My family and I visited Bangkok for the first time. The trip was amazing, but it would've been better if we avoided these 5 mistakes.

My family and I went to Bangkok for the first time. It was great, but we made some common mistakes when planning our days and securing transportation.

Apr 7, 2025 - 18:39

My family and I visited Bangkok for the first time. The trip was amazing, but it would've been better if we avoided these 5 mistakes.

A wide shot of Wat Arun Temple at sunset in Bangkok. — I wish my family and I had avoided these five mistakes while visiting Bangkok for the first time.
Guitar photographer/Shutterstock

My family and I visited Bangkok for the first time and made a few key mistakes along the way.
We definitely misjudged how the heat would affect us, and should've structured our days differently.
I also wish we'd allocated enough time to explore Thailand's beautiful islands.

In January, my family and I spent four days traveling around Bangkok for winter break. We stayed in the Siam Square neighborhood, also known as the shopping district, and thoroughly enjoyed tasting the street food and exploring the Buddhist temples.

However, looking back, our trip could have been even better if we had avoided these five simple mistakes.

We misjudged the heat.

A photo from a bridge in Bangkok. — My family and I were not prepared for the heat in Bangkok.
Amrita Bhasin

During our trip, temperatures stayed at 96 degrees Fahrenheit and above. As Northern Californians used to temperatures closer to 55 to 75 degrees during the winter months, we were not prepared for the extreme heat.

We ended up having to travel back to the hotel midday to rest and recharge, which we don't typically need to do on trips. Looking back, I would prioritize building more breaks into the day to help avoid heat exhaustion.

I'd also recommend wearing loose clothing like elephant pants, which are popular throughout Thailand because they're comfortable and appropriate for temples where you need to cover up.

I wish we'd known how long we'd have to wait for ride-hailing transportation.

A shot of a road in Bangkok's Talat Noi neighborhood. — Wait times for ride-hailing apps were upward of 30 minutes.
Amrita Bhasin

When preparing for the trip, I saw tour guides recommended using ride-hailing apps like Grab, an alternative to Uber.

However, when we arrived in Thailand, we learned it could take upward of 30 minutes to get a ride, especially in crowded tourist areas like where our hotel was located.

So, we took advantage of Grab's ride-schedule feature to plan all our rides to the temples and other attractions the night before. However, scheduling rides provided less flexibility because we had a timed itinerary to adhere to. Still, I appreciated the assurance that we wouldn't be stuck waiting for a car.

We spent too much time in malls.

Trinkets and scarves on a stand at a mall in Bangkok. — I wish we would've spent less time at the mall.
Amrita Bhasin

Our hotel was in the shopping district, so we inevitably wandered around the malls quite a bit. They were great for taking a break from the heat, and the decor and plant markets were impressive.

However, it was too easy to spend an excessive amount of time there and miss out on other parts of the city.

I wish we'd allocated enough time to explore Thailand's beautiful islands.

A wide shot of the Phi Phi Islands, complete with mountains covered in greenery, beaches, and resorts. — Next time, I would like to explore the Phi Phi Islands.
Dmitry Rukhlenko/Shutterstock

Next time I return to Thailand, I would like to spend a few days exploring islands like Koh Samui and Koh Phi Phi.

It would've been nice to experience a tropical beach destination on what was otherwise a city vacation.

We tried to pack too much into a day.

The Royal Pavilion in Bangkok. — We learned that visiting more than two attractions in a day was a stretch.
Amrita Bhasin

There are so many temples and sites to visit in Bangkok, and some are more elaborate and time-consuming than others.

We spent the first day following an itinerary we'd planned ourselves, and thought doing a few activities each day would be perfect.

However, we found that visiting more than two attractions was both difficult and stressful because we didn't have enough time to explore everything, learn about the history, and take pictures.

So, the following day, we only picked two temples to visit, which was a much more satisfying choice.

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