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On this page you'll find some tourism tips. Please bear in mind we left Thailand in 1998, so some things may have changed... Some links for trip planning:
BangkokThe Nancy Chandler Map of Bangkok not only helps you to navigate in a very confusing city, but also contains lots of information on places to see and things to do. Bangkok is famous for its traffic jams. Friends who've been in the city since the opening of the Skytrain highly recommend this new overhead railway system which whisks you through the city in air-conditioned comfort. Enjoy! You shouldn't miss having a real Thai therapeutic massage. This is an ancient health treatment related to yoga. We used the massage institutes at Soi Surawong Plaza off Surawong Road - which, despite their proximity to Patpong, were completely respectable! Our favourite was Vejakorn, right at the end of the soi - air-conditioned, clean, service included pre-massage footbath and loan of pyjamas & slippers. We can recommend a 2-hour massage on your day of arrival as a jet-lag cure. You can follow a course in Thai massage at Wat Po (see below).
One of our favourite lesser-known sights was the phallus shrine in the gardens of the Hilton Hotel... It's fun to hire a long-tail boat at Tha Chang pier (near the Grand Palace at the end of Na Phra Lan Road) for a couple of hours exploring the canals on the Nonthaburi side of the Chao Phraya river. But go to the bathroom before the trip, and take some water! Please don't fall for the jewellery scam, which we've mentioned already. Popular locations to begin the scam were the Grand Palace, Jim Thompson's House, and the bridge over Wireless Road at its junction with Ploenchit Road (by the British Embassy). Nevertheless there are many honest jewellers in Bangkok offering good quality at reasonable prices. A favourite jeweller of the expats in our neighbourhood was Khun Vilai Wong at Gems of the Orient (89/19 Wireless Road, in a courtyard more-or-less opposite the Dutch Embassy). She made our wedding rings! For one-stop handicraft shopping we recommended Narayaphand on Ratchadamri Road. This government-sponsored store had products from lots of up-country development projects, at fixed and marked prices. If you were going up-country, it was a great place to get a feel for price and quality in preparation for successful bargaining at local markets. Staying in Bangok for a while? Look out for
Metro, a monthly listings
magazine in English with information on events and entertainment. |
Beyond Bangkok |
The following hotels were particular favourites...
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Never ask a taxi driver to take you to
the must-see Grand Palace / Wat Phra Keow. He may demand an excessive fare. Instead, ask to go to Na Phra Lan Road (where the
entrance is) or Silpakorn University (other side of the road).
You may be told by taxi-drivers that the Grand
Palace is closed. Ignore them - this is the opening line of a jewellery
scam. The dress code for the Grand Palace is strict: no
shorts, shoulders covered, no open-toe sandals. You will be inspected
for decency! Don't miss Wat Po (next to Grand Palace), which many of
our guests preferred to its more famous neighbour. Its Reclining
Buddha is a must-see, and it offers massage courses. Wat Arun looks best seen from a distance across the river,
so if you're short of time it's not worth the crossing.
