Travel Tips For Bangkok Thailand

BANGKOK

What do you know about Thailand's capital city? Perhaps you have heard that 1 night in Bangkok can make a hard man humble, or that Bangkok's Dangerous, and if you have too much to drink you might get a hell of a Hangover 2! Let's have a look at Bangkok as a tourist destination, where to stay and how to get around in Bangkok. I will offer some valuable tips to travelers below.

ACCOMMODATION
If you are looking for 3 star accommodation or better, you are better off booking your hotel online in advance. If you did not manage to book your hotel in advance you will probably get a much better deal going to a booking agent in a travel or Internet shop, than you would by just walking in to a hotel. You can expect to pay approximately $40-100USD for a 3-4 star hotel with clean rooms, air conditioning, satellite television and a swimming pool. Basic accommodation is available for those people on a budget, a basic room with air conditioning in newish clean hotel can be as little as $20-30USD. Backpacker accommodations for less than $15USD are available in the Kao San Road area.

Recommended Hotels

Sukhumvit

Citadines 8 - Located on Soi 8, Citadines 8 is a 3 star serviced apartment style hotel in a convenient location in the Sukhumvit area. Smallish rooms but very modern, clean, nice flat screen TVs, swimming pool and exercise room. Prices range from $40-60USD per night.

Grand Business Inn - Located in a convenient location on Soi 11, affordable clean rooms with Internet access in every room. Prices range from $30-40USD per night.

Woraburi Sukhumvit Hotel & Resort - Located at the end of Soi 4, within a convenient walking distance to the nightlife on Soi Nana! Do not stay here unless you are looking for nightlife! This is not a place for couples that are looking to stay in a quiet spot, and certainly no place for children! The rooms are clean and there is a restaurant and swimming pool. Prices range from $20-30USD per night.

Pratunam

Diamond City - Located in the shopping district of Pratunam, this hotel has clean rooms for affordable rates. Prices range from $30-50USD per night.

The Cozi Inn - Located on Pratunam road in a convenient location for shopping. This hotel has clean and affordable rooms. Prices range from $30-40USD per night.

Soi Kao San

Euro Inn Guesthouse - Located in the backpacker oriented Kao San Road, if you are looking for clean comfortable accommodation, you should not be staying in this area!
The Euro Inn is cheap, and for those people on a budget it will do! Prices range from $5USD per night.

Bella Bella Guesthouse - One of the cleaner and nicer places on Soi Kao San and still affordable. Prices range from $10-15USD per night.

RESTAURANTS

Eating out in Bangkok can be quite expensive compared to other places in Thailand, especially in the Sukhumvit area. There are a lot of restaurants offering average food at inflated prices. I tend to stay away from the places on the main road in Sukhumvit, as they are very overpriced. There are a few places that I will tell you about where you can get great food without paying an arm and a leg.

Recommended Restaurants

Sukhumvit

The Tavern - The Tavern is on Soi 4 across from the Irish Pub. The best burgers in Thailand without a doubt, and home cut fries, not the frozen garbage that most places have. They have great breakfasts at a very reasonable price. They sell filter coffee, with a bottomless cup, this is something that I rarely find in Thailand. Most places want to charge you $2 for a little cup of coffee and no refill.

Little Arabia - On the corner of Sukhumvit and Soi 3, where Soi 3 meets Soi 4, there is an Arabic district. There is not one restaurant with the name " little Arabia" I am simply describing the area. It is a small Soi that goes in a horseshoe, and it is filled with great Arabic restaurants that are open 24 hrs per day. They are all very good, offering Arabic food, pita bread , hummus, falafel etc. There is even a Kebab stand at the end of the Soi where it meets Soi 3.

Westin Hotel - The Westin Hotel is located above Robinson's shopping center on Soi 18. They have an incredible breakfast or brunch buffet. Now this is not cheap, it will cost about $20USD. But the buffet is incredible with everything you can imagine. If you feel like treating yourself, I recommend brunch at the Westin!

Pratunam

Platinum Shopping Center - Believe it or not, the food court at Platinum Shopping Center has a great selection of Western, Thai, Indian and other foods. You would have a tough time spending more than $5 at this food court, and that is if you are hungry!

Bayoke Sky Restaurant - Located on the 78th floor of the Bayoke Tower in Pratunam.There is a great view of Bangkok from the Bayoke Sky Restaurant. Now this place is more about the view than the food, but from what I remember the food was pretty good and it was reasonably priced considering the location.

Soi Kao San

Pad Thai Vendors - There are vendors with push carts selling Pad Thai (fried noodles) for as little as 50 cents per plate. This is something you have to try!

Indian Food - I can not remember the names of the places, but I can tell you that all of the Indian restaurants on Soi Kao San that I have tried have been excellent.

THINGS TO DO

Nightife - Bangkok is world renowned for having great nightlife! One night in Bankok will make a hard man humble .. so they say! I can tell you it is true! There are a lot of options if you want to go out and have a good time in Bangkok. I will share a few of the spots I have visited and what experiences I have had.

Nana plaza - Nana Plaza is located on Soi 4, it is one of the most popular sex trade areas. There are a lot of bars with a lot of girls. They are all dying to get to know you .. for about an hr! Now a lot of people travelling in Bangkok are specifically looking for this kind of entertainment, and if you are not one of those people, well it is still a worthwhile thing to go and see. Many couples go to Nana Plaza just to have a look around, because they have never seen anything like it in their home country.

Soi Cowboy - Soi Cowboy is similar to Nana Plaza, but bigger, more sex shows and strip bars etc.

The Tavern - For those people just looking to have a drink in a neighborhood pub setting, It is mostly catering to American expats. So don't go there and tell them what you think of American politics.I already tried that, and it did not go over well!

Soi Kao San - Soi Kao San has an electrifying atmosphere at night, you do not necessarily need to go to a particular bar. It is a worthwhile experience, and recommended for people that do not want to go to the sex trade districts.

Patpong - Legendary sex district. A lot of people go just to have a look, I don't recommend it! It is dirty, and there is nothing there that I want to see! Keep in mind that I am not very conservative, so chances are if I find it dirty, you will find it shocking, repulsive and disgusting!

Muay Thai - Going to Lumpini Stadium to see the Muay Thai is a must see if you have not been! I strongly recommend this.

Shopping - People from all over the world travel to Bangkok for the sole purpose of shopping. Most of these people will visit Pratunam, the best place to buy clothing, knock offs and just about anything you might be looking for. If you don't feel like fighting the crowds in Pratunam, you might want to check out M.B.K., a giant shopping mall famous for having the worlds largest selection of mobile phones. You might read about a place called Chatuchak market, I can tell you that I do not recommend this, it is very crowded and hot, and for the most part offers nothing that you can't find in Pratunam. If you are staying in Sukhumvit, you will want to avoid buying anything there and wait until you can get to Pratunam.

Floating Market - You have got to check this out if you are in Bangkok. I would suggest just taking a look around and taking some photos, no need to really shop there.

SAFETY TIPS

In my experience in Thailand, I believe it is far less likely for you to be robbed or have your wallet stolen than it would be in your home country. For the most part, petty theft and robbery is rare. Your biggest concern is that somebody is going to try to con you, and it might happen several times per day. One common mistake that tourists make is trusting another foreigner who has been living in Thailand for a while. Sometimes the biggest con artists are expats that have been living in Thailand for years and they have no money, and will lie, cheat and steal in order to stay here. So be wary of expats you meet in bars, if they try to get you into any business investments or ask to borrow money.

Whatever you do, don't get involved in anything involving drugs in Thailand. This is a serious crime in this country, and even if it is only some grass, it could land you in prison. Stay away from any other people that are using drugs. Don't hang around in bars if you notice people are using drugs

Thai people are usually very well tempered, they do not anger easily. If you manage to get in a situation with a Thai, you should try to resolve it quietly and quickly. You can not just have a punch up, a man to man fight and think it will be left at that. If there is any physical confrontation, it is likely that any nearby witnesses will join in, sometimes with glass bottles , knives or other weapons. If they see a fight with a foreigner and a Thai, they will always assume the foreigner is wrong. You need to avoid any conflicts, even if it means swallowing your pride. Bangkok is safe if you don't go out looking for trouble, but if you go out and get drunk and behave carelessly, you might not live to tell the story!

LANGUAGE

Hello - sawadee krup ( the "r" is silent )
Thank you - ka poon krup
How Much - tao Rai
Where - tee nai
What - arai
Good - dee
Bad - mai dee
Yes - chai
No - mai chai
Sorry - kra tote
Man - poo chai
Woman - poo ying
1 - nung
2 - song
3 - sam
4 - see
5 - haa
6 - hok
7 - jet
8 - pet
9 - kao
10 - seep