CheapThaiTravel's Asia Travel Blog

Since the local admins can’t seem to find time to actually post anything on their blog (you guys do realize you are supposed to post once and a while right?), I’m back to guest post for another season.  After a long stint in laboring in the salt mines,  I’m ready for some R&R… unfortunately I have to wait another three months to actually travel.  As I started planning my return to the land of smiles, I have noticed that some prices have gone up this year.   Barring any last minute issues from the office, I should be arriving in October.

Booking my economy flight on Cathay Pacific from JFK to BKK  I paid $1,376.00 – quite a bit more than last year, Cathay did have a slightly less expensive fare, but it was not upgradable with Asiamiles.  I’m hoping to upgrade at least one of the long 16 hour legs.  I guess the economy (at least for the international air carriers) is actually starting to pick up along with their traffic numbers.

Searching out a hotel, I found two pretty quickly.  One is the new Marriott Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong, Of course I’ll have plenty of pictures as soon as I can get them online.  Since I can get eight days free with Marriott Points, this was not a real hard choice   The hotel is located almost at the center of the former “red shirt” protest site.  Let’s hope they don’t decide on another months long “party”.

The rest of my time will be spent at Ten Face – it’s a serviced apartment on a little soi behind the main US Embassy compound.  They had a sweet pre-paid deal on Agoda for actually less than their posted going rate, great reviews and one of my local colleagues actually looked at moving into the place a few months ago they liked it so much.

Well, the easy part is done, and paid for.  The hard part has just started – the wait…

The locals call it Khao Din or mountain of earth, a pretty accurate description for Bangkok’s only zoo.  The entire area that comprises the Dusit Zoo used to be an enormous mound of dirt – a hill if you will.

Many things have changed since the zoo opened more than ninety years ago.  The hilly contours are no longer apparent because of the landscaping and the modern world that has built up around the area.  But the Dusit Zoo remains as popular as ever.

Parents take their children to it’s huge playground while young adults spend romantic afternoons strolling the grounds of the zoo.  Others visit on the weekends for a picnic in it’s tree covered gardens.

Dusit Zoo was built as a private botanical garden during the reign of King Rama V on 42 acres.  Walking along the pine tree lined path near the lake, affords you some spectacular views of the old Parliament General Assembly Hall.

The zoo has made great strides in the preservation of endangered animal species, including the captive breeding of the mouse deer.  The animals at the zoo include monkeys and other primates, hippos, lions, giraffe, tigers, reptiles, birds and of course some of the largest elephants in the country.  It’s a nice place to spend an afternoon.

Dusit Zoo Camel

Dusit Zoo Elephant

Dusit Zoo Tiger

Thailand has many sacred sites.  The locals seem to favor seven specific sites in Bangkok for well-being, good luck, prosperity, respect and even popularity.  You don’t need to be spiritual to turn your Bangkok trip into a pilgrimage, as many of the locals do.  You may find the experiance not only enriching but enlightening.

The most popular of these sites is Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn (วัดอรุณ) situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River.  Completed in 1842 during the reign of King Rama III, it is quite a place to visit or make merit during the many Buddhist holy days.  The locals believe that visiting Wat Arun can bring riches.  The visit alone is truly rewarding in itself.

Wat Arun

This amazing temple is among Thailand’s most significant landmarks, also it’s most photographed.  It consists of a substantial elongated Khmer inspired tower, surrounded by four smaller prangs, all of them embedded with tiny pieces of porcelain, which provides that fantastic iridescent glow at sunset.

Wat Arun can be reached by Arun Amarin Road or the water via Tha Tien Pier, near Wat Pho.  The Tha Tien express boat pier at the southwest corner of the Grand Palace or Wat Phra Kaew is diagonally opposite Wat Arun and boats are available at very frequent intervals.  You can get to Tha Tien on the Chao Phraya Express boats from any other pier or you can take a taxi to it.

Many of the Thonburi canal tours also take tourists to visit this amazing piece of architecture.  The temple opens daily from 8:30am to 5:30pm and foreigners will pay a 30 Baht fee.  Free entry to Thais.

Another sacred place is Wat Kanlayanamit, a Thai-Chinese monastery about 1km from Wat Arun.  The temple, which is located along Bangkok Yai canal, is home to the largest Buddha image in Bangkok.

Also along Arun Amarin Road about 1km from Wat Arun is Wat Rakhang or Temple of the Bells.  Built in the Ayutthaya period, it is where Buddhist scriptures are stored. You will also find large numbers of bells (rakhang) here – ringing them all in a row is supposed to bring good luck.   Followers visit the temple in the hope of being loved and admired.

Wat Pho is home of the country’s largest Reclining Buddha image and said to be the country’s first university.  While most locals come to study traditional Thai massage, other visit in the hope of securing a peaceful life.  Outside the temple are various hawkers selling all kinds of marine animals such as frogs, fish, crabs, turtles, snakes and birds – each one symbolizing a specific fortune,  for release in merit making rituals.  It is said that the one who releases them, could have a wish granted.  Releasing a catfish can help in winning over your enemies, releasing a turtle can provide a long life, and setting a colorful fish free can bring a wonderful love life!

For wealth and prosperity, you should not miss Wat Phrakeo on the grounds of the Grand Palace.  It is one of the most visited temples in Bangkok and home of Thailand’s most sacred Buddha, called the Emerald Buddha – made entirely from solid Jade.

Wat Suthat on Bamrung Muang Road is famous for the fabulous murals that were created during the reign of King Rama III, and the Giant Swing out front.  It is a sacred place for those who wish to have a vision.

Lastly is the City Pillar Shrine on Maha Chai Road.  The graceful, temple like structure houses a wooden pillar placed by King Rama I in 1782 as the foundation stone for the new capital city of Bangkok.  During the reign of King Rama IV, a new pillar was built and the shrine was turned into a pavilion with a prang shaped spire.  Many locals believe that a visit to the City Pillar Shrine can ward off bad luck and invite good fortune.

There are quite a few floating markets in and around Bangkok.  The most visited is Damnoen Saduak, located approximately 100km from Downtown.  It’s made up of small canals, patroled by small boats that are piloted by skilled lady hawkers ready to sell their goods all while jockeying for position with their competitors.  It’s hot, sticky and very busy but offers an amazing variety of sanuk (fun).

Most visitors to the floating market of Damnoen Saduak choose organized tours rather than making their way to the market on their own.  While traveling on your own is always an option, using a tour company should ensure a better experiance.  If you prefer to enjoy the market at your own pace, take a private car from Bangkok, then hire a private boat for your journey around the market – the best of both worlds.  The market opens sat 6:30am and closes around 11:00am.

The Taling Chan floating market is close to Bangkok making it a nice weekend getaway and provides a unique shopping experiance.  A slew of canals around the market can be visited by hired boat where you will discover small villages along the way.  Homestays are also available for a truly Thai experiance.  To get there, cross the Chao Praya River to the Thonburi side of Bangkok. The market is near the Taling Chan District Office, and is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm on weekends.

For a more traditional Thai floating market without the touristy feel, you should make a visit to the Bang Khu Wiang market.  Monks arrive by boat early in the morning on their daily tak baat (alms rounds) and a variety of farm fresh produce is offered.  To get there, you can hire a boat from Chang Pier in Bangkok and ask to be taken to Noi-Khlong Om-Bang Klu Wiang floating market.  A less expensive alternative is to catch a boat from Wat Chalo Pier for a fourty five minute ride to Bangk Kruai which runs every 15 minutes from 5:00am to 8:00pm.  From there it’s a 10 minute boat ride to the market.  If you prefer land based travel, Taxi’s and Tuk-Tuks are available for hire at the market.  The market is open from 4:00am to 7:00am daily.

With the temporary departure of our last featured author, Alex we are looking for submissions to the blog.  If you have anything interesting related to Thailand travel, hotel tips, restaurant or pub suggestions, shopping, or anything else let us know – we would be happy to have you as a contributor.

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Even with the the four day extension to my annual South East Asian pilgrimage, the time just seemed to fly by.  That means another year before I can return to Thailand.  I do have a couple more items to mention before I jet off on another 21 hour journey to the east coast US on Saturday.

As I was wondering out of the Black Swan,  a nice little English pub that I visited for the first time, just near Asoke BTS station, I was hungry decided that I needed to eat.  I had run across a couple of posts raving about a place called Sunrise Tacos who had the best Mexican in Bangkok.  That sounded like it would hit the spot.

I just knew I was going to like this place when I saw that it was open 24 hours   I went for the current special  “Carnitas Tacos” – a type of roasted pork being used instead of beef.  Sadly, I wasn’t impressed, the meat was as dry as jerky.  I left somewhat disapointed, but I must say their service saved it  for me… Let’s just say that you come to expect that service isn’t going to be great at many restaurants in Bangkok.  I decided that I would give them another shot on a later date because the service staff was excellent.

I returned a couple of days later a little after 3pm for lunch.  This time I selected  the “USA Cowboy Tacos” – speaking of which, where do people come up with these names?  I also often see “American style fried rice” in a lot of Thai resturants which is tasty, but I’ve never seen anyone eat fried rice with a fried sunny side up egg on top and tasting like they put a bunch of ketchup in it, in America…Anyway back to the review.

The USA Cowboy Tacos at Sunrise were OK as was the selection of salsa’s apparently made fresh on site but far from fantastic.   If you have a craving for Mexican after a night drinking while in Bangkok give them a try.  Unfortunately I was having some camera related issues and couldn’t get you a shot of the food.

I would have to say that I prefer the Mexican food at Bourbon Street Cajun, just inside soi 22 on the right hand side.  Their tacos are HUGE and much higher quality and much higher priced – but then again that is comparing fast food vs. restaurant.

See you next year!

Sunrise Tacos Bangkok

For those of you who haven’t visited Bangkok before, traffic can be a real nightmare.  “Dude, I live in L.A. (or DC, or Atlanta, or NY/NJ)  I’m used to it…”

No, you are not.  Traffic in Bangkok freaking sets records.  I think the only time I saw light traffic was during one early morning around 4am when I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep and took a stroll down Sukhumvit Road after some late night drinking – it was a ghost town.  During the 23 other hours of the day traffic is crazy.

You can avoid a lot of frustration by taking the BTS or MRT if you travel to the parts of Bangkok that are serviced by these very nice, clean and efficient modes of public transport (did I mention clean?) – or combine your trips with Taxi’s avoiding the busiest parts of the city.

Also be aware of your surroundings – motorcycles are apparently allowed to merrily cruise down the sidewalks if traffic is heavy, that could be dangerous to your health!

Traffic, Sukhumvit Road

Traffic, Asoke Intersection

Traffic, Wireless Road

If you are looking for anything IT related from new laptops to cameras, to PC parts or repairs, even a DVD movie or the latest PC/PS3/Xbox software, Pantip Plaza your one stop shop.  That cheap new 100-150 baht movie or 250-400 baht Photoshop software you just picked up is probably counterfeit – I believe that’s why this place remains so popular.  There are two large IT stores with more expensive legal software – Data IT (mezzanine) and IT City (top floor).

Located on New Phetchaburi Road just a couple of blocks around the corner from Central World Plaza (เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์), this place is five floors of all things tech.   Normally when I arrive, I try to move off of the ground level floor unless I’m looking for a DVD or software as this is where most of the DVD touts live.  You will hear the phrase “Sexy movie?” many a time on your route to the closest escalator

There is always that blast from the past, the A&W restaurant on the ground floor near the entrance, as usual, their root beer float is awesome.  There are some other food court type restaurants on the mezzanine level.

Pantip Plaza

Pantip Plaza Bangkok

Top Floor Pantip Plaza

This massive shopping center opened in 1985 and was the largest in Asia at the time.  Access to MBK is just off the National Stadium BTS stop in Bangkok.  Seven floors of shopping goodness, the best IMHO is the 4th floor.  The “mobile phone accessories and electronics” floor.  Everything and I do mean Everything you could ever want that has to do with mobile/cell phones is here and is mostly pretty cheap.  Models from the old 3 watt bag phones, Chinese copies of the old Motorola MC750 brick phones updated with color screens to the latest models like the Samsung Omnia II and LG GM730 and the myriad of HTC Android models.

You could spend all day just strolling around the 4th floor taking it all in (I spent most of a day wondering around).  Besides the literally thousands of phones and their accessories, you can find “unlockers” to open your locked (usually US models) phones so that they can be used on other carriers by changing the SIM card, there are upgrades available that can allow you to use dual SIM cards, extended capacity batteries, etc.

You can also find led flashlights, Bar style laser lighting systems, CD’s and DVD’s (Music, Movies and Games), guys that can mod a PS2 or PS3 to play all region DVD’s, pretty good Chinese copies of Aimpoint and ACOG sights, and many other types of electronics.

There’s also the requisite Movie Theater (8 screens), a 28 lane bowling alley, a Karaoke bar and Multiple food courts.  You can send the missus to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors to keep her busy in the Clothes, Shoes and cosmetics floors while you geek on 4.

MBK - 7 Floors

MBK - Bangkok

MBK Center Bangkok

National Stadium BTS

Even after after all my trips to Thailand I still cannot fathom the amount of retail space dedicated to Bangkok.  The shopping malls here are huge, dwarfing anything in the US.   The newest complex Siam Paragon (currently listed as the largest in Asia) was opened in 2005 covering 21 acres!

It includes Siam Ocean World (Largest aquarium in Southeast Asia), Paragon Cineplex (a 15 screen theatre – one of which has the largest screen and seating capacity in Asia) , car dealerships for Lotus, Ferrari, Bently, Lamborghini and others,  many excellent resturants, a fitness center, a hotel, the music campus of Mahidol University, Supermarket, I think there are 4 Starbucks branches and the list goes on.  You can reach Siam Paragon via the BTS stops at Siam or Chidlom – This place is truely a city within a 21 acre mall.

There are many more of these huge shopping complexes within a few minutes walk of Siam Paragon including Central World, Gaysorn, Siam Center, Mahboonkrong or MBK -  post coming soon on this one!) and others.  Here are a few pics:

Concert and Event Area

Lotus Dealer

Siam Paragon Bangkok

Lamborghini Dealership