Ross

This was my first time in Bangkok (I am going back again in 10 days) and it was nothing that I expected. The city is busy as hell, lots of tourists but it copes well with it for the most part. It was cleaner than I imagined, no trash on the streets, lots of people cleaning, hosing down pavements and generally keeping things tidy. Police presence was very big in the City, I felt very safe walking around at all times of the day and never encountered any issues. The people are very friendly, always smiling and willing to help you. Street vendors are fun to negotiate with, everything is a negotiation and if you are a tourist, you will pay more than a Thai person off the bat. The food is out of this world, I already miss it and crave it so it is a good thing I go back to Thailand next week for 2.5 weeks with my wife.

Bangkok has a lot of wealth to it, yeah sure it is cheap there but not quite what everyone imagines. It is a lot cheaper than New York, LA, Miami. You will still pay decent money for a nice place to live. Want a nice car? You'll pay double what you would to buy it in USA. General day to day living is cheap, you could eat street food everyday for under $7 easily and eat VERY well. The nicer places tend to be very over priced, I had dinner at Vertigo on the rooftop of the Banyan Tree hotel, it was more than a nice meal in a US Steak House but the atmosphere was worth the extra.

I can't wait to go back with my wife, she is going to love it. I could easily see myself living in Bangkok for a year or two and be happy. Traffic might eventually drive me so nuts that I'd leave tho