A Short Break to Bangkok

A November 2004 trip to Bangkok by v816

Things certainly have changed in the last few years. No doubt there are more shopping malls and a Skytrain, but the things that make Bangkok such an attractive location are dwindling away.

  • 3 reviews
No doubt the Traditional Thai Massage is the highlight of any city in Thailand. I also liked shopping for various types of semi-precious stones, which were cheap!

Quick Tips:

Take the MRT or Skytrain out of the popular tourist areas for your Traditional Thai Massage at an old rate (like 300Bt for 2 hours). It will save you a ton of money compared to getting them at hotels and town centers (600Bt)!

Best Way To Get Around:

Take a taxi or the MRT or Skytrain and then switch to a tuk-tuk to take you to various tourist spots (four to five) of the area/district or even to places within the area of your choice for only 30 to 40Bt! Just let the driver take you to one or two tourist spots where he has a chance to get a petrol voucher should you buy anything. (Of course, it is your prerogative to buy or not)!

Twin Towers HotelBest of IgoUgo

Hotel | "MTC at Grand Tower Inn"

This was our first trip with RCI, and we received a very promising recommendation from the RCI staff when we asked for a recommendation on an accommodation. We were told that this hotel had received the Gold Crown award and was within walking distance to the Skytrain or MRT in Bangkok. How wrong was the information? Very in our opinion.

First, in order to reach the Skytrain or MRT, we had to walk like couple of miles through small lanes as well as on the highway! Obviously it is very dangerous to do so, not to mention that you will be tired before you even start your day! Second, most of the taxis that we took from town centers (the hotel is way out from all of the exciting places in Bangkok) did not know how to reach the hotel, even with the hotel directional card! Third, though the hotel was fairly clean (as with most hotels of the same class), they only allow one free extra pillow before charging (no extras in the room), there is no free bottled water (commonly found in most Thailand hotels, even the lower class ones), and coffee and tea packets were chargeable as well!

As this was our first time booking with RCI, we were really disappointed with the discrepancy in the recommendation and are really quite apprehensive about future advice from the booking staff if we are going to continue to do our bookings through RCI!

  • Member Rating 1 out of 5 by v816 on November 28, 2004

Twin Towers Hotel
88 NEW RAMA V1 ROAD Bangkok, Thailand
011 662 216 9555

During my latest visit to Bangkok in November 2004, I was shocked to find out that the famous Traditional (not body, mind you) Thai Massage has doubled in price from the rate that I used to pay awhile back. Now you have to pay around 300bt for 1 hour as opposed to 2 hours! After the first massage during the second day of my visit, which was done in a temple, I decided to forget about it, as it was too expensive for my budget.

However, during the third day of my visit, I happened to visit Fortune Town Mall (housing a Tesco outlet), which you can reach by the underground train, stopping at Thai Cultural Village. Surprise, surprise! The rate is 330 bt for 2 hours! It is almost the same as in the pass. I jumped into it, and it was just as good! Only then I realised that you need to avoid the city center and find your way to cheaper outlets that are quite easily accessible by using either the MRT or Underground Train!

  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by v816 on December 9, 2004

Traditional Thai Massage
All over Thailand Bangkok, Thailand

About the Writer

v816
v816
Penang, Australia

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