I'm Chris, this is Topher.

This is Yellow Productions.

We do travel guides that are fun, informative, entertaining.

This is part of our series on Bangkok.

In this video we're gonna be telling you

everything you need to know

if you're planning a trip to this city,

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.

First we'll start with some general information about it.

Number one, Bangkok, capital city of Thailand,

has 11 million residents.

It is also the world's most visited city for tourists

with 20 million tourists that visit Bangkok every year.

It is also known colloquially as The Big Mango,

kind of like New York City is The Big Apple.

And we'll get to weather,

but I'm gonna tell you this right now.

It is really hot in Bangkok.

So you just need to know that,

and that will temper pretty much everything

throughout this video.

So if you see a few beads of sweat on my face, that is why,

and you might be seeing me wipe throughout this video

every once in a while.

I am not making this up.

It is really that hot.

Each one of these bits during this video,

I'll do in a different part of Bangkok,

so you get to see Bangkok as you learn about it.

And first I'm here at the Royal Palace, which I mentioned.

But speaking of Bangkok, I gave you the English nickname,

The Big Mango.

In Thai, it's called Krung Thep,

which means the City of Angels.

Actually, the official name is much longer.

I'll put it here on the screen

because I'm not even gonna try to say it,

but Bangkok actually has the longest name

of any city in the world.

Bangkok has 50 districts and is basically organized

around streets, canals, and alleys.

The alleys are called sois, S-O-I,

so you might see an address of something

with a major street name, and then Soi 37,

which tells you which alley that it's off of.

The other defining feature in Bangkok

is the main river that runs throughout the city,

and the big tourist attractions,

they are right off the river,

including the royal Grand Palace.

The second thing to know before you to go to Bangkok

is about the weather.

I mean, really the only thing you need to know

about the weather in Bangkok is it is hot.

It is hot and humid.

It is very hot and humid.

Did I mention it's hot and humid?

Bangkok takes the cake as the hottest city in the world,

not because of the daytime highs,

but because the nighttime lows don't cool down either.

Most of the year round, the highs are in the 30 Celsius,

86 Fahrenheit, even higher today,

it's 34 degrees Celsius, 90-some Fahrenheit.

It is November 5th.

By the way, Bangkok really has two seasons.

There's the rainy season, which is like April to October,

and then there's the dry season,

which is November onwards to February, March, April.

It's generally coolest around that time too

in the dry season, and it's coolest because

the nighttime lows cool down to be really cool,

21 Celsius, 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yes, that is as cool as it ever gets in Bangkok.

And so when you're coming around, if you're like me,

you will want to bring a towel,

because it's so hot and humid,

you'll want to wipe off that sweat occasionally.

I generally just bring this out from the hotel,

and I deposit it back, and I get a new one every day.

So take my tip.

Bring a hand towel with you.

The third thing to know before you come to Bangkok

is about getting into Bangkok.

Chances are you'll be flying into Bangkok.

Bangkok has two major airports,

BKK airport and DMK airport.

BKK airport, that's the main international airport

where most of the big international carriers fly into.

Chances are you'll be flying into that airport

unless you're coming in on a discount carrier,

which you might be flying into DMK.

From BKK airport, there is an airport train

that you can take in that'll connect you to the BTS,

which is the sky train.

What we did, we took a taxi into the city.

Taxis from the airport will run you about 300 to 400 Baht,

and the drive time can be somewhere between

35 minutes to two hours into central Bangkok,

because the traffic can be really bad.

If you're connecting between the two airports,

well probably don't, but if you were,

then you're coming internationally

and you're connecting domestically,

allow for at least two hours of travel time

between the two airports.

There's like some shuttle buses

that you can take between the two,

but there's no other rail link between the two airports.

The next thing you need to know before you come to Bangkok

is about getting around Bangkok.

And if you haven't heard, Bangkok has some of

the worst traffic of any city in the world.

And so you'll want to pick ways to get around Bangkok

that don't leave you sitting in that.

This traffic is Sunday at five p.m.,

so you can imagine rush hour, eight a.m. weekday

is way worse than that.

So you'll be best off on what's called the BTS.

It's the sky train.

The MRT, it's the subway that goes underground.

Those are two great options.

One of the most interesting ways of getting around,

and a lot of the guidebooks will tell you,

is by boat along the river.

And boat along the river will cut down on the traffic

because as you can see, there's a lot of boats,

but it's not bumper-to-bumper.

But it's bumpy, wow.

So if you don't like getting seasick,

don't do this for very long.

Maybe just once and across one stop to experience it.

Do prepared to wait a long time for the boats.

The timetable, really time in Thailand,

it's sort of, it's approximate

what time those boats come.

Taxis in the city, they're really cheap.

They're really, like a 20-minute taxi ride

will cost 100 Baht.

I mean, it's really inexpensive.

But they'll try to scam you.

I've got a whole video about scams

which you'll learn more about how to avoid taxi scams.

You can find that link in the description below.

The word you'll hear through in Bangkok the most

is probably tuk tuk.

The tuk tuk, they're these little things.

Well, this one's like a tuk tuk limousine.

But the ones you see on the street, they're little.

They have a driver, and they have

basically a bench on the back.

Tuk tuks are all fixed price.

There's no meter in them.

They'll cost you approximately

three to four times what a taxi will.

They're not cheap.

They don't have doors.

They do have a roof, which actually makes it

kind of hard to see from.

But if you want the quintessential Bangkok experience,

definitely take a tuk tuk.

Just not the one I'm driving.

But the most interesting way to get around Bangkok

is motorcycle taxi.

I've never seen this anywhere before.

I'm sure it exists some places,

but not cities I've been to,

where these motorcycles will let you sit on the back,

and that way you can zip through traffic.

They go between the lanes and things like that.

Sometimes they'll offer you a helmet.

You can hail them on the side of the road.

You'll see them in orange vests.

Or if you have the Grab app,

by the way, Uber doesn't operate here.

It's been sold to Grab.

Grab, you can get taxis, nice cars, or motorbikes,

and you say, "Hey, I'm here."

The motorbike comes, picks you up, puts a helmet on,

and you whiz through the city, skipping the traffic.

And you get a free massive heart attack

to go along with that ride.

As you are getting around Bangkok,

no doubt you'll be doing a lot of walking,

and usually I say walking is a really great way

to get around cities.

But because it's so hot and humid in Bangkok,

you'll want to try to get around ways other than walking.

Cause you just can't walk as far here

because of the humidity.

And I will mention that the sidewalks

aren't really laid out all that well.

What I mean by laid out is like the height is different,

there's manholes, there's potholes,

and so you have to be really careful where you're walking

so that you don't end up twisting an ankle.

The next thing to know before you come to Bangkok

is about the money.

In Bangkok, the currency is the Thai Baht, spelled B-A-H-T.

Sometimes you'll see it misspelled as B-A-T-H, as bath,

but it's Baht, and it comes in coins and bills.

The coins are one, two, five, and 10 Baht coins,

and then the bills are 20, 50, 100, and 1,000.

At about the time I did this video,

it was about 30 Baht to one U.S. dollar.

That was about the conversion.

You should really have cash with you throughout the city

because many of the street vendors and the small vendors

do not take credit cards.

The high-end places, the high-end restaurants do,

but a lot of times you'll find

a minimum purchase required for credit cards

or sometimes an exorbitant credit card surcharge.

We ate at one restaurant that said

the credit card surcharge was 10%.

That's pretty crazy.

So where are you gonna get your Baht?

Well, there are tons of currency exchange places

throughout the city, but I would recommend

you get it from an ATM.

Get it from an ATM, but make sure when you do that,

you do not select dynamic currency conversion.

If you get asked that question, say no.

More information about that I've got in my video

about tourist scams in Bangkok.

Basically they're gonna charge you a lot of money

and give you less if you select that option.

The sixth thing to know before you go to Bangkok

is about what to wear.

And did I mention it is so crushingly hot in Bangkok

and do I look like I'm melting?

Well that's because I am.

And so you'll want to wear clothes

that are cool and dry quickly.

Things like rayon, things that are quick-drying fabrics

and that don't sop up a lot of sweat.

If you are wearing cotton, and I've got a cotton t-shirt on,

make sure it's a very, very thin one.

Whatever you do, don't wear jeans.

You know, you may see some Thai people wearing jeans,

but they are used to this heat over their whole life.

You or I would likely spontaneously combust

wearing jeans in Thailand.

Though a little bit of a challenge, you know,

if you're a guy, you'll wanna wear shorts.

If you're a girl, you'll wanna wear a short skirt,