- 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.
Last year, 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.
Looking back, however, our trip could've been even better if we'd avoided these five simple mistakes.
We misjudged the heat.
During our trip, temperatures stayed at or above 96 degrees Fahrenheit. As Northern Californians used to temperatures closer to 55 to 75 degrees during the winter months, we weren't 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 wish I had prioritized building more breaks into the day to help avoid heat exhaustion.
For those traveling at a similar time of year, I'd recommend wearing loose clothing such as 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.
While preparing for the trip, I saw many tour guides recommended using ride-hailing apps such as Grab, an alternative to Uber.
When we arrived in Thailand, however, we learned it could take upward of 30 minutes to get a ride, especially in crowded tourist areas.
So, we took advantage of Grab's ride-schedule feature to plan all our trips to the temples and attractions ahead of time.
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.
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.
Next time I return to Thailand, I'd like to spend a few days exploring islands such as 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.
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 we thought doing a few activities each day would be perfect.
But we soon found that visiting more than two sites 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.
This story was originally published on April 7, 2025, and most recently updated on April 15, 2026.
