Ok...time for some sharing
I reached Bangkok airport at night and there's the limo taxi but I didn't take it coz it's expensive. So I walked out to the main exit/entrance and there queued up immediately. It's easy to see the booth and line. There's free maps to take and assistants writing down your location on a paper. Then I showed the paper to the taxi driver and he drove us by meter. That taxi driver was very funny. He kept laughing like "HAR HAR HARRR" dunno why.......then I said to him "Please go to Citin(pronounced like seetin) Pratunam" He said ok. Then we arrived in Eastin Hotel...........
I said "No, not Eastin, CITIN" He said "Ya, Eeetin!" Then luckily I have the address in Thai language and the phone no. So he called the hotel with his cellphone and then swiftly brought us to the right place. At night, the streets are crowded with stalls(it's the Pratunam area) so it's hard for him to navigate into the hotel entrance. Nice taxi driver, charged us about 200something baht including toll. We have to pay for toll surcharge of 50 baht + another toll charge of 25 baht. Then again he laughed like "HAR HAR HARRR" and left. Weird but funny.
We checked in without problem and got a room. You can see the photos I attach here. We took a room for 3 people with extra bed. We paid 600baht per night for that extra bed. Otherwise it's just 1299baht per night + complimentary wifi but no breakfast. The restaurant serves vegetarian food. We tried the food there but not that satisfied. It's not a big deal though since we go out early and sometimes had food outside.
The room and beds.
The LCD TV, table and mirror. They've got some good English and Chinese channel. Very happy with that.
The bathroom. Very clean.
The shower. It has both overhead and the other type of shower(skipped my mind at this moment).
Citin Pratunam's a new hotel so most taxi drivers don't know the place. It's easier to ask them to go to Baiyoke Sky hotel and then walk from there to the hotel. It's only 5-10 mins walk and you can also look at shops along the way. Since it's pretty new, the rooms are clean and service is good. They've got free tuk-tuk to send you to Platinum Mall, or they'll send you to the main road if you wanna go to other places. The staff are very polite and helpful. Overall, very happy with our stay there and I'd definitely go back there if I go to Bangkok again.
We took a BTS to Chatuchak, dropping off at the Mo Chit station, that's the last station of that line. It's very easy, thanks to the forumers here, I knew what to do there. Went to change my money and bought ticket easily. And it's fast. Chatuchak is THE BEST place for me to shop. I bought like mad there
It's impossible to walk through all shops there.
In fact, I made a mistake going to Platinum Mall but it's good experience. Now I know. I didn't find anything interesting there and bought only one pair of earring and a jacket. Maybe the only thing really nice there was the food court in my opinion. The prices of clothes there are similar or more expensive than Chatuchak, yet the quality isn't any better. You can't try the clothes, some shops don't even allow us to just wear it over our shirts. For ladies, it's quite difficult for certain clothes, not to be able to put it on and see if it looks good. And it's not easy to bargain with them. They give you wholesale price if you buy more but not much and you probably end up buying more than what you want and pay more. Due to that, I lost some precious time and by the time I went to MBK, my feet were screaming for me to stop.
So I walked but not through all the shops and I missed the 6th floor which I think is the souvenirs floor. I think going to MBK is better than Platinum. The things are more expensive but I think they look better and are of better quality. Some shopkeepers in Platinum weren't very friendly either.
By the time we walked to Siam Discovery(opposite MBK), we're damn exhausted and my feet were getting cramped. So we didn't really shop there and went straight to Siam Center to eat. Both these malls are connected just like Ikano and The Curve.
By then it's dark and I've got no strength to walk anymore.
Centralworld was worth a visit especially B2S(huge store selling books/stationery/music), the Food Hall(large supermarket and food court) and I bought some stuff at Asian Senses just because one of the shop there sells beautiful stuff and I was there early so I get good discount for being an early bird. Tourists can also get a discount card from the info counter if you show your passport. Alas, I ran out of time and didn't get to go to Siam Paragon. I figured the things there are expensive but I thought I'd pay it a visit since it's the pride of Bangkok...but no time...actually we didn't know we can check in only
2 hours before departure time at the airport. We thought we weren't sure of the traffic and went 3 hours before. The counter only opens 2 hours before so we spent that one hour just eating and drinking and waiting...we could've gone to Paragon if we had known. There are some restaurants at the departure hall and some more after checking-in. If you want less crowd then you can check-in and find a restaurant. It's quieter. Many shops too.
One of those days, we went to Ayuthaya. We're lucky we knew someone there and he came with a Thai colleague. They brought us to Ayuthaya and we visited some sites. I felt like we were somewhat in Angkor Wat
It was nice and because the weather was cool, even during noon, we weren't hot and sweaty. Very impressive visit. Great thing that day was that the friends brought us to eat by the riverside(Chao Phraya) and they knew what to order so they ordered some really really delicious local food!
Funny thing there was when they played the national anthem, we were buying tickets at the BTS station and suddenly everyone stopped and stood up. And another time was when I was crossing from MBK to Discovery. Suddenly the police stopped everyone and chased everyone away from the bridge...then everyone stopped again...after that I asked the police, he said "King!" Apparently the king just went passed...I saw some cars...must be them.
People are generally friendly and helpful. When I was in Chatuchak I didn' know how to order food. And a Thai Chinese sitting beside me helped me out voluntarily. He speaks Mandarin so that was helpful. And others helped me with the location, etc. I always ask the locals how much tuk-tuks cost going from one place to another so I won't be cheated. And I always ask which direction to take the taxi/tuk-tuk coz I don't want them to make a huge U-turn and charge me more. You can get a BTS map at the BTS station. It's all very convenient.
On the last day, as I was crossing the road, a lady approached us and she said "Be careful when you cross the road! Yesterday two people crossed and got hit by car! Where u go?? Centralworld?! It's not open! Today Buddha Day....not open! What you wanna buy?" Sounds fishy so I just said I was gonna walk around. And she left. Gotta be a bit cautious.
So there! *phew*
Hope my experienced helped some of you. If you need to know anything else, please ask me. And disclaimer: everything said above are solely my opinion.
Jan 15 2009, 02:07 PM
And because it was so cold I didn't get to flood my system with fragrant coconut juice 
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Not to be missed!
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