- Bangkok
- (190)
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Thailand
I just visited Bangkok yet again - tried the newish Hilton Milennium and was greatly impressed. It's on the south side of the river with a shuttle across to River City of Thaksin bridge. Great infinity pool, lovely outdoor terrace restaurant runing up to the river, spacious rooms with tremendous views. AND very reasonably priced when you consider you're paying at least twice as much next door at the Peninsula.
Simply the best top end Thai cuisine you'll taste in Bangkok outside a five-star hotel. It's not expensive but the whole dining experience will blow you away. I've lived in Asia for 25 years and can honestly say this is Thai food at its best.
Preety is a very caring tour guide who help us during our stay in Bangkok. We were in Bangkok last month and after checking various travel message boards, settled on Narrytravel (where we met Preety) to show us around Bangkok. She was absolutely outstanding. She is well educated with a good command of English and this gracious lady went well out of her way to ensure we had a great tour; if she is available, you can't go wrong in our view. Highly recommended.
narrytravel@gmail.com
she works under the above tour travel
HQ Hostel is a hip, cool and centrally-located accommodation for backpackers and budget travellers. It's located in the middle of Silom Road, and near two skytrain stations. It offers friendly, English-fluent and helpful staff.
Address: 5/3-4 Soi Pipat, Silom Rd., Bangruk, Bangkok
URL: www.istayhq.com
Phone: 662 2331598/ 66(0)83 4960915
BTS Station: Saladaeng and Chong Nonsi
We stayed for two nights on our way to Koh Samui and Koh Tao. We're a married couple in our 30s and wanted a nice clean with the Thai touch and not expensive.
The Siam Heritage exceeded our expectations. The service was just touching and the rooms are spacious and well-appointed.
The bed was very comfortable and the bathroom was lovely with a good hot shower.
The shuttle boat was fantastic. Navigating Bangkok by foot, train, boat or tuk-tuk is a dizzying experience whichever way you slice it. There is so much going on that you soon succumb to stimulation overload. It was so nice to get on our private boat at the end of an excursion for a leisurely cruise back to the hotel.
The hotel is near all the good shopping areas.
Recommended things to do in Bangkok
- Visit the Grand Palace
- Ride the public river boats
- Dine at The Mango Tree (also Vertigo is amazing but very expensive)
- Shop for trinkets, clothing and fake everything at Night bazaar Lumphini and Patpong (the Exotic one)
- Ride the Skytrain
- Visit the rooftop Sirocco bar on the 76th floor at The State towers. A drink would cost you around eight dollars and the Bangkok view is free.
- Get tired at the biggest weekend market in the world - the Chatuchak market.
- Get a good body massage. The genuine Thai massage and spa.
If you must go to MBK shopping centre do NOT take a taxi or tuk-tuk, take the skytrain. The traffic light to enter the mall stays red for 15 min and then is green for 30 seconds (no exaggeration; we waited 45 min at that light).
It is a big shop with very pleasant feel to it, and has a very large stock of high quality fabrics for suits and shirts. He does original tailoring in his own workshop on the second floor.
I have had a bad experience with other tailors and this is the only place I can recommend.
Just under the Asok sky train station, on Sukhumvit road.
check out his web page www.moonriverbyvj.com, it will give you all the details.
After visiting so many shops in downtown Bangkok with people harassing you to get in, this shop was much different from the others, with no harassment or pushy sales. The price was reasonable for the quality and they give professional fittings. The Shop owner Mr Sunny has had famous clients including Elijah Wood from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
You can call them for pickup for free from anywhere.
Tel:02-2342399
Mb:08-12345923
Email: Excelsiorfashion@gmail.com
I went wedding dress shopping on my own, which I think helped a lot. It meant that I got to choose exactly what I wanted without anyone else interfering and tempting me with more expensive items. After a couple of shops I was totally disheartened with the snobby sales assistants.
In the end I visited Savile Row fashion as they often had dresses in the window that I liked. I made an appointment to go in and the two assistants spent an hour showing me nearly every dress in the shop. They were all reasonable price and as they were nice I felt that I could be honest with them.
The shop that I went to was called Savile Row Fashion in Suriwong Street in Bangkok, and I would highly recommend it.
118 rose hotel, Suriwong road, Patpong, Bangkok 10500
contact no: 022354427, 0858441307
email: savilerowfashion@gmail.com
Narry and Aron (father and son) cannot be beaten. They are truly amazing. Especially Narry with his butter soft English and the just mind-numbing ability to remember everyone's name! Having a few suits from them is almost a right of passage for us in the Department of Defense and the protective and investigative services. Walking into their shop is like walking into a museum of US intelligence agencies.
And they make damn fine suits and custom shoes. They even fit them to better conceal whatever weapon you may be carrying.
118 suriwong, near Patpong Street, next to Rose Hotel
0858441307, 022354427
I have been slowly upgrading my wardrobe. I have proceeded cautiously because I know that 90% of the tailors here are ripoffs and most people bought a suit based on the advice of the tout sitting outside the shop or from a Thai airways in-flight magazine ad.
Thankfully, there is an antidote to the Bangkok ripoff tourist tailor. I was recommended this place by an AAAC member. It's far away from the Sukhumvit Road tailors and really a world apart. I imagine this guy could hold his own against the best of the UK or Italy.
This is the tailor shop that the highest echelons of Thai society use.
I had a midnight blue tuxedo made there and it turned out beautifully. I probably broke some rules with the burgundy lining but I couldn't resist
the color when I was given the lining samples.
I had an initial fabric selection and then three fittings as the garments progressed. His fabric selections are limited but are of the highest quality.
A suit from July Tailor will cost 4000 - 12000 baht.
I have always seen another Farang (foreigner) in there. His work is in the upper echelons and his prices are much more reasonable than even the best tourist tailors. That being said, they are still lower than a good canvassed off-the-rack suit in the USA.
118 suriwong/silom road (near rose hotel) patpong street bangkok thailand
saladang station
free pick up 0858441307 022354427
contact:savilerowfashion@gmail.com
I never would have believed it, so had to try. Bangkok has some crazy fishing. I went with a UK tour operator and in just five days had four fish over the 100lb mark. The fishing combined with the brilliant food, weather and nightlife. Not to be missed!
This quirky little museum is located near New Road in Old Bangkok not far from many of the riverside hotels. The museum is in a traditional house, which was a family home, built before World War II. You can see an interesting collection of antiques, traditional household utensils and items of ceremonial significance. The museum is well laid out with lots of information in English. It takes less than an hour to visit and is included in the popular Bangkok tour offered by Exotissimo Travel.
www.exotissimo.com/travel-asia/thailand/th-tours/bangkok/discover-bkk-tours.html
This farm is not huge, but has a choice selection of snakes, with informative shows twice a day. It's about 60 baht if you go at the time of the show, otherwise it's free. Watch out, it can be gory if you go at feeding time. Also go here if you get bitten by a dog or snake during your stay - the Institute Pasteur on site provides anti-rabies vaccinations and other anti-venoms - bring the offending snake or a description of it if you can.
At one end of Henri Dunant road; take a short cut from Saladaeng Skytrain station across Soi Thaniya and cross Rama 4 road. Also near the subway station - the stop before Hua Lampong station.
You will find everything under the sun - antiques, pets, plants, clothes, books, food. Get there before the proposed plans to raze it and build another air-conditioned shopping centre become a reality.
Take the skytrain to Chatuchak station. Market open on weekends only.
Two of the best places in the entire world to have a cocktail are the Moon Bar at Vertigo on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel and the Sky Bar at Sirocco on the 63rd of the State Tower Hotel.
Both are in the heart of the city and have jaw-dropping views where you feel as close to the aeroplanes overhead as the ground below. The Moon Bar, especially, seems to hover over the city. Brilliant fun and very surreal — like sipping cocktails on the set of Bladerunner.
A hotel on the main street in Chinatown. The colours used are somewhat OTT, but the location is great for the Old Town and the Chinatown restaurants and markets; about equidistant from the river boat pier at Ratchawong and the MRT at Hua Lamphong.
479 Thanon Yaowarat. Nearest MRT is Hua Lamphong, but taxi from the airport was 450 baht (7 pounds) in Nov 07.
What a fantastic tour! This is one of the best tours I have ever done. From the time we got collected, right until the end of the tour, we were treated to a taste of Thai life.
I think this tour is a must-do for everyone visiting Bangkok and we will recommend this tour to everyone we know from New Zealand that is coming to Bangkok. We had the best day!
www.absoluteexplorer.com
info@absoluteexplorer.com
Tel. +66(87) 077 9696, +66(89) 145 4409
I recently spent three of the craziest days fishing I have ever experienced.
Bungsamran Fishing Resort is the only place I know where you can catch a 40lb fish a cast!
They now also provide fully catered facilities, air conditioned bungalows, restuarants, shops and cafe.
My tip is to visit before demand pushes the prices up.
If you take a 15 minute Skytrain journey from BTS Siam to BTS Thong Lo you can join the lifestyle, living and shopping experience in Bangkok's designer shopping district, Thonglor.
The crowd is more residential, international, professional thirtysomething than the teens and tourists around Siam and MBK.
Couples can easily spend a whole day in Thonglor. For the morning get a coffee and up to date with emails at True Life. Relax into a half-day "Ecstasy Time" spa package in a double room at Leyana Spa. Then have an illuminated evening meal outside at To Die For restaurant in H1 - Thonglor's design HQ. And finally, discover some Bangkok trends inside the Playground mall and rub shoulders with Thai celebrities unwinding at Starbucks. If one of you is starting to tire, take an aircon taxi back to BTS Thong Lo for 35 Baht and on to your hotel in air-conditioned, speedy Skytrain comfort.
Alternatively, if you feel yourselves becoming part Thonglor, you may stay late and never want to go back ...
Map: tinyurl.com/ypoorl
People are quite correct about the locals sometimes being persistent in trying to sell you useless junk that you don't want - and that they will drive you all around the area taking you to places you are not interested in.
I found that after living in Thailand for several months that this was less of a problem, as I had started to learn the language and became aware of how you make yourself a victim for their scams.
As a previous writer said: Don't make yourself a tout magnet by stopping and looking lost; walking round in circles; poring over a guide on street corners, etc.
After living in the country for a year it was easy to get around and enjoy without any hassles ... mainly because by then, I had learned what to do and not do that causes problems.
One solution was to tell the taxi driver exactly where you wanted to go and how much you would pay before you got into the taxi (remember to be fair in your offer).
This seemed to solve a lot of problems upfront.
Speaking the language helped a lot even though I had only one year of experience speaking Thai.
When you make an effort to learn to speak their language, most Thai people are very nice and helpful to you.
I have been in Bangkok six times and each time was very enjoyable.
And I really enjoyed travelling around the country as it has a lot of beauty to offer. The area I lived in was eastern Thailand in the city of Ubon. The only hard part was getting used to the tropical heat and humidity.
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