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Special InterestsMuai Thai Meditation Entertainment Traditional Thai Massage Thai Cooking Golfing Opportunities around Bangkok and Samut Prakan
Cinemas Thai, Western and Asian films with English subtitles are regularly screened at Bangkok's many cinemas. The cinemas are scrupulously clean and modern. A regular movie ticket costs around 100-140 baht. Details of current showings can be found in Bangkok's English-language press.
Shopping Patpong/Suriwong/Silom Areas Mahesak/Silom/Charoenkrung Road Areas Phahurat Bombay Market There is a large Indian minority in Thailand. Merchants have spread out all over Asia from Southern India and many have come to Thailand. Many have arrived to trade the brightly-coloured cloth used to make saris and the beautiful ankle-length dresses Indian women like to wear. In Phahurat Market, on Phahurat Road parallel to Yaowarat Road just west of Chinatown and towards the river, visitors will find a variety of supplies to suit the clothing needs of those Indian ladies and more. The market sells all kinds of cloth from plain white cotton to batik to silk, to cover every need; for cushions, curtains, upholstery coverings, suits, dresses and skirts. Think of the cloth requirements or even the buttons and tassels one needs, and it is a good bet one will find what one wants here. Cloth is sold by the metre, straight from the bolt. It is usually very cheap. Phahurat is a market really worth exploring. Not only is it a cloth centre, but a spice centre as well. As visitors go round the market, they will be aware of that spicy, Indian smell made up of incense, which they can buy here, and of course Indian curry. Visitors can buy incense to lend their living room an exotic atmosphere; search the tiny side streets for spices and other Indian specialties, household goods and shoulder bags in Thai silk. Sukhumvit Area This long thoroughfare is Bangkok's major artery and its major hotels include the Landmark, Ambassador and Sheraton Grande. The major shopping areas are concentrated between Soi Nana ( Sukhumvit 3) and Sukhumvit 24 and there is a thriving street market. A variety of shops, shopping centres, plazas and department stores including Robinson and the Emporium (mostly imported brand-name merchandise) offer a great range of choices to buyers. Also, check out HI on Sukhumvit Soi 55, a very hip place for a trendy lifestyle in Bangkok, which has a shop with imported furniture from Italy , a graphic bookshop, restaurants and home-made ice cream. The area is a group of white buildings surrounded by trees and bushes. Phloen Chit/Pathumwan Areas Big-name hotels include the Grand Hyatt Erawan, Arnoma, Regent, Imperial and Novotel. The area has several department stores and shopping centres, including the Central World Plaza, on the 7' floor of which the duty-free shopping outlet is located, Central Chitlom, Gaysorn Plaza, Siam Square, Siam Discovery Centre, and MBK Center. Visitors will certainly find something they take a fancy to. Suan Lum Night Bazaar Suan Lum Night Bazaar is located on the east side of Lumphini Park. It is a big new place for shoppers to spend their time and money shopping at night from 5.00 p.m. to 12.00 p.m. The large area has many restaurants, pubs, beer gardens, and stalls (fashionable clothes, handicrafts and handmade products, mostly OTOP). There are the BEC-TERO Hall where visitors can catch internationally famous classical, rock and pop concerts and ice-skating shows. Pratunam/Phetchaburi Road Areas Banglamphu Near the river exists this lively market and commercial area favoured by locals for its good bargains; however, over the last twenty years, it has become famous for Khao San Road, where backpackers and budget travellers have found a home away from home. The road has gone more upscale in recent years, however, and now has a Boots and Burger King. Although the street is not very long, Khao San Road is extremely interesting with people from all over the world examining the market stalls, looking for accommodation, eating in cheap restaurants and using cyber cafes. This is where you can buy second-hand books and cheap clothing, reserve a really inexpensive hotel or guesthouse, or just sit in an open-air restaurant watching people go by and guessing where they come from. In the evenings, loud music takes over and during the Songkran water festival, visitors will not escape a soaking. It is a good humoured friendly place and well worth visiting. Website: www.khaosanroad.com Bo Be Market This well-known clothing market opens at 10.00 wm, and is situated along Krung Kasem Road, near Saphan Khao and the Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation on the intersection with Lan Luang Road. It is largely wholesale; therefore, bargaining is necessary if one is preparing to buy large quantities. Pak Khlong Talat This market is at the base of Phra Buddha Yodfa Bridge along Chakrawat Road. Also known as the "flower market", most people come to buy flowers from lilies, carnations, roses, daisies to orchids, and so on. Vendors can arrange beautiful bouquets for every occasion. Chatuchak Weekend Market Thewet Market Reachable by the river taxi, as well as road transport, this market is best known for potted plants and shrubs. Langkrasuang Market Between the Royal Hotel and the Ministry of Interior, a row of shop-houses sell moderately priced second-hand goods, like antique cameras, typewriters, musical instruments, radios and all manner of electrical goods. Bargaining is recommended. Woengnakhon Khasem Nightlife At night, when most of the city's attractions are closed and visitors feel like the day has not yet been completed, feel free to spend the night time in various exquisite pubs, clubs, karaoke, and bars in Bangkok. Here are some selections for your choice of interest. There, let the vibes go into your veins and lose yourself in the music. Q Bar A visually stunning nightclub on Sukhumvit 11, known as Bed Supperclub For those who have an edgy heart and torn apart soul, this could be the destination for tonight. The Bed Supperclub is a "dining in bed" experience and an upscale restaurant, club, art gallery, theatre, and stage combined with spectacular and fashionable decorations. Housed in a custom-built new building and set in a futuristic all-white environment, the club crosses a divide between dining and cutting-edge entertainment. Funky House, Asian fusion, Bhangra, and Hip-Hop are on the decks. Te1.0 2651 4443 Website: www.bedsupperclub.com Bangkok Bar Bangkok Bar is a stone's throw from Khao San Road and always jam-packed with a cosmopolitan crowd of college students and tourists. The bar has 2 storeys with a mezzanine floor where one can spot everyone downstairs. It was designed to be both a restaurant and a bar. House, Trance, Funk, Dance, Drum n' Bass, Garage, Big Beat, Break Beat and Acid Jazz are served up along with delicious and inexpensive food. It has an intriguing "East meets West" design concept and outrageous fun |
With feet, arms, fists and knees used in the fights, the unique martial art of "Muai Thai" has caught on in many countries. Boxers undergoing long periods of specialised training are
immensely fit and strong although slight in build. It comes as no surprise when much larger men without the specialised training, feeling that they can easily win, find themselves on their backs in a few seconds when up against these steely-muscled fighters. "Muai Thai" can be seen throughout the week at two major boxing stadiums, Lumphini (Tel. 0 2251 4303) on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and at Ratchadamnoen (Tel. 0 2281 4205) on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And• at the Channel 7 Stadium (Te1.0 2272 0010) only on Saturdays.
Meditation is one of the most popular aspects of Buddhism, practised by numerous Thais and laymen as a means of inspiring inner peace and well-being. The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) located on Sukhumvit Road between Soi 22 and 24 is the most convenient and useful place to learn about Thai Buddhism and meditation practised in certain Bangkok temples.
Thai and international cultural performances including symphonies, ballet, mime, modern dramas, jazz and pop concerts from world-famous artists are often staged in Bangkok. Details of current events are regularly advertised in Bangkok's major English-language newspapers or
This therapeutic and highly soothing fonts of massage purportedly evolved from Brahmin hermit ascetics some 2,500 years ago, who relieved the stress of extended periods of meditation by adopting certain postures. Today, those practised in the art can bring great relief, reduce muscle stress and bring a sense of well-being to the body.
The best-known school of Thai traditional massage is located in Wat Pho (Tel. 0 2221 2974, 0 2221 3686), where a two-week course is taught for anyone interested in mastering this unique and fascinating art. Major hotels and spas in Bangkok also provide Thai massage services.
Thai cuisine is rapidly increasing in popularity worldwide and there is an increasing interest in learning the art. Visitors wishing to learn how to cook Thai food can contact:
Over the last two decades, there has been an explosion in golf course building, as more land has become available for exploitation. Today, Bangkok and Samut Prakan can boast many modern, professionally run courses, many of them designed by famous golfing names from Europe and America.
Golfing in Thailand is a golfer's dream. The courses are well-designed, very cheap compared to their Western counterparts, and caddies are always available. During the week, they are far less crowded than courses in other countries. Most courses allow the casual visitors to play, whether they are members or not. Here is a selection of the many courses available.
Smart people arrive in Bangkok with empty suitcases and go back with full ones. The reason is that Bangkok is one of the world's best shopping centres. It has many advantages: quality, cheap prices, skilled artisans and friendly good-natured bargaining.
Favourite purchases include Thai silks and cottons, modern and traditional jewellery featuring precious gemstones such as sapphires, rubies, emeralds and diamonds, semi-precious stones including opal, jade, topaz, turquoise and zircon, nielloware, silverware, pewterware, ceramics, specially-fired celadon, woodcarved paintings, custom-tailored clothing and hundreds of other special buys.
There is also the selection of authentic Thai handicrafts and contemporary crafts and housewares from "One Tambon One
Product (OTOP)", a project to promote quality cottage industry goods and folk handicrafts in Thailand.
Shopping in Thailand is divided into two types and several areas. Visitors can buy at street stalls and pick up clothing at very cheap prices, (but with no guarantees) or they can buy in plazas, shopping centres and hypermarkets where prices are fixed. Surprisingly, street shopping such as at the Chatuchak Weekend Market often gives good value and quality and the prices are relatively low, although bargaining is expected and carried out with humour and with a smile. Supermarkets, plazas and hypermarkets offer good value too compared to the West. Service is excellent and the establishment often contains cinema complexes and other entertainment areas, including excellent eating out facilities.
Besides major hotels including the Shangri-La, the Royal Orchid Sheraton, the Holiday Inn and the Oriental, this area contains a major gemstone-dealing and jewellery manufacturing area and houses boutiques, art galleries, department stores and plazas, including the River City Complex where a wide selection of goods can be found everywhere with an emphasis on antiques, tailored clothing and contemporary Thai and Asian paintings.
Yaowarat is what the Thais call Chinatown and a purely Chinese community has lived here for many years. The inhabitants, of course, consider themselves Thai now and many can no longer speak Chinese, but a look at their faces will tell their origins. It is an interesting place to explore. Two of Chinatown's symbolic roads are Yaowarat Road leading westwards from near Wat Trimit, and Sampheng Lane, running parallel south of Yaowarat. Busy Yaowarat Road is Chinatown's main street, and has surely one of the greatest concentrations of gold shops anywhere. There are dozens of shops, all in red and gold, most with competitive prices. Much of the gold is over 99% pure. Thais buy it not only for decorative purposes but also as savings for a rainy day, because
gold shops will gladly buy back gold at the daily rate, for a small charge. This area is also famous for fine Chinese food, where you can get bird's nest soup, dim sum, and other traditional Chinese delicacies. Shops also offer selections of Chinese herbs for sale. The narrow, crammed Sampheng Lane is a very busy predominantly pedestrian street. It is a hive of constant commercial activities, mostly in textiles and cloth, and a fascinating street to walk along.
The area is best known for inexpensive ready-made clothing, which is sold partly in a street market where bargaining is the order of the day. Major hotels include the Amari Watergate and the Indra Regent. A few hundred metres west along Phetchaburi Road from the Amari Watergate Hotel and across the street, is an enormous computer goods establishment called Pantip Plaza for the cyber-connoisseur, devoted to hardware, software and other electronic goods. It offers incredibly good value. This is a place to spend a whole day in, the true Aladdin's cave for computer geeks.
Not only can visitors buy a brand-name computer and a tailor-made computer assembled on the spot with very low prices, but they can also buy second-hand computers and have their computer repaired for a very reasonable price. As in all Thai plazas, there is good food to eat, too. www.pantipplaza.com
Also in this area is Baiyoke Tower II, the highest edifice in Bangkok with buffet restaurants on the 77'h and 78th floors that offer a spectacular panorama of the city. Around its base, there are many small markets and shopping streets to explore. 
Located near the Bangkok Bus Terminal (Mo Chit II), this enormous weekend market, hugely popular with local and foreign shoppers is open every weekend from dawn to dusk approximately 7.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Chatuchak Weekend Market is a Bangkok landmark where visitors can buy just about everything from all over Thailand, ranging from clothing to pets and everything in between - a paradise for browsers and bargain-hunters. It is also where professional and amateurartlovers and artists meet.