I will be going to Bangkok at the end of December. Will be reaching Bangkok airport at around 5pm in the evening, will be staying for 3 nights in bangkok. Would like to know how to plan my trip. i would like to know what are the places or interests, where to shop for leisure and great bargains and where to find good food, be it cheap or expensive.I need to know the exact address. What is nice about chinatown?Where is it? What to get and what to eat from chinatown?

wowo since this is such a vague question and I cant figure out what kind of budget you will be on i'll post 2 different vague answers..

places of interest..
1.temple of dawn
2 ping pong show in patpong

shop
1. GAYSORN mall.. your louise Vittons's Fendi's..
2.. MBK.. it's basicaly bangkoks commen mans mall.

food.
1. if the menue says something costs 500 baht it may not be too bad..

2 big C has cheepest best food court.. you can buy ostrich stir fry for 65 baht..

exact addres just copy past any of suggestion and place bangkok after it and your get site with address.

nice about chinatown..
1. supposedly cheepest gold in town
2. looks like any other chinatown. but has tuk tuks plying threw it..

where is it
1 in your bangkok map it is the district named chinatown.. in the western part of town but east of the river..

what to get and eat in chinatown..
1. chinees food
2.. cell phones. hold up every square inch of bangkok has a cell phone dealer or 7-11..

have fun in town..

me will be bringing about 16000baht for my 4day trip. Would like to know how i should plan for my trip. what is ping pong show? how to get to Patpong from Asia Hotel?

Patpong Street is where you will find erotic bars and shows... I won't describe ping pong show here... just use your imagination... perhaps a "must-see" for some guys but as a female, I don't find it any "appetising".

you can easily and cheaply go everything by taxi, be it patpong street or the chinatown.

For chinatown, you may be drawn to the numerous food stalls in the streets. Also, it's kind of famous for having shark's fin soup and bird's nest soup.

Any foreigners (especially backpackers) also like to go to Khao San Road. The street is constantly changing so you won't feel the same even when you visit it twice a year.

For some local feel, go to the weekend market which has hundreds of stalls. The new night bazaar may worth a visit too.

Hi

There is lots to see and do in Bangkok...take a trip to some of the wats...Grand Palace, Wat Arun or Wat Pho. If you want to check out a weird museum you can go to Museum of forensic history at Siriraj Hospital. Here you can see mummified criminals and different body parts on jars.

Bangkok is a shopping mekka...check out MBK, World Trade Center, Siam Center, Central Chitlom and Sogo. You will find lots of shopping malls in the Siam Square area.

I have posted a long trip report with pictures on my homepage www.gardkarlsen.com Maybe you can find some more useful information there.

Have a great trip

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

If I board a taxi, will the driver know where is chiantown? And which shop is famous for its shark's fin soup and bird nest because i am afraid i would get the fake one.

Where is Khao San road? Will the taxi driver know? What do we get from there?

May i know where is the nght bazaar and weekend market?

Sorry for my so many questions as this time i am going with another friend and it is our first time to Bangkok and want to make it a fruitful trip.

It sounds like you need a guidebook. Let me suggest the Lonely Planet, as you are traveling on a tight budget.

taxi drivers do not understand much....they must be given specific directions in many cases....they know soi 22, sukumvit rd.....or oriental hotel, but asking a general question like about the soup will get you no place and maybe will get you into a long ride to no-where....

do your homework and be specific....get someone to write it down in thai....the hotel or the info booth at the airport and give the written paper to the cab driver....if he doesn't know immediately get out of the cab....and go to the next one....

sounds like you need to buy yourself a good guide book and study it and form your plans from there...

i find nothing nice about chinatown...i find the gold not to the western taste...it is mostly for investment....i personally would not eat in most chinatown places....i do not want to ruin my trip by eating something bad and paying for it for days....stick to top class places --those found in guide books or on this or other forums.....never eat street food in bangkok...drink only bottled water which has an unopened cover

May i know what is nice to eat in Siam Square and Siam Centre? Is it easy to find food to eat at night?

from my detective work it seems as if your from asia.. maybe china..

where are you comming from ?

I guess you have budgeted about $100 a day..

asia hotel is off phiya thia. your siam. world trade and patpong.. is south of hotel down phiya thai. you cold probably walk to MBK.

stall food is the best it will beat any high end royal thai food.. a plate of pa thai for 25 baht is a winner it's also the national dish..

you'll find chinees food in almost any mall food court..

there are aso some shark fin resteraunts in siam square..

I am from Singapore and it is my first time travelling with my friend. Would like to plan a fruitful trip for the 4days. Just want to go there to shop, eat and relax. Actually have my budget for the trip is about $700SDG which is about 1600 Bth. but i won't mind exceeding more.

Again, buy a guidebook. If you don't like Lonely Planet, try Insight Guides. They have a great Bangkok City guide with self-guided walks and tours.

There are an incredible number of places to eat. Unlike orgy, I would not recommend eating at the street stalls. (sanitation in Bangkok isn't up to Singapore standards)

People have been confused about your budget, because 1600 baht is about US$4. It's 40 baht to the US$.

Forget Patpong that orgy keeps talking about - it's an enclave of sex shows, probably not what you're going to Bangkok for!

If you can afford it, stay along the river.

As far as wonderful places to eat, do a search on this board, as there was a long thread with lots of recommendations.

Before the contagion of dropped zeros becomes epidemic , let's clear up the confusion. $700 SGD is about 16,000 baht, not 1600. And 1600 baht is about $40 USD, not $4.

Thanks, Mike, it must be a virus!

So sorry Kathie, i guess i must be too tired and ate up the last '0'. Thanks for your information. Will do some planning for my trip with my friends. Any more recommendations on shopping, food, SPA, i would love to know. Thank you

From my experience, going to Chinatown or Khaosan Road by taxi is easy enough. But for newer places of interest, you may like to ask at any hotel desk to write the address/places in Thai so that you could show it to a driver.

Visit the official website of the Night Bazaar if you're interested -
http://www.thainightbazaar.com/

The Siam area has plenty of restaurants either in the shopping malls or in smaller building. Unless your digestive system is too sensitive, eating hot food even in food stalls or food courts is not problem and if you'll miss a lot if you skip this. I won't suggest cold drinks or food in the streets though. Personally I see no reason to only dine in high-class restaurants or even hotels. I've been to India too and I stuck with the same practice and I have no problem as well. My advice is to strike a balance between having a local feel of the way people live and health and hygiene.

Don't let fear rule your life.

Thanks everyone for your contribution to my trip... Have already plan what to get from there but have not plan my itinery yet...i have also borrow a book from the library about bangkok but not much details. would look up from the internet and all the URLs given by all of you.Thank You

The website 'http://www.thainightbazaar.com' is mostly written in Thai and i don't understand. I don't know where is the place and there is only one night market. Is there any other night market in Bangkok?

Yes, I agree that the website is not well-designed. But you should have no problem figuring it out that it's called Suan-lum Night Bazaar. You could ask the hotel to help you write the name in Thai so that you could show to a taxi driver. I have no problem getting to it and it's close to town centre, unlike the weekend market which would more easily be reached by skytrain.

Thank you watakeet. I will find my way to there... Thanks a lot