With only 10 days left till our trip to Bangkok, we need to put plans together fast. It being my first trip there, I don't really know much, so I am putting together bits of useful information for your reference and comment. I will be updating the information here as the days go by. So do keep check and leave comments to let me know who are reading. Those who wish to modify the details to the post may do so. (P.S. emi - what is the status for the hotels?)
Exchange rate
1SGD -> 22.7 THB
Weather
28Deg - 36Deg
Suvarnabhumi Airport link
Transportation
simple map of both Metro and SkyTrain lines
Metro(MRT) link
6am – midnight daily
Adult stored value tix – 200thb(150thb initial, 50thb deposit), 30thb issue fee
(est. cost per trip is 13 to 33thb)
Business Traveller – 100thb initial, no deposit, 30 thb issue fee
1 day pass – 120thb
3 day pass - 230thb
30 day pass – 900thb
Single journey - 15-39thb
SkyTrain link
6am - midnight daily
1 day pass – 120thb
30 day pass 20 trips - 440thb, 30thb issuing fee
Single journey – 15-40thb
Taxis
Taxis cruising city streets are metred. They charge a minimum of 35 baht for the first 3 kilometres, and approximately 5 baht per kilometre thereafter. Make sure you have change, as taxi drivers often dont! Passengers must pay tolls in the case of using an expressway.
Tuk-Tuks
These three-wheeled open-air motorised taxis are popular for short journeys. Fares must be bargained in advance. Minimum fares, for journeys of up to 3 kilometres, are approximately 30 baht.
Bangkok Places of Interest (from Lonely Planet)
1. Grand Palace - open 8.30am to 3.30pm everyday. Baht 250.
This also includes admission to Wat Phra Kaeo, The Royal Thai Decorations & Coins Pavilion in the same compound and to Vimanmek Mansion Museum on Ratchawithi Road. Baht 100. for rental personal audio guide in English. The dress code states no short skirts, sleeveless, sandles and tight trousers. link
2. Wat Phra Kaew - open 8.00am to 5.00pm everyday.
Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Next to Grand Palace. link
3. Wat Pho - 8am to 5pm. 20 Baht.
located just outside the Grand Palace compound. Country's biggest temple, oldest temple at more than 200yrs. Thailand's largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand. You can pay for a traditional massage, 150Baht for 30 mins and other massages. link
4. Wat Arun - 8.30am to 5.30pm. 20Baht.
Temple of the Dawn. Across the river. Tall structure. Take a photo of this imposing sight at sunset with the river in the foreground to bring back beautiful memories of Bangkok. link
5. National Museum - Wednesday to Sunday, 9am to 4pm. 40 to 50Baht.
1km north of the Grand Palace. Photography is banned. There are free English language tours, lasting about 2 hours, available of the museum, starting at 09.30am on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 6 buildings make up the National Museum. They illustrate Thai history and prehistory,the Inscription No. 1 from the Sukhothai era, the Phra Buddha Sihing, impressive murals in here, recovered jewelry and gems, giant shadow puppets, weapons, ivory, royal possessions, musical instruments, and Asian art and antiques through the centuries. link
Wat Saket & Golden Mount - 7.30am to 5.30pm. 10 Baht.
2km east of Grand Palace. Only man-made hill in Bangkok, a diameter of 500 metres and soars 100 metres to the sky, is of great significance for all followers of The Lord Buddha. 320 stairs take you up to the top for panoramic views of the Rattanakosin Island.
Jim Thompson' House - 9am to 5pm. 100 Baht.
Antiques, artifacts, silk.
Mae Nam Chao Phraya - 7am to 6.45pm. River ferry rides are found at many stops. 6-15Baht.
Chatuchak Weekend - 8am to 6pm.
Chinatown -
2km southeast of Grand Palace. 1.5km in length. Sells all sorts of stuff. Open day and night. Hours unknown.
Dusit Park
Lettuce Farm Palace
Lumphini Park
Wat Traimit
Wat Mahathat
other links
short tour ideas , other attractions
signed
la!uep
21 comments:
hotel is confirmed, First House Hotel which was where i stayed last time. it is 2 double/twin rooms (cannot promise which), with breakfast.
suggest to not buy any day passes as during my whole trip, i only took 1 train ride from hotel to chatuchak. the rest is walking (hotel to shopping) and taxi (hotel to grand palace/touristy places).
Tuktuk can only be taken for short distance (for pic and kicks). think i paid 90bht for 2, on a distance from wisma to paragon. luckily, there was a jam and i could keep taking pics without fearing additional costs.
ok, thanks dan for the update and emi for booking the rooms...
my colleague who just went to bkk over the last week shared the below with me:
1. it's sale times at bkk, till end of mar
2. we can take bus dont know what number 4 to city; it's 150B per person... if we want to take cab, must go downstair to take, so it's cheaper
3. the exchange rate at bkk is better than in singapore. we should just change a bit here and bring sin dollars there to change
and omg lah, we are going bkk next week?? panic now lah... i havent do anything yet... must at least research a bit right?? hahaha..
and yah, i want to go to all the places that dan has listed down... =P
i rem i shop in mbk until no money so i changed there, not good at all. tourist change money there got gd rates one meh?
hua, we prob need u to help us change again soon.
ya, it's NEXT WEEK!!!!! (o_0)
yoohoo...
scared of travelling, missing bags, thefts and wat not?
Get this!
http://income.com.sg/insurance/travel/premium.asp
ok seriously, any takers? sj and i are keen. about 30sgd for whole trip. any better ones, pls share. and this one has some disc. if we have at least 3 pax.
Wow dan I'm impressed. Keep up the research wahaha...
Anw I'm shocked as well that the trip is next week. Argh!!! That means only 1 more week for me to bia target!!! ARGH!!!!!! Super stressed.
A few things.
Heard from parents that it takes 3 hrs to get pass the causeway due to checks at the causeway following the recent fugitive incident. I don't know how true this is and whether weekdays are better. But it may give us some inconvenience. We should try to set off earlier.
From the information so far, I gather that the places around the Grand Palace are all reachable. So probably we can spend one day or less at the Grand Palace, area.
There are too many temples and palaces in bangkok, so probably we can stick to the few stated as they are more well known. Prob can check out other stuff nt avail in spore like muay thai, elephant riding and others...but I am still in the midst of researching...so stay tuned.
Other possible trips include Chinatown, the Golden Mount, Giant Swing
Further places would include, safari world park, rose garden and ancient city. Think need to take a 2hr ride to some of these places and am not sure how much they cost at the moment. Need to do more research. Anw hope someone is compiling stuff on food, shopping and others. (P.S. sel or anyone can find out the location of places that tailor make shirts? I may want to check them out.)
Enjoy your trip people! Remember to bring me lots of gifts, presents, food, toys, clothes...etc :)
oh dear hua, dun be upset becos u shld be resolved to leave by now bah. pls dun stay around to watch show. *frowns*
anyway, thanks are in due to hua, sj and bk for helping me with the hotel booking. due to murphy's law, i was extremely hard pressed for time during that time and a lot of ad hoc crap was thrown at me while i had to monitor the booking. so thanks for dealing for me whenever.
why first house? well, i waited for everyone's confirmation but to no avail so i went ahead with samran 3 weeks before. alas, it was not available. fully booked thru website. book thru hotel direct was pricier. nuts! then it was bangkok city inn. residence was fully booked. i discovered really bad reviews for these 2 hotels, bugs infestation and wat not.
most hotels were occupied on 20 & 21 hence we could not get the whole period. Booking has to be done one at a time cos credit card details were given. you whack 5 hotels, 3 confirmed and you have to pay cancellation charges for 2. that kind of thing. so i had to try and then wait. in the end, first house was free, walking dist to mrt and shops, i stayed before, within 20sgd/pax budget so i took it already.
charges are 50sgd per room per night. residence is 102sgd for 2 bedrooms and 1 living room. and that is still 51sgd per bedroom. so it's about there. hope u like the place. i stayed triple room and it damn big. we had nightly meetings/briefings before we set off.
i have researched on the shopping. will try to find good tailors too. anyone with recommendations? FIONA, if you are reading this, do u have ur colleague's recommendation with u? how are u there? see u soon.
aniwae, can i propose that the bkk ppl to meet up on sat for dinner or something to finalise the activities that we are going to do for the trip?? easier to talk and discuss then to email and post on blog...
typical boss talk.
i second that. sat i am free.
aniwae, shujuan and me saw on the flowerpod forum that we should not go to pinky tailor for customised shirts.... their workmanship is questionable and their attitude is bad... hahaha... need to avoid it
oh yah... regarding the 3hrs to clear checkpoint, the gals have sort of discussed it.. yesh man, i think it really takes that long to clear immigrantion... hopefully the fugitive is caught really soon...
else we would have to start our day as early as 8am (almost like going to work lor) in order to get to the airport by 12pm... keep your fingers cross!!
Juz saw blog today,am astonished to see so many posts only after 3 days. emmm..seems like Pinky Tailor has mixed reviews.Cuz I've had friends comment on its quality workmanship. Another also praised it on his blog: http://www.jason.sg/rawks/306
If u're still willing to try, the address is 888/40 Ploenchit Road, behind Mahatun Plaza, Ploenchit BTS. I'd prob visit it this weekend.
Am very frustrated to note that exchange rate is 22.7 when I changed for 22.45!!!
ok, gotta get back to work. arghhh.
on a side note..fiona, u have returned me the ghibli vcds?..just chking..
The posted exchg rate is taken off the internet. Think the currency exchg rate is slightly lower. Not sure what the rate is.
i ploughed thru internet and got many names thru recommendations in forums:
1) Nikkermans in Landmark hotel basement
2) Narry.com (it's a shop name) and has free pick up service to shop!
3) Steve Tailor in Big C shopping Centre
4) Peter Ranee, near Asia Hotel
5) Peter Clothiers at Ambassador Hotel
6) Crown Tailors
that's all for now. gtg for meeting.
hmm.. my bank's exchange rate for thai baht is 22.42$... i would need to check out the raffle place money exchanger later during lunch hours.. will let you all know...
hey dan, I recalled I returned u e cds liao.. aihua, can go to arcade, e rates are better. ok gotta go to work liao..
today's exchange rate is $22.52... can wait till next week to exchange then...
ppl, better let me know how much you are intending to change k... hahaha.. discuss tml...
btw, meet 6pm at city hall mrt station. going to the jap marche for dinner... it's at the new wing of raffle city shopping centre, basement... =)
Hey checking with you all, for your luggage bags, are you all bringing the trolley bag type or the sling bag type?
Bringing backpack, 2 hand-carry bags and a smaller sling bag. Should be stuffing everything into 1 hand-carry that day.
yo ppl, I have done up the itinerary for our bkk trip, pls check your emails NOW!!! hahaha
do look through and let me know if there’s anything or anywhere that you want to see or go and I try to fit it in...
aniwae, the exchange rate at the money changer today is still 22.52$... pls let me know how much you need me to change k… will change tml lunchtime =) crossing fingers and hope that the rate doesn’t fluctuate tml
that's all for now! back to work... tonight will stay packing... hahaha
i just bring my backpack (the one i brought to europe) and a spare china bag (the plastic thing, ugly but huge)...
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