Hey Guys! Months have passed since the last time I posted something on my blog. Or was it a year already? Anyway. I’m back to write about my first travel overseas to (drum rolls please!) — Bangkok, Thailand!

This magnificent city offers a breath of fresh air for those who came from Europe or the Americas as this is somehow a little bit laid-back for them. For those who are from Asia (like me!), it’s like you are still home but with few differences.

First off, their airport is huge! For me who came from the Philippines and with all the negative info about our airports. This place is quite surprising. It is huge, nice, not overly fancy with all the decors, but a good place where people can just get to go on their own businesses. No hanky-panky tricksters and there are lots of securities. And it is really huge (did I say again huge!?). Well, compared to NAIA in which each terminal is located somewhere else, Suvarnabhumi Airport is located outside the main city of Bangkok where all things about planes and flights are placed. You can traverse to Bangkok using the expressways or their very good Airport Rail Link.

So, we left NAIA Terminal 3 at around 10:10PM (the flight was delayed 30 mins or so). The journey was about 3 hours and 5 mins together with lots of turbulence which made me awake all the time. While my friend Raissa seemed to have no care in the world as she went to sleep for almost the whole flight!

We finally reached Suvarnabhumi Airport at exactly 12:15AM (Bangkok Time) or 1:15AM in Manila as PH is an hour ahead. As our plane was taxiing towards its spot in the terminal, we saw lots of other flagship carriers and how big they were that some planes had 2nd floors. Whew!

Anyway, we were able to pass through their immigration quite easily unlike here in Manila where they will ask you thousands of questions, in Bangkok, they’ll just ask you one quick question — “Business or Pleasure?”.

Just before you exit the terminal, you have to get their local SIM. There’s a booth of TrueMove at Gate 4 (you will immediately notice since tourists flock the booth). The SIM is THB299 with free data for 7 days and THB100 consumable load. They will be the one to put in the SIM so just provide them with your phone and passport.

Once you are done with the SIM, just go to the 1st floor and out the exit towards the Taxi Lane kiosks.. Get a number to know which lane your taxi is parked. The taxi will cost you around THB300-350 plus toll fee if you arrived in the wee hours and your hotel is just around Pratunam or Ratchaprarop area. But if you arrived between 6AM-12AM, then just take their Airport Link and it will just cost you around THB40 until Ratchaprarop.

We checked in at the Bangkokians City Garden Hotel in Soi 12 Ratchaprarop. It’s a very nice place as the hotel is like a rest house within a quiet, upper-class residential area. I’ll discuss more about it on my next blog.

Anyway, I’ll park here for now and I hope this will be of help on your next trip to Bangkok!