Janice_Nason

I will be arriving in Bangkok at midnight on a Friday in December, and have until 5pm Sunday on my own. Keeping in mind I will be jet lagged having traveled from Chicago, #1) what receommendations do you have to reduce jet lag #2) what 1-3 must-do things do you recommend I see/do in Bangkok?

Thanks!
Janice

Kathie

I assume your tour will show you the major sights - the Grand Palace/Emerald Buddha, Wat Po, Wat Arun, etc, If your tour doesn't take you to the Jim Thompson House, do go there. There are English Language tours.

I like getting a massage on my first day in Bangkok. There are plenty of places offering massage. One of my favorite atmospheric spas is at Face. www.facebars.com

To reduce jetlag, think in the time zone you are in as soon as you get there. Getting in at midnight works well for me. I'm exhausted and go to bed and sleep. I usually wake up early, but stay up all day until I can't any more - often by 7 or 8 pm, go to sleep, repeat, but by the second day I'm in the time zone. I use melatonin each night for the first few nights. If you are a melatonin responder, try that.

It's hard to know what else to recommend you do in Bangkok. There is so much and I have no idea what interests you or what your tour covers or where you are staying. I'd recommend shopping, but you'll be at the beginning of your trip. Of course, you'll want to sample the wonderful food.

StanKase

Assuming you have never been to BK and you are alone I would head directly for a nice hotel. Make a reservation through Agoda.com at a 4 star hotel. The cost to you should be $120 USD with tax. I would hire a driver named RATT for $85-$90 USD for 8+ hours including her returning you to the airport. By arriving at midnight you will be ready for a taxi at 1:30 AM. Then take a "fast taxi", cost is a few dollars more because they have bigger more comfortable cars and pay a toll and you will be at your hotel by 2-2:15. I might suggest you take a meletonren and try to get 4 hours of sleep and have RATT pick you up at 7:30 AM.
On the flight I would eat light, drink 2 quartz of water and walk around the plain every 2 hours for 10 minutes, if possible during the first 6-8 hours. then take an Ambien or similar sleeping pill (generic is 1/10th the price and you should be able to get 5-7 hours of sleep. I would tell RATT in advance by email what you want to see.I would leave at 7:00 and go to the floating market. Tell RATT you want to be at the market for only 1.5 hour. You could stay longer but you have limited time. Tell Ratt you want to be back in BK by 10-10:15 and want her to tour with you for 2 hours of the weekend market. By noon you want a quick lunch on the wat to see the reclining buddha and one major wat (temple). This should bring you to 2:00-"2:15 and time to return to the airport before 3 for your next flight. Total cost with tip and admission fee maybe $135 USD and a glimpse of BK. Enjoy.

mcbg1

People in Bangkok are really nice. Please don't kill them.

live42day

I always get 'No Jet Lag' pills from the health food store and pop those every couple of hours on the plane and they really seam to help. Arriving at midnight is perfect as well cos you can just go straight to bed and start a normal time zone the next day.

Hanuman

mcbg1

nikosk

well, a massage is a must. probably more than one!
the classic sights like palace etc are definately worth your time.
my favorite area is around river chao praya. you can take public boats up and down, very very interesting! relaxing and cheap also.
there are not so cheap tours (bargain very hard) to take you by boat to back channels of chao praya, trully worth it, but be prepared to see poor neighbourhoods. nevertheless, impressive

rhkkmk

a nice hotel with a good pool... on saturday AM take it easy, and visit grand palace in the PM and jim thompson house

rhkkmk

eat light on the plane, take a sleeping pill and only drink water