hi people,
am staying at royal orchid sheraton
any tips for any great bargains dining, drinking shopping etc within walking distance..not too posh but not too dero either..

right next door is the river city shopping center...it may or may not hold interest for you...on the first 2 floors there are shops...they sell clothing, mostly custom made, souveniers, household stuff, glasses, jewerly and other like items...there are several moderately priced restaurants...there is a tour booth out by the river for tours, etc..
on the upper floors they sell mostly hi-end antiques...

near-by there are many restaurants: indian, thai, fusion...harmonique is one of my favorites...also gallery cafe, more upscale thai place is near-by...there is lots of shopping in the area...
the hotel has lots of restaurants but they are mostly quite expensive...

there is a good bakery down the right side of the hotel building going towards the river...

there are 7/11 type stores in the area for snacks...

i can't think of any entertainment places or bars but i am sure there are some...

silom rd is within walking distance, albeit a hot walk...there is lots going on there...

there are a couple of christian churches in the neighborhood if that is of interest....

the pool in the grounds of the portugese embassy (ros pool) is very nice...

On the river in front of the River City Shopping Centre mentioned above is a great casual and inexpensive seafood restaurant. Your an pick you own seafood and have it cooked the way you like. They have English menus and the staff speaks English. A great place to sit and watch the boats go by while downing a few cold Singhas. . . .

The website for the River City mall is at http://www.rivercity.co.th/ and includes floor plans and restaurant descriptions.

The hotel has a shuttle which will take you to points along the river, including the pier next to the Oriental Hotel, called Oriental Avenue. This street and streets leading off it have lots of little shops, shopping centers and some restaurants. Oriental Avenue also leads to Silom Road which has even more shops.

You can also hop on other hotels' shuttles (just stroll on as if you are a guest, no one asks), which all make stops at River City and the Oriental pier. All the boats are identified by large signs on their roofs so you can tell which hotel you would being going to. Take the Marriott Riverside boat down to their hotel, they have a pretty good shopping center attached to the hotel and a very good Jim Thompson shop in the hotel. The Penn also has a good Jim Thompson shop as does the Oriental. None are especially cheap but the quality is excellent. The ride down to the Marriott is fun anyway you see a bit more of the river. There are several restaurants in the Marriott shopping center, mostly Western (pizza, ice cream) but some Thai ones as I recall (rhmrhk can give you specifics).

Don't forget about the Weekend Market if you will be in Bangkok on a weekend. Really incredible you can buy pretty much everything under the sun. You can take the sky train out very easily, quickly and cheaply. The Sheraton boat stops at the Sky train stop on the river.

If you are really serious about shopping, then I would recommend you buy a map called "Nancy Chandler's Guide to Bangkok" You can it buy it on the web from her website (Nancychandler.net), or your hotel may have a copy in their gift shop or bookshop. The guide also has a special section and map on what items are located where in the Weekend Market. The market is very large and full of narrow twisting alleys, so it is very easy to get lost, and this map is invaluable. She also points out where the restaurants are.

For good budget restaurant reccos, get the Lonely Planet guide for Bangkok or Thailand. I have always found their "top end" recs to be good value for money and good food. They have even more budget reccos if you are looking for them.

The river ferry is right next to the ROS. Turn right out of lobby and right after hotel, down an alley with caged birds. You can ride down the river to the Oriental, check out the hotel and surrounding shopping and walk back via The New Road. You can ride up the river to Chinatown, the Flower market or the Grand Palace, wander around and ride back. Don't ignore the garden pool at the ROS. As Bob said, the Gallery Cafe, near the ROS, is very good.

I guess I should clarify that the "shuttle" I referred to above is a shuttle boat. They are free, and all the hotels on the river have them. They generally stop at the Sky Train pier, the Oreintal Hotel pier and the River City Shopping center. Marriott's is the longest ride as it is further down the river than the Penn/Orential/Shangri-La and Sheraton which are close together on the river.

for a quick/cheep/easy bite. maybe check out the TOPS supermarket underneith robinsons department store. they have all a carte area with some decent thai food a quick lunch, diner should cost less then 100 baht.

oh and Robinsons dept. sometimes has some good bargains..

Tip buying souvaniers in dept stores is sometimes the best value. the quality is good, prices fair and best of all no haggling..

as far as silom goes most of the good places are a hell of a walk..