Thailand: Flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok

Date: 1 November 2019

After 11 days of travelling, I was now on a VietJet flight to Bangkok. I began my trip in Phuket, where I spent two nights on the island before landing in Ho Chi Minh City. I spent nine days in Vietnam, and now I’m flying again.

Clouds over Vietnam sea — We were flying over the Gulf of Thailand

Vietjet air flight to Thailand — The flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok takes 1.5 hours

VietJet lands at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Arriving Suvarnabhumi airport Bangkok — I always feel nostalgic whenever I land at Suvarnabhumi 🙂

Whenever I take the travelators at Suvarbahumi (of which there are many to get to immigration), it would always remind me of my first visit to Thailand in 2009, which was my first international trip, and how this blog got started!

I had booked my stay at In A Box Hostel for my arrival in Bangkok. The hostel is just a 1-minute walk from Ratchathewi BTS station. I chose to stay in a hostel because I would be moving to a nicer hotel later, and also, it had been a while since I experienced a hostel. The last time I stayed in a hotel was back in 2015.

I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to find any photos I took of the dorm, and I thought I did. That said, In A Box Hostel looked fairly new and had very nice rooms with clean, comfy beds for 300 THB (₹670/$9/€8) per night in the shared dorm. But this… was pre-COVID. As of this writing, they don’t offer shared dorm rooms, only private rooms.

I don’t blame them. Even if I were to travel again soon, I don’t think I will stay in a shared room (for safety reasons).

Anyway, I had to visit a DJI service center to get my brother’s gimbal repair. Another reason for staying at In a Box Hostel was because the DJI service center was a 10 minute walk away.

I went there and the people were generous to fix the gimbal at no cost! 🙂 That was one of the things I needed from DJI. The other was a drone, something that had been on my bucket list for years. I was waiting for the DJI Mavic Mini, which would have been a great starter drone for me, but the DJI staff told me they weren’t sure of the release date, even though it would be soon.

Indian restaurants Bangkok Thailand — I walked all the way to a shopping center called Indra Square, which had a bunch of Indian restaurants opposite to the mall

Thai KFC spicy chicken rice bowl — I ended up eating at KFC. They had this spicy rice bowl that I wanted to try out!

I always try the local menu at major fast food chains, just to sample dishes I won’t find back in India. The Thai KFC spicy rice bowl was a tad too spicy for my liking.

Ryo camera Indra square Bangkok — Indra Square was filled with tourists from South Asia, buying every thing from clothes to chocolates… even from a camera shop?

Market bangkok shopping complex — The Market Bangkok mall

Whenever I am in Bangkok, I usually try to stay in Sukhumvit and near a BTS (metro station). It’s a very convenient area to be in and the food choices are very diverse. Although BTS fares have risen, I avoid taking taxis to get around Bangkok.

Bangkok traffic jam under BTS Thailand — And this is why. Traffic in Sukhumvit has NOT gotten any better even after a decade I first visited this city, which I otherwise love.

Date: 2 November 2019

Hostel breakfast Bangkok Thailand — Breakfast at In A Box Hostel is the usual off-brand cereals, biscuits, butter, jam, etc. you get served at many other similar hostels

In A Box Hostel has a kitchen which you can use to fry eggs and cook if you want. In general, the kitchen is spacious and very neat.

I did some work sitting on my bed and would step out only in the afternoon.

Tourists rail track Bangkok Thailand — This was a rail track near the hostel

I took the metro to visit Chatuchak weekend market. Anytime I visit Bangkok, I try to visit this very popular weekend market.

Pad Thai Chatuchak market Bangkok — I had Pad Thai from a street stall, of which there are many at Chatuchak

Jatujak market stores Bangkok — Even though this market is so vast, I still walk around to see if there’s anything interesting to buy

This time I didn’t spend too much time at Chatuchak as I planned to visit another market later. That would be the Ratchada Train Market a.k.a Rodfai 2 Night Market — and that will be the next post.

Next posts from Thailand:

Thailand: Ratchada Night Market (Rot Fai 2) — what it used be

Thailand: Checking out ICONSIAM mall — and leaving Bangkok

If you have not checked out my Vietnam leg of this journey, the links are below.

Vietnam series:

Flying from Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Vietnam: Ben Thanh Market and Mariamman Hindu Temple, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam: Independence Palace and Norodom Palace Exhibit

Vietnam: War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam: Bui Vien Street — Ho Chi Minh City’s nightlife area (for tourists)

Vietnam: Vinh Trang Pagoda in Bến Lức

Vietnam: Bến Tre canal boat ride, Tien River (part of Mekong Delta tour)