alternative for you so that you can avoid taking a taxi. If you don’t have both the Grab
and the Bolt app downloaded on your phone yet, then make sure you do so as soon as you finish
watching this video. Both Bolt and Grab work pretty much the same way as Uber and Lift do in
North America. Simply open the app and type in the destination that you want to go to and you’ll
get a list of different vehicle options along with the estimated time that you have to wait for
them. Both of these apps do a great job in terms of safety. Beyond just the basics of showing you
the license plate and a picture of the driver, both these apps also allow you to share your
up-to-date location with someone else during your ride. And if you’re really worried that
somebody’s going to try to scam you or ask you for more money during your trip, you can also turn
on audio recording in the app for the duration of your ride. Both apps are really good. If I had
a preference, I would say that the Grab app is a little bit easier to use than the Bolt app,
but Bolt is normally cheaper than Grab. And the availability, depending on where you are, is
almost just as good. So, at the end of the day, just open up both apps and see which one is going
to give you the cheapest ride. Do be aware that there are some scams where people will dress
up as either Bolt or Grab drivers and try to get you to take a ride with them, but these
are not authorized Bolt or Grab drivers. So, just keep saying no thank you and just stick
to using the app and always make sure that the vehicle matches what you see in the app
and that the driver is the same as well. Now, let’s talk about partying in Bangkok. You
can definitely have a good time, but letting your guard down would be a mistake. All the crazy
stories that you’ve heard about partying in Bangkok or Thailand in general are pretty much
true. But since this is a family-friendly video, let’s just say that the pingpong show
is a demonstration of stamina and skill. The biggest party scene in Bangkok for tourists
is going to be Khao San Road. On this stretch, you’ll find everything from Muay Thai fights to
bars where the staff are clad only in bikinis and will call you handsome if you smile at them. If
you’re young or even just young at heart, it can be a great place to party with fellow tourists.
Just note that if a local is flirting with you, they’re probably expecting to get paid for their
services. But it’s not just the opposite sex that you need to be worried about. If someone comes up
to you and seems overly friendly and is trying to get you to go to a different bar, just ignore them
or walk away. Likewise, if someone approaches you and starts asking you where you’re from and then
wants to see what the currency looks like from your home country, do not take out your wallet,
as this is just one big scam. Because Khao San Road is such a big party and tourist area, you’ll
find that there’s a lot more sketchy people and scam artists than you would find in the rest of
Bangkok. So, don’t be too trusting. When you’re partying in Khao San Road, you should also
go easy on the hard liquor. Fake alcohol that could potentially kill you has been reported in
Khao San Road. But even if it doesn’t kill you, the really cheap, hard liquor that they’re going
to sell you in buckets is really not going to make you feel good the next day. So, I would recommend
just sticking to bottled beer and make sure that they always open the bottle in front of you. As
with any big party area anywhere in the world, you should always follow basic safety advice,
especially if you’re a woman. Don’t leave any drinks unattended or open. And don’t leave your
wallet or purse unattended either. There are tourist police stationed on Khao San Road who do
speak English and are trained to basically help tourists. If you’re having a good time partying,
but something goes really wrong, you can always phone them for free. And that number is 1155.
Khao San Road isn’t the only tourist party scene. You’ll also see a lot of tourist bars lining the
main road in the Sukhumvit area. For example, the infamous Soi Cowboy. But once again, the
drinks are expensive and the music is way too loud. And in all honesty, the only locals
flirting with you are probably paid to do so. If you’re a shopaholic, then you may never want to
leave Bangkok. But don’t come to Bangkok expecting to get really good deals on the international
brands that you know from back home. Well, at least not if you expect them to be genuine.
All the major brands that you know from home do exist in Bangkok. Anything from Louis Vuitton
to Nike and Uniqlo, but especially if you live in North America, chances are that the prices
in your home country are actually better than they are in Thailand. Instead, if you go
to the lower level of the Terminal 21 mall, you can usually find much better deals on just
good quality basics such as cotton t-shirts and other everyday staples. But if you really
want the absolute best bang for your buck and you want to shop like a local store owner,
then you should visit the wholesale district, which despite the name is actually just two huge
buildings located just north of Chinatown. This is very much a local’s place. And when we were there,
I think we only saw one other tourist. We chose to visit the Bobae Market building, which has
hundreds, if not thousands of stores spread out over several floors. As is a wholesale district,
the more you buy, the better a price that you can negotiate. So, if you want to save space in your
backpack, just wait until you come to Bangkok, go to the wholesale district, and just go nuts.
The wholesale district is also where you’re going to find the best price for the infamous and
mandatory tourist uniform elephant trousers. Or, if you want to be really fashionable, you can even
match it with an elephant shirt. We found several stores in the wholesale district that were selling
these elephant trousers for around 70 Thai baht. If you go into town or like Chinatown, most of
the stalls were selling the elephant trousers for anywhere between 120 to 140 Thai baht. If you’re
traveling with a bunch of friends or if you’ve made new friends at your hostel, then you should
really go together to the wholesale district, as that way you can buy a whole bunch of elephant
trousers at once and get the best price possible. If you have any questions about visiting Bangkok,
then make sure that you leave a comment below and I’ll try to get back to every single one of you.
Before you rush out to fill up your backpack with bargains at the wholesale district, you
should be aware that the clothing sizes in Asia tend to run a lot smaller. So, if your
self-worth is tied to being a size small, well, then you might want to skip shopping in Bangkok.
I personally don’t think that I should be a XXXL, but according to multiple clothing lines in
Bangkok, that is unfortunately my size in Asia. Even if you want to go shopping at international
brands such as Uniqlo or H&M, you should realize that they actually adapt their sizes to the local
market. So, chances are that you’ll have to go up one size or even two sizes in order to get the
same size that you would have had back home. If you want to save money and have a more
authentic experience on your next trip to Bangkok, then this is definitely one mistake that you
should avoid. Consider not staying in the busiest and most popular tourist areas of Bangkok such
as Sukhumvit. These locations are very central to a lot of the attractions. So if you’re on a
really tight schedule, it might still be worth it. But after spending just one afternoon
in the Sukhumvit area, we were absolutely exhausted and overwhelmed from all the noise and
the stimulation. But if your tolerance for those things is higher than ours, then as I said, it
is a really good base for exploring the rest of Bangkok. We spent our two weeks in Bangkok staying
in the Lat Phrao neighborhood at a really nice locally run hotel that was both comfortable and
affordable. The best part was that we had loads of local food options within a 5-minute walk from
the hotel. because it was a more residential area, it was also a little bit quieter, or at least
as quiet as you can expect in a major city such as Bangkok. Now that you know where to stay
in Bangkok, let’s talk about how you’re going to pay for everything during your visit. Most
places do accept cards, but if you’re planning on visiting the local street stores or the local
food markets, then cash is most definitely king. The good news is that there are plenty of ATMs,
so withdrawing money shouldn’t be an issue. But there are a few big mistakes that you can make
when withdrawing money from an ATM in Bangkok. The biggest mistake you can make is forgetting to take
your card with you. This might seem like a really silly mistake, but the ATMs in Thailand work
a little bit differently than other countries. So in Thailand, you don’t get your card back
until you’ve already taken your cash. In Europe, for example, you would normally get your card
back before you take your cash. So, in that sense, it’s really easy to just take your cash and then
leave. Another mistake is only taking out small amounts of Thai currency at a time. In Thailand,
ATMs will normally charge you anywhere between 200 and 250 Thai bot per withdrawal. That works
out to between $6 to $8. So, as you can imagine, if you’re constantly taking out really small
amounts of money, you’re going to rack up a lot of bank fees. My recommendation is to just take out
a big amount of cash at a time. This next mistake really applies to any ATM in the world. If you’re
withdrawing a currency that’s different from your home country, the mistake is basically accepting
the currency conversion from the ATM. Typically, when you’re withdrawing a currency that isn’t the
same as that of your bank card, the ATM will ask if you want to pay for the withdrawal in either
the local currency or in your home currency. Whatever you do, make sure that you decline the
currency conversion and always select pay or withdraw in the local currency. The reason for
this is that not only will the ATM give you a really bad conversion rate, but they’re also going
to stick you with a couple of extra percentage points. So, save yourself a lot of money and
always select the local currency. There have been a few reports of card skimming from ATMs in
Bangkok. So, whenever you’re withdrawing money, I would always try to find an ATM that’s either
located inside of a bank branch or right next to it. That’s going to give you the greatest
likelihood of not having a card skimmed. Alternatively, you can also withdraw money
at the airport when you arrive. Now, these ATMs are probably going to be okay since there’s
so much traffic and obviously being an airport, there’s usually always security. Now that you have
some cash to spread around, let’s talk about how to avoid overpaying for your SIM card. Because
let’s face it, we all need our daily dose of cute Instagram dogs, even when we’re on vacation. If
you’re planning on staying in Thailand for less than a month, then you can realistically buy any
of the tourist Sims that you see at the airport. The big providers are usually AIS or True. I would
probably recommend AIS because I found that they had the best rates, at least when we were there.
The other nice thing about AIS is that you can buy an eSIM card directly from their app without any
markup that you would probably get from any of the big eSIM providers. If you’re staying in Thailand
for longer than a month, then you’ll want to try to get a better deal than the tourist SIM cards.
We found that the best deal was a true SIM card that you can buy at the 7-Eleven stores anywhere
around Bangkok. When you go into the 7-Eleven, just ask them for the true SIM card and then take
a look because there are a couple of different packages. And basically, I would just recommend
selecting the one that has the most data. Even if you are staying in Bangkok for longer than a
month, I would still recommend that you pick up a tourist SIM card either at the airport or through
the AIS app as I mentioned earlier. That way, you’ll be able to figure out how to get to your
hotel, whether that’s going to be with public transit or by taking a Grab or a Bolt. Whether
you’re a shopaholic or a foodaholic that loves trying lots of unique dishes, Bangkok has a
lot to offer you. But all that fun comes at a price. Bangkok is a vast, sprawling, and chaotic
city. So unless you’re a hardcore city person, then you’ll probably find yourself getting really
exhausted after just a few days. At the end of our two week stay in Bangkok, we were beginning to
feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted from the constant noise and stimulus input that comes with
being in a major city. Admittedly, we are pretty much the opposite of hardcore city people. So,
take that for what it’s worth. Depending on how much time you’ve set aside for your Thailand trip,
I would probably recommend that you keep your time in Bangkok to a maximum of 7 days. That’s going
to give you a full 5 days to actually explore everything that Bangkok has to offer. And that is
plenty of time to see the best markets, the best food, and to do all your shopping. If you’re on a
tighter schedule, you could theoretically explore Bangkok in just 3 days. But if you try to see
everything, you will just run yourself ragged. So, you’ll need to be a little bit selective and
just accept that you’re going to have a little bit of FOMO when you leave. To help you pick the
best spots to visit during your trip to Bangkok, I strongly recommend downloading our custom travel
guide and Google Maps. That way, you’ll be able to plan out exactly what you want to see before you
even land in Bangkok. For more brutally honest advice, where we help you save time and money,
make sure to go check out our latest video.
Bangkok Thailand is an incredible place to visit, but there are 14 common mistakes that tourists keep making when they travel in 2025.
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Some of these mistakes tourists make when traveling are funny, and harmless whilst others could drain your travel budget faster than a trophy wife. In this travel guide we’ll show you what some of the biggest mistakes travelers make and some of the travel scams you may encounter, but don’t worry we won’t leave you hanging. We’re also going to teach you how to avoid these mistakes so that you can safely enjoy everything that the incredible city of Bangkok has to offer. This way you can travel Bangkok Thailand without worry.
Welcome to Bangkok, Thailand, a city full of color, culture, and incredible food, and one of the jewels of Southeast Asia. In this travel tips video, we’ll explore some of the top things to do in Bangkok, from bustling markets, the best Bangkok street food spots and the infamous Bangkok nightlife. Whether you’re planning your next Thailand trip or looking for places to add to your world travel plans, this Bangkok travel guide is packed with helpful Thailand travel tips and local insights. Perfect for anyone interested in Bangkok travel or finding more BKK Thailand travel adventures. Don’t forget to check out our personal Bangkok guide and map!
0:00 Bangkok Thailand travel tips
0:29 Bangkok food: foodcourts, Bangkok street food
5:49 Bangkok markets: best things to do in Bangkok, Thailand street food
8:40 Bangkok transportation: taxis, tuk tuks, MRT, BTS, Bolt, Grab
15:53 Bangkok nightlife: Khao San Road, Sukhumvit
18:36 Shopping in Bangkok: Terminal 21 Bangkok, MBK, wholesale clothing
21:35 Bangkok travel tips: hotels, ATMs, SIM cards
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✅ Save time planning your Bangkok trip with our custom Google Map & travel guide 👉https://hopefulexplorers-shop.fourthwall.com/products/bangkok-save-time-planning-your-trip