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[TIPS ON SHOPPING]
[BANGKOK HOTELS]
| Silom-Suriwongse Area |
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| In Bangkok, Silom
Road is a major street for business as well as for tourists. It is the most lively street
of Bangkok. Running parallel to Silom Road left and right are the Sathorn and
Suriwongse Road, respectively. Just half a
century ago, Silom Road was considered to be a remote district of Bangkok with rice paddy
fields. Nowadays, it becomes the most important business and financial centre of Bangkok.
From end to end, these two parallel streets of Silom and Suriwongse houses various
buildings, banks, finance firms, companies, hotels, airlines offices, restaurants,
shopping arcades, department stores, and entertainment places and also many street
hawkers. .
These two streets - Silom and Suriwongse
are busy not only in the daytime, but through late night, Both Thai people and foreigners
come out to dine, to shop, to meet friends or to seek enjoyment. It is interesting to
stroll along these streets in the evening for shopping and dining or for seeking
entertainments.
The most famous spot in this area is Patpong, which
has been very well-known to foreign visitors for its bars and nightclubs. It is a small
lane running between Silom and Suriwongse road.
Strangely, in every winter, there are thousands of
swallows (birds) flying just on top of Silom Road after dark.
(Sathorn Road – although it
is a well-known street in Bangkok with many high-rise office buildings and hotel
properties, we do not recommend to leisure tourists because it is somewhat unlively and
you will have to walk quite a distance to Silom and Suriwongse Road)
Select the hotels on Silom-Suriwongse Area
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| Sukhumvit Area |
|
| Sukhumvit
Road is also one of the main street in Bangkok. It runs from Bangkok right upto the
Cambodia Border in the East. The interesting area
for foreign visitors is at the beginning of Sukhumvit Road, starting from Soi 1 to Soi 24.
("Soi" in Thai literally means small lanes – You will
often see this word “Soi” while visiting Thailand; it acts as a reference of
location for a long street). There are many hotels, restaurants, department stores, and
various shops selling wide range of goods and products, such as jewelry, leather goods,
ready-made garments, souvenirs, and etc.
The Eastern Bus Terminals for buses
running to Pattaya, and Rayong is on Sukhumvit Soi 63, locally called "Ekamai".
(Take a note on this word “Ekamai” if you are intending to visit Pattaya by
local buses. If you tell a taxi driver to go to “the Eastern Bus Terminals”, we
bet he will be bewildered)
North of Sukhumvit Road is Petchburi
Road, which is rather quiet during the day. After dark, it is totally different. This
long street is illuminated with colorful neon signs of many entertainment places, visited
by those seeking some sort of night entertainments.
Royal City Avenue (RCA), is the newest
entertainment hotspot of Bangkok, visited by mostly stylish young middle-class
people in the numerous pubs, discos and restaurants. It is a t 2.5 km street between
Rama IX Road and New Petchburi Road. With the economic downturn nowaday, it is less quiet
than before.
Select the hotels on Sukhumvit Area
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| Riverside Area |
|
| The great Chao Phya
River, also known as "the River of the King", runs across Bangkok. There are
many good hotel properties situated just besides the river banks. Staying in one of
these hotels can be fascinating as many hotels have beautiful rooms with magnificent river
view. Moreover, you can take the boat trip to various Bangkok's main attractions, such as
the Royal Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Wat Pho, and etc. However,
selecting a good hotel location besides the river is essential. With magnificent
river-view room, and good access to the main attractions by boat, there are a few other
points that we recommend you to consider before making your decision. If you look
into any map of Bangkok, you can see that the river is long, and runs across Bangkok from
North to South. Though situated besides the river, some hotels are too far off from
the city centre to travel by road. Those boats, that conveniently take you around during
the day, stop their operation at night. Moreover, the surrounding might not have
anything interesting if you stroll around. So, it is wise to spend your money with a
hotel that can bring up all the bests during your stay in Bangkok. Don;t you think so?
Points to ponder in selecting a riverside hotel:
 | A room with a good view of the river |
| A Good Access to the main attractions by boat |
| A Good Location to start your travel around Bangkok by
road, if you want to or need to! |
| A Good Surrounding where you can stroll around both by day
and by night. |
| And Close to the shopping and entertainment areas |
Selecting
the hotels in Riverside Area
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| Siam Square - Ratchdamri Road |
|
| This
district is a popular area, frequently visited by middle-class Thai people. It is the
biggest and busiest shopping district in Bangkok where almost all kinds of goods, such as
clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, books, antiques, etc.are on sale. Besides Siam Square lies one of the most largest department stores
in Southeast Asia, called locally by Thai people "Maboonklong" Every
day, thousands of people - young and old, students and white collars, Thai and Foreigners,
visit this "Maboonklong"
The renowned “Four-Face Buddha” also locates at
the corner of Ratchdamri Road, a kilometer from Siam Square. Every day there are hundreds
of local Thai people praying reverence to this “Four-Face Buddha”. It is a
belief to many Thai people that they will get what they pray for to this Buddha statue. If
you were lucky, you can see Thai classical dance at this place for free. (These dances
were hired mostly by those people who have met their prayer comes true).
Selecting
the hotels in Siam Square Area
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Pratunam Area |
|
| Just a few
hundred meters from "the Four-Faced Buddha" is the Pratunam Market next to Indra
Arcade. It is not a high-class shopping centre, however, is worth visiting if you
wish to shop for cheap clothes and commodity. Many ordinary Thai people visit this market.
It is also the market of garments and export. (Tips: your bargaining
skill is essential if you shop with one of the street hawkers). Selecting the
hotels in Pratunam Area
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| Airport
Area |
|
| This area can be
ideal if you need to spend a night in Bangkok for your next connecting flight. There
is rarely anything to do or to see in this area near the airport. However, with the
new Express Way, you can take a drive into Bangkok's center within 20-30 minutes
depending upon the traffics. Just opposite the
Bangkok International Airport, there is a 4-star hotel named Amari Airport Hotel where you
can just walk across a flyover from the Int'l Airport Terminal 1. Being so
conveniently situated, the price is rather high for average visitors.
Just 3 kilometers from the Airport upward to the North, a
4-star hotel, - Asia Airport Hotel is
situated. You will be transfer from and to airport free of charge. The advantange of
this hotel is that it located on top of a big department store - Zeer Rangsit
About 5 minutes away by car from the airport, there is a
3-star hotel - Comfort Suites Airport Hotel. The
hotel provides free transfer service from the airport to the hotel and also back to the
airport for your flight, no matter what time you arrive or depart. The room rate is
inexpensive.
Further away from the airport about 10 minutes drive,
there is another 4-star hotel, the Central Plaza Hotel. It just situates besides a
large and famous Department Store, frequently visited by Thai people. Staying here
can be an ideal, if you have time to stroll around or to shop during the Department
Store's opening hours. If you were in Bangkok during the weekend, you can also visit
the famous Bangkok's Weekend Market which is a few kilometers away from this hotel.
Selecting
the hotels in Airport Area
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| INNER CITY-CHINATOWN |
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| The
inner city is originally the old town of Bangkok when established as the capital over 2
centuries ago. Here are located the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the
Temple of the Reclining Buddha, two universities, several ministries, and various
government offices. The inner city was formerly surrounded by walls, but now only a few
sections remain and are preserved as historic sites. It is from this side of the Chao Phya
River that one takes a boat to visit the Temple of Dawn and the canals nearby. Chinatown is located just to the southeast of the
old town. It dates back to the same time of the establishment of Bangkok where Chinese
inhabitants settled down. As in other parts of the worlds where the Chinese migrated
to, the olden-day Chinese immigrants prefer to stay together in their own colony,
That's why the word "China Town" comes from. . The main street of China town is
the Yaowarat Road, which is also well-known to the Thai people as a gold-shop street.
In the past decades, Yaowarat Road was
used to be the main business hub of Bangkok before the rise of Silom Road. Believe it or
not, at its peak – Yaowarat Road also had thousands of swallows flying above it, but
nowaday no more. It seems that these swallows moved its niche as the prime site moved its
place from Yaowarat to Silom.
Actually, the Inner City area should have been
the best place in Bangkok to stay if we consider only the distance to the various main
attractions. However, there are rarely any 4 or 5-star hotels pop up
in the area. The only hotel which fits to be categorize as 4-star is the
Grand China Princess
Hotel on Yaowarat Road. The others are mostly the small hotels, but we could hardly find any hotel that we can
fully categorize as a 3-star hotel.
Selecting the hotels in Inner City Area
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| Railway Central Area |
|
| Just out of the
Inner City area, there lies a main railway station of Bangkok, built by the 5th king of
the Chakri Dynasty. This railway station is locally
known to all the Thai people as "Hualumpong" - Note this word if you are
planning to board a train in Bangkok. In this
area, there is nothing interesting if you wish to stroll around on your foot.
However, it can be an good place to stay, because it is just a few kilometers to other
main areas as we have described above, such as the Silom-Suriwongse
Road, Siam Square, and the Inner City.
Selecting the hotels in Railway Central
Area
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| Ratchadapisek |
|
| Rachadaphisek
Road is a new and commercial district having several big department stores, office
buildings, hotels, and a large number of restaurants. A little way off the road are
Thailand Cultural Center, where shows and exhibition are held from time to time, and the
Mass Communications Organization of Thailand housing the Channel 9 TV Station. We do not recommend this area to leisure travelers because it is
quite far off the central area. It will take you hours if you wish to visit the main
attractions of Bangkok such as the Grand Palace and other temples, which are in the inner
city.
Top |
| RAMA XI Road & RAMKHAMHEANG |
|
| The Ramkhamheang Road is famous in Thailand as it houses Thailand's largest open
university - Ramkhamhaeng University. Just 2 decades ago, it was considered as a
remote and underdeveloped area. The university was founded in 1970 on the Eastern
outskirt of Bangkok. With a yearly enrolment of 100,000 students, the area became a new
satellite town of Bangkok with many shops, department stores, restaurants, hotels,
entertainment places, theaters, and apartments. Along the street opposite the
university, hundreds of street vendors selling clothes, watches and many more. The
area is popular among students and Bangkokians Rama XI Road is just a road
running from Ramkhamhaeng to Rachadpisek Road
Top |
TIPS
ON SHOPPING AND BARGAINING |
| Since you are now
reading about our Tips on Bangkok Location, let us include Tips on Shopping as well.
You may find it worthwhile. |
| Tips on
Shopping: Shopping in Thailand is very cheap.
Practice your bargaining skill – it’s fun. Some shops will allow you to bargain
– just try, especially to the street hawkers. However, don’t bargain when you
buy things at department stores or supermarkets.
Tips on Bargaining:
To get the best value for your money, here are some tips
when to practice your bargaining skill –
| If you enter a shop, you should observe if the goods or
products are with price tags. If not, you should bargain. |
| In some shops, they may put their price in alphabetical
code either in Thai or in English. You see it, but you don’t understand, however, the
shop owner or its sales knew. For example, they may put - ‘ABD’ on their tag
which might code for A = 1, B=2 and D=4; it could meant for 124 Baht, 1,240 Baht or 12,400
Baht, depending on intrinsic value of the products. You can also bargain to this shop. |
| Some shops, although they put the exact readable price tag,
you may bargain, but bargain in a cautious way. |
Generally, you can
bargain from 10-30%.
| With street vendors, you might bargain up to 50%, but also
be cautious (also recommended at 10-30%). However, don’t be surprise if you ask a
street vendor selling watches to discount from 600 Baht to 300 Baht, and they say
“Yes, take it!” |
Remember one old trick –
After bargaining and the shop-owner say “No”,
don’t feel embarrass! Act as though you don’t want it and walk away. If
they call you before you disappear, you win! If they don’t, you can
always return and buy it – No shame or embarrassment in this case.
Never bargain in Department Stores,
Supermarkets, or in big shops, you will look absurd. |
Top
Edited by Aphisit W. - Customer Service
Royal Exclusive Travel
Contact us: sales@asia-discovery.com
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