Arriving in Bangkok by air

Don Muang airport

IMPORTANT REMARKS
 If you are transiting in BKK for less then 12 hours, make sure you don't pay the international airport tax of 500 Bht. There are 2 ways to do this: 
1) Stay in the airport lounge without passing customs
2) If you want to get your luggage and get out of the airport for less then 12 hours, then ask for a waiver at the immigration office BEFORE you enter Thailand. They will note the exact time you entered Thailand, so you can prove afterwards you stayed less then 12 hours.  

If you arrive from abroad and fly to another Thai destination, always get your luggage.    

2 terminals 
There are 2 terminals in Don Muang, the big international terminal and the smaller domestic terminal. Both are connected with a covered 500 m bridge. There are also shuttles every 15 minutes between the 2 terminals, but I think this is really useless since it takes only 5 minutes by foot.  

Don Muang has its own website. There's also an interesting unofficial website with plenty of practical info and interesting links. 

Facilities 
Both at the domestic and the international airport there's a left luggage, but they charge 70 Bht per day (3/99).  

There's also a post office in both terminals. One of them has services for stamp collectors.  

There are numerous restaurants, both regular and fast food. However, be aware that prices are much higher compared to the rest of Thailand.  

This also goes for the shops. We bought "The Beach" for 385 Bht in CM, at the airport the same book costed 670 to 780 Bht!!  

It's also possible to connect your PC to an internet connection, but again quite expensive. 

Accommodation

Guidebooks 

Hotels

Khao San Road 
The main area for budget hotels is in the Kao san Road area. This is located near the main touristic site of Wat Po and Wat Phra.  

For good info on budget hotels, check out the ITIS net website.

Sukhimvit road and Pratunam 
In this area you will find midrange and upper range hotels. It is further away from the tourist sites and the river, but you'll have plenty of shopping opportunities there. A taxi ride to the center will take about 20 minutes and cost 60 Bht. 

An excellent hotel in this area is the Amari Watergate hotel. The rooms have everything you can expect from this upper-class hotel: AC, fridge, safe, TV, excellent bathroom with separate shower. They have a swimming pool. They have their own website where you can make reservations. At travelagents, you can get a double room for 2500 Bht (excluding breakfast). Definitely recommended at this price range (3/99).  

The Indra Regent hotel is just around the corner. I checked it out because on some websites you can get this hotel for 1.600 Bht, and it looked quite nice. However, the hotel is 22 years old, and it clearly shows its age. The bathroom could use a renovation etc... Also the lobby was really crowded and noisy, but then again they were fully booked when I checked. This is again an example of a hotel which can be cheapest booked at internet sites. The hotel charges 3.000 Bht at the reception, while at travel agents and internet sites you can get it for 1.600 Bht if you're still interested (3/99).  

The Whole Earth (Sukhumvit branch) was just like in Chiang Mai an excellent place to dine in style. Some guidebooks list this under Vegetarian restaurants, but they have meat dishes as well. Count on 100 to 300 Bht for a main course (3/99).  

The Lemon Grass on 5/1 Sukhumvit 24 (tel 258-8637) is recommended in many guidebooks, that's probably why it was fully booked with tourists when we went to eat there. I was not really impressed with the setting (definitely less good then the Whole Earth). The food was OK though, count on 100 to 250 Bht for a main course (3/99).  

The Siam Oriental at Kaosan Road has reasonable food at decent prices, 50 to 100 Bht for a Thai main course. 

 If you want to have a splurge, f.i. for your last night or for some special occasion, then go to the BBQ buffet of the Oriental Hotel. It's not cheap, 1.100 BHT + service and taxes, but you'll get a quality eat-as-much-as-you-want buffet with seafood (grilled lobster, ...), Japanese food (raw fish...), Chinese food and an excellent desert buffet in a marvellous setting (along the river) (3/99). 

What to do ?

 Wat Phra
This is of course an absolute must. Opening hours 8.30 am till 5 pm. Decent dress is required. Entrance is free, but entrance to the Grand Palace is 125 Bht (3/99). There are free guided tours in English at 10 and 10.30 am, and at 1.30 and 2 pm.  

If you didn't have breakfast yet, there are some restaurants around the entrance. 

Wat Po 
A 5 minutes walk from Wat Phra, same opening hours, entrance 20 Bht. A guide costs 150 Bht for 1 person, 200 Bht for 2 persons (3/99). 

Wat Arun
 I wasn't really impressed with the Wat Arun. I think that especially the sight from the other side of the river is quite nice, especially at sunset. To get there, simply take a ferry close to the entrance of Wat Po, it costs 2 Bht.  

If you want to see sunset, have a drink at a bar on the Wat Po side of the river, the terrace is a bit South of the ferry pier. 

Floating market Damnoen Saduak 
Damnoen Saduak is a village at about 60 km South of Bangkok. This has become an enormous tourist attraction with tens of buses visiting the market everyday, so it is definitely not the "off-the-beaten-track floating market" as it used to be. From 9 am onwards, you'll see more tourist boats then people selling stuff, and there are also plenty of tourist stalls. 

 You can go there either on a half day tour with one of the travel agents in Kaosan Road (190 Bht, leave at 7 am and this also includes a stop at a shop), or you can go on your own by public bus. Take bus nr. 78 at the Southern busstation in BKK. The trip takes 2 hours and costs 40 Bht. Probably the driver had a deal with 1 of the boat operators, because he dropped the 8 tourists on his bus there.   

The prices these people quote for a boattrip are really outrageous starting at 300 Bht pp (we were 6 in the boat). On top of that, this is just a rowing boat. After some discussion, we payed 70 Bht pp, but this is actually still too much. In fact, if I would do it again, I probably would not take a boat. It's better to walk there (only 500 m from where the bus dropped us), and take pictures standing on 1 of the bridges. If you still want to sit in a boat, it's much cheaper to rent one at the market itself (bargain till 100 Bht for the boat). You'll see that 20 minutes by boat is enough, the rest you can spend at the side of the klongs.  

To go back, take a local bus to the busstation, and then bus nr. 78 back to BKK. 

Chatuchak weekend market 
This is only held on weekends, and we quite liked this market. You can find a lot of things here: spices, clothing, T-shirts, bags, wooden presents, plants, tropical fish etc... A lot of shops have prices listed. They are not really fixed, but at least it gives you an idea. 

Ayutthaya 
We didn't go to Ayutthaya, but it can be a nice (half-)daytrip. Tour agents in Kaosan Road offer this trip for little money. If you prefer a more luxurious trip, then you could consider the trip organised by the Oriental hotel. Their bus leaves every day at 8 am to Ayutthaya, then you have a visit there, and you come back by luxury boat with buffet lunch. Price is 1.900 Bht.  

If you want to do it on your own, simply take a train from Hualamphong station in BKK (takes 60 to 90 minutes) and in Ayuthaya rent a bike. 

Cooking courses 
The Oriental organises cooking courses for 100 US$ for half a day. Other hotels have cheaper options (count on 25 US$). 

Shopping 

Getting out of Bangkok

     
There are 11 trains to Surat Thani, but some of these arrive in the middle of the night. Price is 107 till 519 Bht depending on the class.
There are 4 night trains:

  - dep. 19.20   arr. 6.15  
  - dep 19.45    arr. 6.42  
  - dep. 21.55   arr. 6.26  
  - dep 22.35   arr. 7.20  

By bus
 Kaosan road travel agents offer buses to almost anywhere. Prices are very good, but some people say it's better (and safer) to take public buses. Here's an example of some prices:
-   BKK-CM: 270 Bht  
-   BKK-Samui (including ferry): 270 Bht  
-   BKK-Siem Reap: usual price 1400 Bht, but 1 agent offered the single fare for only 800 Bht. 

Going to Laos