🇹🇭 Discovering Bangkok! | Together with NomadVibe
Meet with the creator, Erdem from NomadVibe | Connecting Nomads, Inspiring Dreams.
Erdem, founder of NomadVibe, is here! Erdem set forth to create NomadVibe, a haven for adventurers like us. NomadVibe offers diverse content, from breathtaking destination spotlights to insightful interviews with seasoned nomads. The articles, social media posts, and videos provide valuable resources, tips, and hacks that enhance nomads' journeys and make remote work and travel a seamless experience.
We also discussed Bangkok today! In our interview, you'll find valuable insights and experiences from his perspective.
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Erdem, stage is yours! 🎤
➡️ INTRO
As a digital nomad, hearing about Bangkok and Thailand, the possibility of going there and exploring, being aware of networking and entertainment opportunities always made me feel excited about the place.
First of all, my only purpose of coming here was to experience the life of a digital nomad and to transparently contextualize it for my audience.
When I arrived, some of my thoughts changed depending on the experience. I was surprised in a good way about some things and disappointed in some other things. And I should also say that before coming to Bangkok, you should definitely do very good research and if you know someone, you should listen to what they have in mind and their suggestions. I am not saying this because it gave me the opportunity to write here, but Storefronts of Bangkok is one of the best, most accurate and comprehensive sources about Bangkok. I wish I had discovered this wonderful platform and subscribed to its newsletter before I came to Bangkok.
I say this because, unfortunately, I did not do enough research and just went ahead to discover it when I got here. There were good and bad sides to this, and I will get to both.
🏙️ Bangkok Is Big!
First of all, Bangkok is a very big city. Of course I like this size (because I was born and raised in a big and chaotic city like Istanbul) but at the same time it makes some things difficult. It can take a while to get from one place to another because the city is not concentrated in one area, it is spread all over the place. But this size also means that in every area you go or live in, there are places to visit, places to eat.
The fact that it is so big also creates problems in terms of transportation and getting from one place to another. You need to be especially careful about choosing your home and workspace. Even though I rented a scooter to avoid traffic as much as possible, I was spending 1-1.5 hours in traffic every day. As a digital nomad, this should be much less.
💸 Cost of Living & Internet Connection
The fact that the city is so big and the population is so densely populated, I can say that it has also provided a plus in terms of living costs. There are so many options for both accommodation and food and drink, and this increases the competition and leads to affordable prices in terms of the costs that are reflected on us. As an average, if you rent a house at the right time and with the right methods, it is possible to live a very nice and comfortable life for $500 per month, if you prefer, motorcycle rental and fuel is between $100-200, if you prefer public transportation, maximum $100 per month, if you say let's eat everything in food and beverage, $600, if you say let's eat well, common working areas $100-150, alcohol, entertainment and other expenses I can think of here, it is very possible to live a very nice and comfortable life for $2.000 per month. And I highly recommend it. But I will leave a "but" here, which is the weather and climate, which I will mention below.
I think there is no need to even talk about the internet network anymore, there is a minimum requirement all over the world, but let's not go without saying that the internet I used both with mobile phone and wi-fi was more than enough everywhere. Especially co-working spaces are very successful in this regard.
👥 Community
I think another reason why Bangkok is so popular is the digital nomads and remote workers who come and live here. It's a very diverse, very colorful mix of population, and the fact that it's so crowded is both easy to reach and hard to find because it's in scattered locations. To reach this community, you can follow local or foreign creators. Storefronts of Bangkok remains a very good resource for this. Apart from resources, co-working spaces and cafes also offer opportunities for socializing and accessing a community.
🌞 Climate
Unfortunately the thing that saddens me the most about Bangkok is the climate! I lived in Bangkok for 1 month in total, the first 2 weeks were incredibly hot. It was too hot to spend time outside. It was a torture to go from one place to another in this heat, in traffic, on a motorcycle. In the last 2 weeks it started to rain. After the rain started, I couldn't decide whether the heat was better or the rain was better. I had exactly such a process between the end of April and the end of May. But I can say very clearly that both were worse than each other :) So Bangkok is not over for me, but I will definitely take the weather more seriously on my next trip.
🙌 Activities in Bangkok
Bangkok has a huge advantage when it comes to activities and good places to visit. There is something for everyone and everything. Unfortunately, I was not very active in activities during my stay in Bangkok, I didn't have enough time (because I spent too many days working). The activity I was able to do and enjoyed the most was the photo tour to Chinatown organized by Storefronts of Bangkok. We had a great time and it was nice to experience meeting different people from different countries for the same purpose. I have a long list of recommendations from my favorite people, and hopefully I'll finish it the next time I visit Bangkok.
To summarize, I understand why so many people choose Bangkok as a place to live, you can easily reach everything you need. Everything and everywhere is very comfortable, prices are reasonable. But sometimes the weather conditions can be very harsh, maybe because I am not used to it. Nevertheless, despite everything, try and give this beautiful city a chance, do your research well and make the time you spend comfortable and enjoyable.
