Accommodation in Bangkok

Where to stay in Bangkok? I have been considering for a very long while before I made my decision. Khao San Road is the popular place for backpackers, but it's rather far away from Bangkok city center and therefore it is out of my consideration.

Thus, it's down to Siam area and Sukhumvit area. Sukhumvit area is famous for its nightlife and Siam area is the perfect place for shopping. It's all based on your personal preference, I chose Siam area in the end because I am more to shopping. But no matter where you stay, just make sure that you chose a place which the transportation is really convenient, e.g. close to BTS skytrain

Thanks to my friend who recommended us this hotel, Ibis Siam. This hotel located right next to the BTS skytrain National Stadium station and 5 minutes away from saen saep canal, which is so convenient to us. Especially after a whole day walking around sight seeing, the first thing you wanted to see after you get off that skytrain is your hotel.

See how near it is to the BTS skytrain station
Source: www.booking.com

My room - really clean and comfy

With Bangkok Art & Culture Center right beside of it, MBK center and Siam Discovery just across the street, and Tesco Lotus is just 10 minutes down the road. (we bought a lot of Lays from there back to Malaysia :P). I couldn't think of a better place to stay in Bangkok.

The famous Lub.D is just beside Ibis Siam as well. I did plan to stay here, but I'm not too fond of using shared bathroom and their private room is not available during my stay in Bangkok. (p/s: I do think that the price is a little bit pricey for hostel, but considering the strategic location, and its rating on trip advisor, maybe it's worth it)

Take the shot from skytrain station, the building next to it on the right, is where Ibis Siam located

Other hotels/guesthouse that I came across while I'm researching for a place to stay includes Wendy House (quite cheap) and also Vista Residence. (just putting here as an option).

How to get here from DMK airport : just grab a cab, if follow meter, it should be around 300 Baht, but there is a 50 Baht surcharge for taxi service from airport. The taxi driver will normally wanted to take highway (in order to avoid the heavy traffic) and you will need to pay for the toll fees

Shopping at Siam area, Bangkok

Just came back from Bangkok last week, and I am so excited to share the experience in Bangkok.
Bangkok is famously known as Shopping Paradise and it certainly worthy of the name.

Staying in Siam area is the wisest decision I have made. All the main shopping malls in Bangkok are located in Siam area and everything is just within walking distance for me.

Right across the street from my hotel, there's the MBK centre, located just next to BTS skytrain, national stadium station. It's basically a bigger, more spacious "Sungei Wang" in Thailand. Good place to shop, I manage to grab 2 bags at 200 baht each there.

The photo says it all

A photo with MBK's tuk tuk

Walk across the pedestrian bridge in front of MBK centre, and it will lead you to Siam Discovery. I basically just walk past Siam Discovery, since there are so much more shopping centre in the area, I figured that I could skip this one.

My cousins and sister, took picture inside of Siam Discovery

Right beside Siam Discovery, is Siam Centre. As I was trying to exit Siam Discovery to go to Siam Centre, we pass by the ticket booth selling the entrance ticket to Madame Tussauds wax museum.

Siam Centre, for youngsters, it's definitely a great place to visit. The whole shopping mall is designed in a way to attract the younger generations, each and every shop has a different design.

One of the themed restaurant in Siam Center, love the design， gearwheel on the ceiling and teddy bears everywhere

The ever changing ceiling - This photo was actually taken few days after 

And right next to Siam Centre, is Siam Paragon, the most high-end shopping mall in Bangkok. Not a good place for me, at least not for me, Prada, Gucci, Hermes are just way out of my affordability. But we did walk around and have some dessert at Ground Floor, where they have the food court and restaurants.

at the entrance of Siam Paragon

Across the street, there is Siam Square, also a good place to shop with a lot of cheap stuff. I found a purse which only cost 100 Baht!!! Amazingly cheap :)

Shopping @ Littlle Siam, Siam Square

Our next stop, Platinum Fashion Mall. This place is quite a distance away from Siam Paragon, so we decided to take skytrain to Chit Lom station and walk back towards Central World Plaza. You will pass by Erawan Shrine, which is most famous and visited Shrine in Bangkok. I'll elaborate more on this in my next post. Once we walked to Central World Plaza, we decided to take tuk tuk instead. Heard a lot of stories about how the tuk tuk driver haggle, but they tried to charge 150 baht for a place which is just down the block. >.<

But it's gonna be just an experience, we promised to ourselves this will be the one and only time we taking tuk tuk. We did took our advantage to take some photos with the tuk tuk.

reach our destinaion - platinum fashion mall

Wholesale shopping!!!! Platinum Fashion Mall is my paradise~~~ we can't help but bought a lot clothes here. In terms of the price, you might be getting cheaper ones in Chatukchak market (at least this is what I think), but the you can get clothes with better quality here.

Finally, at night, we visited Central World Plaza, the largest shopping mall in Bangkok and in South East Asia if I'm not mistaken. It's about 10 minutes walk away from Platinum Fashion Mall. We had our dinner there and visited the famous Naraya outlet. OMG, the shop is full with tourists, so damn crowded but we still stay to grab some as souvenirs. Someone was telling me that the Naraya shop in Central World is the biggest, I couldn't verify that but it's definitely bigger than the one in MBK, in front of Grand Palace and in DMK airport.

Central World at night