Thailand November-advice for first timer
Discussion
Traffic isn't that bad on the express ways.
Landing at 18:40 it will likely be 7:15 by the tme you're out, so the traffic going in to town shouldn't be too bad. Probably there by 8 or so.
Going to the airport in the day time shouldn't be a problem. Allowing an hour should be plenty so I'd leave at 11. The queues in the airport can be a pain though, and it's a big airport so don't do what I nearly did when I had a 3 hour wait there last month and fanny around outside then nearly miss your flight!
Landing at 18:40 it will likely be 7:15 by the tme you're out, so the traffic going in to town shouldn't be too bad. Probably there by 8 or so.
Going to the airport in the day time shouldn't be a problem. Allowing an hour should be plenty so I'd leave at 11. The queues in the airport can be a pain though, and it's a big airport so don't do what I nearly did when I had a 3 hour wait there last month and fanny around outside then nearly miss your flight!
As AJS says, he traffic is not actually that bad unless travelling at peak hours through or through business areas at peak times. ... its like any other big city.
Would have to check if its running at that time, but the fastest way to the airport is to get the Airport Link from downtown ... 35b and 20 minutes.
road on a weekend evening, takes 30 minutes, give an hour for unxpected's.
but yes, the airport itself (especially immigration) is very slow!
Would have to check if its running at that time, but the fastest way to the airport is to get the Airport Link from downtown ... 35b and 20 minutes.
road on a weekend evening, takes 30 minutes, give an hour for unxpected's.
but yes, the airport itself (especially immigration) is very slow!
Bezerk said:
Is the traffic really that bad? The first time I arrive, I get into BKK at 18:40 on a Saturday night.
Should be reasonable, Lebua is right next to an offramp (Silom Rd) and that goes all the way to the airport. I'd be allowing 45 mins in the car.So 7:30 by the time you have walked to immigration, queued, gotten your luggage and found your car. 8:30 would be the safe time to be making reservations.
a311 said:
Sorry for the delay. No set budget, on one hand I'm loathed to pay too much for somewhere to sleep but as it's the last leg of the holiday willing to push the boat out a bit, £100-£150?
There are many excellent hotels for that, you do need to do a bit of research though as some are also over-priced. A lot of new hotels around and more than a few boutique type places. It's a fast moving scene and many hotels which were once considered high end are a bit tired (e.g. Lebua)Personally I can recommend in that price range.
-Siam Kempinski - probably best hotel in BKK, if not one of the best in the world.
-Renaissance - Nice modern hotel, located close to all major shopping centres (Siam Paragon, Centralword, MBK etc), should be able to get for £70ish
-Okura Prestige, very nice Japanese chain, infinity pool and very classy. OK location, next to BTS station.
-The Four Seasons
-Intercontinental - Excellent location, opposite the Renaissance
A few other hotels near Sathorn and the river worth looking at are :
-Anatara Riverside
-Sofitel So
-Chatrium Riverside (cheaper, maybe £50)
-Shangri La
-The Sukhothai (a bit old, but awesome chocolate buffet on Sundays)
Further down Sukhumwit there are a few, but I don't think the location is as nice as the above, especially with the wife.
-Sofitel
-Radisson Blue
I would avoid the following, basically because they are generally very overpriced for what they are, or they are just aging 5 stars and much better value can be found elsewhere.
-Westin, Sheraton Sukhumwit, JW Marriot, Hilton Sukumwit, Grande Centre Point Hotel Terminal 21, Lebua, Pathumwan Princess.
All of the above should fit within your budget. Just need to check on sites like agoda.com, booking.com etc. And even the hotel brands websites. If you don't want to spend that much money then there are also plenty of very good value hotels for <£50 - Holiday Inn, Mercure, Novotel etc.
Went on a similar trip with my wife in Feb/March this year. Chiang Mai by far our favourite place. I can recommend doing a cooking course - best thing we did on holiday i think (We did ours with Siam Rice) - fantastic day as not just learning about the ingredients and cooking but eating some great good and try other peoples dishes etc. Loads of great places to eat in town, just check out tripadvisor.
Went to an amazing restaurant on the outskirts of the town, a big buffet place full of thai people. The biggest restaurant i have ever seen, probably the size of 2 football pitches! Very confusing to work out what to do, just watch what others are doing, but amazing price (like most places) and great experience, you get a bbq at your table and can select veg/meat/fish/huge prawns and cook at the table etc. Name of the place was Sukonthan Buffet - Found a page with some photos on here: http://rachygal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/thailand-ch...
Worth going for the experience! It is vast! get there fairly early though (by 7) it gets very busy!
Depends on your morals/views on going to tiger kingdom and elephant riding places. Leave that up to you to decide, but research well. Patara Elephant farm is possibly the most expensive but meant to be well regarded compared to others i have found out, we went to one called Woodys elephant training which was recommended and a bit cheaper than Patara which was good, but did leave me with various questions about how they are cared for. Didn't look bad, but felt they were telling us what we wanted to hear a lot of the time. Was amazing to be that close to Elephants but couldnt help question the morality of the whole thing.
Lots of good markets especially for art - If there are any photos you would like to get as paintings, take them with you - some very talented artists there where you could give them e.g. a photo of your car/family and then they will paint it.
In Bangkok, work on the basis that everyone is trying to trick you and you should be ok. We found it full of liars and scams which you may have read about, they are all fairly harmless but some to look out for are: People saying they are an english teacher/fire chief/off duty police etc to gain your trust then asking questions about you to practice their english then suggesting a place to go or a cheaper place to get a boat tour etc then amazingly a tuk tuk will be got for you to take you there where you may pay more. We had several people tell us that temples were closed and we should go somewhere else that they could direct us to. Every time we ignored them, got down the road to discover it fully open. Another one is Tuk Tuks saying there is a special offer on and they can give you a tour. They then try and take you to tailors/gem shops etc as they get commission. OK if you have time, but annoying if you have limited time! Tuk Tuks are fun, but genuine ones that aren't trying to rip you off seemed to be much more expensive than taxis. Make sure you get a taxi on the meter.
Have a good time!
Went to an amazing restaurant on the outskirts of the town, a big buffet place full of thai people. The biggest restaurant i have ever seen, probably the size of 2 football pitches! Very confusing to work out what to do, just watch what others are doing, but amazing price (like most places) and great experience, you get a bbq at your table and can select veg/meat/fish/huge prawns and cook at the table etc. Name of the place was Sukonthan Buffet - Found a page with some photos on here: http://rachygal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/thailand-ch...
Worth going for the experience! It is vast! get there fairly early though (by 7) it gets very busy!
Depends on your morals/views on going to tiger kingdom and elephant riding places. Leave that up to you to decide, but research well. Patara Elephant farm is possibly the most expensive but meant to be well regarded compared to others i have found out, we went to one called Woodys elephant training which was recommended and a bit cheaper than Patara which was good, but did leave me with various questions about how they are cared for. Didn't look bad, but felt they were telling us what we wanted to hear a lot of the time. Was amazing to be that close to Elephants but couldnt help question the morality of the whole thing.
Lots of good markets especially for art - If there are any photos you would like to get as paintings, take them with you - some very talented artists there where you could give them e.g. a photo of your car/family and then they will paint it.
In Bangkok, work on the basis that everyone is trying to trick you and you should be ok. We found it full of liars and scams which you may have read about, they are all fairly harmless but some to look out for are: People saying they are an english teacher/fire chief/off duty police etc to gain your trust then asking questions about you to practice their english then suggesting a place to go or a cheaper place to get a boat tour etc then amazingly a tuk tuk will be got for you to take you there where you may pay more. We had several people tell us that temples were closed and we should go somewhere else that they could direct us to. Every time we ignored them, got down the road to discover it fully open. Another one is Tuk Tuks saying there is a special offer on and they can give you a tour. They then try and take you to tailors/gem shops etc as they get commission. OK if you have time, but annoying if you have limited time! Tuk Tuks are fun, but genuine ones that aren't trying to rip you off seemed to be much more expensive than taxis. Make sure you get a taxi on the meter.
Have a good time!
Timja, the food place you ate at is a Korean BBQ and they are very popular here in varying sizes from a shack to football fields!!!! they do all taste great!!! Up Country Mostly pork, further south you get everything! Drink big bottles of Leo / Chang / Singha
another Chang Mai recommendation is Dash Restaurant (Dash is the name of the guy that owns it, not the serving style.... ) tripadvisor link
another Chang Mai recommendation is Dash Restaurant (Dash is the name of the guy that owns it, not the serving style.... ) tripadvisor link
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