Day 1 in the Land of Smiles: Bangkok (June 2015)

Planning Phase

Airline

There are 7 airlines flying the direct Singapore to Bangkok route. 

New Suvarnabhumi Intl Airport (BKK) services 3 main carriers and 2 budget carriers:

• Thai Airways, 
• Singapore Airlines
• Cathay Pacific 
• Tigerair and 
• Jetstar 

Older Don Mueang Intl Airport (DMK) services the other 2 budget carrier: 

• Scoot 
• Air Asia

I was booked on Thai Airways at SGD 300 for a return flight to Bangkok (BKK). Singapore Airlines was going for SGD 208 for the return flight but on selected dates. Offers on the main carrier might sometimes come very close to the price of the budget carrier, so there is no harm checking them out as well.

Hotel

There are more than a thousand hotels in Bangkok and many attractive districts to choose from. If you are travelling in groups of 4-5, taking a cab might be a cheaper option than the public transport. Hence, the location of the BTS (their form of MRT) might not really matter. The hotels that I have considered are: 

Pratunam Area

Novotel Bangkok Platinum Pratunam (Max 2 per room)

GLOW Pratunam Hotel

The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam

Grand Diamond Suites Hotel

Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel Bangkok

Amari Watergate Hotel

Baiyoke Sky Hotel

Siam Area

Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square Hotel

Mercure Bangkok Siam

Ibis Bangkok Siam

Courtyard By Marriot Hotel Bangkok

As there were 5 of us, we need one with a triple room. We decided to go with the Accor hotel: Mercure Bangkok Siam that do not levy a lot on an additional bed as they convert the room sofa into a comfortable bed (See below for pictures). GLOW pratunam also charges a low levy but it was fully booked. Some hotels do charge a premium on roll away beds that amount to the price of another room which does not make much sense. 

Travel Insurance:

Insurance purchased via the banks might be cheaper than purchasing directly from the insurance company. However, the coverage might differ for some. 

I usually go with AIG where buying through Citibank AIG insurance provides for a 30% discount. 

For this trip, I went with DBS MSIG travellershield that also provides for a 30% off and an additional 10% off for 3 or more sign ups. The additional 10% off is only available if you sign up at any DBS/POSB branch. I took the platinum plan that works out to be around SGD 37 for a 7 days trip to Bangkok. 

It provides for SGD 1,000,000 and SGD 75,000 in medical expense incurred overseas and in Singapore respectively. You can claim up to 30 days of medical expense after you return to Singapore for injuries sustained during the trip. There are also coverage for overseas and local hospitalization and emergency medical evacuation. I had a friend that needed to cut short the trip  to return to Singapore for medical attention and found that the emergency medical evacuation is not by choice (i.e preferred to be treated in Singapore). It will only be allowed when the doctor deemed that they are unable to provide any form of treatment.

Day 1 (Singapore - Bangkok)

Changi Airport T1 departure

TG402 awaits at the departure gate. Takeoff was at 0740am and scheduled to arrive by 9am. It was  an approximately 2 hours flight with a 1 hour time difference (-1) with Bangkok.

Seat 32H

If the front row seats are not available, you can try for seat number 32H which provides for a greater legroom as there are no seats in front. However, the personal TV will have to be kept earlier prior to take off and landing.

View of the plane (B777-200)

Thai Airway uses the older B777-200. However, the inflight entertainment is up to standard with touch screen capabilities.

In flight meal 

The breakfast meal provided was not up to standard as the taste was a bit blend. Service quality I felt have deteriorated.

AIS booth at Suvarnabhumi Airport Arrival hall between gate 6 and 7

AIS traveller SIM plan
Retrieved from: http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/visiting/sim-for-traveller-en.aspx

We got the 7 days AIS data plan for 299 baht. 1.5GB is good enough since our hotel provides for free WIFI.

Toll ticket

We then hopped onto the cab to our hotel: Mercure Bangkok Siam. Our cab went on the toll roads via 2 toll booths where we did not encounter any traffic jam. We have to pay for the toll which totalled 75 baht bringing the total cab fare to 375 baht.

Caution: You can always request the driver to go by toll road and by meter

The other cab which my other friends were in did not go through toll road and they encountered the infamous bangkok traffic jam. Their fare was a total of 400 baht. Difference was, their driver earned more from the trip and the trip takes slightly longer.

Hotel

Lets take a look at our hotel!

Hotel Entrance

View from link bridge to Siam Square

Mercure Bangkok Siam is conveniently located just in front of BTS National Stadium and directly opposite MBK. The Mercure occupies level 9 to 27 while the IBIS hotel occupies the lower levels. The difference between Mercure and Ibis is only SGD 10 per night during my booking. We decided to go with the premier one. 

Double Bed Room

Triple Room (Sofa bed converted into bed 3)

Sofa Bed

These two rooms are connecting rooms which Mercure Bangkok Siam Hotel offers. It is a very good arrangements for families!

Chatuchak Market

Opening Hours: 

Fri: 1800 - 2400 (Only Clothing Stores)

Sat and Sun: 0900 - 1800 (Full Market)

Chatuchak should only be visited on weekends where the full market is opened. Morning will be an ideal time to visit as by noon, the heat wave will dampen any mood to shop at chatuchak. 

                                       

Street Promotion for a coffee brand

Food Stalls

Coconut Ice Cream

When you are at chatuchak, do keep a look out for this stall that sell  coconut ice cream with generous servings of toppings (Notice their trademark flag). The ice cream costs around 40 baht and it comes with a complimentary pure coconut water without any added syrup.

Thai Milk Tea

For those who love Thai milk tea, there is one famous store beside the coconut ice cream stall. They serve very rich milk tea which I find its too sweet for my taste. You can have the option of cold or hot Thai milk tea for immediate consumption. For takeaways, they will freshly prepared them in plastic bottle. (I purchased 2 such bottles for my family back home)

The traditional popsicle offers many flavours that are made from soft drinks. I got the Sprite popsicle which was good while my friend got a salty Coke popsicle. Pineapples are a must try in Bangkok. They are super sweet! 

Massage

Massage is everywhere in Bangkok. There are many different forms of massage which covers purely leg to back and shoulders or the famous Thai massage that cover all angles of your body. I did my first massage in Bangkok at Lek Massage which is in Siam square, just beside Novotel on Siam Square.

I did an hour of leg massage which comes with an extra service of 15 minutes of back and shoulder. It costs around 300 Baht. I gave an additional 20 Baht tips to the Masseuse.  

Late Dinner at Thip Samai Pad Thai

Opening Hours:

1700 - 0200

5 of us squeezed into a cab to Thip Samai and journey time was around 10 minutes. 

This is a must visit place where I had my best pad thai at Thip Samai. They serve really good beverages as well where the icy coconut and orange juice are a must try. 

Location of Thip Samai
Retrieved from: Google Maps

Queue at Thip Samai

We waited for around 20 minutes before we got seats in the restaurant. We can start ordering the beverages as we were queuing (Icy coconut and orange juice)

Thip Samai has received many awards for their pad thai

Pad Thai

Famous pad thai at Thip Samai. The pad thai is very flavourful where you can taste the fragrance of the shrimp and ketchup. The chilli flakes, peanut and other sauces can be obtained from the side tray on the table. Word of caution, do not add too much of the chilli flakes. It is extremely spicy and I regretted. 

Although the price of the orange juice at 150 baht is pricey, it is definitely worth the try as it contains not only the pure orange juice with no added syrup but also the orange pulp meat for consumption. It was so good that I ordered another one for takeaway. 

Late Dinner #2 at place beside Thip Samai 

I did not managed to get the name of this store but it is just a few minutes walk from Thip Samai. We decided to have our round 2 here. They have an English menu for us. We ordered number 4 and number 7 from the English menu. 

Pork Stew Noodles

Pork Cutlet Tom Yam, Lemon grass Noodles

The general consensus is that the Pork Cutlet Tom Yam Noodles is good but the Pork Stew Noodles is just average. The soup for the Pork Stew is not flavourful enough.

End of Day 1

Moving to Day 2