I know many of you have already been to Bangkok a few times and the informations that I'm going to share you might already knew, but I am sharing for those who are planning on a trip there or those who wish to know more information.
Why Bangkok? Because it's a paradise for a shopalolics and food lovers like us & best part was everything there was super cheap!
Since everything there is cheap, we definitely couldn't waste too much money on air tickets and hotel, otherwise what's the point of going there to shop when you have already made a big hole in your pocket.
So here's my total expenditure:
Air Tickets: Round trip by Tiger Air (SGD 240)
Hotel: Grand Alpine Hotel for 4 nights (SGD 80)
Amount spend: Around 10,000bhat (Shopping, Food, Transport)
If you are wondering why my air ticket is so expensive, well its because we booked the "best timing" flights so that we wouldn't waste a day there:
SG to BKK: 9.00am flight, reached BKK at 12.30pm (Bangkok time - 1 hour slower)
BKK to SG: 8.30pm flight, reached SG at 11.30pm
< Flight time is around 2hrs 20mins. >
A little details on my hotel:
Address: 88/15-17 Phetchaburi Rd. Phayathai Ratchathewi Bangkok 10400, Bangkok, Thailand
I would say that this hotel was not bad if you are not going to spend much time in the hotel. The rooms are not very big but all the basic essentials are there. A few bad points about the hotel would be that it has lousy sound-proof, so when your neighbour is leaving or walking along the corridor you can hear them. Another thing would be, the hotel is located at the end of a alley so its quite ulu and not many drivers knows how to get there, but you can just say Baiyoke Hotel because it's near by.
Some TIPS I learned from this trip:
1) Get air tickets during promotion period, like 1 for 1. Best price for a ticket to BKK and back would be less than $170 including baggage of (20kg back).
2) Try to book hotel Pratunam market because thats where u can do your shopping in morning and night.
3) Exchange rate, do not change if the rate is below 25.1 ! I change mine at BKK for 25.54! which is super worth it if you are changing a large amount.
**Do not change your money at BKK airport or any Bank's money changer, go to those money changer on the streets, their rates are much higher.
4) Most of the items at BKK are priced around 100bhat, so I would suggest to change all your 1,000bhat notes at 7-11 or shopping malls. This way its easier for you to shop at the wholesale market or night markets, because they sometimes do not have enough change for you.
5) Always bargain when you take a tuktuk best would be around 100bhat for anywhere you go, not more than 200bhat. If you are traveling by a taxi ask to go by meter, because for my 1hour taxi ride to Asiatique it was less than 200bhat!!
*If the driver asked you to go for some jewelery place so that your fare is cheaper, i would say go for it! All you need to do is spend 15mins inside the place and walk around.
**If the driver asked you to go for some Ping Pong Show, PLEASE SAY NO!!! If you are wondering what is that, Google it.
If you are wondering why i did not talk about BTS (their MRT there), is because I did not take it when I was there, my hotel was kind of in the central district so traveling by tuktuk or taxi to anywhere is worth it (for 4 person) but if you are traveling alone or in pairs would be best if you take the BTS.
There are many attractions at BKK, but one of the famous one would be Asiatique where it is located along the banks of the Chao Phraya River. If you watch That F Word from Clicknetwork ? You would have know that the cheapest way of getting there will be by BTS and taking the free shuttle boat, but i would really suggest to just take a cab. Because there will be a lot of people taking the shuttle boat which i find it not safe to take. Here's a few image i got from google, just look at the amount of people on board:
I would say that Asiatique is a great place for dinning, especially dinner, the night scenery there is not what you can see in the city. There are a few bars and restaurants where you can dine and relax with a glass of wine. They do have many shops there but because it is one of the tourist attraction, the prices there are not as cheap as what you can get outside. Not forgetting the big ferris wheel there, it's 250bhat(around 10sgd) for an adult ticket and children below 120cm is 150bhat. If you want to gain experience you can try taking it but I do not think that its worth it, because it turns very fast!
I will end this post here, there will be Part 2 on FOOD & Part 3 on SHOPPING to my BKK trip, so stay tune!
