Got Bangkok

According to this article on Bangkok Post, Bangkok has been rated as the #1 best city in the world.
Bkk Post article HERE.
Popular travel magazine and website “Travel and Leisure” aka travelandleisure.com is the source of this.

1. Bangkok, Thailand <<<<<———- 🙂
   
2. Chiang Mai, Thailand
3. Florence, Italy
4. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
5. Rome, Italy

The official full listing is here http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2010/cities

Some random BKK pictures that we’ve taken:

Soi 8 Pub and Restaurant
“Bangkoks most successful family pub and restaurant”
Open everyday 8:00am – 1:00am
Website: http://www.soi8.net
Call: 02 6533144
Address: Soi 8 Sukhumvit (Nana BTS Station)

Thailand has some of the best ethnic food in the world, so living in Bangkok is such a treat! But sometimes being a farang living in Thailand, you wake up with a feeling to have one of those HUGE breakfasts from back home, like English or American style breakfast, well Soi 8 Pub and Restaurant is the perfect place to go if you have a sudden urge like I had this morning! You will get a big breakfast that you most likely cannot even finish! Not only do they have breakfast but also sandwiches, steaks, burgers, pastas, some seafood, meat pies, soups and salads and even quite a few good thai dishes. Soi 8 Pub has the longest happy hour in all of Thailand, from 8am til 7pm, buy 1 get 1 free. And every weekend have an awesome blues band playing. You’ll really enjoy Soi 8 Pub and Restaurant if you’re looking for a nice breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or for a nice night out with the buddies.

The Menu: Big hearty breakfasts, awesome sandwiches and burgers for lunch, and seafoods and steaks for dinner
What I Ate: I had their famous English Breakfast, with 2 eggs any style, toast and butter, baked beans, grilled tomato, thick slices of bacon, 2 huge sausages, and yummy potatoes. This breakfast is too large for any normal person to finish alone, you will see, and it’s very delicioius!
The Staff: Friendly staff that speaks English very well
The Bathroom: +1 vote for clean bathrooms

Conclusion: Soi 8 Pub and Restaurant is fun for any occasion, for weekend out drinking beers, or for big massive meals, you will enjoy this great location and great bar and restaurant in the heart of Bangkok and Sukhumvit

Extras: Live Music at Soi 8 Friday & Saturday 9.30pm – 12.30am, Groove Rich Blues with ‘Blue on Blues’. Soi 8 Pub also has the longest happy hour from 8am til 7pm every single day!!! Buy one get one FREE!

Centaur Inn
“Best Budget Hotel in Bangkok”
Open 24hours/day
website: http://www.centaurinn.com
Call: (+66-2) 639 6528
Address: 448-448/1 Soi Charoen Krung 47, Surawongse Road, Bangrak – 10500, Thailand

Centaur Inn Bangkok is noted as the “Best budget hotel in Bangkok” and it’s been around since 1982, so that alone says a lot about this nice budget hotel in the heart of the foreigner district Silom / Patpong area. They have Wi-Fi in all rooms. There is a 24hr/day business center on the ground floor with 10 computers, coffee, tea, beer and more cold drinks are served there. They also allow their guests to use DVD player, books and CD’s free of charge. Centaur Inn has over 43 guestrooms and has some great asian hospitality for you to make this your “home in Bangkok”.

The Rooms:The rooms at Centaur Inn are well equipped for being a budget hotel, with hot and cold shower, windows in all rooms, mini fridge available for stocking with your own beverages, color TV with 9 channels (Kalainar, Isaiaruvi, Jaya, Al Jazeera, Doordarshand, PTV, Asia Net, Thai Channel, Zee Music and Zee Smile). Daily room cleaning, DVD rental (free of charge) and the rooms are small but very clean. Room rates are, with AC is 66, 600, and 650 baht per night. Room rates with no AC is 300, 400, and 500 baht per night, so this hotel is VERY cheap!
The Menu: The food in their restaurant is mostly North Indian, South Indian, Kerala Pakistani, and Sri Lankan Cuisine. Restaurant is open from 10:00AM till 11:00PM
What I Ate:
The Staff:
The Bathroom:

Conclusion:

Extras: Free American Breakfast served for all booking made through Internet.

The Bangkok curfew was dragging on and on so this past weekend I took a cheap Air Asia flight to Udon Thani Bangkok, in the Issan region. I have never been here before, but here’s some info I’ve gathered..

Centara Hotel & Convention Centre Udon Thani
“”
Open 24hours/day
website: http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com
Call: +66 (0) 4234 3555
Address: 277/1 Prajaksillapakhom Road, Muang, Udon Thani, 41000, Thailand

Centara Hotel (formerly known as Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel, Udon Thani)

The Rooms:
The Menu: You will love the menu here, they have late night room service and it’s full of many thai foods, italian foods, sandwiches, burgers, and many many more.
What I Ate: I had the ham and cheese sandwich and french fries, was good, but the food took a long time and was cold, then tonight I order pa-nang moo (pork in a brown coconut-based curry) it wasn’t very good, and pad ka paow gai (chicken basil) was a huge order and tasted aroi mak (delicious)
The Staff: The staff was very nice here, from the front desk reception to the spa receptions to the food delivery staff, all were nice, speak English well and friendly.
The Facilities: Most of the facilities are on 5th floor, swimming pool is medium size, the sauna is massive, the steam room is really nice and big also, the fitness center is big with many different things to use, I have to admit the facilities here are great! But for the sauna/steam/jacuzzi it’s an extra 100 baht charge. But, I advise against using their internet and business center, I need to print 1 paper, it costs 250 baht for 30 minutes internet in their business center, and even the wifi in room is expensive, 600 baht for full day. I suggest you invest in buying an “aircard”, it’s a usb connection to the internet. (TIP: I don’t know how long the card is valid for, but I paid for 30 minutes card, and I used only 1 minute, if you stay this hotel you can try, my User ID: aaf4398 and Password: 65901, if you try this please let me know, thank you)
The Bathrooms: all were clean and nice

Conclusion: In conclusion,

Extras: Centara Hotel is in a prime location, it’s connected to the Central Plaza mall, Robinsons, and Tops supermarket. Also, there is a moo ka ta restaurant, and a thai style food and drink market very nearby also. 7-11 is about 5 minutes away, and Mojo’s Bar and Restaurant is around the corner also. Also directly across the street is Brothers Disco if you want to try the Udon nightlife

Those last pictures are from the Moo Kra Ta which is about 8 minutes walk from Centara Hotel, it’s a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet with fresh meats that you cook on your table, with bbq sauce and chili’s, garlic, veggies, meats, seafoods, etc, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Looting and fires are still going strong, I can see from my apartment view

So Bangkok is still burning and filling the skies with smoke. When they going to finish???

Moo Kra Ta Ratchada
“Bangkok Family Bar-B-Q”
Open everyday 7:00pm – 12:00am midnight
Website: none
Call: 0-2652-9980
Address: Huay Kwang MRT Station, Ratchada

Moo Kata restaurants are located all over Thailand, it’s not a chain restaurant but a style of restaurant and you’ll surely love the fresh meats and seafoods cooked right before your eyes! They have a live band every night playing until midnight and many thai pretty girls serving ice cold beers.

The Menu: There is no menu here, you pay 109 baht per person and you go choose your meats, seafoods, veggies, soups, sauces, sushi, and all
What I Ate: We ate the pork bbq, the fish, baby corn, bacon, spicy seasoned chicken, the do-it-yourself som tum, the sushi, and then finished it off with the thai dessert, ice cream with coconut milk and more, ALL was very delicious!
The Staff: The staff usually does not speak English, since these places are usually full of ALL thai customers with sometimes a few astray farangs
The Bathroom: The bathrooms are big, not so clean, but have basic toilets and sinks, bring your own tissue!

Conclusion:

Extras: On the weekends they have live bands and serving ice cold beers from the cute beer girls or “pretty girls”

For Songkran, I decided to get out of Bangkok to a more quiet place, so I chose to go Rayong for the few days during Songkran, here’s a review of my hotel there.

Hinsuay Namsai Resort Hotel
“The best for anyone who really loves to spend their unlimited imagination with hillside nature and the sea”
Open 24hours/day
website: http://www.hinsuaynamsaihotel.com
Call: 0-3863-8260-5
Address: Hinsuay-Namsai Resort Hotel, 250 Moo 2, Sakpong District, Klang, Rayong 21190, Thailand

Hinsuay

The Rooms: The room I had at Hinsuay Namsai was very big, and had a very big balcony, a little table and chairs, a desk and a minibar with drinks. The bathroom was big too, the water wouldn’t get hot at times, but otherwise I think the room was a good value, except for the fact that there was no internet in room, that is a huge downfall for me (internet in hotel lobby only). And it was nice when we 1st walked into the room they had the aircon blased already, and it is very powerful, great for when it’s really hot in Thailand. The tv channels only have Thai language stations, so it’s very difficult for those who cannot speak Thai to enjoy watching tv, but then again, at a nice resort why spend time indoors watching tv anyways, right!?! hehe. In Chomsamed building rooms range from 1600 – 3000 baht. In the Plernpim building rooms range from 1900 – 12000 baht per night
The Menu:
What I Ate: Kua Kling Moo was very delicious, and so was the namprik kapi
The Staff: The hotel staff was very nice and friendly, they brought the 2 prong adapter to my room when I needed it, they worked on fixing the wifi internet in lobby when it was down, and assured me it’d be fixed soon. Also, the old man at the fitness center/sauna area was very nice and helpful.
The Facilities: There are 2 massive swimming pools, they are perfect if you enjoy taking a swim. The sauna was nice, and there is a staff member to assist you with it, cost is 50 baht per person per use. The fitness center is ok, it’s outside and it has just the basic gym stations. There are 2 snooker tables. There is a buffet restaurant every night for 500 baht per person, many great thai cuisine. There is also a free buffet every morning too. Taruer Tangkae restaurant has Chinese, Thai and European foods.
The Bathrooms: all were clean and nice

Conclusion: In conclusion, for approx 2000 baht per night, I think Hinsuay Namsai Resort was a great value and I will be staying here again for any future trips to Rayong

Extras: Free wifi in lobby. Free breakfast buffet for 2 people per room.

Pics from the scenery, and from the buffet and lobby pics from Hinsuay

This website has been blocked by ICT, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology

I went to a site today, and found this, I still think Thailand is pretty lame when it comes to their internet rules, they are still censoring things, it’s so old fashioned 🙁 I hope someday there is more online freedom in the great Kingdom of Thailand 🙂

I hope despite having the Bangkok Red Shirts situation going on, that you will still all enjoy your Songkran Festival here in Thailand. From driving around Bangkok in a bus heading towards Rayong, I see the fun and water play is still running strong!

I will be spending my Songkran holiday in Rayong, my first time here and it seems nice.

I will post my pictures and information afterwards

Where are you going for Songkran? What will you be doing? Staying in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, or planning to get away? Please comment or send in your experiences, pictures, information, we’d love to hear from you and post your knowledge 🙂

Here is a list of Airlines in Thailand.

Air Asia I have flown with Air Asia many times, I’ve been robbed by them once in 2008, they double charged me for 4 round trip flights from Bkk – Phuket, but since then they have been fine for me, they cancelled my Udon to BKK flight last month and refunded me, but I had to argue with them to get the refund. Beware, this is a super budget airline, so they will squeeze every penny out of you in other areas.
http://www.airasia.com

Thai Air Thai Air is a little bit more expensive airline in Thailand but they have MUCH better service in every area than all the other airlines. They are usually very flexible about changing flights which is really nice.
http://www.thaiair.com

Nok Air Nok Air is a great Thai budget airline with good service.
http://www.nokair.com

Orient Thai Air
http://www.flyorientthai.com (previously 1-2 Go)

Bangkok Air
http://www.bangkokair.com

Solar Air has flights mostly to the Chumphon southern region of Thailand.
http://www.solarair.co.th

Crystal Air
http://www.crystalthaiair.com (site offline)

Happy Air
http://www.happyair.co.th

Silk Air
http://www.silkair.com (site offline)

Phuket Airlines
http://www.phuketairlines.com

PB Air is owned by Boonrawd Brewery president Piya Bhirom Bhakdi. It has since closed in 2009
http://www.pbair.com (site offline)

If you know of anymore airlines in Thailand then please post in the comments, or let me know