Now that I feel refreshed after taking that shower here’s a summary of the last leg of my trip into Bangkok Thailand! The long journey from Hawaii to Thailand took about 15 total hours, including the stop over in the Philippines. Once I landed in Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, I was treated to a long wait in the visa check line. I think I spent almost an hour in the line, probably because they have to take a picture of everyone that enters into Thailand for reasons which I have no idea. If anyone knows the reason why they take a picture of people please indulge my curiosity by posting a comment.

After getting through the visa check line I headed straight to the money exchange counter where I exchanged my US dollars to Thai baht with an exchange rate of $1 dollar for 32.82 baht. After exchanging my money I headed toward the meeting place in the airport where I had arranged for a friend of mine who was in Thailand to meet me so we could catch a cab to my hotel. The meeting area was quite a distance from the luggage carosel so I got a little lost since it was my first time in Bangkok’s airport. On the way to the meeting place I stopped by a local wireless carrier kiosk where I purchased a local SIM card for 150 baht, which is really cheap; 150 baht comes out to about $4.50 USD. The SIM card came with 100 free minutes which would be more than enough during my stay in Thailand. I swapped SIM cards at the kiosk just to make sure it would work with my phone; it worked just fine so I headed to meet my friend.

Picture of SIM Card

Once at the meeting place it didn’t take to long to find my friend. We jumped in a taxi and headed for my hotel. The drive from the airport to downtown Bangkok on Sukhumvit 11 took about 30 minutes through the express way. It was exciting to see Bangkok for the first time, and my first impression of Thailand is a positive one. I think I’ll really enjoy my trip here!

I just arrived at my hotel in Bangkok which is located on Sukhumvit 11. It’s actually a brand new hotel which was just opened 4 months ago. The room isn’t very big, but it is comfortable and has everything I need. I don’t plan on staying in my hotel room much anyway during most of the trip. I decided to snap a photo of the room to post here! The hotel offers free wireless internet access as well as two computers in the lobby with internet access for anyone staying in the hotel to use. I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be back to do a more comprehensive update post about my trip so far.