DXBtoDOH

Was thinking of going there for a mini-break in early December when we have the long National Day weekend. Thai Airways is offering cheap flights and tip top hotels in the city are also a bargain.

Have been to Thailand before but not to Bangkok other than the airport.

Is three-four days decent for the city? I have a sudden urge to go to a nitty gritty Asian city, wolf down tonnes of cheap and fantastic food and drink myself silly without breaking the bank. But to be fair I'm also interested in the cultural bits. Temples, palaces and museums. No need to become too closely acquainted with the red light district although I may still stroll through it for strictly entertainment value.

So did you like Bangkok? Worth the effort? What would you do? Where would you stay? If not Bangkok and you had four-five days in early December, where would you go?

co durham boy

Bangkok is one of the best cities in the world . Iv'e been going for over 20 years and still get something out of it each time i visit . Great food , shopping , bars and entertainment .

The Thai's have a complex and fascinating culture and BKK is one mad mad city. If you have'nt been then just hit the major sights and do the tourist things. Use the BTS and Metro to travel and explore , it's cheap as chips and goes everywhere. Take in the temples Waht Pho / Waht Prae Kaew / Wat Arun and the like .

Take in the weekend market at Chatuchak , get yourself filled up with street food then head out to Nana / Patpong / Soi Cowboy to get your rocks off . Jump on the flight back and before you land you'll be thinking about your next visit .

You will never do everything in BKK , that's the beauty of the place .

Happy days

scrubbedexpat141

Look at BBC News. Bomb Blast in Bangkok, today

Otherwise, cool place, think I am a bit harsh on it because spent more time there at end of holiday, wasn't well, had enough of being harassed by folk and arguing over every price etc. Holiday lethargy.

DXBtoDOH

Eeek.

Oh well. The safest time to go to a place is usually just after a terror attack. In theory.

But still not very comforting.

Maybe I should go back to Plan A, which was the Maldives, damned the expenses.

DXBtoDOH

It's awful, but BKK is still on the list.

For god's sake I'm going to Kenya in September. Can't let terrorists rule my life.

I'll just hold off on any bookings till October at the earliest.

Venezuelan007

now you should get cheap bookings for everything I guess...

Lemons -> Lemonade

Boomhauer

Maldives does look beautifull and a lot of celebs go there , but remember some years back some of the staff at a hotel were rude and racist towards 2 Western couples who were getting married. The staff made derogatory comments in the native language about the couple because they weren't Muslim. Maldives does not allow non Muslims to become citizens. There's quite a bit of Islamist sympathies amongst the populace there.

Millhouse

He's going on holiday not speaking citizenship.

Bangkok will be fine. Small bomb big city. You can't let stuff like that stop you.

nonthaburi

BKK is a great city, lived there for five years.

It's worth looking on Airbnb for places to stay, much better value than what you get in hotels for the equivalent price IMO.

Three four nights is never going to be enough to do everything because 1) there's a lot to do and 2) it's a big city. Try not to do too much in one day because travelling around can tire you out. Stuck in traffic in a taxi, or crammed into the skytrain which gets busy.

Some places to think about in no particular order are; The Grand Palace, Lumpini Park, CentralWorld, Siam Paragorn, Chatuchak Market and JJ Mall, Queen Sirikit Park, Dusit Zoo, Bars Restaurants along Silom or Sukuhmvit Roads, RCA on Ratchadapisek, Bars around Ekkamai or Thonglor, Kao San Road, Wat Arun, Temple on the Golden Mount, river cruise, and so on and on.

There are three foreigner orientated red-light districts of Patpong, Nana, and Cowboy, and a Thai orientated one at Saphan Kwai, but bear in mind that if you know what you're looking for you can find that stuff absolutely anywhere really.

I'm sure you'll have a great time.

DXBtoDOH

Whoa, mate. Looked at Airbnb and 25-50 USD to rent a a very nice condo in a good location and even with a pool.

Will look into it.

I'm keen to see the red light district. But won't be sampling. Well. Probably not. Most likely not. Yep, definitely most certainly not. I think.

Any suggestions as to the best food areas in BKK? I want to stuff myself with as much good thai, whether cheap or expensive. I imagine there's equivalents of the hawker centres of Singapore or HK food courts?

Autonomy

I was there for 3 days a month ago.

I really enjoyed Chinatown for street food.

If you want high end I also really loved David Thompson's Nahm

Nahm

co durham boy

Nahm is great . Lovely hotel as well , there's a great restaurant next door in the Banyan Tree called Saffron , very very good and the Moon Bar on the roof is quite special as well . Quite a decent area Sathorn plus you can walk along in Silom quite easily .

scrubbedexpat141

I stayed in the Banyan tree, top bar was shut because of thunder and lightning but there's another about 5-10 floors down that had pretty spectacular views.

Lovely hotel.

treetops

If you're going early December, be aware that 5th December is a National Holiday in Thailand for the King's Birthday. Bar and nightlife areas will be subdued, if not closed altogether.

Dubaiexile

If you want to visit a really good bar renowned for it`s music and food you could do no better than to visit Checkinn99, here is a write up from 2013, but it is still going strong, and Mama Noi is back as well;

CheckInn99, 50+ Years of Bangkok Bar History

Facebook......https://www.facebook.com/CheckInn99

I have used this bar for probably the last 30+ years, a really great place.