johnstravel

I am going to Bangkok in June and would appreciate some ideas of what to do while in Bangkok as well as some good shopping areas. Thanks John

gard

Hi

There are of course lots to see and do in Bangkok and you are pretty vague about what you are into I would of course suggest that you buy a guidebook so that you can prepare a bit. But I would suggest that you check out Grand Palace, weekend market, Wat Arun, Wat Pho and if you want to see something strange you can check out Museum of forensic history at Siriraj Hospital. The shopping in great...inthe Siam squasre area you will find World Trade Center, Siam Center, MBK, Central Chitlom etc. I have posted a trip report with lots of pictures on my personal homepage gardkarlsen.com Have a great trip...Bangkok is an amazing city

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

rhkkmk

there are wonderful restaurants in bangkok for one thing....almost any kind of food you might want....
the grand palace is a must visit...we like the "V-mark" (teak palace) as well and also suan packard palace (very small and nice to visit)...the zoo is not bad, near the v palace....
jim thompson house is fabulous and very interesting....his main store is good for upscale shopping as are his two outlets (down the road from the main store and on soi 93, sukhumvit rd)...
there are many wats to visit (arun, reclining buddah, marble, golden mount)...the floating market outside of bkk is worth 2/3rds of a day trip (early am departure)--maybe a 2 hour ride....
a klong tour of thornburi has always been a favorite of mine and you can stop and see the royal barges at the end of that tour...boats for hire near river city, and shangri-la hotel....a long tail boat ride is fun on its own on the river....

stay on the river...its the most interesting place for tourists..

this will get you started...ask specific questions if you want

BillT

Get the Nancy Chandler map and then consider availing yourself of a driver while in Bangkok. Ratt has been used by a number of people on this forum including myself. For $5.25 an hour she is well worth it!

Gpanda

The critical question is "How long will you be in BKK?" There are a few must-see things, mentioned above, but a number of wonderful sights and activities that should also be considered if you're going to be there for a week or more, e.g., Ayutthaya, Flower market etc.

citiboy50

Walk around the streets-watch the people. Look at the street vendors. Buy knock offs.Cruise on the river. See the odd parings of elderly American Men with young Thai woman. Listen to the Thai music-the group taxi is excellent.Eat anything you desire and cheap.Buy custom made clothing.That is a start. If you are more specific the people on this website can more than help.They did the job for me.

johnstravel

Thanks for your replies; it certainly is a starting point. We are actually staying in BKG for only 4 days, hence the reason I need some advice, certainly don't want to waste too much time. rhkkmk mentioned to stay on the river, any suggestions as to a medium ranged priced accommodation? Thanks once again for your help everyone. John

rhkkmk

john you need to be a little more specific...what is medium price to you?? at the upper end are the peninsula and oriental, just below them are the shangri-la and the sheraton orchid and below them is the marriott resort and spa and below them is the menan and montien and royal river..there are many guesthouses but i do not know their prices...a good comprehensive hotel site which you can see alot at once is: www.huahin.20m.com
click on bankgok hotels and at the bottom you can convert to your currency

this may be a help to you...

the sukhumvit rd area is also a popular area for hotels and action, but it is not on the river...there are many many hotels there....

taxis are very cheap and plentiful...i prefer the yellow and green onces and find them more reliable and easy to deal with....never take a taxi ride without using the meter....get out and start over if they say it doesn't work....just point to it....

Kathie

And if you can tell us what kinds of shopping you are looking for, we can help on that too. I love shopping in Bangkok, but have no interest in the big shopping centers like Siam Square and MBK. It all depends on what you are looking for.

Gpanda

Medium priced in BKK is much lower than in the US or Europe. If feasible, you should stay on the river. RhkKmk gave a summary of the levels of Hotel. Each poster on this board has their favorite, but price will control. It's crude, but a dollar per night per room estimation will elicit specific recommendations.

laurieco

Check out asiahotels.com as they usually have good prices for hotels and include tax, service and breakfast. I personally recommend the Penninsula. My husband and I think it's the best hotel in the world. Stayed there several times and wouldn't stay anywhere else in BKK. Also stayed at the Shangri-la. Very nice but not up to the Penn. Definately stay on the river. The first time we went to Bkk, we stayed at the Amari Watergate, a perfectly nice hotel but had to take taxis everywhere and wasted hours stuck in traffic. I hated BKK and thought it was the worst city I had ever been to. Went back a few years later and stayed on the river at the Shangri-la and Bkk jumped up to my favorite city in the workd (still is). Staying on the river makes alll the difference. Instead of taxis you take boats and the skytrain. Also, the view is beautiful. The Penn is on the opposite side of the river from the Oriental and Shangri-la but the boats run every few minutes across the river and I think the view from the Penn is much nicer. The boat will bring you right to the skytrain, the best travel bargain in BKK.

orgy7

just pick up a full day city tour.. it will cover most major spots and from there hit the streets. smell the smells and witness one of the world most eclectic cities unfold..

you best check your budget and do more reasercch on hotels. in this forum there is a tendency too recomend lux hotels too everyone..

rhammer

We had a wonderful trip in May. The best part was finding a guide, Tan to help us. She was available as much or as little as we wanted and she knew the shopping areas based on what we wanted to find, i.e. expensive, inexpensive, tailors, silk high end to low end, etc. SHe is a professional guide and we met her while on our boat trip on the Manhora Song (wonderful experience and would recommend). She also took us to the weekend market, the best imaginable! I am happy to provide her email to anyone who is serious about wanting to use a guide. the cost was minimal as is everything in Bangkok. She speaks wonderful English (used to be a journalist) and is extremely kind and polite. We were only in Thailand for 6 days and spent two of them on the boat, but made 2 day trips and went to thai cooking school at the Blue Elephant and felt like we really did alot. I agree that Jim Thompson House is fascinating, his silk is the finest we saw anywhere. We stayed at The Oriental and that alone would be worth a trip back. A perfect location, fantastic staff, memorable view.

centeno

Can you tell me more of what you did with Tan. I am planning on using her as our guide and would like to be more specific with her. Do you have any other suggestions of great things you did in 4 days? That's what we have. Sounds like the market(night over day?), of course the temples, floating market, Ahuthaya, how long was the cooking class (?) how do you fit in the shopping you want to do? Again, any other "be sure not to miss" things?

travelduo

If you do plan on going to the floating market, make sure you use a guide like Tan or Julie or Ratt, and leave BKK really early! By the time we left the market it was so overcrowded and noisy with all the long tails. But we got there really ealy and had a guy just paddle us around the market for an hour. The guide might also want to take you to the Thai handy craft place, and the elephant camp. If you do all these it will take almost all day.
The Thai massage from wat po in our hotel room was awesome and cheap, try that!
We also spent most of the day Sat. in the weekend market, which is something that i am not even going to try to describe because i couldnt do it justice! you got to try it!
Make sure you bring an extra empty suitcase to bring back all the stuff that you will buy! I noticed someone said that they didnt like MBK, but my wife and i loved it!
Patpong at night was cool also. those are my suggestions