One question we are often asked is where to stay when in Bangkok. The capital has around 50 districts and 165 or so subdistricts. This means at some 600 square miles there is a lot of space to cover. Mostly though only a few of these districts are where tourists will stay due to proximity of attractions and tours. Here, we will try to break down and cover a few of those districts. One note of importance is transportation, this is varied and although most mass transit is in English if you step outside the tourist zone you may struggle to make sense of how to get around. Many areas offer very cheap but good accommodation, the problem is if there is no mass transit system then will find costs accruing as taxi's become more essential especially after midnight when the normal modes of getting around close down.
🚝 Staying close to the BTS or Skytrain stations will make life much easier. The MRT or underground system is also a good focal point for getting A to B and both are linked at Major stations like Asoke where you can change lines from BTS to MRT or vice versa. Asoke is not the only interchange and most interchanges are at strategic points. The Thai transport network is expanding in what seems like a bi monthly opening of new stations like Chinatown which was not so long ago in 2019 without a station of its own.
So, with that in mind, let's take a look around some of the more popular locations and what you are likely to find there.
Riverside
This is where Bangkok started its journey as Chinese traders and craftsmen/women began to settle on the river banks. It was from here that the Capital grew after being moved from its previous location. So Historic it is, it dawned a whole new era for what was once old Siam. Now you are more likely to find more luxurious hotels intermixed with older local housing lining the river banks and interspersed between 5-star hotels. Luxury is in abundance here with hotels like the Chatrium built from mostly glass.
Even the rooms are all glass so at nights you have balcony views or you can sit inside open the curtains and look out across the Chao Praya River or city views (not many hotels riverside have balcony's now, although Chatrium is one that still does).
Chatrium is only one of many top end hotels situated along the river banks. There is a very good boat service along the river covering major tourist drop off points, some of these do not run late and with limited BTS access
you may be needing the odd taxi if out late at night. this is not an area for cheap accommodation but often deals will be there to be had. This is prime Bangkok land that comes with a price. Compared to London or other major cities 5 star in Bangkok is cheap. A one-bedroom suite overlooking the river with its own separate living area and balcony, basic kitchen and balcony will put you back around 4000 Thai baht (2019). Compare that to London at around 15,000 for something nowhere near the same size and standards and you are getting luxury cheap. There is some nightlife on the river and some shopping areas close by. The tourist markets of Asiatique and River city are easily accessible and the tourist boat system stops along the river at many locations on the tourist trail map. Riverside is mainly honeymooner territory, couples who want more luxury than low budget and for family's wanting early nights in after tiring out the children. We know booking sites are easy but email the hotel and ask what they can do. Pre Covid-19 on my last stay at the Chatrium an email sent without mention of Khanom or the forum we have (Thailand advice and travel tips), we made major savings on a suite with the Chatrium, one of my own personal favourites. Post Covid will be a whole new ball game of negotiation and booking sites may well find the competition stepping up and discounting for direct bookings.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Chatrium Riverside, Shangri-la Hotel (Great 5 star dinner cruise, Chinese orientated), Millenium Hilton, Avani Riverside, Penninsula, Anantara, Riva Surya make up a few to look up.
Sathorn
Surasak and Saphan Taksin BTS stations get you around as well as a veritable cascade of Taxi's and local buses will ferry you wherever you need to be, situated between the back of Riverside out to Lumpini the trendy options await. Sathorn is another favourite area of Khanom, mainly due to its proximity to both river and BTS and close to areas like Silom and Siam its good for shoppers and diners and those looking into the 4 and 5-star market. Sathorn is not all upscale and it has plenty of mid-range options too. Hotels like the Banyan tree offer the 5-star hunters a good choice. There is not an extensive must-see list in the area although a couple of sky-bars close by will empty the wallets a little faster. Lumpini park is not too far away but if you want the party life then Sathorn is not for you.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Banyan tree, Eastin Grande, Sathorn Bangkok make up a few of the high-end players, budgets here range from ฿1,000 to ฿15,000 (four seasons), a night. mid budget hotels average ฿2,500 to ฿3,500 a night.
Silom
This is an area of great financial wealth and the central financial district in Bangkok. In recent years this once lively but quiet at night areas has begun a transformation with up-scale bars now springing up and some fine dining. The area is awash with banks and high rise of the big players in the financial sector with a selection once again of the upper tier market. One of its main advantages is that is has both BTS (Sala-daeng station) and MRT (Silom Station) connections along with a walkway connecting both lines. This makes getting around pretty easy although Silom station can get busy. As in most countries and being this is a working area the train system can be hectic at the start and end of the working day. Once the working day is over however the nightlife
begins. Patpong is close by but it's not a place on our must do list it does have some following on the tourist trail of nightlife, in Patpong that can often be more than you bargained for and scams are common. The market is worth a walk around but an open mind is needed to the vendors pushing you leaflets for overpriced entertainment venues best left unexplored. Hit up the lebua if you want to venture into Hangover 11 territory but expect to pay through the nose. The Lebua not only has the famous sky bar, it does have Michelin star dining along with a Chefs table and a price to match. Medium size malls are also close at hand, and Silom fascinates as its daytime facade becomes a night time feast of fun, from upscale to red light Silom is not far from it all.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
From the Narai at ฿2,000 a night to the Lebua or the Bandara suites to the Pullman G, the selection fits all budgets with the Pullman being an upper mid-range choice at ฿3,500 plus a night.
Siam
Shoppers paradise? Maybe Siam is best known for the shop until you drop syndrome and is a popular end of stay area so you are not lugging your purchases all over Thailand. Siam paragon, Siam square and Central World are crammed with wall to wall shoppers and these are not small London style malls. Central World is a vast area of business and shopping and you can easily get lost here for hours, not much is cheap here but the food court is pretty good too. Floors and floors of shops will keep you busy even if you are just window shopping. Siam Paragon is the designer mall and where you find the Japanese and Chinese just hanging out. the rest of us gaze longingly at stuff with eye watering price tags.
More local and much cheaper shopping can be found down at Siam square where for those of us with a more modest budget we can indulge ourselves a little and grab a few last minute wants to spend up some of the baht we have left. MBK is the local choice and the choice of most serious shoppers, it has a vibrant market style feel with prices that do not scare you into retreat.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Siam at Siam, Novotel Siam, Pathumwan Princess, Centara grand @ Central World and the Ibis Bangkok Siam. Plenty of high-end international hotel chains are scattered around such as Intercontinental Hotel, Renaissance Bangkok Hotel, St.Regis Hotel, Siam Kempinski and Holiday Inn should cover a few in the area to check out.
Sukhumvit Road
This is possibly the busiest and most popular place for most due to its proximity to almost everything. This does come at a cost and that is not financial. The cost is in traffic with Tax's often avoiding taking you to the area at change over time. Taxi's in the main are rented by drivers and have to be returned at a specific time, early evening will find you struggling for a taxi as Sukhumvit clogs up like a car park. Cost wise you can find any budget around Sukhumvit, but as one of Thailand's longest roads you do not want to end up in the wrong part.
Soi 20 to Soi 1 are the favourite stretches with Asoke BTS and MRT rail links around Soi 15. For those looking for the more risqué side of lie you have soi cowboy around Asoke and Nana at Soi 4 a couple of stations along. The hotels here range from the expensive to the cheap and the area is full of bars, dining and shopping with a few clubs thrown into the mix. Shopping wise terminal 21 a multi-story themed mall representing different locations around the world is a favourite. Prominent locations are used as pick up points for tour companies and the range of dining takes on the luxurious to the street food stalls that are slowly diminishing as the Thai Government increase their campaign of getting the walkways clear for the footsloggers and tourists. Food is anything and everything from Thai to Indian and western tastes. 7/11 seems to have a shop every 100m or so and the pavements are bustling most of the day and night. Galleries, Museums and parks for the children are dotted around and there is always something to do. Roof top bars like Octave and Vanilla sky will get you views over the city without the prices of Red sky bar or Lebua weighing you down. Above 11 at the Fraser Suites is another that has become very popular. Up at the other end of Sukhumvit around Soi 55 is the very upmarket Thong Lor district. New wine and cocktail bars seem to be setting up in increasing numbers and this is where the young socialites hang out now. beam and glow nightclubs along with cool bars like the Havan social club are easy to find. Insanity down at Soi 11 is another option. One thing here is that bars and clubs are changing names and owners in rapid fashion and although the venues are pretty fixed the names may not be. Everyone wants to be a club or bar owner, right? Most of them end up in Sukhumvit somewhere.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Rembrandt Hotel & Suites Bangkok, Holiday Inn Sukhumvit, Park Hyatt Bangkok, Novotel Sukhumvit, JW Marriott Hotel, Sofitel Sukhumvit, Grand Centre Point Terminal 21, Fraser Suites
So far we have not mentioned too much about the sightseeing and famous temples (Wat, in Thai). well you can get into the old city pretty well from all these area's so tours and sightseeing, being out and about and getting around to all the major sites is a breeze if you know Bangkok. If you do not get yourself a welcome to Bangkok guide with Khanom where we take you to a multitude of sights whilst teaching you the transport network, river network and how to get around in confidence so when you return for that shopping spree nothing will slow you down.
Khao San - Rambuttri - Banglamphu areas
This is the mecca of backpacker heaven and has so much been said about it that not much more can be added, recent events mean the street stalls that once were the epitome of Khao san life have been moved under restrictions and late afternoon into the late evening is the time to be here, packed with cheap rooms, Hostels and bars the Khao san area has rarely changed in reputation. For a great hotel in a quiet Soi check out the Chillax resort, mid budget with rooftop pool set away from the main noise and hub its can be a place to grab some peace but close enough to everything that you can walk back after one or two drinks, maybe one or two too many. Everything is geared here to the tourists and do not expect local prices either. Although it is backpacker heaven the prices do not always match the reputation. No different from any bar, club or restaurant always check and itemise your bill, it is not unkown to find a drink or two you never had occasionally finding its way on to your chit.
Chinatown
Thriving, vibrant, colourful and food heaven, the Duck here is reputedly some of the best in the world and Noon my guide here would agree, her eyes light up and you can see her thoughts drifting to the huge array of backstreet food vendors and of course she loves Duck. Check out the Shanghai mansion for a central hotel in the hub of everything and with a street facing bar and concierge stationed there who is very helpful especially when you need Grab because Taxi's at peak time are like gold-dust. There is a local mall that is off beat and small but sells everything from handguns (permit holders only) to Thai silks and costumes made for Khon shows. There is now a new train station link and just about every kind of Thai/Chinese food will be found here. This is one of Khanoms personal favourite tour finish spots where we end the day with a street-food feast that has you putting on the pounds just from looking at all those dishes.
I cannot recommend much in the way of hotels here as I have never stayed in Chinatown itself purely as for me, I prefer the Riverside and Sathon areas and spend much of my time there.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Chillax Resort, Chillax Heritage, Nouvo City Hotel, Royal Rattanakosin Hotel
Old city area
Close to Chinatown this is where you will pretty much be in Temple and palace heaven and on top of the Chao Praya river and tourist boat services. The newly opened Icon Siam shopping mall another in the more upmarket designer range isn huge and easily accessible, The main attractions here though will be the Grand palace and Temples like Golden mount and Wat Arun or the marble temple. There are over 400 Temples in Bangkok and many of the best are located along the river around the old city although Wat Hualamphong or the coffin donation temple is more off beat than tourist trail as well as Chee Chin kor Pagoda, a Chinese style temple a stone's throw from Icon Siam and one of those rarely visited. It is so close to the Mall yet so far as it does not have its own private tourist pier so you have to walk the backroads to get there.
Pratunam (Platinum)
The centre of bulk buy and where many markets source goods they sell. easy to find and easy to get to. The world famous Baiyoke tower stands proud and was once the tallest building in Bangkok. Streetmarkets abound with Malls and wholesalers and just about everything.
The quality ranges and every garment should be checked, the low-end budget here will buy you some real bargains, although they may well fall apart in 24 hours, I bought a jacket here once and it lasted around 15 mins before the pocket zips fell off, sizes here are never the label size and you may find yourself a little shy to be trying things on in an open alley shop, most places will have an area set aside for that so even if you do not see one then ask. The sheer scale of goods on offer here seem never ending as you wind through some of the surrounding soi's discovering small wholesalers and bazaar style markets. Platinum mall and palladium are the shopping centres of note. Nightlife might see you at the Centara grand, home of the Red sky bar and bank loan territory. (rating on the same scale as Lebua, a small steak and a glass of champagne will set you back around 5,000 baht, so will most other dishes with a drink, the views and ambience are worth being there for, but only once, do not expect much in portion size I was straight into a noodle shop after.
Recommended Hotels in this area:
Hotel prices here range from around 700 baht to 4000 baht for most standard type rooms. The U hostel to the Berkley, Novotel Pratunam, Centara Watergate, Amari watergate and Centrepoint Pratunam cover most budget options.
Where you stay is as much dependent on what you want from Bangkok, most hotels are 45-60 mins drive from the airport and cost around 450 Thai baht using the toll roads. Tour companies will always pick up from these locations at specified hotels or collection points with bespoke players like Khanom a door to door service. If you are into walking then the old city area is hard to beat for foot pounding the pavements and close to the river services.
Remember to email those hotels direct or phone them if you are already in Bangkok, maybe like us you will find some discounts applied.
Have a happy stay! ✌️
Author: Gary C.