REVISITING Episode 2 - One Week In Lub D, Bangkok, Thailand.
🇹🇭 Bangkok Then vs My Trip in December 2025
In this episode of the Winging It Travel Podcast, I go back to where it all began—Bangkok, Thailand. Originally recorded as Episode 2 in 2021, this was my first real taste of long-term travel back in 2013, stepping into Southeast Asia with no expectations, no real plan, and honestly, no idea what I was getting myself into.
Fast forward to 2025, I’ve returned to Bangkok after over a decade of travel experience, and everything feels different—yet strangely familiar. In this revisit, I break down eight defining moments from that original trip, from hostel life and street food discoveries to tuk-tuk scams, cultural landmarks, and some uncomfortable travel lessons that shaped how I explore the world today.
This episode is a mix of nostalgia, honest reflection, and practical insight for anyone planning their first trip to Bangkok—or looking back on how travel has changed over time.
You’ll hear what Bangkok was like before smartphones dominated travel, how the backpacker scene has evolved, and whether the city's chaos, charm, and magic still holds up in 2025.
Bangkok always holds a special place in my heart, thanks to the truly breathtaking experiences I had there and, more importantly, to the great people I met. My trip in 2025 was a completely different type of trip, but I still loved visiting this great city, which I call my favourite, and it still is that for sure!
A note to add, this is not a PC episode from 2021, so there are some grim stories and terms in there, but this is to share all of my experiences as they happened in 2013. I didn't want to sugarcoat the experience. I also cringe at the older episodes of Winging It and have done my best to clean up the audio and take out the gaps but it is all part of the podcasting journey.
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Hello and welcome to this week's episode and today I'm revisiting episode 2, one week in Luvde in Bangkok, Thailand, but this time with fresh perspective from a return trip in December after Bhutan and over a decade of travel experience behind me. So I first landed in Bangkok in 2013 at the very start of what became a two-year journey and honestly it was a complete culture shock. I've never been outside of Europe or Australia and suddenly I was thrown into the chaos.
heat and energy of Southeast Asia. So truth be told, didn't even plan to go. My mate Mike Butler, who's been on the podcast, you can check out his episodes, wanted to spend three months in Southeast Asia before heading to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji for three months. Now I just winged it, not really knowing what to expect, where we're going to go, what our plan was, but I thought, why not? Let's extend that part of the trip by an extra three months. So in total, it was six months from leaving London to arriving into Australia.
nd I'm revisiting them with a:
dropping every Monday and hosted by me, James Hammond, proudly part of the Boy Escape Network. This is a travel podcast that throws out the itinerary and dives straight into the raw, real and unpredictable essence of global exploration, chasing moments over milestones, those spontaneous encounters, immersive sounds and unforgettable stories. Whether I'm hiking up volcanoes in Guatemala,
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or camping under the stars in British Columbia.
met incredible people, seen breath taking places and collected unforgettable stories. I now get to share them with you, alongside some of the most diverse and well travelled guests from around the world. Expect engaging conversations that bring fresh perspectives and inspiring travel tales. There are also raw, reflective solo episodes where I share personal insights, practical tips and honest stories from the road. This is a podcast for travellers, dreamers, backpackers and anyone who's ever thought, what if I just went for it and travelled? If you're looking for stories to tell, tips to share,
and experiences to inspire, then you're in the right place. There's so much travel content coming your way, it might just spark that trip you've been dreaming about for years. You can find Winging It, and more fantastic travel podcasts from around the world at voyescape.com. The link is in the show notes. Let's go and explore the world. Hello and welcome to the Winging It podcast, episode two, one week in the Love Dee. So before we crack on with Love Dee,
Thanks for your comments on the first episode. More of a rallying call to get that inner traveler bursting out of you and maybe get some traction with some plans and changes and some travel ideas for the future. Thanks for the downloads. Thanks for the feedback. You can catch the episode on all platforms and also my website. I'll pop it on there as well. And tune into the newsletters. Newsletters I'm doing twice a week.
Tuesday and Fridays, really random. No real order to them, just what I feel like writing about from my experiences the last 10 years, I guess. So you can sign up there on the website too. Looking forward to getting this one done today because this might give you bit of an insight into what life is like in Bangkok and at this hostel. And as a traveler as well. Hopefully some ideas will come your way and also some things that are slightly controversial.
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which you may want to avoid. So let's crack on. Where and what is Lub Dee? Well, Lub Dee is one of my favorite hostels in the world, if not the favorite. It is based in Bangkok. The one I say that is off Silom Road. So Silom Road probably means nothing to many people, but a landmark there that may pique your interest is the Hangover Hotel. is where they filmed the Hangover film.
a great little place you can go to and I'll come to that bit later on. So the hostel is off Silom Road down the street and it is essentially a great hostel for backpackers and even arguably some older clientele. So getting to Lub D from the airport was pretty painless but Bangkok
When you first land, it's quite hard to describe. is hot. There's a smell. Um, I can't really describe it. Um, it's busy. It's constantly noisy. And for me coming from, I would say sleepy Norwich and a bit of London and massive culture shock. So love D was booked in by our agent at STA travel, uh, rest in peace. I'm sure I'll be back.
Um, and we had no idea what to expect, but it blew our expectations really. And when you arrive, you come in and you're greeted by the staff and the staff are great. They're, they're quite a youngish crew, understand what the hostel's about and they try and make you stay as comfortable as possible. And the rooms have great beds, great, um, facilities. I think it's a cinema in the hostel. There's laundry, loads of bathrooms. Downstairs has a bar area, a communal area.
and some laptops and some computers. And back in that day, I did not travel with a smartphone or a laptop. So it's kind of, I describe this really, I kind of didn't really keep in contact with the outside world. mean, people who knew I was going to travel and probably didn't have a clue where I was until I posted on Facebook. And that's quite rarely because I relied on hostels to have those facilities. So when you come to the hostel, a great vibe, very relaxed. I can't deny it.
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bit of a party vibe which we'll come to in a bit. This was recommended by our agent STA as I said before and she said she had a great time there. I she stayed there two or three nights but we had no clue where to stay in Bangkok so we went with it. So number one in this first section is of course Luvdee, the hostel itself and arriving into Bangkok, the heat, the smell, the chaos, the Luvdee facilities and vibe.
m my experience in Bangkok in:
mine. Now the hostel I at in:
area but somewhere easily accessible to the main attractions in Bangkok and also to the metro and the word yard actually means family in Thai so that gives you an idea of the type of field they're going for there. Dorms and private rooms available. I stayed in a private room as I put sleep at the very top of the most important things at my age and that cost was 75 Canadian dollars or 54 USD or 40 Great British pounds and this is a double room so that can be split in two.
if you're a couple. It's a really decent value I find and that comes with breakfast and coffee in the morning. The dorms are half the price for four bed dorms and they get cheaper as the more beds go into the dorms. So definitely slightly more expensive than other hostels in Bangkok but you do get that quality with that price. And I absolutely love the hostel for its style, friendliness from the staff, outdoor and indoor space to hang out and the closeness to the metro. I would say this is a mid-level type of hostel in terms of the backpacker vibe.
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the type of backpacker you're gonna meet, not part of your hostel, slightly older backpackers maybe, and a real mix of people. So I loved it to be fair, given where I'm at in terms of backpacking. Now in terms of those areas of where to stay, I think Silom Road is still one of the best areas to stay in. So please check that out for any hostels you wanna stay in there. It's kind of chaos in the best way for me at the time, busy streets, loads of people, nightlife on your doorstep, the classic backpacker energy where you meet people instantly.
d of wandering around. And in:
You've got the airport rail link right there, BTS connections, which is the Metro, and you're not dealing with the same noise and chaos as Silom Road. So it feels more like a base rather than an event. So depends on what you want. If it's your first time, I would say definitely still go to Silom Road or Kosan Road or CM Square for much busier times and a wilder backpacker experience. And they all still deliver on that front, I think. But if you want something bit more calmer, smoother, more efficient maybe, then Firetie is probably the best shout in terms of an area.
But Bangkok is huge. So many different areas. A bit more research if you kind of want to weigh up maybe five areas. But these are the two I've stayed in so far. So for me, I think I needed Ceylon Road back then. But now I definitely choose a much quieter area in Fire Thai. It doesn't mean you can't go and visit Ceylon Road though, right? So next time I'll go and do that. We arrived and we stayed for seven nights. Across the road is a cafe.
And this local lady runs this very quaint, but like rustic calf and she does pad thai. I think she specializes in duck dishes if you're into that sort of thing. But the one thing she knows and it's quite clever is backpackers when they're hung over and they wake up late and it's like lunchtime 12. She'll bring pad thai to the hostel. So you can go over, your pad thai, real local food. And then can go back to the hostel, outside with a beer or
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water, whatever you're drinking. And then she'll just bring it over to you and then you take it back. And she'd done this for years. Um, so that was a great source of local food on doorstep and people were loving it. Absolutely loving it. When I first arrived into Bangkok, into the Lop D, there was a nightmare. My shower gel burst in my bag. Now water, put it away a bit. Even any other liquid, shower gel.
sticky all over my clothes, all over my bag. Absolute mare trying to clean it out. And that was just one of the first things that we, well that I had to deal with when I arrived. But you crack on, you get your stuff unpacked, try and recover from that. So when we arrive, we are probably arriving about 5, 6 PM and we're pretty jet lagged from flying from London. So nothing big planned on the first day.
Got in, got sorted, got checked in and we popped down Silom Road off to a market and it's just off this road there and it's a food market and we thought great, local food, get in there and no idea what to expect. Tuk-tuks come up to you as you walk down trying to get some business. You just have to ignore them and carry on. And we had a green curry and it was probably one of the best dishes I had on that trip and that was like day one. believe I was eating. So really fresh.
Chang in hand and a note about Chang is it's not regulated so you can either get one or 10 % in your beer and I'm sure that makes a very big difference in your night out. Anyway, crack on for that. Some food, bed early. Number two, this point is the Thai food and street culture. In the episode I did cover the Pad Thai lady across the hostel in Luangpdai. I'm not sure if she is still there because obviously the hostel's not there. I imagine so. She's a local person serving local food to local people so.
The hostel gave her great business. used to deliver across to the backpackers in the hostel. So hopefully she's still going. I had my first Thai green curry experience on Silom Road. We walked down around the street, found a market, ordered one with a beer. I that might have been on the first night actually. And possibly even arguably up there was some of the first Thai food I've ever had. It so good. And street food was highly accessible on that road and leads down to some great markets further into the center of Bangkok.
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So I'm going to revisit in 2025 with street food versus modern cafes. And there's the magic still there. It was a bit more polished these days with restaurants, et cetera. So my rule this time in 2025 was to mimic 2013 and not research any food places and just pick one by the look of it, see how busy it is and go for it. So on my day of exploring the Grand Palace in Bangkok, I'll come to that in a second, I walked a little bit off the main drag, went to a restaurant called Ban Ta Tien.
and there was a wait to get in which I think is maybe a good sign because people want to go there and it was a mix of locals and tourists but I just didn't want to judge the place I wanted to get there, sit in there, order sweet and sour chicken from 90 Baht with a coke in aircon and just analyse what I'm eating it was so fresh, it was divine you just don't need to analyse it I think Anthony Bourdain says that when you go for cacio e pepe in Rome don't bother researching a major restaurant just go to a local one, order it, eat it don't analyse it and enjoy it
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mean, that is great value. In:
and we picked a random restaurant. We kind of wandered around. There's a few restaurants on the street corners. We're like, we'll go for one that seems fairly busy and fairly local. And we found one called Anan's Kitchen in the Klong Toei area. And the decision really was, yeah, that looks good. Let's go for it. Why not? And we had Thai red curries, spring rolls, sweet and sour pad thai, an absolute feast for really the same price as the other restaurant I mentioned earlier. So an absolute dream. Not paying more than probably 100 or 120 baht per dish there.
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and we just had a great time chatting, laughing, getting to know each other and also talking about travels in Bhutan. So my takeaway for Bangkok here is of course, check out the main food markets. They are world famous and you've got to check them out eventually, but just give yourself some time to randomly explore random streets, pick a random restaurant, go for a dish in there, don't analyze it. It'll be good. Trust me, the Thai food and especially local Thai food is one of the best in the world. And to finish on Western food.
Bangkok is such an international hub these days that you can find a burger or an English breakfast or poached eggs and avocado on toast in a lot of districts and it's not hard to find. A sign of the times but it's great if you need a break from South East Asian food or rice in general. So what I'm saying is there is Western food if you need it in Bangkok. It's not as hard to find as back in the day but Thai food, my word. My favourite in the world. Just order anything. You'll love it. Get me back.
next day, first day exploring. So we knew that we wanted to and see the reclining Buddha the first day. And we knew we had to get a public boat. The public boat on the main river in Bangkok has an orange flag. So you know, this is not a scam boat. This is not a tourist boat, if you like. Local boat. All locals get on there to go to work, school, et cetera. But to get there, we had to walk down Silom Road, probably 15, 20 minutes straight down to the waterfront. And we thought, do know what? We'll walk and just...
taking the sites and then some geezer comes up in this tut tut says, do you want to ride down to the river to get the boat? And we're like, oh yeah, yeah, great, great. I can see what you're thinking already. So we pop in this tut tut. We know it's probably be five, 10 minutes at most to get down there with traffic. 20 minutes goes by. Mike, here I'm traveling at the time. I have no idea where we are. I got a feeling we're not going to the public boat. And he's like, yeah, I know, I know. We ride it out and then we arrive to the stop.
And goes, we're here. I was like, is that the public boat? goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got a public boat. He goes, well, it's a private boat. We're like, no, no, no, no, we don't want a private boat. We want the public boat. He's like, no, this is better, better money, better, better stuffy money. Like go here, go here. We're like, no, no, no, we just want the public boat. And he started to bit agitated with us. And we obviously started to get bit annoyed. And he started to try and just sort of took it right. And then for the boat. So the public boat costs 10, 20 baht, which is probably at the time 50 p.
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Maybe 40p. This guy was a couple of quid. We're like, underground scheme of things is not that lot. But the point here is that he was trying to scam us and we knew straight away. And the problem we had is we had no map, no phone, nothing to guide us. I made no idea where we were in Bangkok. So this guy was not really taking no for an answer. So the only thing we could do here, and we knew we getting scammed at this point, and we kind of laughed about it at the time, give the guys some money. 50 baht.
and just walk off because what can you do? So we gave him 50 baht. He asked where we going. We said we don't really know. We're just going to walk off and he started showing at us. And then we kind of said, look, it's not what we want. Gave him some money, walked off. No idea where we were. So we had to go to this local shop, I think, and see where we were in Bangkok. And they kind of said, yeah, you're about an hour walk from the Rekhaan and Buddha. Oh, man, in the heat as well. So off we went on our our foot and went to the Rekhaan and Buddha.
and it probably took about an hour. Sweat and heat, hot Bangkok. But we got there and this amazing statue is this reclining Buddha is obviously on his elbow, laying into the side. And unbelievable view. You can't really grasp how big that is. So the reclining Buddha in Bangkok is definitely something to go and see. Okay, number three is tuk tuk scams and navigating Bangkok. In the original episode, I talked about the tuk tuk scam to the private boat. That was one of the many scams I think we had.
, my word. What a change from:
Deep down, wanted to leave those stories as they were and not try and recreate them actually. I know I was trying to retrace my steps, but I think there were such unique circumstances. I thought, you know what? They're funny, young at the time, very naive. Let's just leave them where they are and move on to more experienced times. Because we got in so many situations at that time and they're actually stressful in the moment, but funny to look back on. So I thought, yeah, I'll leave that as it is. These days, the youngsters all have apps and smartphones, so transporting yourself is much more accessible.
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I even ordered a Grab from the airport to my hotel which cost 400 Baht which is around 17 Canadian dollars or 12 US dollars or 9 pounds. Super easy to arrange. You get into the airport, go on the Grab app, pick your location on the app, order the Grab and go wait outside. So you do need the Grab app on your phone for Bangkok if you're to get into this type of travel. So I don't think Bangkok has lost its chaos. I think if you go to CM Square or Kho San Road it's going to be tuk tuk's about trying to coerce you in.
chaos and experience I had in:
baht back in:
And this section is going to be the people that we met. We probably over the seven nights met 12 to 15 people that we would consider keeping contact and see where we go on this journey around Southeast Asia. In Southeast Asia, you have two kind of routes. Bangkok, you can go east and go to Cambodia and then onto Vietnam, South Vietnam and make your way up. And then across the Lao at the top, across to Chiang Mai.
North Thailand and back down again, which is the route we took. But a lot of people stay in Thailand, go up to Chiang Mai, up to Pai and Chiang Rai, and then make their way across Lao into Northern Vietnam and down the coast. So, what other way people go, you're going to bump into them at some point. And we did. We bumped into people in Malaysia, in Vietnam, and also in New Zealand by keeping in contact. So, the people we met were brilliant and we had so many good laughs and nights out.
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I'll come to in a bit. But Lub D is definitely a place to meet people. So you grab a beer, you nip down the shop, down the local shop. You wouldn't buy a beer from Lub D because they're quite extortionate. You go down to the local, I guess, off-licence, grab your Chang and the bottles of Chang are not your small bottles you get here. They're kind of like a litre almost. Get your Chang, take the risk with how much percentages are in the alcohol content and then you crack on. So at the front,
people from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, UK as well, South Korea, Japan, all these people that we met at the front having a laugh and getting bit boozed up. So when you go to the hostel and you have your beers, probably what, three or four hours in, you've got kind of a choice where to go. And a lot of people would probably go to Kousan Road, which is a 24 hour party street. And I'll come to Kousan Road in more depth.
bit later. So we would obviously decide where to go in the night and then crack on. But also we wanted to go and see some stuff during the day so we didn't want to go too hard that night. But we got a few trangs down us, got used to the hostel and the vibe and the people and that first night we actually made plans for the next day. Number four, hostels, social life and backpacking routes. A quick one for this one. So as I cover this episode, the whole episode really is about meeting 10 to 15 travelers in Lop Di in Bangkok and I explained the Southeast Asia routes.
utside the hostel, etc. So in:
five years, I'd say. Back in:
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bit like the wild wild west. mean, there was the internet at the hostel on computers. You could log in, but it wasn't much information in those days. It really was talking to people and asking, how do you do it? And obviously no phones, no smartphones at all. So the backpacking route is still going. I mean, people are still going around the same ways. From Bangkok, you can go towards the Cambodia border, but just beware of the troubles there recently. And of course, there's the other way, going up to Chiang Mai or down towards the border of Malaysia.
connecting like last time in:
Just to say really that a hostel social life is basically what you make of it and where you stay. There are party hostels in Kho San Road and imagine CM Square even Lhap De's hostels now are party hostels so you are going to meet those type of people. But if you're a older like me maybe you need a bit more quieter hostel to mix with people still but not have that chaos going on if you don't need it. And finally I'll say that backpacking routes yes overland making your way overland to different countries or staying in Thailand but also Bangkok is a centre for Air Asia so a lot of flights come in and out.
ing used to live up until the:
to go and get some good photos and some bit of culture in there. Grand Palace Day was a super hard day and it required going on public boat. So the first thing we did is to not make the same mistake again. Went to Sillum Road, popped down the road, ignore all tooks tooks because you don't want to get scammed again. So yeah, we kind of got down to the waterfront and we got a little bit lost towards the end but we found it in the end and then the orange flag there it was. You just walk onto the boat and voila, you come to the Grand Palace.
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So I went with Mike, who I was traveling with at the time, and another Mike who we met at the hostel, and a couple of Canadian girls who were doing the same thing that day as well. Alex and Steph. And then what we didn't realize is, obviously well known now, is that these sort of palaces and places you need to cover your knees, classic, basic Brit.
Brits, I should say, we went with the shorts and t-shirt, not covering any of these, some burnt arms and all that. So we arrive off the boat, straight to the gates of the palace and this guy says, you can't come in. I why is that? goes, you need to cover your knees. If you go and see my friend across the road, he'll sell you some yoga pants and you can come in. like, oh, is this another scam? Dearie me. So we took the risk.
because he won't let us in. I'm not even sure if he worked there. He's probably the geezer's mate, but what can you do? Went across the road and this guy is probably about five foot five. And he wasn't worrying about Mike who I was traveling with because he's roughly the same height. And my other friend, Mike, who we met on the trip was the same height me, but a bit thinner. But when he saw me, probably what? 95 kilos.
big lad I am. He's like, Oh, not sure I can find anything for you. Well, I searched for the, for the back catalog. So we tried all these, all these ones he had because bear in mind compared to me, lot of Asian people are smaller. So trying to compensate for roughly a six foot guy who's not the thinnest. Probably got his work cut out, but he found a pair. It was a public, sorry, it was a purple pair of pants and purple was actually my favorite color. So there's no problem for me.
tried them on and he could not stop laughing this guy. I don't know what it was but he was looking at me in my purple pants and just could not stop laughing. Anyway loved it they fit really well I kept him for like three or four years paid my 100 baht 150 baht and we're all sorted with these trousers so the memory of truth comes when you come into the gate again is that guy gonna let us in and he just didn't even look at us didn't speak to us walked straight in so I'm not really sure of it as a scam but
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I got some yoga pants for a couple of quid and yeah, fair play. Like that actually lasted a while. Walking around, sweat and heat. It really was a hot day, but you can go and see some monuments are made of gold and you can walk around. It's a bit like Angkor Wat in a sense, but in a confined of a ground. So you go and walk around, take some pictures and yeah, that was the day. I don't really remember much to, just a quick pause in the episode there.
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nce and other things I saw in:
hat it's actually like now in:
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the Grand Palace and we weren't sure whether this was a scam or not but went along with it anyway. I bought some purple ones, wore them quite a lot actually throughout the trip and a goodbye in the end actually. We got to the gate, there's people trying to get you to buy tickets with them, guides and stuff like that, we just weren't sure what to do. So head down in 2013 through the gate and try and look for a human being at a ticket booth to really get the proper ticket and we finally got in there but there was hordes of people around, the heat was so hot that day.
ch seeing the Grand Palace in:
blocked off by certain one-way systems, but got off where the Uber dropped me off and I walked to the main gate, paid for a ticket at the ticket machine for 500 baht, then walked around. Still very hot, still very busy. But like I said, don't remember anything from last time, so it felt like I was learning and seeing new things for the first time. Amazing sights of temples, golden statues and Buddhas is truly breathtaking. It's a must in Bangkok. And to add, there was a section of the Grand Palace grounds closed for mourning for a member of the royal family.
ety. So didn't feel as big as:
n Bangkok this time around in:
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Lots of walks, green spaces, little ponds to sit at and you can chill out in quietness amongst the chaos of the city. You can chill out with some friends, do some running, exercises, eat ice cream, picnic or go to events. Quite busy, but quite big. So don't feel like I was crammed in to the park. And for a great day in Bangkok in terms of the weather, mean mid-20s, blue sky, quite humid. Absolutely love to sit in buttered water in the shade and contemplate my travels. So yeah, three things this time in 2025.
Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Lumpini Park and they are three things you should go and see but there's so much more to go and see in Bangkok that have a whole list of things for next time when I visit. When we got back it was so hot that I think I had a nap but we cracked on with the trangs and then prepared for the next day of festivities should we say and this is where, slightly controversial but at the time naive you just go along with it.
We agreed to go along to a tiger reserve, which was two hours north of Bangkok. In my experience and in my research now, most places in Asia and definitely in Thailand, probably drug their tigers or elephants or whatever you're to see. And at the time I was kind of aware of it, but I went along with it. Just to go and see what this place was about. So we popped into.
Love Dee and I think the two Canadian girls that we went with, and Mike, they organized a taxi with someone they met during the day. This guy would charge us for the whole taxi, getting into the Tiger Reserve was about two hours north, tickets, and then bring us back. One problem that day is that even before, so after the Grand Palace, few chunks, for some reason I went to 7-Eleven and went and bought a toasty. So a toasty was chicken and cheese, I think.
Sometimes you just need a break from the rice and unfortunately, I don't know if it's that or me adjusting to Bangkok, but I got the shits. So in the evening, I was struggling a little bit. We were going to bed relatively early anyway to go out for the day because I think it's quite an early start, but I could not stop going to the toilet and I was like, oh tomorrow morning, I hope I'm all right because it'll be a bit embarrassing asking the driver to stop all the time while I need to go to drop some kids off. So I
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I like, okay, get a lot of water in me. had no emodium. See how I am in the morning. Next morning get up. It's still going on. Didn't tell Mike or the two Canadian girls, Steph and Alex. So I remember going just before we left and we popped in a taxi and the guy said it's two hours, but it takes about 45 minutes to get out of Bangkok because of the traffic. I like, I just need to hang on for 45 minutes. And 45 minutes was there and I was
begging him to stop but didn't want to say anything. But what helped with the journey was this guy had a back catalogue of 90s pop band, boy band singles. talking Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Boyzone, NSYNC and it kind of passed the time where because we kind of created this acapella group singing these cheesy classics and he was singing along. He absolutely loved it. Loved the journey up there and he kind of got a glimpse of me singing Backstreet's back. All right, so
Bit embarrassing, but hey, to get me through, instead of thinking about what could happen, bit of a godsend really. 45 minutes in, he's like, yep, we're going to petrol station, get some petrol, toilet break, elutely sprinted, Usain Bolt into the toilet. Could not wait to get rid of him. But I was like, oh, it's the end because I can't keep doing this when I'm at the Tiger Reserve because you'd be out in the field, I guess, looking at the tigers or doing the activities. Another hour and a half until we get there. Again, bursting, running.
And I think that's the last time I did it. This one's not all about my shits. I'm just going to give you an idea. Bangkok can give you that. A like Daddy Belly. Bangkok can give you a bit of a Bangkok belly. Anyway, right, but Tiger Reserve is not for that. Tiger Reserve, two hours back, North Bangkok. Right. First thing is this Australian geezer, his bald head makes a speech to the whole group. And there's a, oh, it's probably about a hundred people there. He's claiming that these tigers have grown up with humans. They're not drugged.
They play with humans because they're growing up with them. That's all they've known. And he kind of justified by saying over to the other side of the park was a wild area where you obviously can't go into it, but you can go on this bridge, have a look in. And he said, you've got all animals in there, tigers, et cetera. And they're just running about in the wild and you can watch them. So they're natural. And the ones that we're seeing are, been, I guess, groomed to be brought up with humans. So, okay, he's getting his speech in.
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And the first thing you do is you line up. So in single file, you walk along and then the tiger is like kind of standing there to your right. This seems like what, up to my height in terms of a hip, maybe a bit bigger. This guy, this thing's God. He does, you can't touch anywhere else but here. And it's like around his butt, guess, like around the back. And he's like, touch it here, little stroke, nothing untoward and you'll be fine.
was like, okay, so we queue up. And I touch a tiger and I'm like, I hope this tiger's all right. But taking that away for a second, I got to like touch a tiger and I'm like, wow, so get to do that. Bit of a weird feeling. Yeah, this beast was amazing. So moved on from the line. Next thing you do is take a photo of it, you a classic photo where you lay down, the tiger's laying down with you and you get your hands on the tiger and you get the photo. I didn't actually do that, I don't think.
I wasn't really interested in that. kind of thought not here to kind of show myself with the tiger in terms of photo, but a lot of people did that and they seemed totally fine with it. I guess it was quite again, swearing day and I done it in the shade. So I guess they were pretty knackered from that. But one thing I did sign up for was feeding a tiger with a chicken, not live one, dead one. This required me to hold a chicken in my hands and then tiger who's kind of on a leash.
So it eats out of your hand. Great in theory. I was like, how's that going to work? Cause he could just switch and eat me, but holding his chicken. So I got to it holding his chicken and it's almost like I'm not there. He is chomping away his chicken. It's good that he knows I'm not really there, but not great because how does he know when he gets to my fingers to stop? And I was like, I don't believe he's going to recognize my fingers and stop with these massive fangs and chop them off. So kind of like
got caught the way there half a chicken and I'm starting to freak out. I'm like, how do I, how do I end this? And like people watching me and it got to like three quarters and way too close to comfort fingernails are getting chopped off here. Now I just dropped it and he just obviously went down and ate the rest of the chicken. But this tiger had no idea I was really there. It's quite strange, quite hard to describe or even imagine, I guess. But this tiger was huge. Like he's a proper grown tiger eating the chicken off my hand. So
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That was quite an interesting experience. And then last thing we signed up to was playing with the tigers in the pool. So on my Instagram story and on my just general feed, I'm going to post some pictures from this week because it's probably better to try and imagine what I'm saying relating to a picture. So tomorrow when I release the podcast, I will release where we were and it's in this pool of water and these tigers come and play with you.
And the way you play with them is you get a stick and a carry bag at the end and you rustle it in the air. And the idea is they see this, they love it. They run probably like five, 10 meters, jump up and try and grab it. And the number one rule here is do not keep hold of the stick when they've actually got a bit of purchase on the grab because they'll drag you in. first 10, 15 minutes didn't really grab my stick. They grabbed some for other people's. I was rustling it.
And then to the left, just switched off for a moment. Imagine Messi coming from the right wing and you're like, Oh God, yeah, I didn't see him coming. And he's gone. This tiger comes running along, jumps up, grabs my stick and pulls me. I'm like, Oh my God, he's got it. And the power, the sheer power was unbelievable. And he pulls my stick. So first bit of training I had at the start of the thing, released the stick and he
pulled away from me and he was playing with the stick and his carrier bag around my feet. And this happened probably for another 30 minutes. And it's weird because they don't know you're there almost. They're just playing amongst you. But they're playing with themselves so they could swipe and they can easily just catch you off guard or catch your leg or these fully grown tigers. And I was like, I get a bit nervous here because they can just like swipe at my feet or
I don't know, put us in. It was really weird and I started to get bit anxious about it and I started to get a bit annoyed and it's hot. And it went on for 45 minutes, this thing, and I was done. I was like, wow, this is amazing, but not quite sure how this is really working. Off we'd done that. And then we went to the wild section, saw some wild tigers and other animals in there and yeah, kind of reflected on the way back on the taxi ride. Just couldn't really work out what happened there, but yeah, got to feed a chicken, got to touch one, got to play with one.
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We'll never do it again because I don't think it's very ethical. I'm sure there's some sanctuaries out there that maybe got something good on the go, but I just cannot believe that a tiger would just not do anything unless it's drugged, but I could be wrong. Right, number six is the tiger reserve that I visited in this episode, as I explained with a couple of friends from the hostel and Mike in a taxi actually, I think it took about 45 minutes, I think, to get there. Pretty ill on the day actually, I think I had the shits. And we got there and it's like touch and feeding and playing with tigers.
You analyze that, that's not normal. And the ethics at the time did not think about, but I did think at the time it was a bit weird that I can stand in a pool of water with a little plastic bag at the end of a stick and go to tigers in to playing with us, but they're not actually attacking us. I think the closest I got to being eaten was feeding a chicken to a tiger, almost ate my hand off. They're always tied, you stand in a queue, this tiger seemed to hug the person who's in charge. It's a bit weird.
So basically what I'm saying is don't do it. No need to go and see animal tourism like that. Not worth it. You've got to change your mindset on that because it's not normal. And ethical travel awareness now is super high as it should be. But back then I was young, I was keen. I really care a bit more about what I want to do on my travels and see cool things rather than ask questions like is this normal? Should we be doing this? Etc. So my advice is if you go to Thailand, don't go and ride the edifents like I did.
in Chiang Mai, don't go stroking tigers like I did in Bangkok. Don't bother. It's not normal. And they are coerced into doing those type of things. So just bear that in mind. Think about it. Don't do tiger reserves. Try and be ethical when you travel. That's it. So after that experience, kind of need to let off steam. We plan our night out on Kho San Road. So Kho San Road, 24 hour party street in Bangkok. Probably the most popular place for backpackers to stay. You can stay in hostels around the area.
And on this street, you have anything available to you. And I'm talking anything. So off we go. Cocktails, Chang's first thing I do, I ate a scorpion, pretty boozed up, I ate a scorpion. And then I thought, do you know what? Yeah, tastes all right. I ate another one. I ate two scorpions in one night. And I've done a similar thing in Vietnam when I a cricket. The weird thing about these is
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They kind of boiled alive and imagine. So it's exactly as you see it as if it's live and the eyes look at you as you eat it. It's a bit weird. Tasted not bad. Put a bit of protein going in there. But again, when you boost up you do anything right. So that's my first experience. And we went to a few clubs on the street and it a bit controversial in a minute. So we had a few nights out in general, but this night out we decided to
go to a ping pong show afterwards. So on the way to a ping pong show, there's probably about 10 to 15 of us need two tuk tuks. So we get the tuk tuks, flag them down and we race. We ask them to race each other. We're probably fitting six, seven people in a tuk tuk. That's a pretty cramped tuk tuk. Probably the weight was probably quite a lot, especially with me in it. But we offered the drivers, I think 50 baht each. mean, it must have been about, what, 400, 500 baht? It's like 10 quid.
to the winner and they absolutely loving it and these guys were pelted it down the highway. I'm talking like speeding the tuk as much as you can go. We're hanging on for dear life and quite a good fun experience with shout out and you know people watching us is quite funny. So that was a good experience and my tuk tuk lost probably because of my weight. So we arrive to this little bit of a seedy area. No idea where we are in Bangkok and ping pong show.
Again, another controversial subject. Naively at the time, whether you believe this or not, I am not sure what it is. I generally think there's a table tennis involved. I'd be laughing at that. I generally thought it something to do with that. Anyway, in we go. And you get your ticket. You get a drink. Before anything kicks off or anything happens, not for the first time, I grab my drink, at my table,
and probably misjudged my booziness slash the weight of the table. And as I sat down and everyone laid their drinks on the table, for some reason, they must have seen what's set on the table and the table just flipped and all the drinks go over me and all over the floor. And not for the first time I've done this in my career. I've ruined everyone's drinks. Luckily, the guys got another one and we cracked on. So what did I see? If you're not sure,
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I wouldn't really Google it, but can tell you what I experienced and it's grim. No other words but grim for this. We quickly realized, and I'm not the only one in this group at this point, I must say, that there are ladies here that have probably been taken off the streets and what they do is they're fully naked on a stage and things come out of their bottom half. These could be anything from darts
they fired darts into balloons. They do drawings on a piece of paper. And they obviously have ping pongs, in table tennis balls, coming out and knocking Skittles over. All this stuff. I could not believe what I was seeing. So grim. And I think Fed act in, we're like, what is this place? Why we come here? I think we need to leave. And one of last things I saw is this is really grim. I apologize. But the
guys were the owner. The maintenance is the clearing the stage or wiping the stage clean. I'm like, what is going on here? And one of the worst things is we saw is we actually felt sorry for the ladies. So we actually got some money together and we tried to catch a few of them just on the side at the bar, hanging around, I think. And we gave some, we split the money and we gave some money to them. And the first thing that happened is as soon as that happened, those pimps that owned the club, all the guys come straight over and took the money.
And we're like, oh, this place is grim. We need to get out of here. So quite early on we called it a night and we were like, no, we want to leave. And they got a bit arsey with us and got a little bit scary at one point where these guys like, no, you can't leave. What are you doing? And I think it took a few of us to go, no, we are leaving. And we had to like bundle everyone out. And I can't remember. think we had to like maybe get some girls up first and then we went out last and no idea in Bangkok where we were all pretty boozed up. So we have this toot toot working outside and it's probably about 10 people at this point.
I'm like, mate, we have no idea where we're staying. Can you take us back to Lobdie Hostel? And he's like, yeah, yeah. It'll be 50 baht each, says 10 of us. It's a of a trek, but come on, yeah, I'll take you back. And we're like, we've got no choice. So we pop on the tuk tuk and it took roughly 30 seconds round the corner there, bang. Number seven is Kosan Road and the backpacker Nightlife.
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In this episode, I talk about all the stories relating to eating scorpions, going to clubs, getting lost, chaotic nightlife, having tuck-tuck races with drivers, going back to the hostel, doing some questionable activities, classic backpacker party culture. Some of the things are pretty cringe to think back on, especially like the ping pong show, for example, which I didn't do it, but we did get out there pretty quickly, actually. If there's one thing we did back in those days, and we did some stuff like the Tiger Reserve, like I mentioned and all that. If there's one activity we did where we thought, do you know what?
This is pretty grim. What the hell are we doing as a group? It was the ping pong show. We got out there pretty quickly and it did get a bit hairy actually with the bouncers. I think us guys got the girls out first and then we sort of just bundled out of there into a couple of rickshaws and got back to the hostel for safety really because they weren't happy that we left early and we tried to give tips to the dancers and they obviously took the tips themselves, right? So not the best place. I don't know where that was, where in Bangkok it was. No idea.
Not great. In terms of Kho San Road, think it still has a reputation as being a party road, but I'm not sure it's the same anymore. I've read some stuff and listened to a few podcasts where it's not quite as chaotic as the old days. I'm not sure where the new going out part is in Bangkok. So would I still go? Probably would just for nostalgia, but I'd have to be in a group going for a party, not just exploring in terms of culture, right? Because it is a street where you have a few drinks and you get the buckets and you have a good laugh. This time around, I didn't have time to experience the nightlife. It wasn't that type of trip either.
ike compared to what I saw in:
So talking of coffee, I do have a couple of great recommendations for you. Arabica coffee cafe near yard hostel. It's near the cancer hospital, I think, or the cancer Institute. so a lot of doctors and stuff are in there, but, great coffee. 90 bar for an Americano, which is the same price as what I've got my sweet and sour chicken and rice at lunch the day before. that in mind. And near that lunch place is a place called Take Aziz cafe. I think it's a Japanese style actually.
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near the Grand Palace, maize and coffee, same sort of price. But since 2013, Bangkok really has come on as a destination for coffee. There's so many trendy cafes. It's overwhelming to research. Just pick a random one, gonna get a great cup of coffee, enjoy the vibe and get some trendiness into you. But to finish for Southeast Asia and Bangkok, I would still go and sit on those little plastic chairs with a bottle of beer and some food. You know, you've got that scene in your mind where we've all done it, Vietnam, et cetera, where there's a couple of streets where all the backpackers or the...
or the tourist go, should we say, and you get like a nice bowl of rice and curry, whatever it is, and sit outside on his classic chairs in a little group with a beer. That definitely still is the culture. And I kind of wish I did experience that more, but maybe next time I go to Southeast Asia, I'll get into that experience, because that is pretty cool. It's pretty warm outside. You've got a great bit of food. You're hanging out with friends, having a laugh, and it's just proper culture, isn't it? It's great. So I do say...
If you're listening, to any of those countries in that whole region. It could be Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia. Get to those street markets, those street food places. Sit outside with a beer. People watch. Have fun with your friends and eat some great food. And we had to laugh because he absolutely made an absolute killing on that and done us all for a load of kippers. So yeah, play to the lad. Got $500 500 Baht. Pretty decent night's trip. And that was that. That was the end of an interesting night.
Some guys got a Macca's in at 5 a.m. Fair play to the lads. So to finish off at Bangkok, we were having such a great time. We didn't want to leave, but we had to carry on with our Southeast Asia trip. And we're kind of giving ourselves a bit of a pep talk like, Mike, James, come on, let's go. Look, we're not just saying they love Dehostel, getting boozed up every night. Let's go and see some more of Asia. So we brought ourselves together and we're like, right, OK. See you in Riepes next in Cambodia. We'll go book. Bus ticket.
and get something locked in. So we actually leave this place because it's too addictive. So we booked that in and we agreed on the last night to go to that hangout hotel, which I mentioned earlier. And this is not, this is basically the opposite of Co-San Road. You have to go a bit classier in terms of what you wear and it's Western prices. But you go up to 63 floors and there's a deck which goes out. So if you're afraid of heights, not the best for you. I'm not. So I thought I'm up for this.
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Jazz band, cocktail bar, in we go for one drink and the view of Bangkok is absolutely unbelievable and I highly recommend going there for a drink. You can't take any photos at a time. They wouldn't let take photos. Bit strange, but well worth doing, especially on your last night. Bit of classiness there. As I say, that's on Silom Road, the hangover hotel. Number eight is the final night and the Bangkok skyline from the hangover hotel. I do remember we had a sort of blast out really to go...
to a trendy place for a change, for a drink, to say goodbye to our friends because we're going to Cambodia the next day. So we went to the hangover hotel and Silom Road, still there. I didn't get a chance to go this time, unfortunately. I'll come to that in a second. And a more refined Bangkok experience and more classy, I'd say, as well. So this is the contrast between like backpackery stuff versus a bit more upscale and a bit more reserved, should we say. I would definitely go back.
e city. But I feel my time in:
e to recreate that evening in:
absolutely unbelievable jazz music in the background. and Mike started music. So it's nice to have a bit of class behind us. Also, we drank an overpriced cocktail and a view and hang out with our friends. So must do on Silam Road for sure. And for other experiences, there's heaps of food markets I haven't checked out. But like I said earlier, I just like wandering the streets and trying to find something random. I've never been to Chinatown or CM Square. I think I've been to Bangkok three times. Never been. So they're places I want to experience and check out, which excites me. There's loads of museums as well, which I've never been to.
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Loads of random little temples across the streets and across the river. And there seems to be so many people who relocated to Bangkok recently, which is interesting. So I 100 % see it as my favorite city for sure. A great mix of chaos and culture. I would love to spend a bit longer there, stay at a local guest house or a hotel and just spend a month there getting to really know the city day in, day out and see as much as I can because I do love the vibe of the city. It's definitely a favorite. So think when I was reflecting in 2025 on my way back to the airport, as I haven't done,
It doesn't really compare to:
But yeah, that was the end of a great week. Pretty sad leaving actually, even though it's like one weekend of the six months traveling, but had to get out because we just stayed there forever. So that is probably my week in Bangkok. I hope it explains that a few things to see, things not to see and the type of atmosphere and vibe you get there. Bangkok is a bit of a culture shock if you're not into Asia, but I've been there recently, a couple of years ago, and it's way more Westernized now. It's like actually going home.
So I'm not sure if you get the same sort of things. So give an example, tuk tuk is not really a thing anymore because you got Uber. Why try and barter with a tuk tuk when Uber would get you one place to another? I guess that's a bit of a dying art. So yeah, I would recommend going there and checking it out. To move on or to conclude should I say, I am going to put some photos up of the week on my Instagram and probably on my website, jameshulman.org as well. And
Please get in touch if you've got any stories about LuvD or your experiences in Bangkok. I would love to hear them or any more recommendations. just to conclude, yeah, we saw the Reclining Buddha, the Grand Palace, we went to Kho San Road, went to a Tiger Reserve and also a ping pong show, which I don't recommend. Keep writing the podcast. I love that. Also a great deal of downloads this week. I really appreciate your support, but hopefully it's entertaining enough. We've got some great
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episodes coming up with some guests. So my next episode next week will be guest orientated. Don't want to give away too much. Um, when we get some people's experiences on record. So I'm going to leave you with a quote and this is from Anna Quindlen, who is an American novelist and columnist who says the life you have led doesn't need to be the only life you have. So after my rallying call last week, I sort of see my own life as in up to
nd now I'm on this phase from:
is a chance to go and explore somewhere, not just for a week. So Thailand as an example, you can spend a great month in Thailand. You've got a couple of great cities, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, you've got all the islands down the south, Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi on one side, Koh Pinyang, Koh Tao on the other. And also you've got some smaller cities like Krabi and stuff like that to go and see. So if you think about a month,
You can see a lot and you get a bit of in depth from somewhere, not just like nipping somewhere for a couple of days. So I feel like my seven days at Lub D made me experience Bangkok to the fullest. And I think I would go back, but I've seen quite a bit already. And the reason I've done this podcast to finish on is that Lub D unfortunately is closed in Ceylon Road. They do have another location in Siam Square and they've got other locations in Asia, Southeast Asia and Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, et cetera.
do that ever again, which is:
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Out in Asia. Ciao. So to summarize, I said back in this episode back in, what was it, 2021 that it feels like going home, Bangkok. It's definitely more westernized and I said that Tuk Tuk's are replaced by Uber, so has Bangkok improved or lost its edge? I think it's still an unbelievably great city and it's still a favorite. Interestingly, when I did this episode five years ago, I said it felt like going home, which is still true to this day and arguably the country as a whole, but there could be nostalgia.
at me and Emma spent there in:
and my fears have been quashed actually to an extent. I still love the vibe, I love the people, the food, the things to see, the coffee now, the little streets that go off the major roads, the hostels and everything about it. Is there still a place every backpacker should visit? Absolutely hell yeah. Go and book that trip. Be a base in Bangkok. Love it. Get immersed into everything you can do there. And I promise you, it'll be a great start to the trip and a great end if you finish there too. So thanks for tuning in to this episode. A nice little reflection on Bangkok there.
I do feel like I should have spent a few more days there in December to get an even more immersive experience, but next time I'll go and spend longer. So that's my biggest regret from December, but I loved going back, seeing all the sights, eating the great food and meeting some people as well and hanging out. Cheers for tuning in. Make sure to rate and review the podcast Five Stars on your podcast app and be sure to support the podcast on buymeacoffee.com forward slash winging it for $5. helps production costs and spread the word of the podcast to your friends for
them to check out some awesome travel content on my podcast Winging It, but also many other amazing travel podcasts on the Voyascape network at voyascape.com. And I'll see you at the next episode. Cheers. And that's it for this episode on Winging It. hope you took something from this episode where it sparked a new idea, offered a different perspective, or simply let you feel part of the journey. If you enjoyed it, leaving a quick rating or review on your podcast app really helps the show reach new listeners. And if you know someone who might connect with this episode,
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share it by word of mouth or social media, it makes a huge difference. Head to voiccape.com for more amazing travel podcasts as well and thanks so much for listening and I'll see you in the next episode. Until then, keep winging it.