Ted

We are a married couple 30+ who are hoping to visit Bankgog for 6nights between 18 Septem- 24 September &gt;Can you help us with these questions <BR>1 We are planning at staying at Hotel Radisson , is this a good hotel, close to the shops? <BR>2 Can anyone recommend a good tailor since my wife would like to make a few suits and so would i , cost for suits approximately? <BR>3 Any good thai massages places to visit? cost? <BR>4 Any leather places? and where do we get the imitation Channel products?? <BR> <BR>ASking to much ? Please hel

pat

Ted, <BR>1.Hotel Radisson is in a quite quiet area of Bangkok, and not so far from the express way, should be convenient for transport, but not closed to shopping area. <BR>2.If you are going to fly on THAI, pick one inflight magazine, there are many advertisements for tailors in Sukhumvit area, i think it would approximately be around 3000-5000B (1 $Aus =24-25B). There are plenty of ready to wear suits, and that is much cheaper than made to order. <BR>3.Check out your hotel first, if you have a plan to The Grand Palace complex, there is one temple "Wat Po" in walking distance from the palace and should be around 4-5 AUD. <BR>4.cannot help with the leather, and what kind of Channel products you are looking for? <BR> <BR>hope that would help you busy for 6 nights in this city of angels.

Mark Teufel

When we went to Bangkok 2 years ago, we were originally going to stay at the Radisson but changed to the Narai on Silom Rd. I'm no expert but the Radisson is not well situated in my opinion. I would recommend something on Silom Rd, or else by the River such as the Sheraton or Marriott. Good places for imitation designer goods are the Night market at Patpong or the Chatachuk "weekend" market. Have fun.

Meg

The massage school at Wat Po is an experience. We had a half hour massage that cost about $3. Next time, we'll definitely do the hour long massage, but we just didn't know what to expect from our first Thai massage. My body was twisted in ways that I didn't know it could be - but when they got through, I felt great. I also had one at our hotel, Grand Princess in Chinatown, that cost around $11. Definitely try the night market in Patpong for imitation goods.

Tom

I also recommend the massage at the Wat Po. There is a massage school on the grounds of the wat and the open air studio is in the back. You'll be getting a massage with locals and tourists alike. Be mindful, though. You more survive a Thai massage than truely enjoy it. Although I paid for an hour (~$6 U.S.), I was half way tempted to call it quits when the little Thai woman who was contourting me asked whether I paid for half an hour. I'm glad I stuck it out and felt invigorated afterwards. Its a wonderful experience and I will do it again when I return later this year. <BR> <BR>For faux Chanel, try Pat Pong and Sulkumvit (sp?) Road. Suits last year ran about $100-125. For that kind of money, I recommend getting clothes custom made. Get fitted the first day and go back for a second or third fitting. I found a tailor on the internet (he also advertised in the NW inflight magazine -- something like New World Fashions). You might do a search on this board and find a few more suggestions, but I was happy with the three suits I had made.

Ted

Thank you very much for the helpful advice to all who replied to my posting, it truly was very helpful. Just one more question, is it possible to pick up cheap leather goods ie imitation chanel leather bags and the sort? and if so where about good I found leather goods in Bankgog? <BR> <BR>Thank you for your help

Ted

Dear Ted : I studied Thai massage at Wat Po : ask your therapist to 'back off' if necessary, otherwise concentrate on breathing deeply, BUT DON'T MISS OUT! I always have several (even daily)foot massage/ REFLEXOLOGY sessions : a great break from shopping/sightseeing and to recover from the heat/traffic etc. My favourite is LEKS in a Soi close to the Novotel Hotel - EASY walking distance from the MBK corner, open until late, decent massage/facials too. Enjoy. Regards Angela

lynn

Ted - <BR> <BR>Please don't stay there. It is very, very far from all the "stuff". <BR> <BR>I just checked planetholiday.com and they have the Montien Surawongese for about $75 per night. We stayed here and were very happy with it. Our room even looked out over the Patpong Night Market across the street. It was great. <BR> <BR>If it was late and we wanted to do something but didn't want to go too far from our "homebase", we would just walk across the street to the market and wander around until we were tired enough to go to sleep. The market goes until well after midnight. <BR> <BR