Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - Bangkok Travel: Where to Find the Best Rooftop Bars, Buddhist Temples, Street Food, and More

Episode Date: January 23, 2019

Bangkok can feel frenetic and overwhelming to newcomers who imagined Thailand to be all gorgeous temples and beaches. In Bangkok, you’re more likely to see luxury buildings going up next to shacks and people sitting in traffic for hours. But don’t give up on it just yet — once you get off the main streets, chances are you’ll love this vibrant city. Today’s guest, travel writer Nardia Plumridge, is here to share her best insider travel recommendations for Thailand’s capital city. (find links to everything we discuss on postcard academy.co)   An Australian expat, Nardia has lived around the world and writes for different travel publications, including Lonely Planet. Before moving to Bangkok, where she currently lives, she spent years living in Florence, where she and I met, and later this year she has a gorgeous book coming out called Lost in Florence, which celebrates the city’s unique and independent places.   Nardia loves uncovering the true essence of what a city has to offer, and today we will be sharing Bangkok’s best with you. We talk about everything from Buddhism and meditation to the best street food and rooftop bars. I also share the story of when my sister and I were trucked off to a Thai jail, and why we’d go back to the country despite that very surreal and scary experience.    I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel. Ready to travel? Sign up for my newsletter and get your free guide to cheap airfare.    Thank you so much for listening to this show. I know you’re busy and have many listening options, so it means a lot to me that you’re here. You are the best.   This podcast is brought to you by Audible. Not a member yet? Postcard Academy listeners can get a FREE audiobook and a 30-day free trial if you sign up via audibletrial.com/postcard   This podcast is also brought to you by World Nomads. Need simple and flexible travel insurance? Get a cost estimate from World Nomads using their handy calculator at postcardacademy.co/insuranceDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to the Postcard Academy. I'm your host, Sarah Megatel, and I would like to thank you so much for being here. I know you're busy, and so I really appreciate taking the time to listen to you and subscribe to this show. Today, I'm speaking with travel writer Nardia Plumridge, and first of all, how amazing is that name. Nardia has lived around the world, and she writes for different travel publications like Lonely Planet. Before moving to Bangkok, where she currently lives, Nardia spent years living in Florence, and that's actually where we met. And later this year, she has a gorgeous book coming out called Lost in Florence, and that book celebrates the city's unique and independent places. Nardia loves uncovering the true essence of what a city has to offer, and today we will be sharing Bangkok's best with you. We talk about everything from Buddhism and meditation to the best street food and rooftop bars. I also share the story of when my sister and I were trucked off to a Thai jail

and why we would actually still go back to Thailand despite that very surreal and scary experience. This episode is brought to you by World Nomads. Are you traveling abroad soon? Travel insurance is a very smart idea. You can get a free cost estimate using the handy World Nomads Insurance calculator by listening postcardacadmy.com slash insurance. And while you're planning for your next trip, don't forget your reading and listening material.

If you sign up for Audible using the linkaudibletrial.com slash postcard, you can get a free audiobook and a 30-day free trial. Now into my conversation with Nardia. Welcome, Nardia. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. So you're an expat living in Bangkok.

Where do you grow up? Where did I grow up? So I grew up in Australia, which is not that far from. in the West Coast City of Perth. But I've actually been living abroad now for many years, first in London, then in Italy, and in the past sort of year in a bit in, yeah, in Southeast Asia, which has been fantastic. So how did you end up in Thailand? So Thailand, well, simply for love.

So basically I met someone and he was living there and convinced me to spend more time, which I did. and we're still there today, which has been great. So I guess because I was lucky through my work, I could be freelance and work anywhere. I had that flexibility to spend time there. And being a travel writer, it was actually an adventure and an opportunity

to also explore Southeast Asia more with him, as well as life with him. No, because I was thinking, when I lived in London and I moved to Florence and lived there for many years, I moved because of my love for those cities. So I did that on my own. This is the first time I've actually moved countries or cities for somebody else.

or for us, I guess you'd probably say, it would be more appropriate. So he's Australian and he convinced you to leave Italy to come to Asia. Yeah, but it started off kind of slowly at first. Like, come spend more time. I was like, I can do that. You know, I'm freelance. I can spend another month less travel.

And actually, to be fair, when we first met, we spent time in Bangkok and then he had to go to Chang Mai for work. So we were like, oh, let's go to Chang Mai. And then we went to Singapore and then we ended up in Bali. And we just sort of ended up sort of bouncing around Southeast Asia. with our work and it was just a fun adventure and it seemed to work out which was great so I was absolutely not looking to move to Southeast Asia was not on my radar at all even though I'm a huge fan and I've been traveling there regularly since 2006 and I'm a huge fan of Thailand

particularly but yeah it was one of those things if we'd spoken two years ago and you'd said you'll be in Bangkok doing all these things I would have been that sounds crazy but wonderful so that's how life works sometimes in the best way, doesn't it? You know, crazy, beautiful. So how are you allowed to live in work there? What's your visa situation? Yeah, so that's kind of interesting. So for me, I don't officially work in Thailand because I freelance and all of my work is

from European or Australian-based businesses. It kind of goes through a sort of an official loophole that's like, you know, I'm not working there. So I can just come and go on different types of visas. So, for example, last year I had a. six-month visa, which you still have to leave the country every 60 days, but I sort of get those kind of things. So a long-term visa and just travel. And like I said, I'm not officially working for a Thai company or in Thailand. So that's the way I work around it, which is my natural

life work anyway, if that makes sense. But otherwise, I know people who do, you know, work there and work for obviously Thai-based companies. And, you know, you can get a working visa if you, like a lot of countries, if you do have a job and they end up of sponsoring you. My friends, are based that way, just go through agencies who sort of organize all the paperwork for them. And yeah, it seems to work. So that's kind of how I am right now. So we'll see. I mean, I don't know how much longer I'm going to be there either.

So it's okay to sort of play it six months at a time. It's like a multiple entry tourist visas. So every 60 days you just fly to another country and spend some time. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I guess in one way you could look at it as a good way. it go and explore other parts of Asia. But as my life would have it anyway, since I've been there,

I've been leaving, on average, every month internationally for work and other travels, just as part of my life organically. So it kind of works out fine. It hasn't been a huge issue because of the kind of lifestyle that we lead. Because my partner, for example, has to go to Singapore every month for work. So I often travel with him because I'm a huge fan of Singapore, and it's only two hours away. And so, you know, it's also cheap to fly around South.

Southeast Asia. It'd be like when you're in Europe and you can fly, you know, those cheap airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet. Here they have some similar airlines. So, you know, for $100, you can go to Bali, you can go to Vietnam, you know, even Japan's only sort of five hours away. The Maldives are only four hours away. So Bangkok's a very good hub to be based for travel, I think, where if you just want to fly around from the airports, you can get around to lots of fantastic locations really quickly and cheaply. Have you been to Thailand? Tell me about your experiences. as we were talking about Thailand today. Oh, yeah.

I was in Thailand many years ago. I was very young and naive. And I went with my sister. And yeah, this was in 2001. Okay, great. Yeah, I was a bit shocked when we flew into Bangkok, I think, because I think when you're coming from so far away, you sort of just like meld all these different images in your head.

So I had like temples and the beach and, you know, food stalls. And then we get there and we're driving through Bangkok. And I'm like, what? Where are we? We're just seeing like shacks and dogs that have not been fixed running through the streets, which was something that I had never seen before in my life. And I was like, whoa. Yeah, what is it?

Yeah. Yeah. And all that all that. still remains, still part of its charms, if you call it such. Although, yeah, I think it's great you got to see the city back then because I imagine, I was first there in 2006, so a few years after you, but not that far. And it's definitely evolved a lot in the last decade or so, where now it's very, it's a, it's a bit of a working site, if you know what I mean, like a, there's so many

new condos going up in buildings. It's like, it's really trying to westernize itself. And so, but it's a really interesting kind of like mold of like, you know, you will have a beautiful shiny condo that will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for a small apartment next to like a block which has got the shanty style towns, you know, the two-story wooden huts that have been there for like 50 years and there's not a lot of city planning. So it's very frenetic and very fast and it definitely has this amazing energy and the people are incredible, but you have to be ready for it.

And I can see why lots of people go to Bangkok and they are probably quite disappointed because from the bank, like the postcard kind of image, you do see those beautiful temples and the grand palace and you see the Thai beaches. But there's so much more to it. And it's, it's like a lot of Asia, you know, or Southeast Asia. It's a pretty frenetic and chaotic place. But as long as you're ready for that, then you can enjoy it, if that makes sense. I have spent like the last, you know, I guess a lot of, most of my adult life exploring Europe.

and I really love it over here, you know, being as an American, like, everything is still so fun to discover. But I think I'm definitely in the phase of my life where I would like to explore Asia more. So I've got a trip to Japan planned. I'd like to see Malaysia. I'd like to go back to Thailand. It's been so long. I really, I really like Thailand. No, it is a beautiful place.

Look, I love the people. I'm really into the history and the heritage. Like, I love the Buddhism, sort of life philosophy and learning more about that. It's been really an incredible opportunity. And I'm a huge fan of massages and wellness. And I think it's a really great place to come for all of those things. So, yeah, it's just a different beat compared to Europe, which is very sort of structured, organized, beautiful architecture.

I mean, I lived in Europe for a long time before spending more time this way. And I can see the appeal for you. But then also, yeah, I'm really happy to explore more of Asia as I've done in the past and especially in the last year, particularly. So, yeah, no, it's good. So if you come back, well, hopefully I'll be in Bangkok and I can show you around. Or I'll give us some tips today at least that you can use if we don't meet up. That would be great.

I would love to meet up. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be great. I actually, yeah, so I have such fond memories of Thailand. But my sister and I actually got arrested when we were there. And so it was like one of the most surreal experiences of my life. So we were, I think she had just started college. I was just a little out of college.

And we were doing this Asian trip. And we kept meeting all of these other expats who were saying like, oh, we just went to Nepal. We just went to Vietnam. And so we were like last minute, oh, we should go to another country too. That would be so fun. And my sister really wanted to go see the Great Wall of China. Okay.

I wanted to go some more else. But I was like, all right, we can go there. And so we went to a travel agent in Thailand and in Bangkok. and he helped like organize, you know, find us a tour and was going to help us get our visas, Chinese visas. So we went, took the train up to Chiang Mai and had a fabulous time. Like I really love that region of Thailand. It was my favorite.

So great. Yeah. And when we came back on the train to Bangkok, our travel agent was supposed to meet us at the station. And the train pulls in and the police start. pulling off every white girl off of the train and checking passports. And me and my sister didn't have our passport because our travel agent did. Like we had sent them as part of like to get our visas. And so yeah, sure. So it was me and my sister and one other girl and her boyfriend and they were going to let the boyfriend go. And right. He was like, well, I'm not leaving my, I'm not leaving my

girlfriend. So they go through all of our suitcases, tear everything up. And I said, well, our travel agents nearby, can I go get him? And he can sort this out. And he said, you can go, but your sister has to stay behind. And I had seen like broke. Yeah, I had seen Broke down Palace and all those films where the girls disappear. And so. Yeah. And I have a terrible sense of direction. But somehow I like knew where this travel agent was. I've never run so fast in my life. I get there. The travel agent's not there.

I grabbed one of the other guys. And I'm like kind of a soft-spoken person. I was like, you're coming with me. The police have my sister. So the guy comes, has a chat. Then the police have like machine guns. And I asked the tour agent. I was like, can we just run?

And he was like, don't do that. You have to go with these guys. So they took us in this air-conditioned truck, which was really a nice truck. I was really surprised. And I remember, like, feeling like I was floating outside of my body. Like, this could be the end. I could just.

Absolutely. They told us. End up in a tired jail for the next 20 years. They told us nothing. So they bring us to this sort of outdoor jail. So we're sitting on these benches outside and I can see people in the cell. And this man walked up off the street and just starts asking me, like, what are you doing here? and I just look at my sister like, don't say anything to anyone.

And then our tour, our travel agent shows up and he looked cracked out like he was on drugs and was squeezing a pokey man like keychain, squeaky keychain. It's all like very clear to me because I thought I was going to disappear forever. And he was like, oh, they probably just think you're Russian prostitutes. Oh my God. Is that a thing? I mean, gosh. I guess.

that part of the world. Yeah. I mean, I was reflecting, I was reflecting on that yesterday, like, in advance of our call. And I was like, what if we were, like, traffic victims or something? But they were not compassionate at all about that. So then they just carted us to, like, immigration. And we went, like, room to room. And then all of a sudden they just let us go.

And it didn't occur to me until, like, years later that our travel agent probably, like, paid them a bribe or something to let us go. But we were a bit traumatized after that. we did go to China and then came back to Thailand and we were going to go to the beaches, but my sister was like, no, I need to get out of here. Despite all of that, we still liked Thailand and would go back there. So I'm really looking forward to having you help us discover Bangkok. Could you give us a visual snapshot of Bangkok? Where is it geographically?

What does the postcard look like? So basically, okay, Bangkok obviously is the capital of Thailand, which is in Southeast Asia. So it's very close to the equator. Because of that, you will have just hot weather all year round. Like it's summer, 12 months of the year. Although they officially have three seasons, which is like hot, cool and the monsoons to the rainy season, which is my least favorite. It's when it's really, really humid and it's really sticky outside.

So the minute you leave your air-conditioned condo or the BTS, like the Sky Train, you kind of literally will be psyched for sweating. But look, it's a fast and frenetic city. There's 8 million plus people. And you can feel that. So if anyone's traveled anywhere in Southeast Asia, you'll know that there's a particular pace, a buzz abounds, and it's pretty hard to get away from.

So when I first was there in 2006, because of the Sky Train, you know what I'm talking about, those, you know, the Tramway trains that are above the roads, like had a really blade runner, if you know, that film kind of vibe, a very futuristic vibe. And I was kind of stunned too,

because I was like, you think of the islands and tropics, And Bangkok is not that. There's not much greenery. Like I said, there's a lot of traffic, a lot of people, and it's hot. It's humid. And so it can be quite a challenging city. But if you can get off the main streets, you'll find its real charm.

What would you say are the biggest differences between Australian and Thai culture or Italian and Thai culture? Oh, it's such a good question. Well, definitely between, say, Australian and Thai is very, very different. I would say, I mean, definitely just in the lifestyle that we enjoy. In Australia, we love the outdoors. We have all this nature around us. And some of like Bangkok particularly, it's very like I said, fast and frenetic. But the biggest cultural difference would be communication.

So Australians would be very direct, hopefully friendly, but direct. Ties have, they call, people call it the land of smiles. And everyone is really, really smiley and very friendly. And through their Buddhist culture, they're very kind and they're gorgeous people. but they also don't like confrontation. And that's been probably one of the biggest cultural differences. So when I say confrontation, I'm not talking about aggression. I just mean they will, even if they're not happy about something, they wouldn't tell you.

And they'll just be, yes, no problem, even though maybe to their friends or behind closed doors, they would say otherwise. And so sometimes it's hard to know where you stand, especially if you're there working in certain roles. And yet, they just don't like confrontation. So that's me to think about as a traveller, which I think you should do anywhere in the world, is be respectful of anyone, but just be aware that, you know, culturally, they're not the kind of people to shout, to scream, to be gruff. You know, to keep that in mind. When my sister and I were in Thailand, at one point, we ended up just hanging out and, like,

having a meal with our travel agent, the Taji one I mentioned, who we got into trouble with. But anyway, we were having a meal, we were having a meal with our travel agent and his girlfriend. and we said, soatika to someone. And she was like, that's so, she was like, that's so rude. And we were like, what? We were trying to be nice and like speak a bit of Thai.

So that just means like, thank you. And she's like, no, you don't say it like that. It's like, soatika, Kapkunka. And I was like, we felt so embarrassed. No, I can imagine. Yeah, again, so just in a more calm like, yeah, they're like, Sawadika. They sort of elongate the last sort of vowel as well, you know.

Yeah, no, I can totally imagine. We were saying it too sharp. Yeah, too sharp, too harsh. You have to remember they're very kind and calm sort of culture. So to speak in that way too, you know, kind, calmly, smile. You know, when they do, they're sort of greeting, you often put your, you know, the hands together, you know, around your breastbone and do a little bow. It's not a religious thing.

It's just like an honoring each other. Be like a namaste. Which I love. I do love that acknowledgement, so it's good to do that back. But yeah, but the differences on, let's say similarities actually between Italians and ties I've learned is they're both really bad at timekeeping. So there is such a thing as Thai time, which is being late or not really adhering to the Anglo way of being on time. So you do get used to that after a little while.

And I think that's one of the main things. But no, they're really beautiful. Like I do adore Thai people. There's just something really, yeah, the kindness. It's nice to be around. It's nice to be in, that's one thing about Bangkok. I always feel very safe and you just know that I feel like people would be kind and calm and look out for you. What historical or cultural facts do you share with Thailand that surprises your visitors?

Okay. This is quite a good one. Actually, one thing I was surprised when I sort of moved there and was doing more historical research through work is it's actually not a very old country as you see it today. Like even Bangkok is the official capital is only sort of 200 plus years. old. So a lot of the buildings you see that even the temples are only about that as well, like the Grand Palace and what Po, that kind of thing. They also obviously at the moment we have in Thailand, a lovely royal family who are very beloved and revered. And when I was doing some heritage and history on them, I found out there actually again, not, haven't been around that long.

They've only been around about 200 years as well, about the same time as Bangkok has been officially a city and the capital. So I thought initially just thought, oh, Thailand must have this huge history that's like thousands of years that's been documented. Of course, people would have been living there for ages. But in terms of what you see and what's documented, it's a bit younger than I imagined. I did remember being surprised by that, like going to the temples and then thinking,

hi, I'm from New England and we have buildings just as old. Exactly. And I'm from Australia originally. and we're about the same, almost the same sort of age as well. So when you put it like that, yeah, that was just surprising for me. But yeah, no, it's wonderful. And I'm really into Eastern sort of mysticism and culture. And I love learning more and more about Buddhism,

which I think we should all learn about different cultures and religions. We'd all be a happier world. And there's a lot of really great ways of thinking, but the Buddhists work too. And then you understand a lot more about the culture of Thailand and that calmness and that kind of, you know, being, yeah, treating each other with respect. What is, um, yes, treating each other with respect for sure. What, what else do you think people should know about Buddhism?

I mean, some of the things I love, like the laws of detachment, I don't know if you know much about Buddhism, which I find really, um, helpful. It's basically about not being too fixated on an outcome. And, um, it's about not having expectations. So that doesn't mean you don't have ambition. you don't have dreams or goals and you don't go for it. It means you're not attaching yourself to how something should work out because if it doesn't work out, you get disappointed

or what can happen often in conflict between us humans, even friendships or otherwise or relationships, let's say, even in love, you hope or expect someone will do something for you. And when it doesn't work out, you kind of get annoyed, right? Whereas if you detach yourself from the outcome and just whatever comes to you, have gratitude, everything kind of works out okay. Does that sound a bit hippie?

That makes sense. No, it makes sense. I'm flashing back to a book that I read in college called the Tao of Pooh, as in Winnie the Pooh. Yes. And so I guess I need to study it more on religion, because I'm not sure the difference between Taoism and Buddhism. But I read some similarities. So I read the Tao of Pooh and it was just like, I read something like, you know, even if you have a talent for something, if the passion, isn't there, you should just let it go. And I was playing guitar at the time, but I never practice.

Like I could sit down and like learn a song very easily. So before my lesson, I would just sit down and like do my work for the week. And then I was thinking, you know, I love the idea of playing the guitar. But my passion is like elsewhere. And I'm wasting my teacher's time and my time getting there. So I just like let it go. Yeah, let it go. Let it go. So yeah, exactly. Exactly. So yeah, that's one thing that always comes. The laws of detachment. So I find that helpful because I think naturally we do attach ourselves to an outcome. But when you sort of step back and go, there's only so much I can do. Like you have to, like I said, you just have to go for it. It works really well in relationships. That's my bit of love advice for this call. Again, you've got to make a bit of an effort, but you can't get attached to an outcome. You can't, you can only control so much in life, you know. Yeah. Stop obsessing about obsessing about texts. He said, who texts last? Just. Yeah. You reach that. Don't worry up for the person. Move on.

Just get on with your beautiful life and just get on to achieving the next thing. And if it's going to come back to it comes back to you. And if it does and it doesn't, that's okay. Have gratitude for all the things that you do have around you, you know. And that's the thing I think we do, especially now fast, phrenetic Western ways. We sort of always focusing on what we don't have versus what we do have. So the gratitude part of Buddhism is really beautiful. Do you have any sort of like formal gratitude practice? Well, I have become over the years a huge fan of meditation.

And that's been really lovely to explore even more, being in Bangkok. And so where that comes from, just having a bit of stillness every day just to stop and reflect. So I would definitely recommend it. And also, if you're into wellness, there's so many great places in Thailand to just go and chill out and be, you know. So there's some great, if you're really into like meditation, like the silent meditation retreats in some islands where you can go and stay with the monks. in very simple conditions, very ePrey love style, and, you know, have some internal solace. Do you have any specific ones that you could recommend? There's one actually, I would have to send you the details, but there's one near La Mai Beach,

I know, in Kosamui. But there's also actually, which I discovered in near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, there's actually a Buddhist university, and within the university there is a meditation Center and they offer meditation in English every day at 1 p.m. And so, you know, you can actually pop along there and do a little session if you're interested and then run around the little grounds and bump into beautiful monks and their orange robes. And there's some really beautiful temples there that are really peaceful because it's part of university. It's not part of the tourist trail. So it's one of my secret escapes.

Ooh. Yes, you are very good at finding the unique and independent places. So, what other secret escapes would you take me to if I visited you? That's a good question. Well, yeah, I guess my advice to everyone anywhere you travel, first and foremost, is literally when you're on a busy street, just go a street or two back and you'll start exploring the true essence of what's going on. And Bangkok is very much that. There's some huge street hubs that are horribly busy,

and then you can just walk by and find something glorious. So there is obviously a main river that cuts through the city, the Chau Priya. And again, around there's a lot of hotels. But again, if you explore some of the little back streets around, say, like the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, it's kind of fun to do. And actually, I had my mum come and stay last November. And one of the most fun things we did was we went to the Authors Lounge at the Oriental.

It's in the oldest hotel, which dates back to like 1875, very colonial style. And you can take sort of British style, high tea, served in beautiful China by these glorious weight stuff in silk, you know, so dress and, and just sort of imagine you're like 19th century explorers or something like that. So that's kind of a fun thing to do. The city has become quite contemporary in more recent times, so it's hard to really find like what I would call Old Town Bangkok. But the best place to explore, I would say, would be Chinatown, which has some incredible food if you're a foodie. And there's some great dimsome places, which I love. There's a place called Huaseng Hong, which is my

favorite little restaurant on the main drag there. And then, yeah, if you were to come, I'd probably do that with you. I'd probably take you for high tea, go for some jimpsom in Chinatown, and then I'd probably take you to this little secret temple I like at the Buddhist University, a little meditation session or something like that, just to mix it up, a bit of everything that the city has to offer. Of all the big sites, what would you say are like the ones that are definitely worth it? The most popular site in town is definitely the Grand Palace. And it is, I think, worth seeing because you really get what you imagine the postcard of Thailand or Bangkok is. So these beautiful buildings, obviously you can know more about the Thai royal family.

And then there's also Wapo, which is like one of the most popular temples that have the reclining Buddha that a lot of people would have read about. I'll be honest. I look, as a city, it was surprisingly, I don't say lacking sounds awful, but it didn't have as much as I thought it might have when I started exploring and working out there. like compared to some European cities, maybe I was spoiled, you know, living in London, living in other places where these little villages and pockets are just places to see. I found that the city of Bangkok definitely in the last 10 years and even today, you know, a lot of the areas have been bulldozed and they're building new condos and it's turning into a bit of a Manhattan.

Yeah, I mean, one of my favorite things to do is to go down the river on just one of the regular boats, not like a touristy boat. Like, for example, there's one. They go by colour. There's like a blue, a green, and orange. And you can go from Satuan Pier, which is near where I live, on the orange boat up to the Grand Palace. And it only costs 15 bar, which is about 50 cents American. And you just sit on this boat and you can watch the world go by.

And it's a really fun way to kind of just see the city and see some temples and also even see the Grand Palace from the river. But what you see and what you discover in Bangkok, it's a real mix mash of like old and new, shiny, and dirty. It's a real, yeah, it can confuse some people, I think, and I can understand why. How would we find that boat if we wanted to take a look? Okay, so Saton Pier, Saton's like an area that's right in the center of town, and you can get the BTS, which is what some people call the Sky Train, like the public transport to it. And from there, it's the main pier in Bangkok.

And from there, you can just get boats up and down the river. And so from there, for example, there's a number of different ones. and you can see there'll be like the signage there that shows you which ones which but the orange is the one I always take and they come like every 20 minutes of cheap as I mentioned and they stop off at a lot of piers along the river to get off any main sites but it's kind of fun just to go up and down the river just to see what it looks like from that sort of viewpoint but yeah I would say kind of be ready to see like I said it's a mixed mash of things There's not a lot of city planning in Bangkok, sadly, in my opinion.

So it's not like, like I said, you'll see a shiny new shopping center or hotel next to something that looks like a derelict building that hasn't been touched in years and looks like it's about to fall down. Yeah, that's my memory. Yeah, yeah. That still exists. Yeah. So.

What's the best way to get around the city? Do you ever take a tuck-tuck? Okay, so I've definitely taken a took-tock in the past. And I think they're a really fun thing to do, even like just once in your life for the giggle. They will always try to overcharge you. So just be careful. And my advice on that is always just get a quote first. So ask them like, I'm going to hear whatever X.

I'm going to the grand palettes, how much? And then if you're happy with the prize, pay it and be done. But it will be a lot more expensive than, say, taking it a regular taxi, which is on a meter and very, very, very cheap. But what's really popular to get around in Bangkok is a company, so to speak, called Grab. They're kind of the Uber of Thailand. And so that's an app you can find on the app store and download it. And it's really easy just to put your location where you're going and they'll find the nearest driver. And they'll tell you the price before you get in the car and they'll come pick you up.

So that's the way we get around town a lot. Or if you're in certain parts of the city, you can take the Skytrain, the BTS, which is really fast and efficient and really cheap. It's about a dollar a ride. It's air-conditioned and it's obviously above the streets. So it kind of zips through the city and it's a good way to get around because the traffic, the car traffic in Bangkok can be really hideous, especially as certain parts of the day. I mean, sometimes it can take an hour to cut, you know, cut across town.

So it's better to try to get the BTS if that's going to your location. Yes, lots of pollution. Yes, lots of pollution. Even today, like I read an article in Time magazine where at the moment they're saying to residents don't go outside if you don't have to. So that's a slightly sad part of, I think, our modern development, which seems to be happening a lot in countries, especially in Southeast Asia. But when you're there, you don't notice it so much. It's not like you walk out and you think, oh, actually it just looks like fog, to be honest. It looks like mist until somebody more of a local tells you that it's pollution.

then it kind of makes your skin crawl a little bit. Yeah, it's not keeping people inside. People are always in the streets. Absolutely. And I love the energy of the streets. I love street food and that's something, you know, when you're there, if you are a bit of a foodie, I would say, don't be fearful. Like the street food is incredible.

It's really cheap. I love the energy of walking down the street and there's just someone, you know, they all have their speciality and they're frying up whatever they're doing. And it's a great way to get a feed in town as well. well so that's where I like to kind of you know explore wherever you are just get some street food and try try try I always think anywhere when you travel if the locals are eating it they're obviously not keeling over with pain or any issues so it must be okay what are some foods that we need to try in Thailand the classics like patai obviously which I did discover actually it's not officially a Thai

dish it came from some part of china but it is obviously everywhere there so yeah patai is great I love all any of the noodles. There is actually a place in Chinatown, a lady called J Fye who's become quite famous, especially via the TripAdvisor. In the last year, she was granted a Michelin Star for her street food eatery, and she does this like amazing crab omelette.

So if you're that way inclined to want Michelin Star style food of the street variety, she's worth checking out. Although you do, I should stress, you'll pay for that. Like it's not cheap. She charges around 1,000 bar, which in street food prices is a lot.

of money. It's about $40 or something. Holy cow. That could be fine. I know it's a lot. When you think you'd go somewhere else, if you were to get like an omelet, even with crab,

maybe for like a tenth of the price. Something that's really popular that I don't personally like for breakfast, but people eat a lot is called moo ping. It's like a pork kind of skewer. It's been like grilled and people have it for breakfast with sticky rice. So that's something my boyfriend seems to like. Yeah. So I don't know.

Any of the street food, really. There's lots of sausage. You can try like Thai sausage I love because it's got like the lemongrass, but the chili, that kind of thing. Something I found surprising actually being out there is, you know, in our Western ways we think of like green curry and that kind of saucy dish.

It's actually not a street food dish and quite hard to come by in most like genuine, you know, places in Thailand like street food. You'll find that all street food would be either grilled kind of food or wok driven. It wouldn't be like a curry like boiled. or anything like that. So that was a bit of a surprising thing to learn early on. What should vegetarians look out for for street food?

Oh, la, la, that's a good one actually because there's not a lot. But, yeah, I mean, you can get a lot of sort of stir-fried vegetables on menus. It's easy to get a lot of incredible fruit. I know it's probably going to start sounding boring. But I love all the tropical fruit. So you'll see like someone who could be just selling pineapple, let's just say. and they'll have like these small pineapples that they somehow superbly sort of like peel and then just sell them to you. Does coconut ice cream count?

Yes. It does. Yes, because it is. Yes, it does. Really good coconut ice cream made just from like coconut milk and all that loveliness. But yeah, actually there's a lot of meat dishes. And actually they use a lot of fish sauce in Thai cooking too. So it could be a little tricky if you're a strict vegetarian to find a lot of food.

But otherwise, noodles, you know, noodles with veg would be easy to come by. And you could also just ask them not to put a fish sauce in there, for example. When I was in Chi, when I was in Chiang Mai, I had one of the best meals of my life. I think it was some kind of bean curd and cashews and it was spicy. My sister and I still talk about it. Are you vegetarian? Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So I'm just thinking, because I eat everything, so I'm just like, bring it on. What I have found out, found, you know, in my travels there, though, now there is an increasing number of places that you can go that have kind of Western-style food, but like, you know, the green smoothies and, you know, they're sort of like eggs on toast, that kind of thing. So that's quite easy, it's a lot easier to find, not the street. food, they'll be like cafes, like chic little cafes, you know, have really popped up.

And you can definitely find the balance now with an eats meets west kind of amalgamation, for sure, for sure, for sure. Is there a food tour company that you like? Yes, I did an incredible tour in 2017 with the Bangkok food tour company, so easy name to remember. And what I loved about them is we really went off the beaten track to places I'd never been to before. So we met at one of the last BTS stops in the West Side.

The guide was wonderful and she took us to like a local food market. The name escapes me. But, you know, just literally there was like no other Westerners there and took us to all the different types of veggies and foods and so on. And along the way we tried street food. We ended up going on a canal,

like longboat kind of drive. We ended up at like an artisan residence in the middle of nowhere, like a sort of art studio and then finally sort of ended up back near the Grand Palace. So they're back in the center again. So yeah, they were fantastic. I would highly recommend them.

And they do tours not just in Bangkok, but they also do them up in like Chiang Mai, for example, and a few other locations. So if we wanted to get out of Bangkok, where, what other areas should we explore in Thailand? Yeah. Well, I guess the islands always jump out first and foremost. So, you know, from Bangkok in an hour on an airplane, you can be in one of the beautiful islands. My advice is don't go to the main islands. Like, you know, Co Samui and Katau, Copenhagen, like there's so many. If you just go to one, the couple removed, you'll get that experience

that you really, truly want and expect that it's like the beach film or something like that, because, you know, that doesn't exist in Thailand anymore on the main islands even. What are your favorite beaches? Oh, it's interesting, actually, because I'm now doing all this myself, because I mean, as in going to like, like, with Paul, my boyfriend, so where can we go? Like, that's like, we've, we'd almost look at a map and go, that sounds good. Let's just try it, you know.

But there's an island called Lippi. Some of the ones that I like as well now, like his colanta, co-yao-ya. So, again, there's so many islands. It's almost like, just do a little research and just see what some of the smaller ones might be like, just away from those main ones. But apart from that, yeah, Chang Mai and Chang Rai are two northern towns worth exploring. And you mentioned you loved Chiang Mai, is that right?

When you were there, it's quite small compared to somewhere like Bangkok, but it has the temples and it has, you know, some the old city walls and some wonderful food and interesting kind of museums and that kind of thing. And Changrai is a little bit further north still right by the border of Burma and Lao. And it's near the Golden Triangle, which is where those three countries meet. And it's kind of famed back in its day for its poppy growing like opium. There's even a little opium museum I remember going to when we were there in the past. That could be quite fun to explore again.

If you really want to go that a bit further to, you know, just be away from the main tourist groups and that kind of thing and just sort of see the north of the country. It's really good to, if you're a motorbike sort of person, hiring a bike and riding around there is really fun. Yeah, I don't know. When I was in Bali, I rode on an electric bicycle for the first time. Oh. And I was really, I was nervous about it.

but it ended up being fine. It was really fun, actually. And so I was thinking like, ooh, maybe the next step is a little motorino. And by, yeah, absolutely. I don't know. I mean, you can hire them really easily. Yeah, just I would just sort of caveat. If you're ever thinking about that stuff,

make sure your insurance is covered for those kind of things, especially when you're traveling, you know, for any accidents and that kind of, or emergencies. Because some don't cover bikes. But if you are a bike person, which my boyfriend is, it's kind of fun. Or maybe it's fun for me because I'm on the back of the bike and I get to sort of see everything like a small child, happy.

Yeah. Well, speaking of insurance, I heard like the medical care in Thailand was really great. It is really good. Yeah. I mean, hopefully no, it ever has to use it. But no, it's really, really good. And in Bangkok, for example,

they've got an incredible hospital in the center of town, which for Westerners is actually really reasonably priced, even to pay the bills compared to other countries for like top-notch medicals. So, no, I've always felt very safe there and never, you know, because sometimes when you travel, you do worry about that kind of thing. Like if anything happened, what would happen? But they seem to be pretty on the ball with those sort of things. Well, before I let you go, I would love to do a semi-lightening round of your favorite places in Bangkok.

And you can have more than one answer. Okay. Favorite bakery. Bakery, okay. There's a place called the Holy Bakery that we really like. so like whole H-O-L-E-Y. They obviously bake everything in house and do amazing croissants, which are actually, again, quite hard to find in Asia.

So that's a recommendation. How about coffee shop? There would be a couple. I think my favorite coffee shop is Aluka, which is near us in Silam, which is the one, the cafe that's inside the homeware store, really, really chic and quite fun and funky. I also love the coffee at a place called Roots.

And if you're in like Sukumvit area, near Tonglo, they have a really cool kind of cafe on the ground floor of a place called the Commons, which is a really good outlet for food, especially come evening time. How do Thai people usually take their coffee? Well, what's been interesting is there's definitely been an emergence, like trend-wise there for craft coffee like we have had, you know, over the years in the West. And so the ties are really sort of getting into, you know, different kind of like drip coffee. And there's a lot more Thai coffee being grown in the north around Chiang Mai, Chang Rai because the soil is so great up there in the climate. So they're using, obviously, Thai beans.

But otherwise, in terms of traditions, you know, the street sellers would just sell it. And a lot of it would be instant, which is not my favorite. So I like to go to the more sort of craft coffee joints that have popped up in the last five years or so. How about lunch spot? I have a soft spot for the Peninsula Hotel Garden, which is a beautiful firestar hotel on the river. And so you can sit there amongst all this beautiful greenery, look over the river and just sort of be sort of wind and dined, which is definitely a fun experience. What do you usually order there?

Last time I was there, I ordered salmon. So again, the fair is like halfway between, you know, you can get obviously Thai dishes traditional or sort of Western stuff. I'm a huge salmon fan, so I remember eating that. It was lovely and drinking rosé wine until the sunset. So it was memorable. It definitely comes back to mind. And I would recommend it. Yeah.

I think that's the thing about Bangkok too. You have, again, the street food, but then you've got the five-star hotels. It's kind of like this kind of real contrast. So it's nice to explore both, you know? And no matter what you choose, it'll still be much more affordable than if you are in Europe. That is very true, actually.

So you can have that sort of experience. and yeah, exactly, it's not going to totally break the bank. Where do you and your partner like to go for dinner? One of our favorite spots is a place called Eat Me, which is, if they're really kind of down just like a side street, it'd be really hard to find unless someone recommends it. It's almost like in a, it's a two-story building, quite a contemporary setting, amazing food, good cocktails.

So that would definitely be, oh, it's one of our favorites where we like to go. And then recently we discovered a Greek restaurant because again, it's a very international city. Sometimes Bangkok reminds me of Manhattan in its ways that just opened up as well in a similar area near Lumpini called ASOPs. And that was really fun. The food was brilliant. And they even give you three plates to kind of break at the end of the meal and people dance around the tables. So that was memorable. And on Sundays they've just started doing a backgammon brunch where people can go and

eat brunchy food and play backgammon, which I thought was really fun. And it doesn't sound very Thai, but that's also very Bangkok. It's very multicultural. So, yeah. Chopsticks or no? The Thai don't actually use chopsticks. They use a fork and a spoon. They're kind of like utensils.

So what you'll find, it's really hard to even get knives because their food doesn't need to be cut. So yeah, you don't find many chopsticks in Thailand. I think if you ask you might, but they're not the regular. regular thing on tables unless you go to a Japanese restaurant, which I like. I'm not a big fan of chopsticks. Yeah. Oh, neither am I. And I was actually traumatized in Thailand because I... You're given chopsticks? I was. And so I don't remember where we were, but I was using them. This was so long ago. And I remember everybody in the restaurant staring at me while I was eating. And I was like,

oh my gosh, I must be doing it wrong. And I never ate with chapsticks again. And then along... And then a long time, like, passed. And I was like, oh, they were probably staring at me one, because I was like a white teenager and everybody else was Thai. And I was also eating with chopsticks. And I think they may have been, but I didn't realize that it was not a common thing. It's not a common thing. I'm not saying you won't find them anywhere, but it's not a common thing. No, like thinking about restaurants and I'm trying to think even without local street food.

Like a day, normally a spoon and a fork is, you know, the thing you normally you normally. normally see on tables at restaurants. And it's very rare to find a knife. That's something we discovered being out there. And again, when you think about it, it makes sense. Because like I was saying, the food is either going to be soupies, you need a spoon or something to scoop up. You know, you don't really need to cut it.

It's already ready to go. How about best rooftop bar? Oh, there's so many. And it's definitely a recommendation while you're there to go and see the sunset. But I have a soft spot again for the Sky Bar. which is kind of quite famous in Bangkok because they filmed the hangover too there amongst other things. So people not from that.

It's at a sort of a hotel that's not too far from where we live. And again, it just holds good memories from early dating love story. So that's somewhere I would definitely recommend the sky bar. It's right by the river. It's on the 63rd floor of a hotel. And the views are incredible. So not the cheapest.

You'll pay kind of Western prices for a gin and tonic, but it's definitely worth going for one and just enjoying. What's your favorite place to go out at night? I'll be honest. I'm not a big night owl, if I'm honest. So, yeah, I don't really go out a lot at night. But I would definitely say probably going to like a rooftop by like I just mentioned like Skybar or something we would do if we had friends in town.

Otherwise, I would say for travelers though, like Kosan Road, if it's your first time in Bangkok, is definitely worth going to at night. it is like I said more of that backpacker kind of area but it's really lively kind of there's loads of street bars and food and and all that kind of jazz going it's got a pretty electric energy yeah so that's where I would take friends when they're in town is there any sort of like theater or live music culture that kind of thing I mean there is a little bit I mean it's definitely growing I mean I love also the galleries and there's a lot of contemporary spaces that have opened so one of my favorites is a place called Back, which is the Bangkok Art and Culture Center,

which is in the center near an area called CAM, if you're getting the BTS train. And that is a beautiful space. It reminds me a bit of the Guggenheim in New York. So it's got this of central atrium that's sort of circular. And on different levels, they have different exhibitions. They do a lot of photography and other contemporary arts. And within the space, there's actually like some, you know, bars and restaurants and that kind of offering as well. So that would definitely be something I would recommend for a culture vulture.

And then around the corner on a little side street is quite a cool little space that's called Yellow. So Y-E-L-O. And that has like a front section where they often have some live music. I've got a back section. It's a little restaurant. They've got a gallery on the mezzanine floor. So that's quite a great place to kind of check out. And it's opening the evenings.

Do you have a favorite museum? Let's think. I went to, there's a museum just called the Bangkok Museum, which is near the Grand Palace recently. And I quite enjoyed that, which was great. And what was really nice is on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they offer free guided tours. So you buy the ticket, which is 200 bar, about $8 or something.

And then they had tours in English, French. And I think Dutch was the other one. I obviously just did the English one. it was really nice because the actual tour was free and that we had this guide who took us around and you know they had a lot of like spaces dedicated to like buddha statues and that heritage they had another space that was filled with these very kind of gold guilt glamorous um like uh i guess what's what's what i'm looking for like not carts but things they were use in a procession for the royal family it reminded me the sort of thing you might see the queen of england in but even bigger you know so and then

they just had a lot of different, you know, spaces dedicated to Thai heritage and its history. So that would be a place I'd recommend. If I want to buy something to remember a trip to Thailand, what's a typical product I should bring back home with me? Yeah. No, that's a good question because I wonder what you think of that. Because I mean, for me, I love the handicrafts. That's just part of my ways, the artisan handicrafts.

And I find that if you're up in the north, we're just talking about Chang Mai, Chang Rai. there's some ethnic hill tribes that can create some really beautiful products. And I remember being in Chang Rai and there's a museum all about their heritage. And there was a member of a gift shop there that's gorgeous, although that could be a bit far for people to go to. But if you're kind of down south and back in Bangkok, there's a really big weekend market that I take people to called Chattachuk. And there they have kind of everything. So because I'm a foodie, I will go there and just buy things like the green curry paste to give away or to let people take home. if you want to bring that kind of foodie memory back.

But they have, you know, really good silk products, which Thailand is renowned for, and other clothing, that kind of thing. But what do you think when you think of Thailand is a good keepsake bring back? Because I think that's quite difficult. That's a good question. I think I bought Tiger Baum when I was there.

Okay. Oh, yeah, good. I do have that everywhere. That kind of centered, kind of almost makes your skin go warm when you rub it on kind of good for massages um but yeah i would say bring back certain foods silk i mean there's a brand there called jim thompson's that's quite famous for this it's silk and does a lot of contemporary style like bags and and clothing and scarves and that's really beautiful um and there's also if you're into beauty products there's an organic brand i quite like called pan p-n-p-u-r-i and they have some

really nice, you know, like shampoos and body lotions and even like a diffuser you can bring home, you know, to put your lovely oils in that kind of stuff. So maybe that's, if you're a lady, you like a few products. That sounds nice. Yeah. Bring some pan-pure organics back. So if we wanted to do some shopping in Bangkok, we should check out that market. Yeah, definitely check out the market. I think for me, you know, it's what a lot of travelers would want to see and experience. It's huge. I mean, it's like its own little village. And it's openly, like I said, on the weekends, kind of the exact number, but it's something stupid like 10,000 stalls or something. It's just crazy.

You can't do it all. So go there, I would say, earlier in the morning versus sort of more the evening. And yeah, you can find everything like, and really cheap too. So everything from shoes to clothing to like I said, you know, curry paste to, I don't know, lamps, things for the house. and then a lot of food there as well, of course, if you need to get, you know, get some like fruit and street food and all that kind of stuff. There's even a few bars there and then they're bands playing like, you know, busker type musicians.

So it's a really vibrant experience. So definitely that would be my number one because otherwise these days in Bangkok particularly you have a lot of contemporary shopping malls. So they're really shiny and like you'd have anywhere in the world with all those international brands. And so for me personally, I always feel I could do a shopping mall, you know, in another country. So Asia to me feels like it should be more like a street market. Yes, I agree.

What culture tips should we know about Thailand before we go? Is there a tipping culture there? So tipping and a restaurant, that kind of thing. So, you know, no, you'll find it on the ticket, like on the receipt. They will include all the charges. So in terms of tax and service. And so once that's paid beyond that, it's not really expensive. But I guess like a lot of places, if you've had a particular waiter or whatever that's

been fantastic, you might want to offer something additional. Obviously, no one's ever going to say no and think it's a horrible gesture. So a little extra tipping is fine. But generally, it's not like an American culture where there's an expectation beyond what's on the receipt. Is there a particular neighborhood we should stay at when we're in Bangkok? I would say definitely stay central because I know that sounds weird, but Bangkok's a huge city, a bit like London and there's many centres.

So we're based in sort of the Ceylon area, which is also considered kind of like the central business sort of district. So it gets a bit quieter on weekends, but it has still a buzz and it's really central to get around with the BTS and there's some big hotels like the W nearby. But I, which is a good area. I also think anywhere around the Lompini Park is fantastic because it's very central. There's some great hotels there. And then if you want, you could get up in the morning and go for like a morning stroll

around the greenery of the park, which is really quite beautiful. Not far from there, I've stayed at a hotel called the Lux X-L, which was a really good sort of mid-range stay-over. But there is a place I do love hotel-wise in Bangkok, a bit further north on the river. It's called the Siam Hotel, and it's really beautiful and glamorous if you're looking for kind of a romantic place to sleep. And then they have their own little boat on the river,

and they will take you downstream to kind of the main center for all the attractions. Well, these are all beautiful tips and recommendations. Final question, what advice would you give to somebody who's interested in moving to Bangkok? You know, it's a huge city, and I lived in London many years ago, and it's definitely on par with a New Yorker London kind of vibe. There's like 8 million people. It's fast. It's frenetic.

And you can sometimes feel you're getting a little lost in there. So there is an expat community, but it's not as strongly. my experience to find and absorb as, say, smaller cities that I've lived in around the world. There are kind of places you can go. I find, because I'm obviously a freelancer, like co-working spaces have been fantastic, and I would highly recommend to travelers to go if you just need a bit of downtime and need the Wi-Fi, and it's a good way to meet people. There's a really cool place in Tonglau called The Hive that not only have like co-working

spaces, but they have a beautiful rooftop bar and they host a really interesting event. Everything from like wine painting, which means that you drink wine and paint. You don't paint with wine through to other kind of workshops and other just like drink nights and stuff. So that's always a bit of advice for a traveler. I think co-working spaces have become really popular in the last few years and they're really great place to go to meet a traveler slash expat community. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today, Nardia. Where can people find out more about you? Well, I have, for my writing work, I have a little website which is Nadiaplumridge.com.

You can try to find me there. And then also, and there has listings of especially all the recent stuff I've done with Lonely Planet, which has a lot of Bangkok tips and articles as well. And then if you are travelling to Italy, I would still recommend. You can check out my website, lost in Florence.it, which has, yeah, a lot of my favorite, you know, artisan places there and has more info on the book as well. Thank you again. And this has been really great talking to you.

Thank you. No, it's been fun. It's lovely to speak with you. And yeah, let me know when you're coming out next time this way, and I would definitely take you to all those places I promised. I think when I'm in Japan later this year, I might have to hop on over to Thailand and visit Nardi in Bangkok or meet her on a beautiful sandy beach at the very least.

I wish I were there right now, as I'm currently shivering in my jacket as snow plurries around outside here in England. and I love a little bit of snow, but oh gosh, I'm really dreaming about a beach right now. I hope you are nice and cozy wherever you are. If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend. That is the best way to grow the show. You can find more travel stories on postcardacademy.com.

That's all for now. Thanks for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.