(All the updated info in this BKK guide will be in a different color, I edited the guide to make it more updated & applicable for those travelling to BKK soon!)
I actually did something like this before but I deleted all the posts on my blog to 'start anew', then I received quite a number of requests on ask.fm for me to do this again soooooo yeah here I am. I'm not exactly an expert but I'll just share what I usually do, where I usually go, what I usually eat... yeah you get my drift ;-)
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B A N G K O K,
THAILAND
✩ Air Tickets ✩
I'm super anal about comfort onboard the plane, so I usually go by Thai Airways or Singapore Airlines. If Scoot is really a lot cheaper than the above two, I'll go by Scoot. (still traumatized by the 7 hour delay during my Jan trip though) am taking Scoot in May, so fingers crossed nothing goes wrong this time or else I'll murder someone. Thai Airways' meals are A LOT nicer than SQ's though.
SQ food, looks nice right poached eggs & sausage & potatoes, but very mehhhh... I don't have a pic of Thai Airways' food though but just trust me hahaha.
So much leg space in Thai Airways cos we were sitting in front heehee
I always bring back excessively heavy luggage so Thai or SQ is better cos Sherman's parents can take 40KG each as they have points/miles/in some club (idk what's the exact name but yeah you accumulate points and become a gold class member or something) For Scoot, I'll just upgrade my luggage to about 40KG. It's pretty worth it, I think it only cost like an additional $30-40 bucks.
I wouldn't ever travel by Tiger or Jetstar :-( the seats are very uncomfortable or maybe it's just me? Anyway it's just a 2 hour flight so if you're okay then.... but I find their prices quite steep for budget airlines (especially after you add the extra luggage charges) I rather pay about $50 more to take Thai!
I use
skyscanner.com.sg to check air ticket prices, but I book Scoot through the actual Scoot website at
www.flyscoot.com cos the prices on skyscanner for Scoot tickets don't include any luggage.
I almost always travel by Scoot now cos their prices are the most reasonable for the somewhat comfortable flights there (they use old SQ planes if I'm not wrong?)
On my most recent trip I traveled by Tiger cos I booked tickets like 8 hours before flying & I had no choice.. WORST FLIGHT EVER. The seats were so freaking uncomfortable, damn straight & the plane was damn small I was so shocked. They took off really fast & there was non stop turbulence in the air. NO MORE TIGER FOR ME!
✩ Accommodation ✩
It's at Langsuan Road, & the nearest BTS is Chidlom (ok I'm not 100% sure about this cos I never take BTS haha but should be!) & it's about a 15 min walk from Central World.
Studio room! Toilet, kitchen area & living room area. The bed is a King so it's huge!
I like Urbana cos it's clean, spacious & the staff there always remember me. We got to know the hotel manager & now we're pretty good friends too! He's young, like 27 in case you thought he was some old man.... lol. It's a serviced apartment & I always book the studio apartment. It's more than enough space for 2! It ranges between SGD $75 to SGD $90 a night. I'm just so used to this place I keep going back :-) it's become my home in BKK.
Tried the 1-bedroom suite & it's so huge I love it. There's a huge living room with sofa, tv etc, balcony, & room with a King sized bed. + kitchen area if you wanna cook!
I've also stayed at other hotels which I can't remember except VIE & Glow (in Dec). VIE is very, very nice. The room is spacious (but not as big as Urbana) but the toilet is HUGE. I like VIE a lot but the price per room is around SGD $140+++ for a night, it's quite affordable but I'm already so used to Urbana & it's cheaper so... yup! If you don't mind spending more please go to VIE.
The location is also really good, it's right beside Siam Centre. The nearest BTS is Ratchathewi.
VIE's mega huge room. Super luxurious
Glow's location is awesome especially if you go to Platinum Mall everyday. Haha, it's right opposite the road from Platinum & located above this shopping mall called Shibuya (which sucks). Glow is clean, spacious & has awesome room service haha. The food is really good! It's about SGD $100 a night, & the service is good too.
Glow's room service, all for around SGD $30!
I'm very anal about cleanliness of hotels so I wouldn't stay at budget hotels. I'm pretty sure you can get a decent room at around SGD $40-60 per night though, a couple of my friends will be staying in (I forgot the name) which was SGD $45 a night, I'll update this space when we get back haha. Also, some hotels are just plain creepy & yeah you know, being Thailand... spoookyyyy~
✩ Transport ✩
I travel everywhere by taxi. Haha, their cabs there are super cheap compared to SG. Usually my taxi fares never go above 100 baht (around SGD $4) unless I go really far away.... which is seldom. The only bad thing is the traffic jam though. If you're staying in an area which always jams up or going to that area, then I guess it's better to take the BTS.
Always go by meter! Ask before you get into the cab/the moment you get in. Unless it's the peak period then you know most drivers won't go by meter.
In such scenarios though I'll take the
tuktuk! It's pricier compared to the taxis but you can bargain. (This is when I'll put my skills to good use because the only Thai I speak are all the numbers hahaha) like they'll try to charge us 200 baht from Platinum back to my hotel, which would cost maybe 60 baht by meter. So I'll just say 'roi yee sip' which means 120 baht! Yes double the price but the bf loves taking tuktuk it's his fav mode of transport & it's like less than SGD $5 plus we get to skip the long taxi queues & the tuktuk drivers are insane, they weave in & out of traffic so well we're back in half the time lol
✩ Shopping ✩
Platinum Mall
Every girl's heaven. Nuff said. The guys' stuff here is.... don't even bother. Haha so boyfriends accompanying their girls just prepare yourselves. I usually take about 5 hours to finish the entire mall. Pretty fast IMO, I used to go there for 2 consecutive days but nowadays I already know which are the shops that sell the nicer things so...
Siam Square Night Market
It's the stretch opposite Siam Paragon. Opens usually at ... honestly idk what time. I usually go after dinner, around 8 or 9PM. Stuff are pricier than Platinum but still not bad.
Siam Square
Local designers, similar to SG's Haji Lane. More unique stuff! Some shops also sell Supreme, New Balance etc...
Chatuchak
Must go! It's like a 100x times bigger version of Bugis Street. Very very very extremely hot! There's like every single thing on earth there. Clothes, pets, plants, pots, pans, decorations, souvenirs, whatever you name it, they (should) have it. MUST EAT the coconut ice cream!! & the food place at the centre is also pretty good. (Y)
Union Mall
I don't personally like Union Mall much, but my friends do. More guys' clothing here! Pretty far though, near Chatuchak.
MBK
I only go to MBK for the supermarket & to get handphone accessories. Bought like a million iPhone casings here heh heh. The rest of the mall is... boring.
Siam Paragon
I don't shop here, just for meals! There's After You cafe (Shibuya honey toast!!!!) & Another Hound which has awesome red velvet waffles. Krispy Kremes are here too, & Coffee Beans by Dao (they have an outlet at Wisma!) oh there's a shop selling JC shoes but I can't remember which level.
These are the usual places I go... there're definitely more like
Asiatique (I went there once, it's a night market & to me, nothing much. There's a mini SG flyer there lol & good place to have some seafood & chill w beer I guess)
Terminal21 which is quite boring IMO, but there's a shop called Tao Kae Noi Land which sells all the seaweed! & SUPER cheap too hahaha went slightly crazy buying all the seaweed lol
Rod Fai Market/Train Market which I haven't been before & am planning to check out in May, & some other places which my Thai friends have recommended which I can't remember. Pratunam Market (opp Platinum, which I really hate... I can't find a single nice thing there but some of my friends like that place idk maybe I'm at the wrong section or something)
Talad Rod Fai is soooo awesome. Seriously best night market ever! Went in May but now my Thai friends told me it moved already?! It's near Rangsit, at Seacon Square & apparently it's damn damn far away like an hour's taxi ride. Highly doubt I'll be going anymore unless we drive. Which is quite a shame, Rod Fai is so fun. There're so many things to see, all the vintage stuff, all sorts of things!
✩ Food ✩
Zense @ Central World
This restaurant is located at the 17th or 18th (I forgot) floor of Central World & you have to access it by taking a lift inside the Zen Departmental store. I think. They serve Indian, European & Jap food. I've been here twice to date & Pai always orders the pizza, seafood pizza. I don't really like it.. I hate squid & clams. But the smoked salmon pizza with rockets was good! So was the sukiyaki & fried mushrooms. Hahahha & the view is quite awesome.. I love sitting outdoor! It's a super good place for a romantic dinner for 2.
Som Tum Nua
I usually go to the one at Siam Square, Soi 5 but I realised theres another outlet at Siam Centre (food court level). Order the fried chicken, OMG ITS SO GOOD. Mix papaya salad (I always order not spicy but it's still always spicy), fried thai noodles, bbq beef/pork....slurpsssss
ISAO
It's at Sukhumvit Soi 31, jap food.. I blogged about it before in one of my more recent posts. Food is so-so although the queue is insane. Order the Jackie! The rest... very ordinary.
Mr Jones Orphanage
The cakes are so-so, but the ambience makes up for it! It's a really cute & cosy place, I've blogged about this place before. The only cake I like was the Oreo Pizza. Their drinks & food are pretty good though! Girls will confirm camwhore like crazy here. Heh. This is at Seenspace, Thonglor Soi 13 or Siam Centre.
Roast
The mushroom risotto here is. the. bomb. I like the crab cake benedict & corned beef hash too! & the Roast iced tea is (Y) coffee is good too. It was closed for a company function the previous trip damn sad. Seenspace, Thonglor Soi 13 too.
Another Hound Cafe
You can skip the food here but the red velvet waffles are to die for. Seriously. Siam Paragon, forgot which level. You can google it I think
Crepes & Co.
It's right beside our hotel, at Langsuan. The food is not bad! Very fusion. Service is thumbs up!
Nara Thai Cuisine
Pricey in BKK standards but ok to me. Around SG's price? The food is damnnn goooood. It's at Central World.
Platinum Mall Food Court
I think everything here is good. The tom yum soup with glass noodles.. omg making me so hungry right now. & the steed meat noodles soup (I still dk what this is up till today but whatever, just eat.) the soup is SO GOOD. The prices are also very wtf, less than $2 can get you a bowl/plate of something lol. The bf likes the 'cai fan' hahaha rice with dishes like basil pork, green curry etc
Legendary steed meat noodles soup !!!!
Chicken rice stall at Sukhumvit Soi 20 is also damn good. It's right outside Windsor Hotel & we go there for our after clubbing supper lol. Idk what time they open until but they usually open at 6AM when we leave the club.
Blurred pic lol drunk
MK Steamboat
I love MK! They do a little cute song & dance during dinner everyday hahaha.
Somboon Seafood
There are a lot of Somboon fakes so be careful! Just google Somboon & check out their locations, they have a few outlets. The curry powder crab is fwahhhh. Plus you can choose to get the kitchen to shell the crabs for you, don't have to dirty your hands!
aLL six to twelve
This is the restaurant at our hotel. The food is seriously good. Esp the Squid Ink Pasta & Baked Nachos!!!! Fwahhhh really should try, & the prices are super reasonable for such a place. Lots of young rich looking Thais always come here for dinner & drinks too hahahah.
Also have yet to try
After You cafe at Siam Paragon/Thonglor & the
wanton mee at Petchaburi Soi 19 &
Mango Tango & Som Tum at Siam Square! Idk why all the food I've recommended aren't really Thai food lol but Thai food is honestly good almost everywhere in BKK. so.... yup I always have
Red Mango too hahahaha it's super nice over there compared to SG's or maybe it's just me?? &
KFC is damn cheap.
Macs serves cha yen (Thai iced tea)!!! & even
7-11 has damn awesome microwavable food. Bwahaha yes I go to BKK & eat 7-11 food. ;P ooo &
Baskin Robbins!
✩ Chill & Party ✩
I only go to one particular massage place in BKK, it's at Langsuan too (lol lazy as hell) it's called
Chao9 Massage. I don't really see a significant difference in massages everywhere so I'm pretty ok with any actually. I used to hate massages but now I love it soooo much. Esp the full body oil massage, omggggg. Shiok to the max hehe.
For a chill night out, we usually go to
Khao San. I'm not really sure if that's the correct place to go, cos there are ALOT of tourists there. But the prices of things there are still very reasonable so I guess it's fine? Good place to walk around & soak in the atmosphere I guess. There're massage places, push carts selling food & FRIED INSECTS lol, bars for drinks & shisha etc.
Usually on our rest days we'll just wake up damn late & head to Thonglor for brunch at Roast then go down to Mr Jones & chill & slack there before heading to MBK to do
nails. I always go to MBK to do nails, but it's not inside MBK itself! Quite difficult to explain but there's a bridge linking another section to MBK, where all the manicurists have little stalls & they do the most amazing nail art!!
The stall I always go to CLOSED DOWN....so sad now idk which stall to go to to do my nails alr. But there're alot of little stalls there I guess you can just try any.
Clubbing wise, I usually only go to
Route 66, Slim & Scratchdog. Route & Slim are at RCA, Scratchdog is at Windsor Hotel Sukhumvit Soi 20.
Lol spotted outside the Route girls' toilet hahahhah
I used to love Scratchdog but now I think I'm finding it abit boring? Been going there frequently for almost a year now & their music doesn't seem to change eh.... but will still go there for the afterparty haha cos clubs at RCA close at 2 or 2+ I think. Scratchdog closes at 5 or 6! I love Route cos it's all hip hop music hehe my favvvv
Other clubs I've been to & quite enjoyed was
Nunglen (I think it's at Ekkamai) &
Safehouse (just a 3 min walk behind Nunglen),
Virgin which is super far away. It's like an hour or more's car ride there I don't think any of you would wanna go hahaha but I love Virgin!!!!! There's something wrong with my memory cos I suddenly can't remember any other clubs but... yup oh my friends frequent
Funky Villa, Wip & Escobar but I personally haven't been there before. Oh ewww I've been to
Spoon at Ratchada but I really hate that place it's damn weird. At 9AM people were still going in, super dodgy & I was told by my Thai friends that most of the people there are high on pills... lol not really safe to go I guess unless you know Thai/have Thai friends.
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OK I think I'm done with the guide?? Haha some strange people have also requested that I put up some of the Thai that I know (yes seriously idk why you want to know what I know, are you testing me?? Just google/youtube to learn how to speak Thai) I only know very basic Thai... GOOGLE IT HEHE I learnt some of my Thai from youtube, but most from my Thai friends.
I really can't think of what else to add here but you can leave me a msg on my
ask.fm/redlightdistrik if you have any comments or want me to add anything or ask anything I guess. :-)
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