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I am sorry to say that Bangkok hasn't left a very good impression on me.  I think I will definitely have to come back to Thailand, so I can give it a fair chance.

How about I start with what makes me smile.

I LOVE that the traffic lights have countdowns.  Big numbers saying how much longer you will be sitting at the light (or conversely, how long until the light will turn red).  What a great idea!!  I have spent sooo much time at intersections (like the one at Douglass and Hillside in Victoria) pulling my hair out waiting forEVER... it is nice to just know exactly how long you have,  Or when you are coming up to an intersection and it turns yellow at the point of no return (you know, going to fast to stop, but your probably gonna run the red now) the solution is big fat numbers beside the light to tell you exactly how much time you have.  Genius.  Pure genius.

One point for Bangkok.

Thai language makes me smile.  Have you ever seen it in writing... sooo much fun to look at.  Swoopy with little balls everywhere.  Backwards r`s and squiggles.  I love it.  And it`s fun to say out loud too! Sawatdee ka (greeting) korp khun ka (thank you).  (oh, but "ka" is what women say at the end of a sentence, and men say "krap" or something)

Two points for Bangkok

People don`t use their horns incessantly like in Vietnam.  I've heard that Bangkok is a chaotic and busy city... I say Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi were way worse.  I felt unhinged walking around there, but Bangkok... not so much.  I attribute that to the lack of horn honking.  Not that there is none, but it`s more like you hear in Canada.  Don't get me wrong... the traffic is still intimidating, there are still motorcycles driving on the sidewalk, crosswalks are still dangerous to cross, but compared to where I have been... it's not  so bad.

Three points Bangkok

Taxis and tuk tuks RIP YOU OFF.  (tuk tuk's are taxis that are kind of a motorcycle crossed with a wagon... or something like that)  You would think that the tuk tuk's would be a cheaper way to get around, since you have to ride outside and inhale exhast the entire time.  But, no. Every time  you flag one down they try to charge you two to three times more than it would cost in a metered taxi, and they try to bring you to shops to spend money (I think they get a commission).  But don't be fooled, you can't just wave down a metered taxi to get a reasonable price... most of them refuse to use their meter and try to charge an inflated price as well... it took us an average of six taxi's to find one that would use his meter!!

my very first tuk tuk

view from my room on the 22 floor

Lose a point for trying to rip me off Bangkok.  Two points.

Hotels aren't as cheap as they should be.  We ended up going all out and staying in (what we thought was ) a swanky hotel.  It had like 33 floors, two pools, bars and restaurants, big rooms with tv's and a fridge, a marble bathroom... bla bla bla.  It was 20 years old and smelled like mold.  The plumbing rattled every time someone took a shower on my floor (which is a terrible sound at 6 am when people start to shower... then again at 6:15, 7:00, etc etc).  Laundry was ridiculously expensive... like, $1-$3 per ITEM.  Oh, and they charged waaaaay too much to use the wifi... like $10 for an hour.

Lose another point for crappy hotels.  One point.

And the thing that annoyed me the most while I was in Thailand was the cell phone plans.  I got a SIM card (as I do in every country) so I could have internet on my phone and a local number (you know, just in case I need to make an emergency call).  Not only did it cost more than in any other country... it was the worst internet.  EVER.  They didn't have 3G, just 2G (which is annoyingly slow) and every time I wanted to use it I had to call a weird number, wait for it to text me back, then turn my phone off and on (and if you have an iPhone you know how long that takes) then remember to phone the weird number and wait for another text to turn it off again (or it would keep running and I only had 20 hours of internet).  So basically, the entire point of me having a local SIM was negated  (to phone home with Skype... can't on 2G, and to look up random things in the moment... takes to long to access the internet).

Lose another point for having crappy cell  plans and service.

So, in my opinion, Bangkok is neither good nor bad.  It teeters on the line of indifference... I could take it or leave it.  SO.... I must go back one day so I can tip the scale in favor of Thailand, because I am sure there were a lot of amazing things that I did not get to experience.  Besides, you cant judge an entire country based on the experience of one city.