did u go to Soi Cowboy and Soi Texas? It replaced Patpong oredi as the seedy happenning area

substantially cheaper than KL especially for genuine branded clothes.

if u want to buy branded clothings, the two shopping centers u ought to go is Robinsons and Central . Great prices and genuine products.

for example, Rudy Velentino office long sleeve shirts retail for RM200+ to RM400+ in 1U. At Robinsons and Central world, they retail for 1250 baht. converted is RM125 only. And for Robinsons. sometimes they have buy two free 1 during weekends. so u end up paying about RM250 for three Valentino shirts. Not limited to Valentino. Got Sheffield by S'Fare, GQ, Daniel Hecter, Luigi Bagani, Alain Delon, etc.

dont waste ur time buying immitation branded t-shirts or shirts in Pratunam or those road side stalls cos they sell the same thing in Petaling street and our Pasar Malam. Go for branded purchases and you won't go wrong.

Btw, u should also consider getting a suit there. Although got tons of tailors offering a full suit for USD99, I suggest u go to Robinsons to buy a branded suit for about RM400. Latest cutting and also quality plus branded.

for massages, give the ENTIRE sukhumvit road a miss as the road is equivalent to our Jalan Sultan Ismail. Even shoddy run down massage shops charge higher rates i.e. RM25/hour for foot or thai massage where else all the parlours in Pratunam charge RM13.90 per hour for the same thing. Pratunam is just perpendicular to Sukhumvit road. Note that the BTS (Bangkok Transit System) runs along sukhumvit road and it's like our LRT running along Jln Sultan Ismail. Many stops so u dun really have to stay near near to Siam central area.

and if u are walking along sukhumvit road, pls walk into Soi 2 ( street 2) cos behind there got a lot of activities too. HRC is there.

u MUST go to Chatuchat Weekend Market or alternative go to Suan Lum Night Bazaar.

Soi Cowboy to see the seedy nightlife. just remember that SUKHUMVIT ROAD is equivalent to our Jalan Sultan Ismail (golden Triangle area) so for shopping, it's all there.

die die also try their RM1 sausages, RM1 bbq meats and phat thai.

if u all want to try their BEST hawker fares, go to Suan Lum night bazaar. there is a BIG open air food court there with great hawker stalls serving great thai hawker fare. Suan Lum night bazaar is open every night and is a must visit place if u cant go to chatuchat market.

btw taxi fares are cheap in Bangkok. Seldom cost more than 8 bucks.

I forgot , MUST take cab to China town and eat their Chinese style seafood, hawker style. Very very different from KL tai chow. Imagine hawkers selling seafood ( big vrabs and prawns, mussels) u order, sit at roadside table and eat it. then also got INVOR (RM30 per bowl) and PAK KOR YEE MAI (must try. tons of pak kor RM10). very very good side by side the seafood hawkers. the place to go for is the stalls right before WHITE ORCHID HOTEL at the main road of China town. Take a cab there.


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This post has been edited by ADRIAN MOLE: Jan 23 2007, 07:30 PM

casual brands I'm not sure but for sport shoes about the same and mobile phones are a few hundred more. watever clothing u buy, pls buy branded from the shopping malls and pls pls don't waste ur time buying those immitation Petaling street stuff for a few bucks less. AND pls change as much thai currency u can in Malaysia before u go. cos in Bangkok, they offer very low rates for MYR. in KL, I changed RM1000 for BHT10000. In Bangkok, the banks offered RM1000 for BHT8640 In other words, in KL is dollar for dollar but in Bangkok is our dollar for 86 cents. I kena big time cos I thought bangkok was cheaper.

HRC is HardRock Cafe hehehe

make sure u walk Sukhumvit road cos got lots and lots of roadside stalls. and u must go to CENTRAL WORLD for shopping and the Thai people go to THE PLATINUM for shopping. Those SIAM PARAGON, SIAM CENTRAL, SIAM DISCOVERY malls are like our STARHILL which are way too high-end for many. Robinsons and Central are decent malls with branded stuffs. Many many many branded clothings and always got special discounts. REMEMBER Sukhumvit road (from Soi 2 to Soi 12) is Equivalent to our Jalan Sultan Ismail. So walk along it. The BTS ( our LRT) runs along this stretch.


BTW, pls go to the Food Court at SIAM PARAGON. Damn power one. Touted as one of the best classiest foodcourt in Malls in Bangkok. If u want to eat super dimsum, go to Crystal Jade at Hyatt along sukhumvit road. Better than Dragon-I. but expensive la.

btw, to get into Pratunam, just walk along Sukhumvit road (near Siam Paragon) u will see Central World. Central World's road heads towards Pratunam which is a stone throw away. There Massage parlour are almost half price. Don't buy immitation clothings from Sukhumvit road. Buy from Pratunam road cos got huge price differnce. Different area. I bargained like hell for a t-shirt at one of the stalls at Sukhumvit road only to finally get it at RM15 from RM30 and I thought good price. Then I went to Pratunam and saw the same t-shirt selling for RM15 (equi). and I bargained and got it for RM10 only. So must be careful.

and also please try their roadside 'coffee bean' stalls. Damn nice and cheap. These roadside small stalls are like makeshift mamak stalls but they use crushed ice for drinks. So order coffee or Teh or nestea. Very nice and only RM2.


VAT i.e. VALUE ADDED TAX

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VAT can be claimed back from the customs in the airport. BUT remember U MUST PRESENT the SAME DAY RECEIPTS to the shopping centre's customer service for PROCESSING on the SAME DAY of the PURCHASE before u are eligible. and u must spend at least BHT2000 (RM200) in the same shopping mall be be entitled to claim back from the customs. If u spend RM1000 from lets say Paragon and the next day u bring the receipt back to Paragon customer service for VAT validation, they will reject your claim. BUT if on the very same day u go to them with the receipt, they will key in to the custom's terminal.

All in all u must have spent a minimum of BHT5000(RM500) to claim back from the customs dept at the airport when u leave and the customs charge BHT100 for processing. SO remember to get ur receipts VAT validated on the same purchase day, compile all and claim back from the customs dept at the airport.

This post has been edited by ADRIAN MOLE: Jan 25 2007, 01:34 AM

it is safe. probably even safer than KL cos there are people walking all over the street at night even at wee hours as there are so many many tourists.

depends on how much is your budget.

bangkok is the place where u shop till u really drop and become pokai and still wish u brought more money. Singapore also no where near. Orchard Road..........one side.

for girls, the handbags will make u crazy ( branded ones) . so many many many many designs which are so attractive. Branded handbags with designs not available in Malaysia yet. Wah lau! I think about if my mother go there, i think she siao

oh ya. one thing that really really puzzle me in Bangkok is that they don't have many garbage bins nor dustbins at all. Fact, I seldom see any at all. so I end up having to carry the rubbish until I go to the malls toilet to throw. It really really makes me mad.

This post has been edited by ADRIAN MOLE: Jan 23 2007, 11:27 PM

OH! No wonder la. Some more I din know so I even told off some shopping center staff hahahaha

cos their king's birthday. duno what BIG year (maybe 60 years) so many many wear yellow.

in other words, I typed wrongly la. they charge equivalent to RM10 hehehehe sorry typo error cos sleepy that time when i replied

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btw , bangkok girls........hmmmmmmmm damn cun cos they got sharper features and are fair ratio 3 females to 1 male in bangkok (source : taxi driver)

This post has been edited by ADRIAN MOLE: Jan 25 2007, 01:38 AM