I'm planning to bring my wife and 2 children to BKK in Oct (Raya time). Question - how safe is Bangkok compared to say Bali or Chieng Mai which are my other options? Coming soon - preelection fever end of the year, Thaksin trial etc.

Thanks.

Well, just hv to take a bit of risk going there..Due to the Southern Thailand uprising, somehow or rather BKK is always the target + those Taksin' supporters...Probably dun go during the Loi Kratong Festival (Mid Nov) & New Year.

Well if talking about risk everywhere including London, Tokyo or New York also not safe...depending on luck sometime...

To be honest, if you are comparing it with KL, i do feel safer in Bangkok. I've got no fear of ppl prying my backpack there. Whereas , in KL, there are a lot of petty thieves

Haha I do agreed wth this...and dun under-estimate the sophistication of Bankok Lifestyle, modernisation.....I was shock when certain part of their transportation system is much better than what we have wth our LRT or monorail...Their underground MRT is actually much longer & modern than Singapore MRT!

Halal food near Nana?

Go to Sukhumvit Soi 22 if Arab food bores you, there's one Thai Muslim restaurant in the lorong next to Imperial Queen's Park hotel. Nearest BTS at Emporium and then its about 10 mins walk. [Emporium is at Soi 24]
So its not too near but not too far also [like petburi].

if around nana i usually eat in foodland, the bar style eating place at the entrance. i supposed you can't be too picky and take the obvious pork-free meals. there's also a kebab place one soi next to foodland if i'm not mistaken with a few other arab restaurant next to it, never tried that one though.

safety - as long as u are not in the "hot" political places, u should be alright i guess. i still remember during the coup, i called a few friends to check if they were ok, apparently it doesn't affect them at all (mai pen rai...), one was in the theater catching the latest movie while some went to take pic with the tanks. still, u can't take it lightly so be aware of your surroundings and be ready to react.

if you are referring to petty thief, i'm more worried when i'm in KL.

Thnx alot Adad ....Yes arab food might not be my taste..prefer Thai...Anymore recommended halal restaurants other than Soi22 ..Petchburi Soi 7 which restaurant u recomend?...probably there to check-out too..from google, I notice there even a Malay communities there & also restaurants wth familiar malay names such as 'Kedai Makanan Farida"..or something...

Pheww atlast it will not be so bad for my Malay colleague

near khao sarn road's mosque are a few halal shop if i'm not mistaken.

Actually it is not me..I'm not a muslim & not a problem and its not my 1st trip to BKK too...but I'm bringing my Malay colleague as well and this is his 1st O/sea trip to non-halal area too..so I hv to bring him to Halal outlet-lah...

Rite now got 1 good recommendation from Adat...so if u can add it will be wonderfull rather than refering to the list in the BKK halal list but dunno what to choose... anyway tnx for the info at nana & any more recommended halal outlet?...

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Added on July 20, 2007, 3:25 pmKhao San too far away-leh..& no MRT...& I'm staying at Soi7 Sumkumvit

This post has been edited by stimix: Jul 20 2007, 03:27 PM

the best is in sukh. soi 3 i think, this soi is like middle eastern street, and i think there is not much choice for halal food there especially in tourist area...maybe just take kfc.

Yes notice that too..but the rpicing of arabic food also horrible...& not to my taste too..prefer authetic Thai or Southern Thai coking..i.e those Tom yum, Paprik & etc...probably will give a try at Soi22 and also Pethburi Soi 7...Hmnn need Adad help here...or probably will try the food court inside Tesco On Nut...

my relatives own an awesome place near the oriental hotel...next to chao phraya...its on bangrak/suriwong area. right next to "harun mosque". very nice place, thai food + some indian even. very very affordable trust me. let pm me if u need help, i'm in kl now but i can pass u my brothers' number.

Tnx Maxim..but this is a biz trip and I only need nice reasonable halal restaurant close to my hotel at Soi7 sukumvit...Oriental is too far away..in Silom & distanced away from Sathon pier BTS too...

This post has been edited by stimix: Jul 21 2007, 09:23 PM

alrite then. i'll let u know if i find out about any in that area. tbh if u just walker around there are a lot of halal hawker food as well if u want to exp bangkok's street food (which is awesome btw). they have a big halal sign up on their cart usually. btw, not only KFC but chester grill as well as a&W are halal.

I just got back from bkk. I sure would like to work there one day. Went to chatuchak market. Halal food isnt that much of a problem I think. You should find some stalls selling it along the road. Kao bok gai if im not mistaken is like a cross between briyani and chicken rice.
As for KFC, I dont know if its halal. I see no halal certification even though they claim the supplier is halal. So eat at your own discretion.

a close relative of mine is an executive (VP i think) of KFC in thailand. he told me that its halal. they used to have the certification. but after 9/11 some dumbass muslims said kfc is american so they burnt one down in some countryside (in teh south i think) and kfc got pissed so didnt renew the license. but the process and source of chicken is the same. oh and if u go to the supermarkets, "CP" brand chicken are also halal. they're from the same slaughterhouse if i'm not mistaken.

btw xploding its "khao mok gai" but u were close

i'm plannin to go bangkok..hmm maybe 4D3N..is september a good month to go for visit?
Going to Thai, do I need passport or only the border pass will do?
How much isit to take Air Asia from KL to there, including tax?
for 4D3N approx how much will the expenses be?

i would like to know does bangkok hotels allow more than 2 ppl in the room? as in can i squeeze 4 ppl into a normal superior(twin single beds) room?

cos im on a budget and im scared that bangkok is particular about how many ppl is in the room ....

thanks in advance

im just afraid the hotel will consider them as an extra guest, and will charge some bahts per person, depends on hotels

but how much is your budget for hotel per night, if u dont mind about the condition, then u can get it as low as 700 baht per night shared by 2 person

This post has been edited by wk_wong: Jul 23 2007, 06:23 PM

No need pastport.. This is the 1st time I heard....That border pass only for ppl leaving in states bordering Southern Thailand & it is for that regions' only...
How much..It can be as low as RM200 to as high as RM700 or a return ticket...just check the website....Exp..depending on your budget...but don't hope much on BKK pricing most of their goods are almost similar to KL pricing....

Just touched-down after a tiring working trip to BKK 2hrs ago...It is raining season now in BKK...and due to the jam, It took me >2.5 hr to reach my Hotel in Nana, sumkumvit from Bangna!! a distance or <20KM...Road side food surrounding sumkumvit seem to hv inflated from last yr pricing..price of pad thai/caarot cake (road side) start from 30bath for last yr 25bath. MBK food court pricing almost similar wth starting price from 35B onwards..otherwise..restaurant food around Sumkuvit is damn pricy wth pad thai/ or simple fried rice start from 60Bath!!

T-shirt hunting....no way getting less than the cheapest at MBK which is ficed at 99Bath!..Grade A selling at 199Bath all fixed...Suan Lum nite bazaar..T-shirt starting at 250-350Bath and it is up to u to bargain downwards...pheww...Nothing compare to the cheap pricing in KL....BTW, the toll way surrounding BKK is at 40bath/entry..& similar to KL so many tolls in BKK...damn pricy!....Petrol price =30bath/ltr & diesel at ~26bath/liitre....no wonder the infaltion in BKK so terrible...

This post has been edited by stimix: Jul 27 2007, 02:14 PM