Day 4 : 30th Jan

This morning, we decide to explore another new place recommended by my wife's colleague. Cannot really pronounce the name of the place, but it is behind "Thai Airways Building". It can be seen from Mo-Chit BTS station. Look for the signage and you won't missed it. Take a cab from this station. We had a bad experience with a rougue cab driver here. Deliberately drove us further and further away and then make a U-turn to double the costs 8-(.
You have to walk through the premises to reach behind the building. Although there are tight security checks, you can simply walk in without any obstructions as I think there is a ticketing office here which is opened to public.
This new place is actually a huge market selling food and fashion/baby apparels. If you think that being in a market, the price will be cheap, you are dead wrong. On the contrary, the price can be matched to those of major shopping malls. This may be attributed by the fact that this market is mainly patronized by the air stewardess/stewards.
After thorough walking, we made our way to xxx area. We had our lunch at Macdonald which costs around THB$99 for a Big Mac set meal. Nice. Soon after, we made our way to Central to further comb the area since we missed most of it during Day 1. After satisfying ourselves with this area, we made our way to the tailor to collect my stuffs.
The Suit and everything else fits like a glove and there is no further need for a rework. This really makes my day. After setting the ....

We made our way to Soulum Night Market next.

Day 3 : 29th Jan

We had our breakfast at the restaurant at the lobby of the hotel. You need to exchange your room keys with the counter staff for breakfast coupons. With the coupons, you get to select ala-carte meals as your breakfast. I felt the fried rice ranks the best to my taste bud.
After breakfast, we made our way to the tailor shop first.
The entire process took us 2 hours, from bargaining over price (he claims that he gives good price to 1st customer of the day) to selection of materials (he claims his designs get changed every other month) and finally taking measurements. We were astastonished when he told us that we can drop by in the evening for my1st fitting (At leasy 1 fitting is required for suit making).
To kill time, we made our way to one tourist attraction in time, called the "Jim Thomson's House". It is approximately 10mins walk from the Stadium BTS (Mar Boh Kong (MBK) BTS) and costs us THB$100 each for a guided tour around the house. From the tour, we learned that Jim Thomson was the person who brought fame to Thai Silk to the rest of the world. The house showcased his love for antiques and paintings and his architectural talent of fusion-ising the construction of a traditional Thai houses and colonial house. At the age of 61, he went mysteriously missing after taking a hike in Cameroon Highlands in Malaysia. Sad chapter for a man who happened to be heir-less.
After the tour, we made our way to the shopping complex, MBK. The first 3 floors are the domain for ladies and man can patronize the 4th level onwards, where mobile phones and accessories, games, videos are sold.
We had our late lunch (with bird-nest) at Nan Sing (on the 3rd floor, if my memory serves me right) and it was simply delicious.
After MBK, we made our way to Siam Paragon. Along the way, we made side detours and pay "tributes" to the smaller malls like Bonanza mall (We were surprised of the range of apparels this mall carries and it is by no sheer coincidence that we made another visit to this place during our last day!).
We had our dinner at the Greyhound Cafe (at Siam Discovery Centre's Basement) and ordered their fried rice. It was also delicious although the portion can be abit larger. After a quick trip in Siam Paragon (it was near their closing time of 21:00hrs), we made our way back to the tailor.
The shirts and pants were already done! The fitting is mainly for the jacket. After instructing my final adjustments, the tailor got back to work and told us to return for collection the next day around evening time.
With nothing else to do, we returned back to our hotel. Just outside our hotel is another massage parlour. We decide to try them out on their foot massage skills. Not so nice. wasted my THB$200. Marble house opposite Novotel hotel is still one of the better ones around.

Day 2 : 28th Jan

For breakfast in Baiyoke Sky, we were ushered to the 76th dining floor. There, you can also have a good view of the whole of Bangkok city. Breakfast selection is vast but taste is only average. Made our way to the shopping area once again for the morning (on Sundays, the street below the hotel is closed to vehicles). This morning was chilly and is pretty unusual for Thailand to have this kind of temperature. My watch's thermometer reported that it was actually 27 degrees celsius. Lovely! We shopped all the way to the Krung Thong shopping complex and the CitiComplex (which are well known to sell wholesale items i.e. you can get a very good discount if you purchase 3 items and above) without breaking a sweat.
Its finally time to say goodbye to this area as we proceed to checkin to our next hotel, Samran's Place. This is an inexpensive lodging area which is around 10mins walk away from the Prachurawit BTS station (BTS next to Asia Hotel).
We checked in at around 19:30 hours and after unpacking, we made headway to the tailor shop recommended by most forum-mers, "BOND COLLECTION" across Asia Hotel. Unfortunately when we arrived at around 20:30 hours, the shop was already closed, even though it was stated to close at 21:30 hours.
Since there is no where else to go, we decide to try the oil massage on the same street at one of the saloon named "GOLDEN HAND". The actual price for a couple is THB$800. We managed to bargain with the boss for THB$700 for our session after much haggling. We were then ushered to a partition on the 2nd floor where we were instructed to strip to our bathing suits. We felt totally relaxed after the session. This night we slept like a log, guess the overall body massage helps.

Day 1 : 27th Jan

Reached Thailand around 17:00 hrs. Plane has to circle in the air for 15 minutes as they have to clear the taxiway or something. Looks like the problems that plagued the new Suvarnabhumi Airport is worse than I thought.
Sarwadi Crup Thailand! Took the public taxi to our hotel. One has to pay a THB$50 levy for boarding the taxis from the departure hall, and I still wonder why this is so as this is not practiced in Singapore.
The ride took 45mins and we finally arrived to our hotel, Baiyoke Sky. You can't miss this building as it is the tallest one that stands out in the Pratunam area. It also serves as a tourist attraction as many tour groups would bring tourists to the observatory floor (73rd floor) of this building to view the entire city.
The bell boy at the ground floor will receive you and take your luggage to transport in another lift to the lobby. The lobby is on the 17th floor and you need to press the (L) button in the lift to reach there.
We checked into our room and was delighted to see a welcome cake, a fruit basket and flower petals lined up on the bedsheet, the sink and the bathtub. My guess is that we are 1st time stayers in this hotel and we indicated that this is our honeymoon trip. ha.
We indulged ourselves to the cake and waste no time hitting the shopping street below the hotel. Rows of makeshift vendors crowd in this street, selling anything from shoewares to clothings and apparels. Price is the most reasonable you can ever find at this area. Remember to bargain. One thing I learnt is that near closing time, they are more receptives to your bargained prices.
We walked our way to Central World (Formally known as World Trade Centre) and had our dinner at the Japanese restaurant, Zen, located on the 6th floor. The price is reasonable but the the sushi is a bit more pricey than other similiar restaurants on the same floor.
Shops close at around 21:00 hrs and we were forced to shop at their only opened shop, Naraya. This shop sells handcrafted bags and cosmetics holders that appeal to tourists due to their relatively inexpensive price. Tourists arrives in hordes (probably also with the same reason as us) and the shop became jam packed in no time. We hit the street outside this mall at around 22:30 hrs and begin to shop at the street vendors. Cheap sandals, shoes and belts are the highlights in this street (all the way to outside Pratunam Complex). We slowly walked our way back to the hotel, which is a good 20mins away. Along the way, I can't help seeing the road side vendors selling food "zi-char" style barbequeing a huge fish on a stick acting as a skewer. This dish seems to be selling quite well and I wonder what is it called and how much it costs? Maybe my next trip I might stomach this heh.

Facts of this trip

Facts on this trip to Thailand, Bangkok Jan 27- Jan 31, 2007.

1) Exchange rate is SGD$ 1 = THB$ 23.12 at Tanjong Pagar complex (opposite Amara Hotel next to the confectionary). It is SGD$1 = THB$23.00 at Fountain Exchange at Suntec this time round 8-( Now I know where to change in future.
2) Travelled on Airasia, cost SGD$220 for a pair of tickets, excluding THB$500 Bangkok airport tax. (Airport tax to increase to THB$700 from 1st Feb 2007 onwards.)
3) Land in their new airport, which is marvelouly huge. Time from airport to city is around 45mins, with THB$65 road toll and the fare around THB$220.
4) Stayed 1 day in Beiyoike Sky for SGD$98 (Room 3605), and three days in Samran Place for SGD$39 for each day (Room 605, coincidence?) (both booked via www.asiarooms.com).
5) Tailored a suit and some shirts from their local tailor, BONDS COLLECTION (opposite asia hotel). Suit costs me THB$4000 and shirts costs THB$600 each.
6) Stated stay as honeymoon trip and Beiyoike Sky surprises us with fruits basket, a chocolate chiffon cake and flowe petals on the bed, sink and bathtub.
7) Average temperature in the city at this time (their winter) : 28.2 degree celsius and windy (Wow! The locals also commented that the temperature was a bit unusual for them)
8) Used up all my cash this time. Forced to change my SGD$100 at THB$22.99 this time round @ UOB Bank at one of ths shopping malls.
9) Spend an hour at their places of interest, the Jim Thompson's house, the man who brought fame to Thai Silk. Entrance fee is THB$100
10) Got a brochure which shows the map of Soulum Night Bazaar and Chatuchak Market. So decide to upload it here. 8-)
11) Do not forget to collect discount cards at the informatin counters from big shopping malls like MBK and Siam Paragon etc. Major shops in the mall recognize these cards and are prepared to give you a better deal.
12) Also attached are some basic Thai language and their meaning. Have fun learning. (Sorry, only Chinese to Thai equavalent)