rhkkmk

guen---have you been overcome by the fumes???

Nuttakorn

I am very appreciate the new place for shoppind and siam ocean world. It save cost in many ways especially for transportation cost. Normally I have to vist at Underwater World in Pattaya when you would like to see the aquarium but now in Bangkok. The price of ticket for Siam Ocean World, i think for local people should be lower than foreign price as same as the top attractions doing.

Guenmai

Bob...Are you talking about fumes at Paragon? I think the fumes along Sukumvit Rd. are far worse. That's why I skytrain almost everywhere as not to have to inhale them.Don't they have smog check here for cars? They need to. The paint fumes are strong in Paragon and I'm usually allergic to paint, but I managed to stay in there over 3 hours the first time and about 5 and a half the second time and then the third time a Thai friend and I went in there and stayed for over an hour or so because I had to pick up my Yao jacket at the Exotic Thai store. But I've survived it and still around to tell the story. Smiles. Yesterday and the day before I was in Central department store at Chitlom...for hours. I've basically bought my entire spring summer wardrobe for 2006. Can't wait to strut around L.A. in my new collection. Smiles. They are giving out coupons in Central department store. When you make a purchase for 800 baht or more, then you take your receipt to one of the coupon tables...usually located in one of the main aisles on each floor....there's sometimes a big red sign that you can see from a distance. Then, depending on how much you spend, you are entitled to a certian number of coupons. You hand your sales receipt to the person at the coupon table and then she tells you how many you are entitled to and you stick your hand in the big coupon box a take out however many she tells you to. You then peel away the round circle and it will tell you what percentage off you get on your next purchase. It's 10%/15%/20%/25% and I don't know if there is an amount past the 25% or not.... haven't figured that one out yet although I've asked. So, what I did was went over to the British India section and tried on everything that I was interested in...British India is my number one clothing company...Then I would purchase ONE item....most are over 2,200 baht per item....and then I'd go to the coupon table and get my stash of coupons and then go back and purchase the remaining items with the coupon. Well, it worked very well because in the women's British India section I had a pile of clothes and I peeled back my coupon and it said 20% off....which was a BIG savings off of nearly 9,000 baht worth of clothing. Then that purchase entitled me to SIXTEEN more coupons. So, I collected my 16 coupons and then peeled off the circle to reveal 25% off of a couple of them. So, then I went and did the rest of my shopping in the men's department since the men's shirts fit me perfectly and many are unisex....they are longer than in the women's department where the proportions are off...almost everything is too short for me....the arm length and the waist length. The men's lengths are usually just right. And since the style of clothing I buy is always flowing, tunic type of ethnic clothing, the men's shirts work out splendidly. So, I ended up in Central department store for a VERY long time( I think I was seeing double), but I saved a BUNDLE. The coupons can be used until Feb 14th, but you can only accumulate them on the same day of your purchase. So, the receipt must be dated the same day that you go to the coupon desk. It took me a day to figure that one out since I don't speak Thai and the salesgirls were having a hard time trying to explain it to me. The first day I was there and made a purchase in the housewares department, the salesguy lit up and said," coupon, Madam, coupon!" I didn't understand that since I had made a purchase over 800 baht that...I had hit the jackpot... and was entitled to coupons. He pointed me in a direction, but I never found the coupon area so I left. I was too exhausted to try to figure it out that day. The second day, after recharching my Energizer battery, I figured it all out. I do feel like that Energizer bunny. Smiles...... Well, it's 1:10PM and I haven't even started my day. I've gotten SO lazy lately...just a lounge lizard. Happy Travels!

margyb

Thanks for all the info on the Paragon mall! We're here in Bangkok...arrived today and I must go to the mall! We're at the marriott executive apartments on Soi Langsuan...walking distance to the sky train. Would that be the best way to get there? What stop would that be?

thanks!

margy

Nuttakorn

Hello Margy, You can reach the Paragon by BTS. This mall has connected to BTS (Siam Station).

rhkkmk

margy---how are you liking mayfair?? i have looked there but never stayed there....the pool is really nice for a rooftop situation...

i was told in june that it might be converted into a timeshare property...can you ask them if this is true??
thanks

IsisMnroe

Thanks guenmai. Went to the aquarium based on your review. great reporting

There is a small craft area near the linens at the paragon. beads, knitting, jewelry making. interesting for crafters.

saw an international fashion design show at the paragon on 12/25/05; roxy, fcuk and ms sixty. the international fashion show was on several dates between 12/9/05 to 12/25/05. hope there will be more.

margyb

The facilities here at the Mayfair are very very good...we have a two bedroom apartment for us and our 2 adult children. There is also a full kitchen, a living room and two bathrooms. The rooms are good sized...and very nicely docorated. I don't know about the timeshare question, but I could definately see these as timeshares. I'll let you know if I hear anything...we'll be here for 3 more nights.

Margy

rhkkmk

i have visited there and seen the apartments....thought them to be the best of the serviced apts in bkk....

Guenmai

I JUST got back from the Mayfair Marriot apartments over on Langsuan. I just finished checking out 4 serviced apartmnet buildings....Mayfair Marriot at 60 Soi Langsuan....Centre Point Langsuan at 60 soi 1 Langsuan.....Fraser Place Serviced Apartments at 55 Langsuan...and...Natural Ville Executive Residence at 61 Langsuan Rd...Natural Ville is run by the French group...Accor...who now owns the Motel 6 at home. I've stayed at Accor hotels here in Bangkok ( Chateau de Bangkok) and in Ghana, West Africa. I've found them consistently good. That, however, was the only building that wouldn't show me an apartment...supposedly every apartment was taken...and they won't rent to anyone staying less than a month...only building of all of the buildings I've been to with that rule. As for the Mayfair...it's very nice....just not for me. A one bedroom...at 84 square meters goes for 7,000 baht a day. I have an 80 square meter studio here at Emporium Suites for 4,950 baht a day and an incredible view and pool/garden area and totally attached to the sky train by entering from inside the mall. Not a 10-15 minute walk like with the buildings today. As for Fraser Place...that's the very talked about new-kid-on-the-block. The interior design is fabulous...modern,hip, and very fresh. I was taken all over the facility....the staff gets two thumbs WAY up. They were by far the best staff of the places I went to today. Take a look at the place when you're in town. As for Centre Point Langsuan....nice....but definitely not me. It was on the architectual style of the Somerset Suwan Park View over on Soi Tonson. Remember, last August, I liked the Somerset Suwan Park View, but hated the interior design of the place...It just seemed dark and not light and airy enough...and the terraces of the apartments I was taken to were clostophobically small...maybe two people standing up on one,in the one-bedroom places. Tomorrow, I might try the Meritus....but I've been told, by a Thai, that maybe the terraces can't be used because there was some problem with the rails not being built tall enough for small children. If I get there tomorrow, I'll ask about it. Well, the bottom line...as far as I'm concerned...is that I couldn't be happier to get back home the Emporium Suites which just has a totally different vibe than the places and areas I was in today. I took my Thai friend along and at the end of our checking out places I asked her what her opinion was and she said that it's definitely Emporium as far as she's concerned. I then told her that I had the same exact same feeling. The other day I talked to the same sales manager that I negotiated with back in August 2005, for the apartment I have today, and she took me too a lot of apartments and there was only one that I didn't like very much. So, I told her to book me back into the Emporium again this coming August 2006. So, I'm kind of in the system. And as an Australian manager of one of the buildings in town said in an apartment magazine...." Once you've lived in a serviced residence you can never go back to a hotel." I agree....although I did spend two hours at the Four Seasons yesterday...just chillin' out...having a cool drink and eating again at Biscotti...Plus everyone was so nice...even staff members who didn't know me came by my table and chatted... for an hour. I arrived around 5:00 not remembering that dinner started at 6Pm so I sat in the lobby and had a drink until 6:00 and staff came over and talked to me the whole time. It was really nice. One staff member said that he worked at the Hyatt next door for three years and now he's been at the Four Seasons for 10 months, but we didn't recognize each other from my August stay. He also worked at Blue Elephant in London which he said is a VERY good/prestiges job to have. It opens doors elsewhere. His English was excellent and he told me that he loved learning English when he was a child and loved his English teachers,too so he studied very hard. It was a REALLY relaxing two hours at the Four Seasons and great to be back at my other "home". Smiles. Happy Travels!

rhkkmk

i thought there was not any comparison between the centre point and mayfair...huahin rates for mayfair usually are not all that high...i'm surprised at 7000....

Kathie

Guenmai, thanks so much for your reviews of serviced apartments. The Emporium Suites are really hard to beat in terms of location!

rhkkmk

kathie---i agree...i must visit them next time...

Guenmai

An interesting/annoying think happened to my Thai firend and I as we were walking down Langsuan Rd. looking at the serviced apartment buildings. Well. a Thai guy was walking toward us and as he got almost right in front of us he looked at me and shouted," F--- You!". Well, I totally let it go in one ear and out the other and roll off of my back...so to speak. I'm used to dealing with crazy, hostile people. But, my Thai friend was VERY upset and shocked and there were two Thai women walking behind us who were also obviously VERY upset. They said to me," Madam, We're VERY sorry for his bad behavior." I just looked at them and said that I was fine and that I'm used to dealing with crazy, hostile people as I come from a country with a lot of crazy, hostile people and that far worse things have been said to me at home....trust me. They kind of laughed. I think my comment calmed them a bit because the Thais were definitely more upset than I was. I guess having been born in the South in the 50s kind of toughens one up. Happy Travels!

MaryW

Still not at all nice for you Guenmai. There sure are some odd people about.

Guenmai

Oh, I forgot to mention that I went to two more serviced apartment buildings...I don't think I ever want to see another building. I'm nearly crosseyed from checking out so many. I went to Omni...Carol's building...and Meritus on Silom Rd. in the State building. Well...Meritus has just too many floors for me. I was shown several different apartments on the 51..st floor. My ears really hurt BADLY coming down the elevator. Anyhow, the apartments were nice although had weird floorplans...common for Bangkok....even in the condo sector. The ceilings were very low,too which I can't stand....also common in the condo sector. I stood in the middle of the livingroom and jumped and touched the ceiling...very clostophobic. If I were to stand on a chair, in my apartment, I couldn't even touch the ceiling...nice high ceilings which make the space look bigger and the heat rise higher. I seldom have to turn on the air conditioner. And it's true about the terraces at the Meritus...you can't open the door and go out on them. I asked the guy at the front desk why not...and he said it's a government law....so then I stated that the terraces where I live are accessible without any problem so why can one building do it and not another? I asked several people there and no one could come up with a real explanation. Then I was told that if you rent an apartment for a month or more then you can request to have the door unlocked so that you can access the terrace...like...what suddenly happened to the government law? Sounds more like a law suit situtaion being the reason why the terraces can't be accessed...no accidents...no lawsuits. The problem is that the railing on the terraces are made of thick stucco-type of material so the view is obstructed unless you're standing up and at the glass looking out the window. Plus there was a big air conditioning unit on the terrace. So, it was not for me. I'll stay where I am on future trips. I'm already rebooked here for August. I don't have the stamina, on this trip, to check out anymore serviced apartment buildings or search for anymore condos. Oh, the condo building that's being constructed with a swimming pool on every terrace is right down the street from me. I went by the construction site the other day. I missed the sales office by 30 minutes. They closed early that day. I was curious and wanted to see a model unit. The photos make the building look huge but, it's on not a whole lot of land. Happy Travels!

rhkkmk

guen---waht about some of the units in the older buildings along ths sois off of sukhumvit, like along soi 23 there are tons of nice buildings??

Guenmai

Bob, I didn't go to them. Maybe next time. I did pass the Centre Point...I think it was...at Thonglor...Sukhumvit soi 55. I started to check it out as I really like this area of town...however, it was just too long a walk to the skytrain.In cool weather, ok, but not in scorching heat...and sometimes I come in August and the end of March. Oh, today I had the best Thai food that I've had in Bangkok and it was at Basil restaurant in the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit...you know the place...right at the Asoke skytrain station. It took me all of a minute and 20 seconds, on the skytrain, to get there from my apartment. I was curious so I timed it. I went to Times Square, next door to the hotel, to check out the Pro Language school...since I might spend a whole summer in Bangkok and study Thai. So, after I left the language school, to gather information, I went to Basil restaurant. It was renovated 6 months ago. The chef came to my table and talked for a very long time which was nice. I went for lunch, when they opened, at 12:00. The food reminded me of my Thai friend's cooking at her restaurant at home in L.A. county. I had chu chee lobster (red curry) . I eat a lot of chu chee at home, but it's almost always with salmon since we eat A LOT of salmon on the west coast. The chu chee lobster was heavenly! I also had Pad Thai with fish which was perfect....with a touch of sweetness....like I like it. I also had sticky rice and mango which was delicious...perfectly ripe mangos... and it was made with TWO different kinds of rice...the usual white rice and a reddish-brown colored rice....similiar to Hawaiian rice. The white rice one was topped with a seed that comes from a bean....very nice texture...and the reddish-brown colored rice was topped with sesame seeds. The restaurant serves THREE different kinds of rice with the meal....a green-colored rice, regular white rice, and the reddish-brown one. I also had a lime juice with soda. It was definitely the most expensive meal I've had in these three weeks, but I figured...why not?...plus yesterday, while at Paragon, I had to stoop so low as to eat at Burger King...was running low on funds...SMILES...I haven't eaten at Burger King in probably 30 years...but they have veggie burgers here which is why I decided to give it a try and it was quite delicious...and my meal only came to 133 baht....at Basil it was 1,918 baht...but worth every baht. Oh, they have cooking classes there,too. The chef and I talked a long time about them. His name is Chef Pathomkorn and is an award-winning chef. The course is offered Mon-Sat 3PM-6PM and cost 1,950 baht per person and you cook up a 5-course meal. It's a one-on-one thing, but if more than one person takes the class then, as long as the two people agree on the same things to cook, then he will take more than one person. There's a check list that you're given with appetizers, salads, soups, main dish, and dessert on it. There are 3-5 choices per category and you have to check one food item in each category and that's what you'll cook and eat. The cost of the class includes complimentary Thai herb drinks, all ingredients, recipes, apron, and a certificate. The number to call to book is 02. 649.8366 a day or two in advance. Maybe next time I'll do it. The food choices sound wonderful. And there's something in each category that I can eat. Tomorrow, I'll write about the Kukrit House. I went last weekend. It's right around the corner from the new Baan Khanitha restaurant and gallery on South Sathorn Rd...that looks very nice...a large complex. So, it would be a good idea to maybe have lunch first and then flag a taxi right there on South Sathorn Rd... to the Kukrit house...you go out the side street to Bann Khanitha anyway to get to the house...so it would be easy to flag a taxi at that point if you were to lunch first. The taxi driver and my Thai friend had a bit of a time trying to figure out where the house was. But when we got into the soi...really more like a very small alley...I happened to spot it. It's easier if entered from the big main street at the other end of the soi called Chong Nonsi-Narathiwat Rajanakarin. But we entered from Suan Plu...which was more interesting, though...like Mr. Magoo on a wild ride. Happy Travels!

Smeagol

Guenmai

I am really enjoying your log of your trip and have already noted a few places i want to visit next time i am in BKK.

One thing i wanted to ask you (hope you dont mind) I visited BK in Nov with my BF and am thinking of doing a short trip in either April or May on my own (4 days in BK and Maybe 4 days at a spa or something). Anyway, whilst i am not someone who is easliy alarmed (and consider myself to be a confident person) can you tell me any areas you would consider good for a Single female to stay in when in BK. I am on a budget here (Well if the BF can go the world cup, then i think a trip to BK is in order for me) My primary objective would be to do some shopping and see more of Bangkok, its unlikely i would want to venture TOO far at night.
Any suggestions?

enjoy your last couple of days in BKK, Safe travels back.
Jane

rhkkmk

BURGER KING---NOW THAT IS A NEW LOW FOR YOU....haha

i have put basil on my list for the fall...thanks...i was aware of it for a couple of years but never went there...cooking school is reasonable for bkk...most are more $$..

don't you have overdraft on you bkk bank account?? just keep on spending...

thanks for the reminder about the new baan K location....i want to do the former PM's house so look forward to your report and will combine it with a visit to baan K on sathron...

can you tell us some more about the statues you purchased....how big are they, etc....

enjoy your last few days....remind me of the emprorium suites price?? should i try it for a couple of days (short term might be more expensive)....

you will remember that orgy goes to a language school off of sukhumvit....maybe you should look into it as well...i think he is still away as there are no posts from him...i think he is on a walk with jim thompson in the cameroon highlands or someplace in the south...