Bangkok, Thailand (thread 9)

[mama squeak!]

^pwede naman lagi kami nag-uuwi ng durian. Mega balot ng plastic, dyaryo, ziplock and packaging tape para di mangamoy sa maleta.

@bagaholic_chewy, anlawak pala sa Asiatique and andaming kainan. Tipong boardwalk ang dating with matching glamorized Chatuchak market. Glamor din presyo. Lol!

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ yes sis, anlawak talaga. Sila yung dating nasa Suan Lum Night Market sa may Lumphini. Favorite namin before yung food court doon kasi open-air tapos me nightly band. According to hubby, ok pa rin naman daw ang food court kahit nalipat na sa Asiatique, madami pa din daw choices.

Pero sa massages, mas ok yung nasa Suan Lum pa sila kasi kalat-kalat, pwede ka maki-haggle sa price esp if more than 3pax kayo. E nung nalipat sa Asiatique, pinagtabi-tabi na sila so medyo pare-pareho na ang presyo..

And yun nga, me mga "sosyal" restos na sa Asiatique unlike Suan Lum na kinda typical night tiangge. Calypso naman was in Asia Hotel before, dun pa namin sila napanood then transferred to Asiatique na din.

Nice din tumambay dun sa boardwalk, by the river. Aliw manood ng boats dropping off and picking up people.

[mama squeak!]

^oh so sila pala yung dating nasa Lumphini. Last we were here ang binook ko na hotel (Baan K) malapit sa Lumphini Park kasi gusto namin yung night market puntahan only to find out closed na sila.

Anyway, highly recommended ko this hotel we're staying at right now (only if you want to splurge and relax lang ang aim nyo). It's The Siam Hotel, it's a 20 minute taxi ride to Chatuchak so it's a bit far from the main shopping drag. The hotel is also right by the Chao Phraya river. Grabe we don't want to leave the place! Can't wait to blog about our stay.

[_pink12_]

^^Oh ok, pwede pala mag-uwi. Magbabaon talaga ako ng zip lock, iba kasi yung durian nila dun no, mas marami yung meat.

Ano pala pinagkaiba ng mga items in MBK and Platinum Mall?

May nakita pa kasi akong area na ok din pala mag-stay eh, it's near BTS National Stadium, there's a street near MBK that's lined up with hostels/guesthouses.

Pls. help naman ulit in weighing my options:

1. Lubd Siam Square - near MBK and near BTS station so easy to get around.
2. First House Hotel in Soi 19 Pethcaburi, Pratunam area - near the night markets, street food and Platinum na rin.
3. Room@Bangkok in Sukhumvit - near BTS Asoke station and near Terminal 21. I just don't know if may street food or night market in the area. Baka wala ng magawa except for the mall.

Thanks!

[ladyhaly]

Actually, mga 2 days din naman ang stopover namin. stopover pa rin ba yun? hehe.  we will be there until the 30th ng tanghali. so hindi ko alam if magtour kami or kami kami na lang ang maglilibot. kaya tanong ko kung ok pa rin ba magtuktuk or magtaxi sa paglilibot or maghire ng tour. dalawa lang kami ng husband ko.  Thanks po!

About the tuktuks... They usually charge you twice the amount you would spend than with a metered taxi. Bangkok is full of tourists, so if you want to save up money, just ride a taxi and before you get in, insist that you want them to use the meter. It took me and my friends a week to figure out that we were being charge 300 Baht (600 Php) for very short distances that only cost around 100 to 150 Baht (200 to 300 Php) via metered taxi! So for the novelty, yes. A tuktuk is nice. But practically speaking, I would have spent more time looking for an honest taxi driver (like the old man my boyfriend chanced on during my last night) than dishonest ones who would only try to rip you off.

I didn't know that there's a train station coming from BKK. Where does it lead to? Cambodia? Or just other parts of Thailand? From what I know, the train that goes to Malaysia only goes up to the southernmost portion of the country.

[piglet24]

@ladyhaly: Thanks sis!  I've read nga na better magmetered taxi or mag train na lang para makatipid. thanks ulit.

[krabby_patty]

^ I second the motion. My friends and I never rode a tuktuk when we went to BKK. Apparently they charge a very high price even for short distances. You just have to be really patient getting a cab. Sometimes cab drivers don't speak/understand English so if you could ask your hotel receptionist to write down the place you are going to in Thai, that would help a lot. Nakaka tempt lang mag Tuktuk for the novelty, and they're everywhere!

Can anyone share please an iti going to Ayutthaya? Or if anyone can suggest a good tour. TIA!

[entwife]

We tried tuktuk once. He initially mentioned a hefty amount so nakipagnegotiate kami. He agreed na half the price na lang kaso ang ginawa nya, binaba nya kami somewhere tapos parang sinignal nya na one way or di sya makadaan sa road na yun so lakarin na lang namin.

We ended up not finding our destination at mega lakad kami sa area na yun. It's true, mas okay mag- cab sa Bkk.

[kittycat228]

a taxi driver tried to scam us bale 20 baht lang daw sisingilin nya but we have to go to a jewelry factory daw on our way to mbk. if not, 200 baht daw ang bayad. galing lang kami sa may central world parang mga 50 baht lang binayad namin sa metered taxi. then on our way back to central world, metered taxi nga pero parang inikot nya kami so end up mahigit 100 baht bayad namin.

[mama squeak!]

If your destination is along the BTS lines the best pa rin is to take the trains. Cheap and mabilis pa since wala kang traffic. Most of the shopping places naman are along the BTS lines. Even coming from the airport to central BKK convenient ang mga trains nila.

[_pink12_]

Yung Airport Rail Link ba you can only ride if you're coming and going to the airport? Hindi yung pagtransfer din sa city? Like if we're staying in Baiyoke Boutique, sakay kami ng airport rail to Phaya Thai tapos change lines dun sa BTS nila? Pwede ba yun?

[mama squeak!]

^the airport link you can ride from any of the stations along the route. It doesn't necessarily have to be coming or going to the airport. There are two airport links, one is the Makkasan Express (airport direct to Makkasan) and another the City Line (airport to Phaya Thai is THB45/per person. Dito maraming stops along the way). Pagdating mo ng Phaya Thai transfer ka sa BTS.

[_pink12_]

^Yay! Thanks for this mama squeak! Yun naman pala, our plan is not to rely on taxis and tuktuks kasi kaya important sa akin ang BTS at Airport link.

[piglet24]

hi mga sis. anybody here have been to khao san road? we will be taking the BTS from NANA station, how to get there?  Last resort na namin ang cab.  Sino din pala nakapagtaxi boat? plano kasi namin mag taxi boat going to the Grand Palace/ [textspeak!] Pho.

[mama squeak!]

^sis, I found this website on how to get from Khao San road to anywhere. Baligtarin mo na lang yung route:

How to Get From Khao San Road To...

[piglet24]

^ wow. thank you sis!! this is a big help. next na ireresearch ko naman is yung pagpunta ng mga temples using boat taxi. salamat!

[Papiseed]

Hi mga sis!
I'm planning a 4d3n vacation sana after our wedding this October.
Gusto ko kasi magshopping kaya we decided BKK nalang kami hehe

Any suggestions where to go?
We're looking at Pratunam for accomodations sana para malapit sa shopping area.

[_pink12_]

How's the IO sa Bangkok airport? Are they strict? Do they look for showmoney? May nabasa kasi akong article pero 2011 pa naman yun, tourist requires 40,000 baht show money if family kayo??

[bagaholic_chewy]

Never ko pa na-experience sa Thailand na chineck ang show money ng IO. Di ko din narinig from any friend or family. Sa Brunei ko lang naexperience yan, hehe..

[annamarie88]

^^they're not strict and they don'y ask for show money I think. Hehe pero kasi sa premium lane ako dumaan noon