Olive, maybe I'll find a reason to head to Houston again! Sorry we didn't connect last July.
Enjoy Bangkok! I'll be back there in April. No ticket yet. Still looking at fares.
Enjoy your daily massages. Glad you're not getting beat up! I think gpanda likes the rough ones... ugh
Carol

Thanks for posting. Siam Paragon is my favorite shopping mall. Love the variety of food there.

Sounds like Sunum is very good. Would you mind sharing her contact info? An email address would be great.

Thanks.

Sunun does not have an email you must call her when you are in town.Here is her number: 089 896 1635

Day 7 and 8:
We did Amarin Plaza today - browsed around but did not find anything- then we visited the Nari Phand store behind the Intercontinental hotel. A nice location and store but no basement with the bargains as before. We bought two nice scarfs. Then we headed over to Big C- a nice market. Olive was able to buy some dried fish that she has been eating at the brekfast buffet along with some other treats that we can't get in Houston.
Next we walked over to Pratunum market- but did not buy anything. We decided to hop a cab back to Siam Paragon. The first cab we came across said 50 baht with one stop. It did not dawn on me right away what he meant by one stop-when asked he explained and then the bell went off in my head- jewelry store- stop - no thanks-I walked away. The next cab said ok to going to Siam Paragon but when I insited on using the meter he said no- we walked away from that guy too- the thrid one was the charm as we were near a big hotel - the doorman spoke to the cabbie and we were on our way. It was a 70 baht ride from Pratunum to Siam Paragon. Traffic in that area was slow.

At Paragon we ate again at the Fugi restaurant - shrimp tempora and rice with drinks- we order 4 orders of shrimp tempora and 3 bowls of rice. With drinks the tab came to 775 baht.

Day 8 - Saturday:

Today Olive has her massage from 11 to 1 pm. After breakfast I embarked for the mother of all markets - the weekend market!
Skytrain to the end - Mo Chit and a quick hop on the MRT - which puts me right inside the market on the end where I want to be. If you just do the skytrian then you have a bit of a walk and then you get in at the middle. Take my advice and take the MRT it will save you some energy and believe me you will need every ounce of energy. I worked my way methodically down every alley trying not to get lost or double back. It worked for about an hour then I got lost and had to head for daylight to orient myself. I did get a lot of things here and the bargaining was easy and friendly- I got everything I wanted at the price I offered. I bought some kalagas at a good price. After about an hour and half I had a full shopping bag of stuff as well as my back pack and sweatng like never before. I was in fact soaked and my energy was draining fast. So I ecided to pack it in and headed for the MRT.
Tonight we are headed back to Siam Paragon for dinner and then its on to the Asia Hotel for the Calypso Cabaret. I had bought tickets months ago on line so we are all set. We have seen this show on each of our previous trips and its always a lot of fun.

Bill
I am LOVING your report. I am now thinking Calypso cabaret maybe be good for my friend and i?? previous trips i am with Muffin who would HATE that sort of thing but as i am with a girl friend it may be a hoot? would you recommend booking in advance?

we love fuji for a quick good meal... we first discovered it at the newish mall at hua hin....

how is your rating of the PA hotel?? what mark is olive giving me??

Smeagol- we did the Calypso Cabaret last night - we see the show each time we are here and each time its a little different. You must see this show, go on line and book your tickets and there is also a seating chart- pick the front row if you can seats A1 and A2 - its great to be that close up. I think the tickets are about $25-30 each and you get one free drink with that. Its in the Asia hotel which is connected to the skytrain- what could be more convenient? Last night we ate again at Fuji in Siam Paragon and then it was one skytrian stop to the Asia hotel. The place was full of Japanese this time and the show always features Japanese costumesd "girls"
The show starts at 8:15 you should be at the hotel by 8 pm at the latest. Just go to the lobby of the Asia hotel and there is a box office where you can present your voucher and they will give you your tickets. The show lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. It is really a very classy well done performance.
Some of these ladyboys are so good they would fool anyone.
At the end of the show the girls line up and you can get your picture taken with any or all of them. Do tip them- I give them 40 baht each. It a bit of a mad house at the end as the crowd walks by the girls but just go up to them. I get my picture with the best looking ones - then when I get home thats when the fun begins. I have a picture of these girls on my desk- and when people come by they say - oh she is so beautiful is this your niece? I string them along for a while then drop the bombshell on them- they are blown away to say the least. Then one time a coworker came by and borrowed the picture and it made the rounds on the trade floor where I work. Everyone was in disbelief. Loads of fun!

Day 9 -
After breakfast Sunun is coming by at 10 am to take us to where the locals shop. The after that we return to the hotel for Olive to get her massage.

Skytrain - This is for the locals there in BKK. The trains are always packed - day, night week day or weekend. why does the skytrain only have 3 cars per train? Seemes to me if they ran 5 or 6 cars per train that would really help. Is it economics- I know it costs less to run 3 cars instrad of 6- did the skytrain folks only buy enough cars for 3 car trains?

Plaza Athenee- I believe Olive is very happy with the Plaza. I'll do a bit of comparison to the Marriott Resort and Spa.

Best Pool - goes to the Marriott hands down.No spa at the Plaza pool. Smaller than the marriott also. Better resort feel at the Marriott.

Best Club Room- goes to the Plaza - it is an oasis of calm all day long.

Best Overall Service- goes to the Plaza.

Best Breakfast Buffet- Olive likes the Plaza better but I think its a tie. Service is better at the Plaza, but I think the Marriott had more food options plus a river view.

Best Room- this is apples to oranges as we had the Junior Suite at the Marriott and only the Club Room at the Plaza. I liked the Junior suite at the Marriott a bit better and the bathroom at the Marriott was a bit better - not by much though.

Location- again apples to oranges here becasue one is on the river and one is in town.Points for the Marriott for the river and access to the boats, points to the Plaza for convenience to the skytrtain and proximity to shopping.

Club food and service- Plaza wins on the service and Marriott wins on the food for their high tea and cocktail hour. Plaza food was much too shi shi for my taste where as the Marriott had lots of good food at these times.

Internet service- Plaza hands down I could use the internet all day long - no problem where as the Marriott was a bit inconvenient- located away from the club area in a small business office not very good.

Lobby- Plaza has a grand lobby - Marriott a bit understated.

Cost - again apples to oranges but I believe we got the better deal at the Plaza through Hotels.com. Every 3rd day was free plus Hotels.com gives us a fee day to use after our trip at any of their hotels for one year up to $400.

"where the locals shop".... where did you go, Bill? You did not say. I'm curious.
Carol

EVERYONE would like BTS to add more cars to the Skytrain. Unfortunately, I don't think they've come out of receivership yet, so making major capital purchases is probably out of the question until they do.

lets remember that the skytrain is mass transit---MASS TRANSIT...so that does not usually mean empty or litely used cars.... i have never not been able to get into a car that i remember, even at rush hour...

btw, taxis are never too full and often cost not much more, but are at times slower..

Ok after taking a few taxis during this trip I'm convinced- its better on the skytrain- the skytrain never gets lost and always arrives on time- which I can't say for these taxis- yes you always get a seat in a taxi but I'll take my chances on the skytrain.

Today Sunun came to our hotel at 10 am and we took the taxi to where the locals shop - the first place was Bobae Tower- it was about a 20 minite cab ride- Sunun had to keep directing this poor fellow who did not know of it. Its a 5 floor builidng which has mostly clothes. After that we moved on to Pahulat market - this is an outdoor market - again only locals there. They have a lot of stuff at this market at rediculously low prices which you bargain them down even further when you buy several of that item. Its was way too crowded for comfort - think weekend market crowds. Also you have to guard your valuables as the pickpockets ply their trade here we are told. But we did get some unusal items and a lot at truely give away prices. This was well worth the trip but I suspect you need a local with you to get there- otherwise you might be takinfg a taxi to nowhere! The taxi ride back was very long and after 30 minutes we spotted the sky trtain and just jumped out at that point - the skytrain saved the day once again!
After we got on the skytrian we went to Siam Paragon and had lunch at a place that has 3 types of cuisine to choose- Thai, Chinese or Indian. Olive and I had Chinese and Sunun had Thai. The Thai was better than the Chinese. Then we headed back to the hotel for Olive's massage from 315 to 5:15. I'm now in the Club room having a beer and some snacks as I write this.

Bill
I agree i think the Skytrain is just a better/faster option (Although it was CROWDED when we were there in Dec but we found out later is was due to a public holiday)

I am going to send my friend the link ref Calypso Cabaret and see if she fancies it. We may do this when we get back from laos.

Bill, I wondered if you had gone to Pahurat. That's the "secret" market Maeng showed me a couple of years ago. I've been back (with her) a number of times. Yes, you do need to go with a local. I would never venture out to Pahurat on my own. Crowded... OMG yes. And then there are the motobikes that come puttering thru the crowds, smoke pouring out... ugh... as they deliver more bags of just-made goods. An interesting market, and prices are absolutely rock bottom IMO.

I have heard of Bobae, but have never been there. I'm usually not interested in buying clothing anyway.

Carol

Day 10- Monday- we did MKB again and bought a few things and had lunch at the food court at MKB. We had Yang Chow fried rice, Indonesian chicken satay , coconut and Pepsi. Cost - 367 Baht. Olive had her massage from 4 to 6 while I hung out at the pool.

Day 11- Tuesday - Olive will have her massage at 11 to 1 today. I will go back to the Siam area to check out a few shops. This evening we will atten the Sam Niramit show.

anxious to hear about the show...

visit platinum fashion mall with olive---much better than MBK

Hi there - I think I have an answer to your question as to why people are wearing sweaters -the AC is out of control in Bangkok! The Sky train was like a meat locker. I only brought one sweater with me to Thailand, a white one, and by the end of our trip it was too dirty for me to wear, and as a result, I froze.

user---help the economy, buy another sweater in thailand or a heavy shawl....

the a/c is heavy often....i have been seen with a dinner napkin around my neck more than once...

That's why i always pack a couple of pashminas'...I can stuff one in my bag and drag them out when the temperatures get arctic.

Bob - that napkin around your neck wasn't to keep you warm the manager was using it as a noose - no doubt due to your complaints about getting your water on time!

Ok - I'll give you the sky train at times can be a bit cold- but thats only when the car is not full (maybe 4 am going out to On Nut). That however does not explain all the jackets and sweaters people are wearing all around BKK!

Day 11- night-
We did the Siam Niramit show. OK for those newbees and those vets that have have not done it here is a report.
We bought tickets on line months ago off their web site. You print out your voucher to take to the box office. We opted for the Golden seats which were about $60 each as i recall. There is standard seat which is 10-15 dollars cheaper I believe.

So we departed from our hotel caught the Sky train at Ploen Chit- traveled 2 stops to Asok- where we transferred to the MRT line at the Sukhumvit station - its attached to the sky train so no having to go out and walk about to find the MRT.
Cost of the sky train trip was 20 baht each. Then we bought our tickets (ticket is a misnomer - they give you a plastic token wich is loaded with your fare to the stop you want to go. You get this at the ticket window- we were going to the Thailand Cultural center stop. Cost 20 baht. We rode up 3 stations and exited at Exit #1. Once out side we spotted the free shuttle bus that takes you to the show. It was about a 10-15 minute ride thru some traffic and then we arrived at the show. At the ticket window I handed in my voucher and they gave us our ticktes, plus 2 free drink tickets and a souvenir book. Now you cannot take your cameras into the theater- you have to check them- knowing this I did not bring my camera. As you enter the grounds there are some sovenir shops, an area where you get drinks and some elephants walking about . People can take pictures here- and the elephants were giving rides- for a price of course. Also as you enter the grounds they take your picture (like they do on the cruise lines) . later after the show as you walk out they walk up to you and offer to sell you the picture now framed. We opted not to get it. We entered the theater and were led upstairs to our seats which were right in the middle- great seats- first row in this middle section. After a short wait the show began. Now you must understand that this place has the largets stage in the world - they are in the Guiness book of records. Its HUGE! They even have a river running thru it at the front- yet a real river! The show lasts 80 minuites and each scene is described by a screen that descends and explains the various scenes. The costunes, dances and sets are quite spectacular. Losts of special effects - people flying across the stage- it takes you from very earlt times in the country up thru the various stages in their historty.
They even come out in the audience - especically when they had the elephants procession that came right by our sseats as in front of us was a walkway when the performers come across. So I got to see the elephants up from and personal- no they did not leave a calling card!

At the end of the show we left the theater and boarded our shuttle bus that was waiting and made the trip home on the MRT and Skytain.

So Bill, did you like the show? would you recommend?

I sometime perform at the show in my "Hanuman" outfit!