Bangkok basics

Bangkok is definitely the best place ever for shopping, whether you want international brands at cut-prices, or prefer browsing in local street markets. At dusk, the Karen tribal women come out, barefoot and in full costume, selling trinkets and weaves from trays. The silverwork and silks are irresistable, but there are all kinds of wonderful things to tempt you. This is the place to freshen up on a new travelling kit, or get yourself a new identity -– you can find highly convincing identity cards of any kind or nationality for very little money. And you don’t have to worry about the water, with freshly squeezed orange juice available on every corner.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Using public transport is perfectly feasible, although you need to buy a bus map. There are no route lists on the bus stops, or public maps. Your hotel reception will always be able to tell you which bus to catch for a specific destination. The river taxis are wonderful, and cheap, if they go anywhere near where you want to go. There are usually two separate quays, one for each direction, so check with other passengers whether you’re waiting on the right one. The platforms are shared by every other kind of water transport as well, from tourist boats to vegetable sellers, but they all have to move away if a proper bus turns up. If you’re alone, watch out for this, as the bus won’t bother to draw into the stop if there are no visible passengers.

The airport bus is expensive (and travels as fast as the traffic allows), but it is efficient, and probably the easiest way to get into town for the first time. Allow up to two hours during rush hour.

Huge ugly slab plonked down in the middle of the old town of Bangkok. Fancy panelled reception, and long gloomy corridors upstairs reminded me somewhat of the old Intourist hotels in communist Russia, but without their charm.

My room (they are all identical) was spacious, newly re-furbished, with efficient air-conditioning, tasteful prints, large modern western bathroom, satellite TV and fridge. You can keep the view over the street at bay with curtains and double-glazing. The breakfast, included in the room rate, was an eclectic buffet, ranging from pork curry to toast and jam, but the more attractive dishes tended to run out early, and weren’t always replenished. Amazingly, in the middle of Bangkok, there is a life-size outdoor pool at the back, completely hidden, and accessible only from the 3rd floor. Relax at sunset in the cool water after a hard day’s sightseeing, and watch the geckos running up and down the whitewashed wall between the trellises, hunting mosquitoes.

Room rates are not displayed, and extremely negotiable. I paid 900 baht ($25) a night for single occupancy of a double room, including breakfast, which is exorbitant for Bangkok. You won’t stay here for the price, or for the atmosphere. The place is a typical 3-star anonymous modern hotel. You could be anywhere in the world. Absolutely no atmosphere, but no bedbugs, cockroaches or mosquitoes either. There are other reasons to recommend it. You probably wouldn’t want to stay here long, but it’s ideal for a couple of days at the beginning of a holiday, when you want to acclimatise gently and see all the main sights without fuss. It’s within walking distance of the Royal Palace, National Museum, City Pillar and river taxis, within a block of the airport bus stop, and bookable by internet. It would also be good at the end of a holiday, when you want to wash thoroughly everything you’ve got, and indulge in a final massage or two.

The VS guesthouse is an old wooden house, tucked away in an unnamed alley off the end of Khao San Road, just before the junction with Boworn Niwet. Pick your way through the children playing, dogs scratching, women preparing or cleaning up after meals, and sinuous Siamese cats going about their feline business. Leave your shoes in the pile at the door, end enter a Thai home. The extended family who own the place are welcoming, and will always find someone who speaks English. They are also surprisingly efficient. All my requests and reservations were passed on, apparently by osmosis, and remembered and honoured accurately by people I’d never seen before in my life.

The whole building is made of old hardwood, often obscured by more modern coverings. Steep staircases pop up at random in the middle of hallways, surrounded by little balustrades. The floors are made of wide boards of natural wood, worn smooth by generations of tiny Thai feet, but most of the walls have been painted a rather military cream and green. My room was as austere and empty as a monk’s cell, very high ceilinged, sparse and clean, with an efficient mosquito screen across the open wooden balustrade, and an incongruous mattress cover patterned with children’s toys. The light and fan switches were both outside the room, allowing the owners to switch both off if they had inadvertently been left turned on when the room was unoccupied -- a bit awkward if you like reading in bed. The room was also locked on the outside with a firm padlock (which is how they knew if no one was in), and with a flimsy bolt on the inside, but I never felt remotely unsafe. There was always someone discretely within hearing distance -- cleaning, repairing, or asleep across the locked threshhold of the building at night.

They had no ensuite bathrooms, of course. There were several shared bathrooms, on both floors, offering traditional Thai vats with scoops, or western showers. There was a large enclosed balcony for communal use, with old European paperbacks, a couple of small Buddhist shrines, an ancient tree meandering through one side, and a spare cat or two. If you’re hungry, mamma will knock up something hot and savoury with rice or noodles at all reasonable hours. Great value at 150 baht (US$4) a night for a single.