My Bangkok Solo Trip in 2025 – Investment Moats

In October this year, I decided to make a solo trip to Bangkok.

I actually had a plan last year to make a trip last year. I have not decided upon whether I wanted to go but I just wanted to go on a trip where I have to handle everything on my own. Whatever trips that I went with in the past, someone is helping me with something:

1. Someone is helping me book the air tickets.
2. Either me or someone is booking the hotels.
3. We all agree to meet at the airport at what time.
4. In the airport, someone is letting us know we need to go here, then collect this, then by this time you have to be at the gantry.
5. This is how you process yourself at the other airport.
6. Someone already arrange for a transport to the hotel. Or we are figuring out what is the way to go there.
7. What time to wake up, where to go.

Most of my trips are pretty easy because someone has made the decision and the arrangement. If something crops up, then we all decide togther.

The uneasiness over time is whether if no one helped, could I even survive or how well would I do.

So I decided to make a trip to Bangkok to test the hypothesis that I will fxxk myself up in different ways.

Why Bangkok?

I been to Bangkok perhaps in 2006, which is fxxk 19 years ago. Time really passes and I often tell people that was not too long ago. I chose Bangkok because it is near, I been there so the mental hurdle was not so much.

Booking the Air and Hotel Tickets

So I proceed to figure this out on my own:

1. They say can scout and book the tickets through Skyscanner, Trip or just buy direct from the airline, so I ended up buying it through Scoot.
2. Didn’t know if I am going at the right time, but October is probably one of the few open windows that I have.
3. I kind of have to ask 蒋思涵 for her hotel suggestions just by the tons of time she went Bangkok. In the end, I decided to book a different hotel (slightly cheaper) from her goto suggestions.

The Journey to Bangkok

I was fortunate to still went somewhere every year due to our company retreat so I still have some idea about arriving at least 1-2 hours before the flight.

The part that I used to struggle is the check in process, whether to do it at the airport itself or that can I do it a day earlier.

This is something that maybe 20 years ago, it wasn’t like this.

In any case:

1. Checking in was done a day earlier.
2. I happen not to have any baggage to check in. If we talked about “error” this would be it because I thought that I bought the tickets that would give me some minimum check in luggage. But I was wrong. Luckily most of my stuff are light enough to meet the hand carry minimum.

Traveling solo means that I got to think about being at the gate on time and not be too distracted by the nice shopping in Changi Airport. Fortunately, I am not such a big shopping person. I would just proceed to the gate and see if I can get some personal coding work done.

Grab Ride from Airport to Hotel

Before the trip, I did try to research how to get to my hotel.

I actually wanted to try and take their equivalent of the MRT to the airport. But when I see that its gonna take me like 2 hours (based on Google), I decided to do the alternative which is to go by taxi.

The taxi drivers can also provide prices anyhow after they turn off the meter so I thought the easier way is to do Grab.

Most of us Singaporeans are familiar with Grab and I think my doubt is whether my Wise card would work or I have to use another Singapore credit card and whether there are any additional fees.

I was able to book a Grab ride from Suvarnabhumi Airport to my hotel. It was a 45-55 min journey.

The whole ride was THB 555 or SGD 22.

I am not sure if this is the cheapest way to get to city center but the price listed don’t seem to include tolls. Reddit seem to put the price around 400-600 THB two years ago.

I added my Wise credit card to Grab and use the card to pay.

Using Wise for Payment

I thought it was a good idea to use Wise for payment if Credit Card Cashback and Miles is not a big deal for me.

I have always use Wise as sort of a pseudo:

1. United States account for some payment by some Investment Moats vendor.
2. Cash deposit / cash holdings in case of need (and earn relatively decent returns)
3. Convert money from one currency to another at a decent rate. For this, you need to check out one of Wise’s strategic goal, which is to grow so that they reduce their take-rate, or the rate they charge you and me.
4. Be able to accept a relatively large amount of payments and holdings.
5. Spend with credit cards overseas
   • If you spend in a currency that you already hold in your Wise multi-currency account, it’s free in terms of foreign-transaction surcharge.
   • You’ll get the mid-market exchange rate, without hidden mark-ups for the currency conversion (apart from the small conversion fee)

Wise is the sweet spot to handle all these pretty well.

For example, I talked about my ride from airport to hotel costing THB555. You can see the corresponding charges on my Wise:

I prefunded the Thai Baht account by converting US$50 to THB1628 at a cost of 0.54%.

Then there are no more additional charges.

I think I will talk about my experience with Wise in another post. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to activate the Wise credit card for contactless payment. But I can pay for most things through Google Pay indirectly with Wise so you should have no problems there.

Since you are converting SGD to Baht through Wise at 0.54%, there are no other fee for it.

Where did I Stay?

I stayed at this Samala Hotel Bangkok.

I was so unfamiliar with this new Bangkok that I am not sure if I am staying in town or outside of town. $95 per night in Bangkok feels not cheap given that in 2007, we stayed in a $70 per night place.

In any case, most of my plan was to bunk in the hotel so I thought why not go for one that might not give me so much frustrations?

Samala is okay.

It is pretty new, the staff is friendly, and if you are okay with the price, it is not bad. Breakfast is okay as well.

Samala is about 15 mins away from two stations Nana and Asok. For five days I been walking to that station and I don’t think is that big of a problem but if the weather is too hot, you might want to try Grab ride instead.

My reader, whom I met up with in Bangkok would travel mainly in the train. It turned out Asok and Nana is STILL very touristy and had I realize the train is this convenient, I might want to stay further out.

The nice thing about staying near Asok is that there is this rather tall mall call Terminal 21 which is close by. I heard it is a favorite of Singaporeans.

You Can Use PromptPay via Singapore’s PayNow to Pay for BTS Ticket

Majority of my travelling is either walking or on the MRT.

There is like… 3 different kind of rapid transit system and the payments, the tickets is not fully integrated. This may be because they are all created by private companies. That explains things.

One of the older transit/train system in Thailand is the BTS and you cannot use your credit card to ride it. You will need to buy a ticket. I learn from my reader working in Bangkok there is no difference getting a longer tenure ticket versus just one.

You need to buy the ticket and you can use Thai Baht dollar bills to pay for them.

But there is a QR code and you can scan the QR code with Your Singapore PayNow to pay with the Thailand version of PayNow called PromptPay:

Now one thing we need to take note is whether there are any fees or slippage in the conversion. In these two transactions the exchange rate on XE is 25.217.

The two transactions worked out to be 24.615 and 24.475. That is a spread of 2.4% and 3.0% respectively.

Not cheap!

But in this case it is S$0.03 and S$0.043 respectively. Is this a big thing for you? You decide. Sometimes it might not be for me personally.

What did I do there?

Since I have not been there, I spend time walking along Sukhumvit Road, which is the main road to get familiar.

Just spend time soaking in the people’s faces, the pace of life, who visits the shopping centers, if anyone eats at the road side, how the crowd changes as we move closer to Siam (the main shopping places) and away from Asok.

Everyday starts off in a cafe to get some personal coding done.

This is Aroon Cafe which is off Phrom Phong. Usually when I get in, there wasn’t so many people. There is a resident cat to entertain guest. The sales person was rather nice to let me know that there is free wifi and that will save me some data.

In the first day its also to test drive how long my laptop battery could last in actual work. Turns out to be 3 hours. I own a second hand Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 9, which is a touch screen, light weight business class laptop released in 2021. Unfortunately, this laptop comes with a battery with a few cycles on it.

But it is still good enough for some work done and when its running low on battery, I just go sight seeing.

In my mind, if I finish this trip without some significant headway in what I want to craft, I would class this as a disappointing trip.

Luckily there weren’t so much hiccups. It is not done but I figure out a sizable important bulk of things.

Coffee in Bangkok

Since i need some place to do work, yet I need to walk around, I spend enough time in coffee places.

Thailand have over the years grown to be pretty good with their coffee according to some.

As a layman to drinking coffee they just felt stronger in taste. That is okay with me.

No wonder my reader said when he came back to Singapore, he felt our coffee is not good enough.

Here are some that you may wish to try.

1. Cereasia Coffee Roasters
2. A Keen House
3. Rise Coffee

This is not comprehensive. There are a lot that I missed out on.

Our head of investments Chye Hsern introduced me to this Ceresia which is somewhere off Phrom Phong BTS station:

It is like a coffee place in some more landed estate and it is damn cozy. I got to this place early before the crowd came and get to feel the place before people comes.

Coffee in Bangkok… is not exactly cheap. A cup cost like $160-$180 baht, which is like $6.40 – $7.20. I am like paying tourist price (which I am!) and I find myself wondering a lot about whether it is worth it to pay this price for coffee versus my S$1.60 coffee.

How Does This Lifestyle Look Through the Eyes of Thai People?

One of the ongoing themes going to Taipei, Da Nang, and now Bangkok is that all the prices that I spend is mainly because I work in a good job to have good disposable income for vacation trips like this.

At one point, I decided to go into many of the shopping malls from nearer to Asok to all the way at On Nut to assess the affordability of the more affluent working people there.

People go holiday look at grand places I go see how much is their eggs and chicken drumsticks. In a way even if i go all the way to On Nut which is where all the property prices starts dropping, the prices are still… Singapore prices.

And I wonder how likely that the more senior position workers are paid just as well as Singaporeans. Perhaps it is possible because if Kyith is okay with these kind of prices, is it likely someone more highly paid in Bangkok has an equivalent salary as Kyith (who is not working in a senior position despite my official title)?

I think it is possible.

Then again, On Nut may be where a lot of those expat choose to stay at and these places may have priced based on expat’s affordability.

I wonder if there is a hidden market where you can get same things, perhaps slightly lower grade that is cheaper. I never got around that and my reader who stayed there didn’t said enough that made me think it is highly possible.

My reader gave me a good rule-of-thumb to assess how much a lifestyle that I am familiar in Singapore would cost, in the eyes of the Thai people.

I eat in a few places and the food either comes up to $60, $160, or $260 baht.

If I convert them using an exchange of $1 SGD to $25 baht, that would be $2.40, $6.40, $10.40 in SGD.

It is reasonable.

The best I can describe would be what cost me $20 +++ in SG cost like $10 SG over there.

But if i take the Thai price divide by 10, I would be able to “feel” if it is affordable in the eyes of the Thai People.

So that would be $6, $16, $26.

So if my coffee cost $16 in SGD would I feel it is worth it. Hell no. Even good coffee in Singapore don’t cost so much. If the cheapest food that I eat cost me $6, its like our food court prices but that is because I earn decent in Singapore.

After that, every price that I see in Bangkok, I divide by 10 and I just get the same feeling as when I go Taipei. How the fxxk do these people afford these things?

The answer should be somewhere in between.

I Accidentally Went Condo Price Watching

As I was walking along Sukhumvit Road, I saw some condos that were next to the BTS station.

And I got curious how much they cost.

For example there is this Rhythm that is next to a shopping center, maybe slightly deeper to Ekkamai BTS station:

A 35 sqm (376 sqft) small place would cost you like S$226,400.

If you are not local you can only buy condo’s like this.

Is $226k good for you?

I guess you need to really ponder what is this to you. Are you getting it to next time stay after you are financially independent or are you looking to flip. And if this is something for you to stay, how do you feel about staying in Bangkok?

Given that the price of stuff is like Singapore, is it to get your money’s worth?

Perhaps the only arbitrage is selling and liquidating your existing Singapore residential property and then putting the money in some equity and fixed income portfolio so that you get higher income.

Or actually renting is better?

A bigger unit (49sqm) rents for $32,000 baht a month or S$1,280 monthly.

You could rent out your HDB to pay for the rent here?

I ended up walking from EmQuarter at Phrom Phong station all the way to On Nut because I got curious about price changes. And I realize price really only start coming down after Phra Khanong station, which is one stop before On Nut or when it is closer to the express way you see breaking the two purple arrows.

At On Nut, the same 35 sqm home would cost S$171k and it would rent for S$860 monthly. These are freehold.

In a way, it is more of a tenant’s market and competition for landlord is pretty intense according to my reader.

If you want an experience, perhaps renting for some time make more sense than succumbing to the Singaporean tendency of “Cheap must buy!”.

I Prayed for Positive Sequence of Returns and Small Cap Value Premium

I was on my way to Siam and passed by the famous four-faced Buddha at the corner of Ratchadamri and Phloen Chit Roads. I remembered this since the last time I came here.

Given the hot weather there were a lot of people praying.

Since I am on my own I decide to expense $300 baht to pray for some money luck:

Out of all the things people would pray for, mine is the weirdest shit. I pray for a good 50 year positive sequence of return. The implicit meaning is that we don’t have some severe negative drawdown in the next 13 years (25% of 50 years), and also pretty manageable inflation.

This definitely benefits those who need their portfolios for income, probably the worst for accumulators.

Well, you can always override that by going to Bangkok and pray for negative sequence of return.

I also pray that we see some prolong evidence of small cap value premium.

I am sure my colleague Isaac will be satisfied that that at least I fulfilled something significant for this trip.

What! No Food?

I don’t know man. This may be why you should not just save money and not take trips when you are younger.

When you get to this semi-mature man status, you cannot anyhow eat.

If the food taste good, most likely a lot of sugar and salt, and that would contribute to insulin resistance, LDL cholesterol and what not.

If you do this in your 20s, you fxxk care these kind of stuff.

Most of my friends know that I eat to live instead of eating to live but…

This Rung Rueang Pork Noodles is dope. It is just pretty close to Aroon Coffee.

I got to thank Mr Banana from my Telegram chat for alerting me to this.

I was pretty full with breakfast from hotel so I take the small one but the non-spicy because I don’t know if I could take it. $60 baht.

A lot of people but the turnover is okay.

I passed Phed Mark, which was co-founded by famouse food vlooger mark Wiens:

This is a mixture of chicken and vegetables but the highly is that it is suppose to be spicy which… is not a highlight for me. I decide to choose medium spicy and only get to enjoy it after nearly died walking along Sukhumvit to watch condos.

It was spicy but I can take it.

My reader took me to this Okinawa Japanese Restaurant Kinjo Japanese Restaurant:

Had I gone myself, it is unlikely I would travel to a deeper, dark part of Phra Khanong into this relatively affordable Japanese restaurant. This the food for two of us. There is a connecting bar next and we spend the night talking about financial independence, IT work, managing money for others, safe withdrawal rates, portfolio constructions, cost of living.

Spoil Spectacles

While heading to check out Siam, I fxxked up and spoil my Own Days specs when I dropped it.

So I decide to go to an Own Days to get a new pair:

It is kind of slightly cheaper than Singapore.

By right, if I had travel insurance, I should be able to claim this.

By right.

To my horror, I realized that I went through the process of buying a travel insurance but actually didn’t paid for it!

This is probably the second boo boo.

It could have been worse than this had I not have travel insurance. Nevertheless, it is a good thing this is a relatively affordable mistake.

Taking the Rail to and from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)

My reader corrected me that it should take less than an hour to get to the airport via public transit. And so he was right.

The challenge is whether you are familiar with the transit system to change around.

Here is the map of where my hotel was near Sukhumvit Road:

You would notice that aside from the Asok station on the BTS, there is this Sukhumvit station marked with an M. This is basically their MRT station, own by another company. So instead of taking the BTS, the idea is to take one station to Phetchaburi.

I should then alight and walk over to another line or the Airport Rail Link.

While the two stations look far on the map, the good thing is that they are linked by covered way.

Makkasan will get you to the airport in another 25 minutes.

As you can see, I am not the only one doing this. This is such a popular medium to and from the airport.

This whole thing will cost roughly 55 Baht, which is so much different form S$22 if I taken Grab.

The Final Cost for Travel

I listed what I spend in total here:

Reflections

Travelling alone is a weird experience especially for the first time.

My mind wonders through a list of things that I might need to do, before mentally setting it aside, and then trying to bring up the list again, cycling through the sequence again and again. I guess if you are the main person planning for your family, you would experience the same thing but your spouse or friend might be there to double up if you need help.

Not so much help if it is one person.

But where I gain is that I don’t have to take care of others feelings. It is just managing how I feel about the trip.

My colleague Eleanor went a week after me. Had I know she was going, I might time my trip to go with her. Her weather, a week after me, was much cooler! In a way she also went exploring much which I wonder if I would preferred that.

I think whichever way will have its pros and cons.

I managed to get some of the private questions that I want to address answered during the trip. In a way, there is less mental barriers to taking trips and I can see that at the end of the day, people have an idea what an enjoyable trip is for you but you need to know what you enjoy and design one for you, factoring in that trying new things they suggested empirically brings enjoyment.

But did not get some critical questions answered because there wasn’t enough headspace for it, or when there is, nothing came out of it.

It is good to be connected with Bangkok again, though connecting with a place in the forties is different compare to when you are in the twenties.

I would like to thank my reader for taking time meeting up with me. The whole trip would have been less interesting without him. I see Bangkok through a slightly different lens with him. Even better because its with someone who understand the path to financial independence so much.

Thanks for reading.

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