This year I spent my Birthday in Bangkok. It's a Birthday gift from Mr. Starfish. We managed to book Air Asia's free seats. The ticket cost was RM 165,- per person inclusive Advance Seat Request and Up to 15 kg baggage allowance. Departed from Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL) at 1340 (1:40 PM) and arrived in Suvarnnabhumi (BKK) at 1440 (2:40 PM). We stayed one nite in Unico Express Hotel (room rate : THB 800/room/nite for standard room only) and two nites in Take A Nap Hotel (room rate : THB 800/room/nite for Central Park room inclusive breakfast).
From airport to Unico Express Hotel, we took Shuttle bus, cost us about THB 150 per person. But unfortunately, on the way to the hotel, when we almost reached hotel, the traffic was so bad. Then we decided to walk across the street and took taxi. We were lucky that the taxi was so cheap, less than THB 20. Unico Express Hotel looked ok from the outside. But the room were not good, old and smell. I may recommend to upgrade to the higher room type if you want to stay in this hotel. For sure, we won't stay in this hotel again. We didn't feel comfortable with surrounding and we should walk a bit far to go to Nana Sky Train station.
First day activity was shopping. There are many places to go shopping in Bangkok. We went to MBK and Pat Pong night market. We didn't buy anything on the first day except cheap and tasty hawker food. Oh ya... we had Thai massage in Pat Pong night market. The massage was so cheap, only THB 250 per person. You must try Thai Massage when you come to Thailand!
Second day.... we woke up and checked out earlier. We went to Take A Nap Hotel for checking in. Actually it is a hostel, but very clean and nice. It is walking distance to MRT Sam Yan station. The staff were friendly and helpful. The staff helped us to read the map and informed us how to go to Chak Tu Chak Market. Compare with Unico Express Hotel, we prefer to stay in Take A Nap Hotel in the future.
Next schedule was.... Chak Tu Chak Market, the Thailand's largest weekend market. We took train MRT and BTS train to Chak Tu Chak. It cost us THB 40 per person from Take A Nap Hotel to Chak Tu Chak.
First stop.... our favorite coconut ice cream in this market... it's only THB 25, served with free coconut water!
There were thousand of things to buy here.... ceramics, books, accessories, clothing, etc. Wouldn't be enough to explore this market in one day. I bought one dress, one "eclipse" novel, and one pants for Mr. Starfish. We had our simple lunch in this market (THB 105 for two person).
Head to another shopping destination... took train from Chak Tu Chak Market to Payathai Station (THB 40) and we took a taxi to go Pratunam Market (THB 45). Pratunam Market is the Thailand's largest clothing market. Here you can find more clothing with wholesale price! The price starts from THB 150 per piece, depends on the quality and design. You can get cheaper if you buy at least 3 pieces. The market opens daily for 24 hours and retail shops open from 10.00am to 09.00pm.
From Pratunam Market, we went to MBK again (^_^) We bought a extremely cheap cabin luggage ! It's only THB 1100, hard case and pink color.
Third Day.... our itinerary on the 3rd day was city tour and shopping (again). First destination was Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is in the Banglamphu area of Bangkok, called as "Old City". To get there, we took MRT from MRT Sam Yan station to Sala Daeng station (THB 16), continued by Sky Train from Sala Daeng to Saphan Taksin station (THB 25). From Saphan Taksin station to Grand Palace, we took river boat (THB 25). It's the fastest way to go to Grand Palace, avoid traffic jam =P We went down to Pier 9 The Chang. This is the gateway to Grand Palace.
Grand Palace entrance fee was THB 350 per person. Tourists are not allowed to wear short pants or short skirts, it should be covered ankles. However they rent a sarong to cover lower legs. It was free but you need to pay deposit.
Finally we arrived in Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Emerald Buddha temple. It's located in the center of Grand Palace. To enter this temple, you should take off your shoes. Inside the temple, there is a dark green statue, it's about 2 feet tall.
Lion guard at Emerald Buddha temple :
We spent almost one and half hour walking around Grand Palace until we decided to go to Wat Arun Temple. We passed by Royal Reception Halls when we were walking to exit door.
Next destination was Wat Arun Temple. We tried to find out the location on the map. Suddenly we met a guy and told us that Wat Arun closed due to Buddhist festive. It will open again at 5 pm. Then he advised us to take tuk-tuk and visited some his recommendation places, such as Standing Buddha temple, Sitting Buddha Temple,Convention Center, etc. He also informed us the tuk-tuk price for visiting these all places, for tourist was about THB 100, if we can convince the tuk-tuk driver that you are local, we can get special price, only THB 50. Few minutes later, one tuk-tuk passed by. This guy helped us to call the tuk-tuk and surprisingly we got the special price.
The tuk-tuk driver brought us to Sitting Buddha temple. The entrance fee was THB 40. Nothing special in this temple except the Buddha statue. I didn't see many tourist came to this place. We decided to move to another place.
When we came back to our tuk-tuk, the driver asked permission to go toilet. While we were waiting the driver, we met someone. He told us many thing about Thailand and shapire. He said we were lucky coming to Thailand on that day. He said "Today Thai Government gives shapire special promotion for tourist". He recommended us to buy shapire.
The driver came back to our tuk-tuk and took us around to jewellry shop. We noticed that this is a lie, it was like a scenario. We didn't want to buy anything. The driver kept bringin us to a couple shop : jewellry factory, tailor, etc. Until we got mad and asked him to send us to Wat Arun. Learning point for us : "Do not talk to stranger and trust Tuk-tuk driver!"
After having nightmare experience, we went to Wat Arun. We took boat river (THB 6 per person for return). The journey accros the river tooks 10 to 15 minutes.
Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, is one of the most important temples in Bangkok. The best time to see Wat Arun is in the evening at sunset with the sun sinking slowly behind the temple, it's between 6pm to 7 pm. The admission fee was THB 50 per person. We went back to Saphan Taksin by local boat, it was only THB 13.