Bangkok, Thailand (thread 9)

[mama squeak!]

Never ko na-experience rin yan and I've been traveling to Bangkok since the late 80s pa.

 

[_pink12_]

Thanks sisses! That's good to know. When we travel kasi, we just bring small amount tapos withdraw in ATM or use CC na lang pag nasa destination na.

[pret_ty68]

Ano ba ang magandang puntahan sa hat yai? we plan to go to thailand from penang malaysia renting a car since we lack time doon na lang kami sa mga places na malapit sa border like hat yai.

[_pink12_]

Just got back from Bangkok, we were there Sept. 11 to 16. Nag Ayutthaya kami last Saturday, mainit. Swerte lang kasi hindi naman maulan during our stay, umuulan pero sa gabi lang

Ang mura ng pagkain dun, on our previous trips, laging nagagamit ko ang credit card namin kasi nga laging kulang ang nahahanda na pocket money, pero dito sobra sobra pa .

[krisel_06]

Sisses, ano kayang beaches ang malapit puntahan if we're coming from cambodia-bangkok border? I understand, meron mga van nag aantay sa border ng bangkok. TIA

[krabby_patty]

Just got back from Bangkok last weekend. Really enjoyed our trip! Overbaggage kami ng sisters ko but thankfully, CebuPac did not charge us kahit sobra sobra ng 1-2 kilos per bag. Our flight back home was delayed for ~3 hours because of Typhoon Mario but it's all good. I'll share some points of interest for those drafting itineraries for their trip Let me know if you have questions.

Grand Palace, W A T Po and W A T Arun
Siam Central and Siam Paragon
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Platinum Fashion Mall
(Tip: UOB in between Platinum bldg 1 and 2 has the best foreign exchange rate)
Isetan, Central World and Zen
MBK (good place to buy affordable pasalubong)
Gourmet market (good place to buy slightly more expensive pasalubong)
2 hour traditional Thai massage
Cabbages and Condoms (very interesting Thai resto)
Asiatique the Riverfront
Terminal 21
Ayutthaya - W A T Chai Wattanaram, W A T Mahathat, W A T Phra Si Sanphet, W A T Yai Chai Mongkol etc
Bang Pa In Summer Palace
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Kanchanaburi Tiger Temple
Kanchanaburi Thai Burma Railway and Memorial
Bridge over River Kwai

Part of the itinerary but we skipped the following -
Jim Thomson house
Thai Cooking school
Patpong
Pratunam
Soi Cowboy
Sirocco
Baiyoke Sky Suites
Siam Ocean World and wax museum
Siam Niramit
Calypso Ladyboy show

[pret_ty68]

^
Sis DIY ba kayo o nag avail kayo nang tour package?

[krabby_patty]

DIY everything except the day trip to Kanchanaburi - we booked Good Times Travel and Tours, highly recommended! For Ayutthaya, we hired a car and an English speaking driver.

[Papiseed]

^Sis how much budget for the trip? Is it significantly cheaper to DIY tours instead of travel agencies?

[krabby_patty]

Spent less than 1k USD pocket money for a 10 day trip including shopping, excluding hotel expense and plane fare

Generally cheaper mag DIY but you also have to weigh your options There were 4 of us in this trip. I almost booked yung boat and bike tour in Ayutthaya (~3k baht per person) because of all the good reviews I read in Tripadvisor. I never got around to booking kasi takot ako magbayad online. What if the travel agency was bogus? Tapos napansin ko, for every additional service, they charge extra. Pick up from hotel in Bangkok +++ sila, one person does not know how to ride a bike, +++ nananaman daw to hire a tuktuk. Na turn off kami. We ended up booking a car nalang from a lesser known travel agency nung nasa BKK na. Cheaper and convenient pa around 2k baht lang plus tip for the driver (optional yung tip of couse). No need to ride a bike under the sun. No need to ride the river sun cruise. Private tour siya tapos control namin yung time. We just told the driver where we wanted to go

[huit]

DIY kami and lagi kami BTS. We only rode a tuktuk once from Chatuchak to Pratunam, where we are staying, just for experience. hehe. Kasi nga mahal sila, nakipag haggle pa ako para pumayag sila na 150 or 180 baht instead of 200 baht. In fairness malayo naman kasi. hehe. We also experienced riding a taxi from Chatuchak Park to Mochit Bus Station, then from Pratunam to Mochit Bus Station to when we need to go to Siem Reap na.

[spicy_angel]

Pag more than 1 person, cheaper actually na mag cab.

[mama squeak!]

^Depende din sis siguro kung saan kayo pupunta. Suvarnabhumi to central Bangkok via cab will cost you around THB250-300 depende pa rin yan sa traffic. If you take the airport express (City Line) it will cost you only THB45/person. For the cab fare to be cost effective with my given example dapat nasa 5-6 persons kayo per cab.

[spicy_angel]

^ yun 45 THB sis hinde express yun, yun ata yun may mga stops. Express is 150 THB. Pero till Phaya Thai Station lang yan. Transfer ka sa BTS uli tapos pay ka uli kung saan ka pupunta. Fare hanggang Siam Station 20 THB na. Tapos depende kung gaano kalayo yun pupuntahan mo from the BTS, kung walking distance na ba or sasakay uli.

Ideal ang Airport Link kung walang bagahe masyado. Hinde kasi uso ang elevator sa mg BTS stations. Sa pagkakaalam ko ang stations lang na may elevator ay ang Phaya Thai, Sala Daeng dun sa may bandang MRT na. Yun iba wala.

[bagaholic_chewy]

Re cabs in BKK, if nasa 3-4pax, yun sulit na sulit magtaxi kesa BTS. Pero kalaban mo traffic, esp pag rush hour. Minsan mas malala pa kesa sa Manila traffic. And me mga di rin ok na taxi drivers - nangongontrata, iikot ng malayo para mapataas metro (kesyo oneway/noleft/noright daw kahit di naman), etc etc. Inaaral ko ang magiging possible routes before ako magtaxi so minsan inaaway ko ang driver. Ayun, nakikinig naman. Most Thais do not like confrontations kasi. I usually take a cab lang pag di masyadong convenient ang pupuntahan ko for commute (like when I went for a cooking class, Siam Niramit, etc), pag naghahabol ng oras and pag tinatamad. Otherwise, I take the BTS or the riverbus (I forgot anong tawag sa BKK).

From airport naman, usually nasa thb500 total nagagastos ko going to Siam area, kasama na toll fees and konting tip dun. If me kasama ako (or pag tag-along ako sa business trip ni hubby, so reimbursable ang fare, hehe), we just get the van from AOT counter for thb900-1200 all-in.

[mama squeak!]

^^Yup, yung THB45 is until Phaya Thai additional ka na lang sa BTS sa final destination mo fares ranging from THB15 to THB42. I stand corrected I should have written airport rail link instead of airport express.

The airport rail link has two trains, City Line with stops until Phaya Thai and the Makkasan Express line with no stops. The former is THB45 and yes the Makkasan is THB150. Hindi lang maganda sa Makkasan kasi hindi sya connected sa BTS unlike the City Line. The Makkasan line used to stop at Phaya Thai, fare for that if I remember is THB160 or 170. Last year nasasakyan pa namin all the way to Phaya Thai.

Kung manageable naman yung dala mong bagahe convenient din since all BTS stations have escalators. Yung elevators usually sa mga tourist area or central Bangkok stations.

Our last Bangkok trip, we only spent THB174 for two persons one-way: THB45 (City Line) and THB42 (BTS Saphan Taksin).

[spicy_angel]

Ako kasi around 200 THB ang taxi fare ko pag busy si hubby na sunduin ako. Pag hinde rush hour hinde na ko nag eexpressway, so tipid ako ng 20-50 THB na toll fee. The escalator is only going up to the station and in some stations to the tracks. There's no escalator going down.

Pero depende rin kasi kung ano convenient sa inyo. Ako kasi tamad. I'd rather brave the traffic than worry about how to bring down my luggage. Only exception to this was during the shutdown. Napilitan talaga akong magtrain because traffic was really impossible.

Our place is close to a BTS station around 2-3 min walk, Sukhumvit area.

[mama squeak!]

^Kaya pala we couldn't find escalators going down when we arrived at Saphan Taksin. We thought it was on the other exit lang, we didn't bother looking for it na. Anyway, okay na rin since mas mahirap pumanhik kesa bumaba.

I hate dealing with cab drivers even if the Thais are generally gentle-natured. Plus I don't like sitting in traffic. Sa dinalas-dalas ko ng punta sa Bangkok ever since the late 80s, never pa yata ako naka-experience na walang trapik (except late night arrivals/departures). Laking bagay talaga when they built the BTS.   

[genericme]

Speaking of Bangkok traffic, I was just wondering how early should we leave our hotel (located in the Pathumwan area) in order to make it in time for our 12:30am flight back to Manila? I assume traffic will be lighter around that time?

[_pink12_]

No traffic na pag ganun sis. I still leave 2.5-3 hours before the flight or mas maaga pa. Nung flight namin pauwi to Suvarnabhumi airport, 30 minutes lang pero galing ng On Nut near Bang Na area kami.

Tsaka pag maaga, makakapag shopping pa ako sa airport