Bangkok for Free!?

Any metropolitan city around the world can be expensive for tourists and expats. But, if you are in the know, there are plenty of places and things that you can enjoy for free in Bangkok...

The following are some ideas of what you can do for free in Bangkok:

1. Visit a Museum: Many of the smaller museums around Bangkok don’t charge for entry, even the big museums have special free days.

2. Watch a Movie: Although you have to buy tickets for regular movies, every now and then there are international film festivals where all tickets are free. There are also outdoor free movies at temple fairs.

3. Visit a Temple: Most of the big temples around Bangkok charge admission fees for foreign tourists, but if you go early, you can mingle with local devotees before the admission office opens. There are also quite a few impressive temples that don’t charge an admission.

4. Take in a Bird’s Eye View of Bangkok: You have to pay a lot to go to the top of Baiyoke Tower in Bangkok. But you can get free views from the top of The Golden Mount.

5. Relax in Bangkok’s Parks: All of Bangkok’s parks are free for you to releax or stroll around. Many people also use the parks to exercise such as running or cycling. Some even have free exercise machines for you to use.

6. Watch a Muay Thai Match: It’s normally very expensive for foreigners to watch a Thai boxing match in Bangkok, but the Channel 7 Stadium opposite Chatuchak Market has free matches on Suday afternoons.

7. Ride a Boat on the Chao Phraya River: It can be very expensive to rent long-tailed boats but you can actually go up and down the river for free on hotel shuttle boats. These are really for hotel guests but no-one knows if you are visiting a restaurant at the hotel. Most go from Saphan Taksin Pier.

8. Attend an Art Exhibition: There are many art galleries around Bangkok, but the best free one is the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. As well as regular exhibitions, they also sometimes show free movies.

9. Watch Thai Dancing: If you cannot afford to go to a performance at the national theatre, you can watch Thai dancing at many shrines where devotees pay for the dancing as a way of making merit. Best place to see this is at the Erawan Shrine.

10. Join an Aerobics Class: At 6 p.m. every day, you can join free aerobic classes. These often take place in parking lots of big hypermarkets like Big C and Tesco Lotus as well as at some of the parks like Lumpini Park.

*For more information on free things in Bangkok, visit http://www.bangkok4free.com/