48 hours in Bangkok

[PeteC]

I'm trying to put an itinerary together for a young couple from the USA, friends of my oldest daughter, and coming to Thailand for the first time to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. 10 day trip only. I have them in Bangkok for 48 hours plus their departure night and I need ideas for those initial 2 days and 1 night.

What would you recommend for the first time visitor restricted to that time frame?

-The Grand Palace and Wat Pra Khao are a definite the first morning.
-Walk down to the Oriental Hotel for a nice lunch in their garden restaurant.
-Long Tail boat in the afternoon on the Thonburi klongs and a visit to the Wat Arun.

Day 2 ????? They're going to prefer sightseeing to shopping. Thanks. Pete

[caller]

Pete, my 1st ever visit to LOS was in 1992 and I had a week in BKK, apart from the things you mention, a trip out of town to the river kwai is the main memory. Coach to the area, the cemetary, walk over and around the bridge, a trip on the death railway and a rail journey back to town. It's still memorable and I'm sure its much developed since those days.

[PeteC]

Thanks Caller. They're only in their mid 30's so I'll have to ask if any interest in a WWII item like that. Good idea though. You did the entire trip in one day? Pete

[caller]

You did the entire trip in one day? Pete

Fair point about the age thing. It was an easy day as I recall. I know I hit the town in the evening - but I did that every evening!

[PeteC]

Yeah, that's a separate issue altogether concerning evenings. They may be busting to see some ping pong ball shooting girls in Patpong but how do you ask your daughter's friends about something like that. I'll need to be extremely PC and convey a 10 word thought with an entire paragraph. Pete

[johnnyk]

Jim Thompson house for lunch or a drink.
Deffo The Oriental or Shangri-La for a sundowner.
Chinatown.
Day trip to Ayutthaya.

[lomuamart]

You mention The Oriental. They do a day tour to Ayuttaya. Havn't been on it, but it's meant to be very good. Coach there in the morning and then come back to the hotel down the river on a boat with a buffet dinner thrown in with the cost.

[margaretcarnes]

Day one sounds good Pete - except that I'd maybe leave the river trip for the evening and do one of the dinner cruises?
Day Two - well the Kwai is great for those of us who are of a certain age - maybe does need checking out to see if they are interested - and of course allow for any delays depending what time their flight is!
Alternatively how about Chatuchak if it's open? Not really 'shopping' - Ayuddhya might be more what they want but quite honestly I don't see what all the fuss is about the place. Still - maybe one to tick off!
Patpong 2 is an easy intro to that area and you can play it by ear from there to see if they want to sneak a peek in the next Soi, before a hairy TukTuk ride back to the hotel to pick up luggage.
Best fun I've had with visitors has always been to get 2 tuktuks in a race...well worth 100 baht for the winner!

[PeteC]

All great ideas, thanks. I just may see about canceling the day 1 long tail and substituting that with the Jim Thompson house. Then day 2 the bus/boat Ayuddhya trip. That's enough river water for them. All this probably at the beginning rather than the end.

Then, they want to beach it with snorkling and coral etc. Phuket or Samui is a long way to go with only 8 days remaining. They may end up in HH, and south of it where the beaches are better. Or possibly Koh Samat.

The problem with doing something like this is that they don't know what they want to do, really. Makes the 'arranging' difficult. I'm going to write a disclaimer at the bottom of my suggested itinerary. Pete

[johnnyk]

Chatuchak is Sat/Sun only. If they want to shop for good knock-offs take them to the modern air-con part of Pratunam. Excellent "Prada" bags and "Armani" watches for US$30 or so.

Koh Samed is good and Rayong is a very nice seaside town with good seafood and un-falang prices.

[hhfarang]

I don't know if this is the one you were talking about, but my visitors have always enjoyed one of the daytime tours in the big longtail boats that make several stops including a cobra/snake show, a zoo, local BKK floating market, fish feeding, the Royal boat museum, visiting Wats along the river, etc. It takes 2 to 3 hours and last time I did it the tours (depending on which one you choose) were +- 2k baht pp. The last two times I took someone there were so few people that we were 2 or 3 in a (probably 20 passenger longtail) boat by ourselves. That made for a more personal and flexible trip. Don't start too late or the driver will be in a hurry to get back and dump you, so he can go home (happened to me once).

[crazy88]

For the beach thing Koh Tao is easy access or Bang saphan if they only want a day trip from HH. As for a small selection of Bangkok haunts.

Pubs. Dubliner, Bulls head, Londoner are all a good early evening start before dinner.

Restaurants. Just pick up any of a number of Bangkok guides.

Clubs. Metro, CM2, Q bar, Bed supper etc.....Plenty more and some good ones in Khao San area . Avoid Nana disco and the "Dis" Grace hotel unless Nigerian drug dealers and aggressive ladyboys flick your switch. Had a few good nights out in Patpong at Radio City/Lucifers. A few good pubs around there amongst the girly bars as well. Soi 33 Sukhumvit has some good bars and is walking distance to soi cowboy if they want to have a look.

I,m sure they will have fun.

Crazy 88

[PeteC]

You mention The Oriental. They do a day tour to Ayuttaya. Haven't been on it, but it's meant to be very good. Coach there in the morning and then come back to the hotel down the river on a boat with a buffet dinner thrown in with the cost.

I contacted the Oriental Lomu and they don't do it themselves but use a tour agent. I would think reliable given the hotel puts their deep pocket guests into their hands. Here's a communication I received in case you or others want to do that Ayutthaya trip. I like the sound of the first choice, B11. Pete
__________________________________
We refer to your e-mail to the Oriental Hotel, this has been passed to us to reply re sightseeing tour as we are Tour Representative in the hotel who operate daily tours in Bangkok. With regard to tour to Ayutthaya, we wish to advise you that the luxury Grand Pearl cruiser is used in lieu of the Oriental Queen cruiser, which had a technical problem and is no longer be operated.

Now we operate 2 different tours to Ayutthaya, please see details below:

Prices are net per person base on seat-in-coach basis

B11: ALL-DAY RIVER CRUISE TO AYUTTHAYA
07.00 Pick up from your hotel in Bangkok.
07.30 Coach depart from River City Complex for a visit to the Ancient
Capital City of Ayutthaya.
09.00 Start with a visit to the Summer Palace at Bang Pa-In, see
a captivating collection of marvelous pavilions in a variety of
Thai, Chinese, Italian and Victorian architectural style, encircled
by lush beautiful gardens and lake.
10.45 Arrive Ayutthaya, Thailand's former capital (from AD 1350 to
1767) and now a World Heritage Site. See ruins which have
survived from this once magnificent city. Start with a visit to
Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit, see the principal Buddha Image.
Then continue to visit Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the major temple
in the old Royal Palace compound. A stop will also be made
to visit Wat Chaiwattanaram.
13.30 Embark the luxurious air-conditioned Grand Pearl Cruise at
Wat Chonglom.
Buffet lunch is served on board. Return to Bangkok in a
leisurely cruise along the Chao Phya River.
Coffee break will also be served while you enjoy the enchanting
sight along the river banks, such as The Royal Barge, Tham-
masart University, the Royal Grand Palace and the graceful
Temple of Dawn.
16.30 Arrive Bangkok and transfer to your hotel.
Price: Baht 1,900 net per person.

B17: FULL-DAY AYUTTHAYA TOUR
07.30 Pick up from your hotel.
08.00 Depart by coach with English speaking guide to visit Thailands
former capital (from AD 1350 to 1767) and now a World Heritage Site.
See ruins which have survived from this once magnificent city.
09.30 Start with the Elephant Kraal, an enclosure made of teak logs once
used to capture wild elephants. Then the ruins of Phra Maha That
temple, and a short elephant ride to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the major
temple in the old Royal Palace compound.
12.30 Buffet lunch at Krung Sri River Hotel.
After lunch, ride in a longtailed boat, past more historical
monuments, temples and Thai houses along the river. Then by road to
Wat Chaiwat-naram temple before returning to Bangkok.
16.30 Arrive Bangkok.
Price: Baht 1,990 net per person.

For your information; all our guides are fully trained by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in co-operation with major universities, and speak fluent English Many are graduated from the University of Fine Arts in the Faculty of Archaeology, and all of them have a wide knowledge of Thailand's history and culture.

If you need any further information you can visit our website at www.wts-thailand.com or contact us at the above address.

Please let us know if we are required to book any of the above tours for you.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,


Panja Nakapong
Manager - F.I.T. & Group Operations
World Travel Service Limited
1053 Charoen Krung Road
Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Tel: (66 2) 233 5900 / Fax: (66 2) 236 7169
E-mail: Panja Nakapong <panja@wts-thailand.com>
tours@wts.co.th
Website: www.wts-thailand.com

[lomuamart]

Seems a good price as well, Pete. I'm sure the trip cost 1,800 when I was looking at it for my parents some nine years ago.

[migrant]

The Red Cross center cobra show is a enjoyable, quick, show.

I can't remember the name, but the night bazaar near Lumphini has a open air music stage with a variety of acts (Suan Lum??). You grab a table and surrounding the seating area is a large amount of food and drink booths with ladies bringing beer and drinks to your table. The music and seats are free, food and drink reasonable.

I remember my second trip to BKK being taken there and finding it unique.