Bangkok for Digital Nomads

Thailand's capital Bangkok is one of the main travel hubs in South-East Asia. Once upon a time it was my favourite place in the world. It's a big city, so it can take a little time to find the parts of it you like, but once you do it's such a vibrant and energetic place that you'll never be bored again. Accommodation is pretty cheap, there are endless social opportunities, the food scene is incredibly varied, there are a couple of nice parks, the transportation network can take you anywhere and the Internet is fast. What more could you ask for?

In Thailand, all roads lead to Bangkok. All railway lines start in Bangkok and most international flights come to Bangkok. If you come to Thailand, you're almost certainly going to come here whether you want to or not. In response to a lull in post-pandemic tourism, the government really pushed to increase the tourist numbers in Thailand by removing a lot of red tape. In 2022, for example, 11.15 million foreign visitors came to Thailand. By 2024 it was over 35 million, and as almost all of them found themselves in Bangkok for some of their trip, when you're in Bangkok you can really feel it. And I don't just mean a huge increase in the number of gormless foreigners walking around in flip-flops. You can feel this quantity over quality attitude in the services.

When there are 35 million people coming here each year, there's little incentive for hotels to try to get repeat customers. If they have a shitty rating on Agoda, it's not really going to affect them much because there are so many other potential customers. Should we provide a good service, or should we cut costs as much as possible? As I'll get into in the accommodation section, many now choose the latter.

I used to love what I consider to be the city centre (the area around Asok BTS) and that's where I've mostly stayed when coming here as a digital nomad. Now I'd recommend avoiding it. Go to the outer districts with less tourism, because in the touristy areas it's become overwhelming.

And while I once loved Bangkok to the point that I lived here for six years, lately I've fallen out of love with it a bit. It attracts so many foreigners that show no interest in learning the language or local customs, and subsequent businesses to cater to them, that it's rapidly becoming little more than a generic tourist city, particularly in the centre.

Take from that what you will. If you're a digital nomad who wants things like in their home country, but cheaper, then you might love it here. But on my latest trip to Thailand I regretted staying in Bangkok so long. I'd much rather have spent more time in the provinces.

One of my stays here was in the run-up to an election. There were some interesting campaign promises.

How affordable is Bangkok?

Bangkok is more expensive than the rest of Thailand, but still very cheap compared to western countries. It's roughly on par with Eastern Europe in terms of living costs. Expect to pay in the region of 1,200 baht per night for a comfortable room, a meal in a western restaurant will cost around 300 baht (local restaurants are much cheaper), a bottle of beer in a bar is around 120 baht.

Paying for things in Bangkok

If you don't have a Thai bank account, cash is the primary method for paying for things in Bangkok (and all of Thailand). While large businesses like supermarkets accept card payments and don't charge a fee, many smaller businesses that do accept cards tack-on an extra fee (up to 10%). Most smaller businesses, including all street vendors, don't accept card payments at all, so get used to carrying cash.

Thai ATMs charge a withdrawal fee for using foreign cards. The fee is about 200 baht per transaction (it varies slightly by bank). It's therefore more economical to withdraw large amounts at each withdrawal, although you'll find that ATMs have withdrawal limits, usually 20,000 baht per withdrawal.

That's the bad news. The good news is that if you have or can get a Thai bank account then things are much, much easier.

Not many businesses in Thailand accept card payments, but every single business including street vendors accept payment by QR code. They will show you a QR code that you scan with your bank's app, and what this does is setup a direct transfer. There is no fee to you or to the recipient, so you can pay any amount to anybody in this way.

Furthermore, withdrawing cash from your Thai bank's ATMs is free of charge, and if you're with a major bank you'll find them all over the place. Using another bank's ATM incurs a small fee, but the amount is negligible.

In short, if you're able to get a Thai bank account then you'll find paying for things to be really easy, you'll rarely have to pay with cash as you can pay for everything using your phone, ATM withdrawals are free, and you can even do cardless ATM withdrawals. If you can't get a Thai bank acccount, then you'll be mostly paying with cash, and you'll pay each time you withdraw from an ATM.

If you're in Thailand with a work permit, then opening a Thai bank account is pretty straight forward. I still use the bank account I opened in 2012 when working here. If you're not here on a work permit, then the main branches of Bangkok Bank reportedly open accounts for foreigners who can prove they live in Thailand, but you're going to have a much harder time.

Getting around Bangkok

The first thing I'll say, is that if you can stand the heat, then Bangkok is a deceptively walkable city.

You might not think it at first given the pollution levels, how hard it can be to cross the road, and the amount of motorcycles that ride on the pavement. Once you get used to that, there's not really anywhere in the city you can't get on foot.

For those who aren't so inclined, these are your options.

Taxis

Hailing a taxi on the street is often going to be your best choice for going anywhere in Bangkok. Taxis in Bangkok are usually either pink, or yellow and green, but you will find some of other colours (including blue or orange). If the taxi is available, then visible through the bottom-right of the windscreen you'll see the illuminated red text 'ว่าง' (pronounced "wâang", it means vacant / available).

Taking a taxi isn't quite as straight forward as in some other parts of the world. Once you've flagged it down, I'd suggest talking to the driver through the window before getting-in. You need to communicate where you're going - if you can speak Thai this is obviously much easier, but most taxi drivers speak some basic English, although beware that showing where you want to go on a map isn't always helpful. Many taxi drivers in Bangkok can't read maps but their pride stops them admitting this, so they'll nod like they understand where you want to go, and it's only once driving you'll realise they don't have a clue.

As well as needing to establish your destination, you also want to be clear how much the journey will cost before getting into the taxi. The driver should use the taxi's metre. This charges you an initial fee of 35 baht, then 6.50 baht per additional kilometre (for the first 10km until the rate increases slightly). Given the traffic in Bangkok, there is also a time charge, where if the taxi is not moving at more than 6km/hour, the metre will increase by 3 baht per minute. Note that fees for going on toll roads are paid by you, as are fees from the airport.

If you can speak Thai, or if you can at least pass-off as not being a tourist, then you won't ever really have issues with taxis. They are well known to take advantage of those that don't know any better though.

The first thing you're likely to encounter is that they'll try to use a set fare rather than the metre. This will typically be higher than the metre rate, so insist that they use the metre and make sure they agree before getting into the taxi. The Thai word for 'metre' is conveniently a loanword from English, so just say 'metre' in a Thai accent (such as "mee-terr") and they should understand.

The other issues you might encounter are drivers taking longer routes than necessary, metres having been manipulated to charge a higher rate, the metre mysteriously breaking mid-journey, or the drivers adding-on erroneous fees at the end of the trip. These are much rarer scams, and in the event that you encounter one, the simplest solution is to usually just swallow your pride and pay, and if you're so inclined, report the driver afterwards.

Every once in a while a news story pops-up of a taxi driver getting into an argument with a tourist (just Google something like 'Bangkok taxi driver attacks tourist'), and the tourist rarely ever wins.

Motorcycle taxis

You'll see motorcycle taxis all over Bangkok. They're the riders that wear orange vests, and they're used by Thai people to generally cover quite short distances.

As all Thai people are allergic to walking, motorcycles are necessary to get them to the nearest MRT or BTS station. A fare for such a trip is often just 15 or 20 baht. For such short distances I always walk, so I rarely use motorcycle taxis. However if you need to get somewhere further afield quickly, they're the best way as they're far less affected by Bangkok's heavy traffic than cars, buses, taxis and tuk-tuks are.

Going outside of their usual territory you're going to have to negotiate the fare with the rider as there won't be one pre-set.

Ride-hailing apps

Grab and Bolt are the two most common ride-hailing apps in Bangkok. Grab is usually a bit more expensive, but it's what I typically use. It's also usually a bit more expensive than taxis hailed on the street, but you get the convenience of having a car pick you up from your location, and of also not having to interact with the driver.

I've never had any issues beyond the car taking a while to arrive to pick me up, or drivers accepting rides then messaging you asking you to cancel. Once I've got in a car, it's always got me where I want to go without a problem.

Tuk-tuks

While they're still commonly used by locals in other parts of Thailand, in Bangkok tuk-tuks are mostly used by tourists for the novelty of taking a tuk-tuk. They have no metre like taxis do, and so you need to negotiate a price before getting-in, and it usually won't be cheap.

MRT and BTS

By far the easiest way of getting around Bangkok, the MRT (the subway) and the BTS (the skytrain) have every sign and announcement translated into English, and every worker behind the counter speaks English. That's the good news. The bad news is that, despite connecting together and appearing part of the same service, they're actually run by different companies, and therefore journeys on each require different tickets or different pre-paid cards.

When going to quiet stations, if you don't have a pre-paid card then buying a ticket is easy, either at the counter or at a machine. But if you go to Sukhumvit station during evening rush hour, queues can be huge so I recommend getting a pre-paid card just to save queueing for an hour.

On the BTS this is the Rabbit card. The MRT now accepts tap-to-pay with visa cards (but not Mastercard), but if that's not viable then buy an MRT pre-paid card as well.

While it doesn't yet cover the entire city, the network is expanding very quickly. From when I last lived in Bangkok in 2018, there is now about three times as many operational stations, with more under construction, so it'll soon get you anywhere in the city.

Taking the bus

Taking the bus in Bangkok is much easier than it used to be, but it can still be a little unfriendly to foreigners.

It's easier because apps like ViaBus (AppStore / Play Store) mean that figuring-out which bus to take can be done in English, on your phone, as opposed to wandering around Bangkok and writing down which buses stop at which bus stops, which is what I had to do when I first lived here.

To take the bus, you get on at any door and go and find a seat if one's available. The conductor will approach you. On non-air conditioned buses, there's a flat fare no matter your destination. This can vary slightly, but will typically be around 10 baht. If you're unsure and don't want to ask the fare, just hand over a 20 baht note and you'll get change.

On air-conditioned buses the fare varies by destination, which is a bit annoying because I quite like to get on buses and just see where they go, and you also face the occasional embarrassment of getting on the wrong bus and stating a destination that it's not going to.

Assuming you say a destination that actually exists, the conductor will tell you the fare (usually less than 25 baht). Don't expect the conductors to speak any English, so if you don't know Thai then just hand over a couple of 20 baht notes and see how much change you get. Exciting.

Buses go to all corners of Bangkok very cheaply, and are probably the funnest way to travel, so it's worth getting used to how to take them, but they can be a little intimidating at first.

Is it easy to get by with English in Bangkok?

In the tourist areas, yes, very easy. The further you venture outwards, the less English is spoken, but this is a city with such a high number of tourists and expats that in very few places is it going to be uncommon to see foreigners, so at the very least people will be used to dealing with non-Thai speakers, even if they don't speak English.

Is Bangkok safe?

Any big city has its dangers, but I feel far safer in Bangkok than I do in London, for example.

Given the number of tourists that come here, tourist scams are common. Whether that means taxi drivers turning-off the metre to charge you a higher fare, bars adding imaginary drinks to your tab, or people pretending that the Grand Palace is closed to take you to a gem shop, the more like a tourist you appear, the more that you'll encounter them. And many tourists don't do a good job of hiding that they're fresh off the plane.

Once you lose the vibe that new arrivals carry, you'll encounter far fewer scams, and if you learn to speak Thai they all but disappear. While you're going through these growing pains, keep your wits about you.

I have been told first-hand accounts of violent crimes in Bangkok (I had a Thai friend who was robbed at knife-point), but these are very rare. I've never experienced them personally, and I'm an idiot. I walk down dark alleys at all hours of the night.

Who is Bangkok suitable for?

So long as you're someone that likes big cities, then Bangkok really does have something for everyone. Whether or not you can find what you're looking for is another matter. Of note, Bangkok only has a couple of parks. If you're not used to big cities, or if you're used to European cities with lots of green space, then Bangkok may not be for you.

It's a very easy city to be sociable in. There are many events on Meetup, and there are co-working spaces, so having a social life is easy here.

Some parts of the city, such as around the Sukhumvit area or Khao San Road are renowned for being tourist hot spots. Other areas like Thong Lo, On Nut and Sathorn still have a heavy foreign presence, but more with expats and longer-term visitors. Other areas don't have much foreign presence at all.

The areas with a lot of foreigners are rapidly and regrettably transforming to resemble Europe more than Bangkok, with coffee shops and restaurants serving western food from English menus and English-speaking staff. You'll also find prices in these areas to be higher than elsewhere. But if you're looking for a local experience, this is still somewhat possible in the outer areas of the city (although if you're looking for a local experience, I don't know why you'd stay in Bangkok at all).

Is the tap water drinkable in Bangkok?

No, but it's not a huge issue.

When the water leaves the plant in Bangkok it's drinkable, but the pipes in Bangkok are old and broken, so by the time it reaches your tap, especially if you're staying in an old building, then it's not considered safe for consumption, but don't go overboard.

I've used it for many years to brush my teeth with and to cook with and never had an issue. I've never checked with the bar/restaurant I'm in if the ice has come from the tap, and I even had a friend who regularly drank the tap water, and last I heard he was still alive.

Bottled water is cheap in Bangkok (a six-litre bottle is 41 baht in 7-11) and you'll see water filter machines all over the place, where you can fill-up your bottles for roughly 1 baht per litre. There's also a growing number of water fountains around the city where you can get drinking water for free.

Where to buy tea in Bangkok

I don't know, and it drives me up the wall.

If you've read any of the other articles I've written about Thailand, you'll know that my quest for reasonably-priced local tea is an ongoing issue. Thailand has some amazing local teas that when you can find them will cost little more than one baht per tea bag. But none of the major supermarkets stock them, favouring overpriced, imported teas that are more like 150 baht for a pack of twenty. So in every city I go to I have to just wander around until I find a local shop that stocks local tea.

The best I've found in Bangkok is the Gateway Ekkamai branch of MaxValu. They have a small selection of Thai teas for 35 baht for twenty tea bags. But it's only this branch, I tried in other branches of MaxValu, and they don't stock them.

Somewhere in Bangkok someone must have a good selection of local teas. If anyone knows where, please tell me.

The best place I've found to buy local tea in Bangkok is the Gateway Ekkamai branch of MaxValu. They have a small selection at 35 baht for twenty tea bags. Seeing as I've found shops with whole aisles of local tea in much smaller cities in Thailand, it's a continual annoyance to me that I haven't found anywhere better in Bangkok. There must be somewhere. This is not over.

Things I don't like about Bangkok

There are two main things that I don't like in Bangkok. The first is that it has some of the worst traffic in the world, which is an annoyance in itself if you ever want to take a bus or a taxi to get somewhere. But a consequence of the endless idling cars is that it's a quite heavily polluted city.

The second is the sheer volume of tourists making large areas of the city unpleasant and rather souless as businesses switch to target these free-spending foreigners. I now actively avoid areas that I considered pleasant just a couple of years ago.

Being sociable in Bangkok

There are few places in the world that I've found it easier to be sociable than Bangkok. The Meetup community in Bangkok is really active, so you can find an event that you want to attend pretty much seven days per week. And unlike some cities, it's not limited to drinking. There are running clubs, meeting people over coffee, yoga, and language exchange (where people actually do speak different languages). But you can also find plenty for going out and getting shit-faced. And for whatever reason, I've found that the people I've met at Meetups in Bangkok are more open to staying in touch and being subsequently social than in other places in the world.

While I suggest searching for exactly what it is you're looking for, some of the groups that I've attended and can vouch for are the Lumpini Running Club Bangkok, which does a relaxed evening run in Lumphini on two evenings per week, often going out for food or drinks afterwards. The Bangkok Cultural Exchange Meetup runs language exchange events that actually are about exchanging languages, which is weird, because language exchange is normally just a code-word for getting drunk. The Bangkok Vegan Meetup hosts sporadic events at various vegan eateries in Bangkok, so if you're vegan it's a good chance to try a restaurant that you might not go to otherwise and meet some nice people at the same time. Fun Friends Bangkok hosts a weekly Meetup in a coffee shop, presently in EmQuartier, that is a relaxed way to sit around and chat to some new people.

Up until recently there was a 'Language Exchange and Activities and Social in Bangkok' group on Meetup that met every Saturday night at 7:30pm at The Hangover on Sukhumvit soi 22. I went many times and this was probably the best of all the Meetups I went to in Bangkok for meeting people. They've since been removed from Meetup for unspecified reasons, but WhatsApp messages tell me that the event still goes ahead each week, so it's perhaps one to take a chance on.

While I've primarily used Meetup for social events in Bangkok, it's become a lot less user-friendly lately, so searching for events on Facebook can also yield some good results.

I'm really good at showing up to places and getting drunk. I'm really bad at remembering to take any photos, so I don't have many. This was at the 'Language Exchange and Activies and Social in Bangkok' Meetup that's no longer on Meetup, but still takes place in The Hangover every Saturday.

Where to run in Bangkok

Bangkok has a small number of nice parks to run in, but beyond that it's not a running-friendly city. The traffic, pollution and number of people in the city centre means running along the pavements is pretty unpleasant (although some people do), so I'd suggest getting accommodation close to a park.

Benchasiri Park

Benchasiri Park is a small park next to Emporium shopping mall. It has a roughly 700m circumference, so for a 5k run it's seven laps. Doing any more than that becomes a little cumbersome, and it can get busy in the mornings and evenings with a couple of annoying bottlenecks in the circuit. However, in the daytime it's quiet enough that you can have a pleasant run. There are toilets in the park and three different shops to buy water/snacks at, so if you're still adjusting to the heat in Bangkok, this is a good place to start.

Lumphini Park, Benchakitti Park and The Green Mile

The most obvious place to run in Bangkok is Lumphini Park. The primary reason I lived in Sathorn for three years is that I wanted to be close to Lumphini Park, so I've really got my laps in there.

Although you can make your own route through the inside of the park if you want to, there's a very established running lap that goes around the outside that is slightly over 2.5km. It's a wide track the whole way around, so even in the mornings and evenings when it gets busy, you still have the space to go at a good pace. As always, I recommend running in the daytime when you'll be the only one running, but for some reason no one else likes the heat.

Closer to Sukhumvit you'll find Benchakitti Park. I use the term 'park' slightly loosely, because it's more a lake with a track around it. The track is shared with pedestrians who will inevitably veer into the running lane, but other than that it's pleasant enough. At roughly 1.8km, each lap of the lake is just over a mile.

Until quite recently that was the extent of Benchakitti Park, but it's now expanded to be roughly three times the size with the addition of the connected Benchakitti Forest Park. In the south half of the forest park there's a road that's suitable for runners, and above the park is a skywalk that's also good for running along. The rest of the park is a bit zig-zaggy and hard to see where you're going, so not especially running-friendly, although fine if you go slowly.

That's all well and good, but wouldn't it be wonderful if you could run between Lumphini Park and Benchakitti Park without having to cross any roads? Well duh-duh-dum duh-duh-dum, you can.

A little known feature of Bangkok is the raised walkway colloquially known as 'The Green Mile' (or known on Google Maps as the Benchakitti-Lumphini Park Sky Bridge). In the past accessing it from the Sukhumvit end was near impossible unless you knew what you were looking for, but with the development of Benchakitti Forest Park it's now much easier to find.

The Green Mile is basically a long walkway open only to pedestrians and cyclists that connects the north-west corner of Benchakitti Park to Thanon Witthayu (Wireless Road), a very short distance from Lumphini Park. So you can go to Lumphini Park, Benchakitti Park, and Benchakitti Forest Park without having to cross a single road or worry about a single car or motorcycle.

A possible route is to start at the south end of Benchakitti Park, do a half-lap before going onto The Green Mile, running to and then doing a lap of Lumphini, before going back onto The Green Mile, turning-off halfway along onto the Benchakitti Forest Park Skywalk, running down that to the end, and then finishing back at the south end of Benchakitti Park. That route is roughly 7.7km, but you can add-on as you need by doing additional laps of any of the three parks that it takes you through.

It's not really a route to do for speed, largely because The Green Mile includes some staircases, but other than that it's a lovely route to run, and my favourite to do in Bangkok.

To make it a bit clearer what I mean, this route does a lap of Benchakitti Park (on the right), a lap of Lumphini Park (on the left), goes across The Green Mile (the horizontal line at the top), and goes down the Benchakitti Forest Park Skywalk (the zig-zaggy diagonal line from halfway along The Green Mile).

Chatuchak Park, Queen Sirikit Park and Wachirabenchathat Park

I haven't been there for many years, but when I used to live in Ladprao, I'd run in these three closely connected parks. Chatuchak Park is the best known, and is connected to Queen Sirikit Park and Wachirabenchathat Park. Unless it's changed in the eleven years since, this is a great option for running if you're staying in the area.

Getting vegan food in Bangkok

When I first lived in Bangkok in 2012, being vegan was a pain. There were very few vegan-friendly restaurants, and none near to where I lived. In the thirteen years since, Bangkok has morphed into one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world. It's overflowing with vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants now.

I'll recommend my favourites below, but honestly, ignore them. The vegan-scene here is ever-changing. My favourite restaurant from six months ago now sits as a pile of rubble, and at least three I've recommended in previous iterations of this article no longer exist. I don't think that's my fault, but I could recommend a hundred different restaurants and they'd all be worthy, so find what you like rather than listening to me.

With that being said, if you're really too lazy to do your own research, my personal favourites are...

May Veggie Home

738 Sukhumvit soi 101

I'll always have a soft spot for May. They were a vegan restaurant in Bangkok before it was cool, and one of the only ones that existed when I first moved here in 2012.

At that time they were in their Asok location, a short walk from both the BTS and MRT so it was amazingly convenient. They've since relocated their main branch to 10 mins down a soi next to Punnawithi BTS station, which is far harder to get to. May Veggie Home Express, which has counter-service, just six tables, and slightly lower prices is a lot more convenient, but the slimmed-down menu doesn't give you the full experience.

Even so, I recommend both branches. They're cheaper than equivalent restaurants in Bangkok (like Veganerie), and the food is really good.

If you go to the Express branch, the veggie burger on its own will cost you 149 baht. However, for an extra 99 baht you can get fries, onion rings and salad so big that they have to put them on another plate. I did not go hungry that day.

Veganerie

Soi Methi Niwet

When I first went to Veganerie In January 2015, it was a solitary vegan cake shop on the 4th floor of the not very desirable Mercury Ville shopping mall. They've since expanded to what I can only describe as a vegan empire in Bangkok.

Veganerie Concept behind Benchasiri Park was the first branch to go beyond desserts, and to this day is my favourite branch. But they've now opened premises in Silom, Nana, Siam Paragon and Em Quartier among others. The Mercury Ville location is no longer there.

The menu is a nice mix of healthy dishes like smoothie bowls and salads, western food, Asian food, smoothies, milkshakes, and of course desserts. It's a place you're definitely going to want to visit while in Bangkok, probably many times.

Khao soi has sneakily become my favourite Thai dish. At Veganerie they offer high-protein alternatives to some standard dishes, by doing things like using tofu noodles instead of normal noodles. Perfect for after a workout. Khao soi with tofu noodles costs 255 baht and contains 35g of protein.

Vegano

111/2 soi Charoensuk

There are very few certainties in life.

Death. Taxes. And if you see me in Vegano, I was drinking beer until 3am. This is where I come for my hangover food, and God-damn is it good hangover food.

Slightly confusingly, Vegano isn't a vegan restaurant. 50% of the menu is non-vegan, with the other 50% being vegan equivalents of the same dishes.

The vegan part of the menu is split into five parts: Pizza, pasta, sandwiches, grain bowls and desserts. I don't really like sweet things, and as no one has ever had a hangover and thought "I feel like a grain bowl," I've never tried them either. But the pizza, pasta and sandwiches are some of the best I've ever had. This is top quality vegan junk food.

The pizzas are available by the slice, as a 12" pizza, or as a 15-16" pizza. About a year ago they raised their prices, but for some reason the pizza slice prices stayed as they were. Most of the 12" pizzas are now listed at 430 baht, but as the slices, which are basically small pizzas, are still no more than 160 baht, then getting two slices is about the same size as a 12" pizza and much better value. Pizza options include the vegan spicy kra prow sausage, vegan tuna, onion and capers, and vegan Thai spicy chorizo.

Vegano do delivery on Grab. Starting at 190 baht, getting pasta delivered is a very quick, cheap dinner. Options include pesto sauce or mushroom and vegan cream, and if you get wholewheat pasta it's not even that unhealthy. I can't say the same about the sandwiches. Options include the vegan guacamole burger panino (290 baht), and my favourite, the vegan chicken and guacamole (270 baht).

Being about a mile from the nearest BTS station, getting to Vegano is a bit of a walk, which is kind of what you need when you're hungover, even though it doesn't always feel like it. And they break my cardinal rule: They don't include tax in their prices, so however much you think you're going to pay, add 7%.

That would normally be enough to stop me going somewhere, but the food is just that good. And sometimes I'm just that hungover.

The sausage on this 12" spicy kra prow sausage pizza was so realistic that I had to check it was actually vegan. They assured me that it was. It costs 430 baht (plus 7% tax).

Bartels

167, 4-6 Sathorn soi 3

Bartels is everything I hate about the world.

I've spent as much time in Thailand as I have, because I enjoy being here much more than western countries. So I have a certain resentment of foreigners who come to Thailand and make no attempt to integrate because ultimately, the character of a place will be swayed to the will of those that have the most money. And as more wealthy westerners arrive in Thailand inistent on living just like they did at home, tourist-heavy parts of Thailand are becoming what I sought to escape in the first place. Bartels is a perfect example.

When you walk-in, you won't see a local face in here, it's all westerners. The menu is in just English, the staff all speak English, and the atmosphere resembles nothing of Thailand. I should hate it.

It's just that they do really good bread, and good bread is hard to come by in Asia. It's treated more like a sweet in this part of the world, which if you grew-up eating European bread, is kind of disgusting.

Bartels has three locations in Bangkok, and in each they have their own bakery. All the bread they serve is made on-site, and fuck is it good. By far the best bread I've found anywhere in Asia.

The menu isn't vegan, but they have some clearly-marked vegan options including sandwiches and toasties, as well as smoothies and smoothie bowls.

Their first location in Thong Lo gets uncomfortably busy at peak times and you might struggle to find a seat. Their newest location in Asok is the same. However, in between they opened a branch in Sathorn in a much less touristy area and I've never been here when it wasn't comfortable, so if you can make it there this is the best branch to visit.

Every time I go to Bartels I hate myself a little bit more for contributing to a business that makes no effort to cater to the local market. But fuck their bread is good.

This is the grilled vegan onion soup toastie. I don't understand either, but it tastes alright and only costs 200 baht.

Bai Plu House

455/26 Soi Suan Phru 8

Bai Plu is a fully vegan restaurant. While they have a mix of cuisines, I'd say that the menu is primarily Chinese.

It's a pretty small place. And although they have a billingual menu, it doesn't aim itself at foreigners like the restaurants above. That's not only reflected in the service and the atmosphere, but also in the prices, which are more than reasonable.

When I'm staying nearby, this is a place I come to everyday.

Bai Plu have a pretty big menu to choose from. The vegan meatballs with rice is definitely one of my favourite options. It costs 139 baht.

Where I've stayed as a digital nomad in Bangkok

Nandha Hotel

14/11-15 Sukhumvit 33

Nandha will forever hold the distinction of being the first place I stayed as a digital nomad. I'm sure that means a lot to them.

The hotel itself was great. The room really big, with plenty of space for exercise, the wifi was fast, and everything was very comfortable. And while in previous iterations of this article I've recommended staying here, I no longer do so simply because the surrounding area has changed so much.

In 2022, Sukhumvit soi 33 was a nice, fairly relaxed street in a good area close to the city centre. The hotel is a short walk from Phrom Pong BTS station.

In 2025, Phrom Pong has become grossly infested with toursits. The EmSphere shopping mall has since opened, which has made things worse, and soi 33 has transformed to have little on it but brothels disguised as massage shops.

While I'm sure the hotel is just as nice as it was in 2022, I'd suggest avoiding this area unless you really like being surrounded by tourists all day.

It's a pretty big room. Plenty of space for exercise. Out of shot is another table and chairs that make a good workstation.

V Check Inn Sukhumvit 22

318-318/1 Sukhumvit Soi 22

I got attracted to V Check Inn by the large balcony, which is only available for the 5th floor rooms. If you can get one of those then it's a decent value hotel.

It's located at the non-Sukhumvit end of Sukhumvit soi 22. It's quite a long soi, and at the time I stayed here, that meant not many tourists ventured this far down. In 2025 that's not quite true, and the local area is much less appealing now than it was then, although there's a good collection of street vendors behind the hotel, and you can walk to the Queen Sirikit end of Benchakitti Park in about 15 minutes, which almost makes it worth it. You're a fairly easy walk from Phrom Pong BTS station, Asok BTS station, and Sukhumvit and Queen Sirikit MRT stations.

The room itself is decent. The bed is comfortable and the balcony is a great place if you need some time to sit and think (smoke weed) or if you just want to eat some food. A couple of small grievances that I had were that they don't make-up the room automatically, you have to specifically ask someone on the front desk. That's fine except there's not always someone at the front desk, which can get annoying when your bin's full and you want to go out.

The other frustration was that there is a very loud water pump. I'm used to sleeping in loud places, but it was significant enough that it bugged me when I first arrived. It goes on for a few seconds, off for a few seconds, on for a few seconds, off for a few seconds, all day and all night long. Like anything consistent you get used to it as background noise, but if you do get easily disturbed, it's something to be aware of.

The desk is a good place to setup your laptop and work for the day.

RoomQuest Sukhumvit 36

129 Soi Napha Sap 5 Sukhumvit 36

I've stayed here 6 times as a digital nomad, starting in December 2022, for a total of 87 nights, most recently...

When I first stayed at RoomQuest in late 2022 it had a booking.com rating of 8.6. As I write this sentence today, it's gone down to 6.8. I continued to stay here because it was such good value, but on each stay it got worse and worse and worse, and by my sixth and final stay I couldn't wait to leave. This place is a perfect example of what I said earlier, where the sheer quantity of tourists in Bangkok now means that hotels prioritise cost-cutting over service.

For example, through my earlier stays there was a member of staff at reception 24 hours per day. They weren't always the friendliest or most helpful, but they did exist. By my last stay, the staff had been replaced by a self-check-in system that didn't seem to work half the time, with a phone number to call if there were any problems.

It was a pretty rundown hotel to begin with, but each time I stayed it got worse. They gave-up on actually doing any maintenance and were just letting the place fall apart. The cleanliness standards dropped in a similar fashion, and by my final stay there were so many ants in the room that it became uncomfortable. Given how much I liked staying here to begin with, I'd have happily paid an increased price for the same level of service, but that wasn't the direction they decided to go in.

The location is pretty decent, down a soi in Thong Lo. Thong Lo has got a bit touristy recently, but it's definitely not as bad as Phrom Pong. A short walk from the Hotel is Vibe, a vegetarian coffee shop that does some good vegan food.

The reason I kept on returning to RoomQuest, despite the ever-decreasing standards, is that despite being basic, it does the important things well. Decent location, big, comfortable bed, very fast Internet (consistently 500+mbps download and upload speeds), space in the room to exercise, 55" TV, good shower, 7-11 around the corner, cold AC, desk and chair in each room. It's no frills, but it does have the essentials. They've just let both the property and service deteriorate to the extent that the rooms are no longer comfortable, and that's kind of a shame.

There are three types of room in this hotel. Just to be confusing they're named differently on booking.com and Agoda, but they either start with standard, superior or deluxe.

At 20m², standard is the smallest. While it's just about got enough space to be comfortable, in my experience the best of the three rooms is the superior. At 25m² it's noticeably bigger and there's barely any difference in price. It has a much bigger desk, as well as much bigger windows letting in more light.

At 28m², the deluxe is the biggest of the three rooms, but I actually didn't like it on my one stay. It had two TVs, which was annoying because I can't plug my Apple TV into two TVs. If I haven't put you off staying here, go for the superior room.

The standard king room. For the uninspiring ruler.

Parvena Hotel Sathorn

592 Sathon Soi 3 Suanplu Soi 5 Sathon Tai Rd

I used to live about a 20-minute walk from Parvena. Despite being so close, I wouldn't come to this area very often. My work was in a different direction, the city centre was in a different direction, the supermarkets I went to were in a different direction. I just had very little reason to come here, but every time I did I always thought to myself "Wow! What a fun, vibrant area." Then I wouldn't come back for another six months. So with the freedom of a digital nomad, I decided that I'd stay here and get to know this area properly, and I really loved it.

Although there are a few expats mulling around, as there are anywhere in Bangkok, it's a pretty local area. There's loads going on with street food and other vendors lining all along the road outside the hotel, which gives it a very bustling, fun vibe. It also means that you can get everything you need just metres from the hotel entrance. There's a 7-11 twenty metres away, and if you're willing to walk for five minutes you'll pass five of them. Two of my recommended vegan-friendly restaurants from above (Bai Plu House and Bartels) are a short walk, and there are several laundrettes, quite a few weed shops, and if you venture a bit further you can get to Silom and all it offers. And for those who're really lazy, the hotel offers a free tuk-tuk to anywhere within 3 miles (which includes Silom or Lumphini MRT stations). I only used this service once, preferring to walk.

As for the hotel itself, I liked it. I was up on the top (8th) floor, so had good views and was well away from the traffic below. The room is spacious, if not huge. Enough space to do yoga at least. The bed was comfy, it included a large fridge and had a kettle (although no cups). The TV was a decent size, the AC worked really well, it has a balcony that's big enough to sit on, and the shower is hot and powerful.

For all the above I loved this place, however there are a couple of deal-breakers that would stop me from staying here again.

Firstly, for some inexplicable reason the Internet connection requires you to go through a login page, which is an absolute pain because anytime you put your device to sleep you have to sign in again. On any device that's a pain, but on my Apple TV it drove me around the bend.

Worse still is that although this wifi has a respectable download speed (typically around 68mbps), the upload speed is atrocious. The fastest of the many speed tests I did was just 4.53mbps. That means you can watch Netflix and you can work on your laptop without a problem, but the second you need to make a video call you'll be continually dropping-out. It was so bad that I just tethered my laptop to my mobile hotspot to make video calls (AIS 5G had great reception in the room).

The second reason that I wouldn't return is that although there's a desk and chair to work at, they are incredibly uncomfortable, and I have low standards. Apart from video calls I almost exclusively worked from the bed because it was so bad to sit at the desk. The chair was flat and made from wood, and the height of the desk just didn't work with it. Despite using a laptop stand I was getting a sore back within minutes.

It's a shame this place suffers from two such easily fixable issues. As a digital nomad what two things do you need? A moderately comfortable place to work, and a good Internet connection. This hotel offers neither, so despite having so much going for it, it's a hard place to recommend.

It's an alright-sized room, and the bed is comfortable.

Rezt Bangkok

75 Sukhumvit soi 22

Given the ratings and reviews that Rezt has, my stay was a little disappointing.

Check-in was a bit of a mess as the guy on the desk seemed a little confused about how to check people in, then when I finally got into the room to find all the blinds closed, I pulled on the string to open one, and it immediately fell off the ceiling. That was a sign of things to come, as a lot about Rezt felt it had been done a bit half-arsed.

I didn't want to come across as a problem guest having only just arrived, so on complaining that the blind had fallen down, I omitted that the kettle in the room worked... a little too well. If it was on the stand, it was boiling whether it was turned-on or not. As someone who gets through about ten cups of tea per day, this was really annoying as I couldn't put the kettle on and go and do something else, because if I forgot about it, it'd just boil and boil and boil until it burned the hotel down, so I just got used to standing next to it instead.

It also took me a bit of time to get used to the design of the room. Which sucks. There's very little surface space in the room - a couple of bedside tables, a tiny desk, and some shelves. Which is why it's completely bemusing that the room's safe is attached to the only shelf that's at a reasonable height. I therefore had to store my clothes on a high shelf that I couldn't really see onto, and I had to make my tea and my daily smoothies on a shelf that was so low that I couldn't see it without bending down.

The view out of the room was non-existent as, despite being on the top (fifth) floor, I was facing the drab, windowless sides of the EmSphere building. To be fair, it's better than it having windows because at least this way I could sleep with the blinds open, confident that no one could see in. But still, I was envious of the rooms on the other side of the hotel, which I assume look over, among other things, Benjasiri Park.

The shower in the room wasn't great either, as it was one of those showers with two shower heads (a rainy one and a handheld one), but the knob that's supposed to turn one off and turn the other on didn't work properly, so no matter the setting you had water coming out of both.

All of the above was an annoyance, but I'm yet to even get to the thing that pissed me off the most about this room:

One morning at about 11am, I was having an online Thai class with one of my tutors. I had headphones on, so no sound was emitting from my laptop, and I was speaking in a normal voice - the same volume as you're reading this article in your head.

About 45 minutes into the lesson, the room phone rings. It's someone from reception. And they tell me the person in the room next door has complained that they can hear me speaking. As I was in the middle of a class, I didn't really respond, I just unplugged the phone from the wall and continued the class, speaking extra loudly, because fuck that guy.

After the class was finished, I went down to reception and asked the guy... "what the fuck?" I politely explained to him that I was speaking in a normal voice within daytime hours, so what's he bothering me for?

And he agreed. "Yes, I know, it's very stupid," he told me, continuing that the person in the other room shouldn't be complaining just because they can hear someone.

Well if you know that, then why did you call to tell me? Every hotel has morons staying in it. When they make a stupid complaint, you ignore them. You don't call me and tell me about it. And if me speaking in a normal voice is audible in the adjacent rooms, that's more of an indictment on the hotel than on me.

I left the phone unplugged for the remainder of my stay so they'd have to knock on my door next time they wanted to relay a stupid complaint, but it still pissed me off that it had even got back to me. If you're someone who ever has to make phone calls or video calls, then don't stay here. You apparently can't make normal volume calls without the staff calling your room to tell you about it. Of all the things wrong with this hotel, this was the one that bugged me the most. You want the staff to have a bit more common sense.

If I haven't put you off yet, then there are some positives about staying here too. The wifi is decent enough. 66mbps download speed and 49mbps upload speed on the one speed test I did, and it was a stable connection, which is more important. The room just about has the space for some (slightly cramped) exercise, and the bed is comfortable. The location, for better or worse, is very, very central.

You're literally next door to EmSphere; one of the three shopping malls that comprises the Em District. That means it's a very, very touristy area, but also you can get everything you need really conveniently.

Rezt is down an alleyway off soi 22, and right opposite the end of the alleyway is Makro, a budget supermarket. At the entrance to EmSphere is Gourmet Market, another supermarket. So you can get basically anything you need within a two minute walk. 7-11 and other shops are also very nearby.

The hotel is located only about 50m from Benjasiri Park, as the crow flies. Unfortunately there's no way to cut through the back of the alleyway, so instead the quickest way to the park is to cut around past the EmSphere service entrance, but even then it's only five minutes until you're in the park, which is amazing for going for your midday run. Veganerie, one my favourite vegan restaurants in Bangkok, is a short walk through the park, and in the fourth floor food court of Emporium is Talalaks, one of the better budget vegan restaurants in Bangkok.

I'll reiterate that the north end of Sukhumvit 22 is very, very touristy. And when there are tourists, services pop-up to meet their needs. What I mean is there are a lot of adult services on offer in the alley Rezt is down and in the surrounding area of soi 22. If you're a man you'll get hollered-at every time you walk down the street, which is fine, but just be aware that it's not a family-friendly area. You might not want to stay here with kids. Or a jealous girlfriend.

My stay at Rezt was disappointing. I had hoped for better, but I guess when it comes down to it, for a digital nomad you want a reliable Internet connection. It has that. You want convenience. It definitely has that. You want a park nearby. It has that. It ticks the boxes of all the essentials. Even so, I have no intention of staying here again.

The first thing I did when I entered the room was try to open the blind. It fell-off the ceiling. The bed was comfortable at least.

Sereine Sukhumvit 39 Hotel

19 Sukhumvit soi 39

I arrived at Sereine in a good mood. It was the last time I'd smile for three weeks. Welcome to Hell.

I got to the hotel at 12:30pm. I went to reception and was told by the woman behind the desk, "I've upgraded you to a bigger room for your first night, then you can check into your room tomorrow."

That's not an upgrade, that's a pain in the arse. "Why can't I check-into my room today?" I asked.

"The person in your room hasn't checked-out yet."

Then get them out. I'm not seeing why this is my problem.

"Ok, you can check-into your room at 2pm," was the response, "then you can move into another room tomorrow, if you want to."

"Why would I want to move-into another room tomorrow?" I asked. "What's wrong with this room?" There was clearly something going on, but this woman wasn't being straight with me about it and was instead giving me this baloney about giving me an upgrade for a night, which really put my back up. Anyway, I left and went for lunch, and came back a little after 2pm. In the time I'd been away, they'd managed to get the last guest out and had cleaned the room. I wasn't thrilled about being on the ground floor with hotel workers continually going past the window, nor with the lack of daylight that got through the windows, but ok, it'll do. Until I lay down on the bed and it felt like it had a pole down the middle of it.

It wasn't a double bed, like I'd booked, it was two single beds that they'd pushed together. They'd then put a double sheet over the two mattresses to make it look like a double, but it wasn't remotely comfortable. That was how she knew I was going to want to change rooms.

I kind of lost my shit at this point. I don't often complain, but I already hated this woman on the front desk for not being straight with me, and this was the excuse I needed to release some anger in her direction. So I did. I asked her quite frankly, why did you sell me a double room that's not a double room?

Up to this point, or even at this point, if she'd just been contrite and said "I'm sorry, there was a mistake with bookings and we sold you a double room when there were only twin rooms available, but you can move tomorrow," I probably wouldn't have minded. You know what she did instead? She blamed the other guests for booking too many rooms.

"We have many guests, and we don't have enough double rooms."

Which again took me back to "Well why did you sell rooms that you don't have? I made this booking three months ago."

Eventually we very loudly agreed that I'd stay in this room tonight, and then once someone checks-out of a double room tomorrow, I'll move into that room. It wasn't the situation that bothered me, mistakes happen. It was the lack of ownership, or any kind of apology or remorse that made me hate her fucking guts. I couldn't unpack this evening, because I was going to have to move rooms tomorrow. And I didn't want to go grocery shopping, because it'd just be more stuff to move in the morning. I essentially lost a day, and yet apparently this was the fault of all the other guests, for booking the rooms at this hotel.

All I knew for the next day was I'd get a get a call at 'some point' when a guest had checked-out and I could move-into my room, which made planning this next day impossible. Luckily that call came at 8:45am, so I didn't lose much of the day. And as I hadn't even bothered taking the padlock off my suitcase, it only took me thirty seconds to throw on yesterday's clothes and be out of the room. Having had nothing else to do, I'd spent most of the previous evening sitting there thinking about ways I could kill the receptionist and get away with it, and by the look on her face she'd been thinking the same about me. Alas, no words were spoken but we were able to exchange key cards absent of murder.

This next room, now on the second floor, at least had a double bed instead of two singles pretending to be a double. And it included a hob, which kind of annoyed me because she'd tried to previously make me stay in a room without cooking facilities. But then I got even more annoyed because they hadn't provided enough equipment to make having a hob useful.

The design of this room really bugged me though. If you read almost any article I've written, one thing I preach again and again is the importance of daylight. There's a very obvious correlation for me between the amount of daylight I get in my room, and my mood. And this room had large, floor-to-ceiling windows, which you might be thinking "that's great." Except there was a building directly opposite, so in order to have any privacy whatsoever, I had to keep the curtains closed. Oh, and it only has blackout curtains. No drapes, or anything sensible where you can get some daylight while maintaining your privacy. Just blackout curtains. So you either have people looking-in at you all day, and I do mean all day because the people that work in the building opposite take their cigarette breaks right outside the window. Or you close the blackout curtains and live in a cave.

If you want to know what Hell looks like, just stay at this hotel. This is what Hell looks like.

I heard the "Good news, we've upgraded you to a bigger room for your first night" speech being given to other guests as I walked through reception during my stay, so what happened to me wasn't an isolated incident. They seem to just sell all of their rooms and deal with the fallout when guests try to check-into rooms that don't exist, so only book here if you want the excitement of not knowing what kind of room you'll be staying in. But this further emphasises what I've said already in this article: Quantity over quality. There's no need to have happy customers, because areas like this are so overrun with tourists that there are many others ready to replace the ones you lose.

Sereine has a score of 8.5 on Agoda, which blows my mind because I saw a lot of unhappy people complaining during my stay. But I guess if you happen to be lucky enough to get put into the right room on your first night, and you happen to be in a room that people can't see in from outside, then it might not be the worst place in the world. But even then I didn't like it.

They have the weakest bum guns in all of Thailand. Barely even worth using. The TV was dog shit. The picture's ok, but to stop the speakers from constantly rattling you have to turn the volume so low that you can't actually hear what it is you're watching. The Internet's quite fast, so it's fine for browsing, but the connection's so unstable that video calls have continual drop-outs. The housekeepers keep a very odd schedule where it's potluck if your room will be cleaned within reasonable hours or not, and whether you can find someone at reception or not is hit-and-miss too.

I checked-out at about 9:15am, and had to wait more than five minutes for the housekeepers I enlisted to go and hunt-down the receptionist, just so I could get my 1,000 baht deposit back.

The fittings in the hotel are actually quite nice and the place is quite well put together, so they don't actually have to do that much to make it a nice place to stay. They just seem to fuck-up everything else. Staying here was a genuinely awful experience. The only good thing about staying here was that I got to leave. There was a feeling of euphoria walking away from this hotel for the last time and I was on a high for days afterwards. No matter what happened I was thinking "well at least I don't have to go back to Sereine tonight."

I had a subsequent stay booked for a month after this. Needless to say, I cancelled it. I would never stay here again, and I suggest you don't either.

Once I finally got into my room, I actually had a real double bed. And I know what you're thinking. "Wow, it must be nice having such big windows."

Mitt Haus

641/13 Ladprao soi 5

Mitt Haus is much more an apartment than it is a hotel. It's self check-in, and apart from the housekeeper who's there for a couple of hours on most days and doesn't speak any English, there are no staff present. I prefer that, but it's something to keep in mind if you like to have a reception desk to ask questions to.

When I checked-in here, I was immediately wowed by how nice the room was and how much natural light gets in. There is only one room per floor at Mitt Haus, meaning that you have floor-to-ceiling windows at both ends of the apartment so a lot of light gets in from sunrise to sundown.

That feeling of euphoria lasted for about two minutes, until I realised that the room doesn't include a kettle. Having to go down to the communal kitchen might not sound that troubling, but as someone that drinks about ten cups of tea per day, not being able to make them in my room was an unwelcome inconvenience.

A couple of minutes after that I realised that the room doesn't have a fridge either. And as someone that makes a fruit smoothie every morning and night, being able to store my fruit is imperetive. These two revelations really took the wind out of my sails for how I felt about Mitt Haus.

It's located in Ladprao, and I love Ladprao. I lived here from 2012 to 2014, and while the skyline is now a bit different with new skyscrapers having popped-up since I was last here, the feeling of it as a place remains the same. It's an area that gets very little tourism. You will see a few expats around, so it's not like there aren't any foreign faces, but little here is aimed at tourists, which for me is far more comfortable than staying closer to the city centre.

That being said, the transport links here are amazing. The apartment is easy walking distance to Phahon Yothin MRT station and Ha Yaek Lat Phrao BTS station, and it's only a little bit further to Lat Phrao MRT station, allowing you to easily access the new yellow line.

I lived right by there when I was in Ladprao over ten years ago, and back then the yellow line didn't exist, so seeing Ladprao Road with a skytrain and accompanying concrete pillars down the middle of it felt a bit like a glitch in the matrix to me, but you can't deny that it's convenient.

There are also plenty of buses on Ladprao Road, and if you go out at night in Sukhumvit and sit there drinking until after the MRT and BTS have stopped running, then getting a Grab Bike back to the room costs 126 baht.

The lack of tourism in this area also means that, especially compared to the city centre, Ladprao is not great for getting vegan food. So Vegan in the second floor food court of Lotus's is a God-send in that regard as it's pretty cheap, has a huge menu, and can be walked to in less than 20 minutes from Mitt Haus (if you figure-out the route down some side roads, through a hidden gate and across the ground floor of a multi-storey car park). You can also get delivery from them on Grab in about 25 minutes.

Apart from the lack of a kettle and a fridge, the apartment is really nice. It's spacious, the bed is comfortable, and it's nicely decorated. Considering that, it makes me wonder why they went to all this effort to make it so comfortable, then neglected to include a kettle and fridge. Two items that there is space for, and that aren't very expensive.

There's a desk and chair to work at in the room, with the caveat that they're located directly underneath the air conditioner. As I've seen my share of air conditioners leaking in Thailand, I wasn't willing to risk using my laptop on that desk, but maybe give it a shot if you want some excitement while you work. I instead typically worked from the bed, but a little from the sofa as well.

You don't get any keys when you check-in here. Instead you get a nine-digit keypad code for the main entrance, and another nine-digit keypad code for your room door. That seems a bit excessive, and it took me until my fifth day here until I had both codes memorised so could get into my room without having to look at my phone. As the keypads are heat-sensitive, and I often arrived back very hot and covered in sweat, getting into the building and the room could be a little troublesome, but I always managed eventually. Entering two nine-digit keypad codes when drunk was not fun though.

It's worth noting that there's no way to lock the bedroom door from the inside. That was never a problem during my stay, but anyone who knows the code to your room can get in, even when you're inside, so it doesn't feel overly secure. I'd prefer if there was a way of securing the door from the inside.

There's a TV in the room, but note that it's the only TV in the world I've ever encoutered that doesn't have an HDMI port. I didn't even know it was possible to buy TVs without an HDMI port, but it meant I couldn't plug-in my Apple TV. Luckily I coincidentally bought my first ever iPad while staying here, so it gave me an excuse to use my iPad for workouts instead, so I guess it was for the best.

The wifi here is lightning fast. I clocked it at 615mbps download speed, and 600mbps upload speed when I did a speed test. It's reliable as well, as I had no stability issues during my stay. In the communal kitchen downstairs, there are some free snacks for guests, but the real prize is that there's free bottled water.

As I consume an ungodly amount of water each day, I still bought my own from 7-11, because I thought it'd be unfair on the hosts to drink as much water as I usually do and expect them to pay for it all, but I got through my share of free water as well, which saved me a bit of money and too many trips to 7-11.

You're only about a five-minute walk from a big Big C, so getting groceries is incredibly convenient.

My feelings about Mitt Haus are that once I adjusted to not having a kettle and a fridge in the room, I really enjoyed staying here. I love the area, I love how confortable the room is, and I love how much daylight gets in. That being said, not having a kettle and a fridge is a deal-breaker for me. I wouldn't have booked here in the first place if I'd realised it, and I probably won't stay here again because of it. Which makes me very sad, because as you can tell by the number of places I've stayed in Bangkok, I've struggled to find somewhere in Bangkok that I actually like to be, and this place is a kettle and a fridge away from being perfect for me.

I need my tea though. It's too important to me that I can make a cup of green tea in my underwear the second I wake-up each morning, and Mitt Haus doesn't afford me that opportunity, so onto the next one.

My favourite thing about Mitt Haus is how much natural light gets into the room. At both ends there are floor-to-ceiling windows. Waking-up in this bed each morning was a joy.

Summary of Bangkok

Do I want to come back again?

If I'd been asked that two years ago, I'd have given an unequivocal 'yes'. For many years Bangkok was my favourite place in the world, and was the main focus of my trips to Thailand. Lately though, it's lost its shine, in my eyes at least.

There are too many tourists, and the central areas of the city are becoming very generic and are losing what made Bangkok Bangkok to begin with. And while you can still get a more local lifestyle if you head out of the city centre, my question would be why bother? If you want a local lifestyle you can find it in many cities in Thailand without having to steer clear of the city centre.

As I have a five-year Thai visa and as Bangkok is the travel hub of Thailand, I can say with near-certainty that I will be back in Bangkok before the end of the year. I definitely don't look forward to it like I used to though.