ThePrivateOne

I will be going to BKK in a few weeks and will be staying near the Landmark Hotel. I don't want to appear gluttoness but can anyone answer a few questions for me?

1) Does Chase Bank have ATMs there? I know there are many ATMs in BKK but are any of them with Chase? On the Chase web site, the "ATM locator" function only shows ATMs in the USA. I know JPMorganChase does have a bank in BKK but I don't know about ATMs.

2) I am still unclear about the clothing situation. It is their "cool season" now. Guide books I have read and web sites I have looked at are inconsistent in their clothing recommendations. Some say not to wear shorts, jeans, knit shirts, white socks, sneakers, etc. outdoors but, instead, to dress up and wear "business casual"-type clothing, i.e., dressy pants, shirts and shoes outdoors. Other books and web sites state the opposite. What's the scoop here?

3) The culture there is one of calm, quiet, dignity and it's forbidden to lose one's temper as both parties will lose face. What happens if this does happen? Is there any way to redeem oneself and the other party. Does apologizing do it, a gift or what?

Thank you.

ajc1970

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SaigonCyclo

No Chase Bank ATM's in BKK. Check with Chase about fees. BofA and Wells Fargo both charge $5 atm fees per transaction, plus a currency conversion fee.

Shorts are certainly acceptable while shopping/walking around BKK. In Temples are another story. Even though it's the so called "cool season", its really not that cool.

Pointeater

Its friggn hot. I saw many thais 2 weeks ago wearing jeans and even jackets/sweaters which to me is INSANE. I wore shorts the whole time. There is no way I could do all I did wearing pants/jeans during the day.

The Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kheo require you to wear pants. If you wear shorts there, they will let you borrow serong type wraps for women and pants for men.

Most likely you are going to look like an outsider anyways. Just don't dress up as a typical American going to Disney World and you will be fine.

The most popular ATMs I saw were Siam Bank (purple), Something with a U (orange color), and Bangkok Bank (blue).

transpac

Regarding ATMs I would recommend that you use one which is on the premises of a large bank branch. Local banks include Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn, Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya), SCB (Siam Commercial Bank), Khrung Thai, TMB (Thai Military). Any ATM in a bank branch will support CIRRUS. You might also consider bringing $100 bills.

Temperatures this week in Bangkok range from a low of 77 (25) to a high of 92 (33), with clear sunny skies, no rain and a relative humidity of 50%. There are two seasons here: 1.) Hot and Wet, 2) Hot and Dry! I'd recommend comfortable shoes/sneakers with socks (for visits to places where you need to remove your shoes), lightly colored cotton clothing: pants and a short-sleeved shirt or polo/golf shirt. Shorts, jeans, T-shirts and sandals are OK in most places. Carry an umbrella, if only to use when walking in the direct sunlight. If I know I'm going to be visiting a religious or Royal site I even wear a long sleeve dress shirt. I've never had to use any provided clothing but have seen conservatively dressed women (long pants, short-sleeved shirt) required to use a wrap-around sarong-like garment provided on site.

In general you should do everything possible to avoid conflict, and/or putting a Thai person in an uncomfortable position. If you do mess up address the situation there and then, with deference. Do not point your finger at a Thai person, do not touch their heads, do not point with your foot, or step over a person (who might be reclining). Give up your seat on public transport to a child. Personally I would recommend that you not return a wai, the traditional Thai greeting, rather lower your head slightly to acknowledge the wai. Never raise your voice. If you pass an older person, lower your head slightly. Do not discuss politics or the Royal family (with Thais, unless you are vary familiar with them), show respect for everyone and smile. If you're out and about at 8 AM and/or 6 PM, stop whatever you are doing and stand (still) for the playing of the national anthem. Same goes for a movie theatre or other event, stand for the tribute to the King. Having said that, Thais are quite used to foreigners and allows us maybe more leeway than they might allow another Thai. The culture of calm, quiet dignity is somewhat misunderstood. When they bust loose it usually ends badly.

MegatopLover

What looks like an orange U is a strange geometrical negative outline (what you don't see in the middle is the design it's trying to evoke) of the leaf of the Bodi tree, under which the Lord Buddha reached enlightenment. It's the logo for Siam Commercial Bank.

Bangkok Bank's royal blue logo contains a positive outline of two such leaves, one small and one large on top of one another.

Thai Farmer's Bank has a green logo depicting grains of rice. The name of this bank is now being transliterated into English as Kasikorn Bank, though the meaning is the same.

Krung Thai Bank (transl. City Thai Bank) has a contorted pale blue bird for its logo.

Those four are ubiquitous in Bangkok. To farang like us, they're same same but different. They're all connected to the major world ATM networks and generally don't impose a transaction fee, so you'll only have to pay what your own bank charges. If you want a fleetingly nice feeling, check your bank balance as reported in baht.

Slightly less common are Bank of Ayuddhyah (pale green peaks of sala roofs), Thai Military Bank (I forget what its logo looks like), and one or two others. BofA (if you'll pardon the expression) is also on the world networks, not sure about Thai Military Bank. Discrete square signs bearing the banks' logos sit atop tall scaffold-like towers and dot the Bangkok skyline, so you can almost always find an ATM.

Sathorn Road is the financial center of Bangkok, home to one foreign bank after another. The major Singaporean Banks are there; Citibank is too. If Chase has an office of any sort in Thailand, it's liable to be on Sathorn Road (Chong Nonsi SkyTrain station will get you closest). It may or may not have retail banking, and it may or may not have an ATM. While some of the Singaporeans are making a play for the retail market (UOB comes to mind), Citibank pretty much has only one or two ATM's in Thailand, including in its Sathorn Road office. I would expect Chase to be the same. Notably, "The World's Local Bank," HSBC, does not have much of a retail presence in Thailand.

dtsm

November is the start of the high season, one reason is that it's dryer and cooler. But as others have pointed out, everything is relative - it will still be extremely warm and for some humid. I do recall last year, end of Nov where it was actually unbelievably pleasant, one week of almost no humidity.

You should dress for a warm summer weather (as opposed to hot humid), and bring a sweater for A/C hotel room and restaurants. Also, you will find wide variation of dress by visitors/tourists - but there is a certain decorum expected and maintained when visiting temples, shrines, etc.

billp

Look, just dress for comfort. It's going to be hot and humid in Bangkok and you are a tourist, so basically anything you wear will be OK. Personally I feel like a jerk wearing shorts in the big city, so I tend to wear long cotton pants, either cargo, chino-style or some of the more dressy ones I had made up by a tailor. Thais wear jeans a lot, but I find them too hot. I wear sandals or flipflops like the Thais do, without socks, except when going out in the evening. It's best to let your feet breathe. Choose sandals which you can kick off easily because there are many places, not just temples but also some shops and private homes, where you're supposed to leave them outside. Some evening places require closed-toe shoes. I would feel like a bigger jerk than wearing shorts if I were to wear a suit. The only time I ever wore a suit in Thailand was an occasion which was attended by a member of the Royal Family, when suits were required. T-shirts, polo shirts, short-sleeved shirts with the tails out are all fine, and daily dress for most Thais. Outside of Bangkok I wear mostly shorts and t-shirts. If you wear a t-shirt in Bangkok, carry something with long sleeves to put over your shoulders on the Skytrain and in other places with aggressive air conditioning. You don't need business-style clothes unless you're doing business.

Bring an empty suitcase and buy your climate-appropriate clothes there at a third of the price you'd pay at home.

Use any ATM anywhere. They're all fine and all connected to the global Cirrus or Plus networks. The bigger issue is how much your home bank is going to charge you for using them. Try to find an account that allows worldwide ATM usage without additional cost. Otherwise, withdraw as much as you are able to carry each time you use a machine to reduce the cost.

"Jai Yen" or cool heart is indeed an important concept in Thai culture but don't overdo it. For one thing, they take into account that you are a farang and therefore more visibly excitable than they are (supposed to be). For another, Thais tend to carry around a lot of bottled up anger and they do let loose from time to time. If it happens, get out of the way. I wouldn't worry about loss of face as long as you treat most people with respect and don't let yourself get into frustrated shouting tirades. Just "go with the flow" and you'll be OK.

Pointeater

I think Kasikorn was that other bank I was thinking of thanks.

Peter4

No ... When the OP arrives in a few weeks, Bangkok will be more like mild and balmy, not hot and humid.
At noon today in Bangkok, temperature was 89f/32c with humidity of 65%.
In Bangkok, during November-January, there may be some evenings cool enough that you want a light jacket -- which you can easily buy here.
Click here for Bangkok 10 day weather forcast.

Bad advice for Bangkok.
Most tourists walk a lot.
Bangkok pavements are horrendous: cracked, broken, uneven, lots of holes, pipes sticking up, scattered garbage, and dog poop.
Wear shoes suitable for walking a lot in those conditions.

Tourists go to only a few temples, and not every day.
Every tourist temple has benches where you can sit down to remove/put on shoes.

I've never seen a shop yet, where shoes weren't allowed in.
The staff may leave their shoes outside the door, but customers walk right in.

As for private homes, very rare for tourists to be invited inside a Thai home in Bangkok: It's just not their custom.

So, best to wear shoes for walking the streets, not for the odd chance you'll need to leave them outside.

Perhaps so, but I've never seen nor heard of any.
The custom in Thailand for "polite shoes" means a strap around the heel.
The toes don't matter at all.
(High-toned night clubs for the young-and-hip will have their own dress codes, of course.)

I've read endless warnings along these lines on Internet forums, but in two years of living in Bangkok, I've never seen anything like this actually happen.
Would expect this in bars where Thais and foreigners and alcohol mix.
But in a tourist experience, very rare.

- Peter
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Peter4

Good advice from dtsm.
Not only in restaurants, but in some malls, large stores and some taxis, buses, subway, and tour vans, the A/C is often uncomfortably cold.

- Peter
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Peter4

I second that good advice from Transpac.

Most Westerners think the wai is a greeting, like a handshake or a kiss near the cheek is to Westerners.
Wrong.
The wai is acknowledgement of social status among Thais, based on class, age, wealth, occupation, and family relationship.
The lower status wais to those above:
The child to the parent.
The student to the teacher.
The nurse to the doctor.
The waitress to the customer.
Every Thai knows their place in the social hierarchy, and the wai confirms and acknowledges that.

As Westerners we don't have a place in Thai social hierarchy.
Waiing is simply not appropriate for us.

Most tourists who try it, get it wrong.
If you wai first, you are acknowledging your social inferiority to the other person.
If you return a wai, but at the wrong level, well, you just look foolish.

I never wai.
When Thais wai to me -- which happens many times every day -- I only smile and nod in return.

- Peter
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ajc1970

Q Bar requires shoes, not sandals. i imagine other places like that exist in BKK. but yeah, they're pretty uncommon.

Pointeater

A good point has been made about the sidewalks and the need for comfortable shoes. I saw no sidewalk anywhere, except maybe Paragon Siam's front, that was not severely cracked, uprooted, missing bricks (sand), severely broken, lots of loose bricks, etc. Think of hiking an easy trail in the mountains . However, my rugged crocs worked great.

karenkay

bed supper club in bkk (totally overrated, imho, but that's another thread) makes some men put on socks with their sandals...but not all. hubby was wearing cole hahn slides and the doorman had us go to 7-11 and buy socks. that's fine, but later in the evening i saw a guy walk through the door with his date wearing flip flops and jeans. whatever.

to the op's question about attire, i prefer to dress like an ex-pat rather than a tourist. for thailand, that meant i wore shirts with sleeves (no sleeveless) and no shorts or short skirts. sandals for both of us. hubby wore chinos or jeans and a collared, short-sleeved shirt. we didn't wear t-shirts proclaiming 'beer--it's what's for breakfast' as we didn't see any thai guys wearing them