Places of Interest in Bangkok 

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My wife and I used to live in Bangkok for 2 years. Here are a few places we recommend :

Wat Po - A famous Thai temple with the largest statue of Buddha. This temple is also famous for teaching Thai massage - the very first traditional massage school in Thailand opened here. You can get a great massage here and its cheap too - http://www.watpomassage.com/ . Note: you will not be allowed into the temple if you wear short trousers or a short skirt - it offends the Buddhist religion. You need to take a taxi or bus to get there.

                                              Wat Po                                                    

Khao Sahn Road - made famous in "The Beach" movie. Its THE place for backpackers to stay when they visit Bangkok. Many cheap restaurants, bars, hotels, market stalls and shops there. Its always busy and has a nice atmosphere. You can rent rooms for as little as 150 baht a night there; mid range hotels cost around 600 baht. There are quite a few good second hand book shops along the Khao Sahn road. Here is also a good place to buy cheap plane tickets or arrange travel packages. You need to take a taxi or bus to get there. This is in the same neighbourhood as Wat Po.

 Khao San Road

Samut Prakan Crocodile farm is fun to visit. Its the largest crocodile farm in the world. Thai zoos are not so restrictive, you can get close to the crocs - still its safe - you can even feed them yourself from an overhead walkway. They also have an elephant show and a monkey show. This is a taxi journey of approx 1 hour from central Bangkok. Website - http://www.paknam.com/crocodile.html  Also in this neighbourhood is Muang Boran AKA the Ancient City, which has reproductions of historical buildings from Thailand's past. Website - http://www.paknam.com/ancient1.html

 Croc show

Snake farm in central Bangkok - You can see snakes and how the farm makes anti-venom. There is a show with some snakes and later you can have your photo taken with a live cobra wrapped around you if you wish. This is located on the RamaIV road - taxi to get there.

Snake farm

Chatuchak weekend market - the largest market in Thailand, some say in the world – over 35 acres in size. Its very cheap because its priced for locals. A lot of tourists like to visit. A wide variety of goods on offer. Very hot though, hard to find a shop with aircon there and its very crowded, remember to drink lots of water. There is an underground station at the entrance to the market. Kamphaeng Phet is the name of the underground station but remember this market is only open daytime on Saturdays and Sundays.

 Its crowded at Chatuchak

Lumpini Park - one of the largest parks in Bangkok, you can join the locals practicing Tai Chi, relax near the lake, buy a bag of bread crusts and feed the fish (there are many and they are really hungry), or rent a paddle boat.  This is on the underground line - Lumpini station.

Lumpini park

 Floating market - famous tourist attraction. Starts very early - about 6am. They are mostly selling fruit and vegetables, it gets busy after 830am. Best to book this trip through a travel agent as its quite far and you can also include, in the same day, a trip to the Rose Garden or the Bridge on the River Kwai.

 Floating market

World Fellowship of Buddhists  - On every first Sunday of the month, English speaking monks offer a free afternoon session where they teach you how to meditate. Starts at 2pm and finishes at 530pm. Be mindful of your thoughts ! The closest skytrain station is Phrom Phong, this is next to the Emporium shopping centre that I have mentioned towards the end of this guide. Website - http://www.wfb-hq.org/main.html

 Entrance to WFB

Boat trip - you can take a boat taxi up the Chaoprya river and see or stop off at many sites along the river. You can stop off at a snake farm and temples along the way among other attractions. To get to the pier you need to take the skytrain to the Saphan Taksin station.

 You can rent private boats like this. Or take the larger public ferries which are cheaper.

Museums. There are many museums to visit, The Forensic museum shows horrific things like preserved, deformed bodies and severed limbs. There are some pics on this website -  http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Thailand/Central_Eastern_Thailand/Bangkok-1445238/Off_the_Beaten_Path-Bangkok-Forensic_Science_Museum-BR-1.html

Patpong ( http://patpongnightlife.com/ ) - famous for its night market and red light area. Jim Thompson's house is close to here too selling good quality silk. The night market sells cheap famous brand names - handbags, watches, perfumes, shoes, t-shirts, jeans etc aswell as Thai art and crafts - this market is aimed at tourists so it can be a little expensive - remember to haggle. If you want to stop for a drink I can recommend O'Reilly's Irish bar close to the skytrain station and in the heart of Patpong the Music bar has good live music all night. If you are tempted to take in a go-go bar to see what its all about DO NOT go in the bars upstairs as many are rip offs, the bars that belong to the Kings Castle group have a good reputation. There is a good French restaurant called La Bouchon hidden away at the back of the market. Patpong is a short walk from Sala Daeng skytrain station or Silom underground station.

Pics from Patpong

 Sukhumvit Road - between Soi 3 and soi 21 (Asoke), every evening are a lot of market stalls lined up along the side of the street selling similar things to the patpong night market. This is also aimed at tourists so can be a little bit pricey. There are many bars, restaurants and hotels along this street and on Soi 4 is the infamous redlight area called Nana Plaza .  If you walk up Soi 5 on Sukhumvit Road after about 200 metres on the right you will see a huge bar called Gullivers, nice food in here, a lot of pool tables and a good atmosphere. (Gullivers also have a similar bar on the corner of Khao San Road).  Also up Soi 5 on the left before Gullivers is a good 24 hour supermarket called Foodland, they sell a lot of western foods and have a good restaurant that's very cheap. Take the skytrain to Nana station.

 Gullivers bar

Soi Cowboy - take the underground to Sukhumvit station – or you can walk from Nana – its only one station away. This is another famous redlight area, on the corner of this street is the Old Dutch bar and restaurant which sells great food at cheap prices. If you walk through Soi Cowboy coming from the underground station and turn right at the Old Dutch, approx 200 metres up the street on the right hand side is a good English fish and chip shop.

 Soi Cowboy

 Ladyboy Cabaret Show - One of the best and longest running shows is the Calypso show in the Asia hotel. You can reach this on the skytrain, stop at Ratchedewi station. The hotel has its own exit from the station. Looks like a woman but really its a man - very confusing ! Website - http://www.calypsocabaret.com/

 Cabaret show

There are many nice shopping centres, restaurants and bars to visit. The Emporium - http://www.emporiumthailand.com/main.html - is one of the more upmarket shopping centres on Sukhumvit Road Soi 24. There are many designer shops, Sony and Nokia have a shop there, there are also 2 good book shops. There is a good cinema on the top floor and the floor below has a good foodhall which includes Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut. There is a skytrain station right outside called Phrom Phong station.  A short walk from the Emporium, turn left when you exit, go past the park on your left and after about 200 metres you will find The Dubliner Irish bar on your left - http://www.dublinerbangkok.com/ - . Another 100 metres or so you come to the corner of Soi 22. The bar on the corner, called Flyers, has very good pool tables, a nice relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff - good pie and mash also. If you walk inside Soi 22, after about 200 metres on the left you will see an entrance to a parking area. This is called Washington square, if you walk through and to the right hand side you will come to Bourbon Street - http://www.bourbonstbkk.com/ - this is a very good, well established American restaurant which sells great burgers and steaks. Across the street from the Emporium (you can cut through the skytrain station) is a good English pub called The Robin Hood nice food in here but drinks are a little expensive - they sell pints and have imported bitter. A little farther down the street (turn right when exiting the Robin Hood) is the Villa supermarket. This opens 24 hours a day and sells a good selection of imported foods. Upstairs they have a very big wine shop, one of the biggest in Thailand.

 Emporium shopping centre

There are also many shopping centres in and around Siam Square, the Siam Paragon shopping centre houses south east Asia's largest aquarium in its basement, see review here - http://www.siamparagon.co.th/v3/index2.html . This is also on the skytrain, the station is called Siam. There is also a Hard Rock cafe located in Siam Square selling good Thai and Western foods, they have live music every night - http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafes.aspx?LocationID=4&MenuID=15&MIBEnumID=3 . Other shopping centres in this area include MBK ( http://www.mbk-center.com/en/shoppingguide/index.asp ) , Siam Centre and Siam Discovery ( http://www.siamcenter.co.th/ ).

Clockwise from top left – MBK, Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery centre and Hard Rock Café.

If you want to buy good quality football shirts at reasonable prices then head down to FBT department store. This is located on the Ramkamhaeng road in the university quarter of Bangkok. There are several floors, they also sell golf and other sports equipment. This is the same neighbourhood as the Nasa Vegas hotel I have mentioned at the end of this guide. Taxi or bus to get there. Website - http://www.fbtsports.com/contact/index.htm

If you want to get some computer equipment, the most famous place to visit is Pantip Plaza. This is in one of the most busiest places in downtown Bangkok called Pratunam, and is a little awkward to get to since the street is always busy and the closest skytrain station is a 10 minute walk away, so its easier to take a taxi or bus. Personally I prefer to go to the Fortune Town shopping centre. Its cleaner, not so busy and sells pretty much the same PC stuff as Pantip. Its on the underground, the station is called Phra Ram 9. Fortune town is in the same complex as the Fortune Town hotel - http://www.fortunehotel.com/ - this is quite an upmarket hotel which adjoins the shopping centre. Inside the shopping centre there are many traditional Thai massage parlours, restaurants and shops - Tesco, Boots chemist, Pizza Hut and Baskin Robbins to name a few. For the computer shops (IT City) you need to go up to the 3rd and 4th floors and head to the same end as the Tesco supermarket (if you find yourself in the hotel lobby then you're at the wrong end). Basically Pantip plaza is a huge place with 7 floors selling purely computer stuff - but a lot of the shops are selling the same things, whereas Fortune town sells the same computer stuff on a smaller scale but has more variety of shops and its easier to get to.

 Outside Pantip Plaza

As you can tell, I am a big fan of both the skytrain( http://www.bts.co.th/en/index.asp ) and the underground ( http://www.mrta.co.th/eng/index.htm ) because the traffic can be so busy on the streets of Bangkok. If you are only in Bangkok for a few days it will save you an awful lot of time if you use these 2 forms of transport. There are two stations where you can interchange between skytrain and underground. You can buy day or weekly passes for either, ask at the information counter in any station. Trains run from 6am until just before midnight daily. If you want to go by road, on Weekdays between 11am and 3pm and after 10pm traffic calms down a bit and then you should be OK to take a taxi. But on Fridays traffic is terrible all day !

Thai bar. Want to have a typical Thai night out but are not sure where to go ? Our friends in Bangkok have a small  bar in the Klongton area. The owners are very friendly, they have satellite TV and show live football. Its located on the New Petchaburi Road. Best way to get there is by taxi. Ask to be dropped at the Foodland supermarket on petbury tadmy (Thai pronunciation of New Petchaburi Road). With your back to Foodland, turn right and walk up the main street for approx 200 metres. Take the first turning on your right (just before the footbridge) which leads to the Klongton railway station. Our friends bar is on the right hand side just after the wood furniture shop. This is not a tourist area but still the locals are very friendly. The local policeman, postman, university students, office workers and shop owners  like to drink there. The owners name is Sin and he speaks English fairly well. His wife Mi is an excellent cook. Beer and food is cheap. This bar is not far from the Nasa Vegas hotel mentioned below.

A fun night out.

 Places To Stay in Bangkok

Here are a few good value places to stay in Bangkok :

Nasa Vegas Hotel - A little out of the way but they have good quality cheap rooms - aircon, refrigerator, satellite TV and bath for only 590 baht per night. There is s good restaurant in the lobby offering Thai and western foods. Its quite close to Sukhumvit soi 63 which is near Ekkamai, the eastern bus station, but if you want to do some sight seeing or shopping then you will have to take a taxi every time. A taxi ride to the nearest skytrain station (Ekkamai) should cost no more than 60 baht - depending on how busy the traffic is. This hotel is no more than a 20 minute taxi ride from the new Suvarnabhumi airport and makes for a good cheap airport hotel in Bangkok. Telephone: 027199888, website - http://www.nasavegashotel.com/

Rex Hotel - On the Sukhumvit Road near the Thong Lo skytrain station (soi 55). Rooms are 880 baht but very large with satellite TV, fridge, sofa, aircon and hot water. This hotel has a swimming pool and bar. Very friendly staff. Telephone 022590106, website - http://www.hotelthailand.com/bangkok/rexhotel/index.html

Business Inn - Located on Sukhumvit Soi 11/1 close to the Nana skytrain station. 900 baht for aircon room or 600 baht for fan. This hotel is centrally located and in a small soi away from the busy Sukhumvit Road. Telephone 022547981, website - http://www.regit.com/regitel/thailand/bangkok/business/home.htm

Sawasdee Sukhumvit – Located on Soi 57 Sukhumvit Road. Aircon room prices start at 800 baht per night. Not far from the Thonglor skytrain station. Also nearby is a shopping mall and multi screen cinema complex. Website - http://www.bangkok.com/sawasdee-sukhumvit-inn/

Woodlands Inn  - Located on the Charoen Krung Road next to the main post office. This is close to the Silom road, the opposite end to Patpong, not far from the famous Oriental hotel. Good budget hotel that is recommended in many tourguides including the lonely planet. Rooms prices start at 440 baht per night. Tel 022353894, website - http://www.woodlandsinn.org/

Rambuttri Village Inn - Close to the Khao San road. Aircon rooms go for 700 baht per night and they have a rooftop swimming pool, cheap bar and restaurant. Tel 022829163, website - http://www.khaosan-hotels.com/