What are your 'must-sees' for Bangkok and Chiang Mai

fifib

so looks like theres a list as long as my arm of "must sees" in Bangkok and Chiang Mai
We have only 2 1/2 days in Bangkok and 4 1/2 days in Chiang Mai.
Can anyone advise me on what we should definately be trying to fit in? and what we can give a-miss?

folan

i did a trek while in Chang Mai.

the elephants, water rafting stuff was pretty much the worst part, but the walking, the views and the scenery was the highlight of my trip.

if you like to go for long walks in the country side ( about 5-10 miles ), i would definitely recommend that, even though i could take or leave the elephants and the water rafting.

Also, i missed the markets in chang mai, but was told they were amazing craic.

Stojkovic

Smoke opium in Chang Mai.

JohnCleary

Firstly, you're going to have a ball! You don't have a great deal of time but you can't change that now, so just enjoy what you have. I assume you have accom. sorted so we'll skip that.

Bangkok:
Not to sound sleazy (I was there with my GF), but you simply must visit the red light districts, if for nothing more than to sit down and have a drink and just people watch, it's fascinating. They are: Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Patpong.
Patpong is very 'touristy' and the least interesting. Nana Plaza is eh, a bit, mad. Soi Cowboy is definitely the most 'friendly' and least intimidating imo. Cowboy is also very easy to get to, it is on the BTS line (well, so is Nana Plaza actually)

Do walk along the street markets of Sukhimvit Rd - they start from about 7pm if I recall

Do jump on a boat and explore the river a bit. The public transport boats are very cheap but crowded, personally i'd get on a long boat. Don't be afraid to approach other tourists and ask if they want to do the same and share the bill , works out a lot cheaper as the boats can take about 10 people easy.

Do visit Khao San Rd. and marvel at the madness. I don't recommend staying there but certainly visit the road and have a bucket

Do jump on a tuk-tuk and explore the city a bit. Don't be too worried about the tuk-tuk scams, just tell the driver your destination and ask for a price. Then start haggling from about 60% of his initial price. To give you an idea, Sukhimvit Rd. to Khao San Rd. is about 120 baht.

Do visit Wat Phao, it's amazing

Do visit one of the roof-top bars after dark. I recommend the Lebua State Tower. Make sure you are wearing pants and runners/shoes (no shorts / flip flops allowed). A drink is about 10 euro but totally worth it for the view

Do use the BTS (the train system), it is amazingly efficient and easy to use

This is obviously just the tip of the iceberg.

I will reply later about Chiang Mai, in a rush out the door now

lufties

JohnCleary wrote: »

Firstly, you're going to have a ball! You don't have a great deal of time but you can't change that now, so just enjoy what you have. I assume you have accom. sorted so we'll skip that.

Bangkok:
Not to sound sleazy (I was there with my GF), but you simply must visit the red light districts, if for nothing more than to sit down and have a drink and just people watch, it's fascinating. They are: Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Patpong.
Patpong is very 'touristy' and the least interesting. Nana Plaza is eh, a bit, mad. Soi Cowboy is definitely the most 'friendly' and least intimidating imo. Cowboy is also very easy to get to, it is on the BTS line (well, so is Nana Plaza actually)

Do walk along the street markets of Sukhimvit Rd - they start from about 7pm if I recall

Do jump on a boat and explore the river a bit. The public transport boats are very cheap but crowded, personally i'd get on a long boat. Don't be afraid to approach other tourists and ask if they want to do the same and share the bill , works out a lot cheaper as the boats can take about 10 people easy.

Do visit Khao San Rd. and marvel at the madness. I don't recommend staying there but certainly visit the road and have a bucket

Do jump on a tuk-tuk and explore the city a bit. Don't be too worried about the tuk-tuk scams, just tell the driver your destination and ask for a price. Then start haggling from about 60% of his initial price. To give you an idea, Sukhimvit Rd. to Khao San Rd. is about 120 baht.

Do visit Wat Phao, it's amazing

Do visit one of the roof-top bars after dark. I recommend the Lebua State Tower. Make sure you are wearing pants and runners/shoes (no shorts / flip flops allowed). A drink is about 10 euro but totally worth it for the view

Do use the BTS (the train system), it is amazingly efficient and easy to use

This is obviously just the tip of the iceberg.

I will reply later about Chiang Mai, in a rush out the door now

Exactly what you said, I've been in BKK a few times and The Kho San road is some spot, I've been there alone just transiting to somewhere else, and I always seem to have a great night out there meeting some randomer in a pub, usually from the UK.

Personal favourite was the trip[ down the chao praya river, very nice. For nightlife I remember going to sukimvit to a superclub playing tribal house music, full of well off Thais. Love Bangkok, great place to visit. Have never been to chang mai though.

keithsfleet

Tuktuk racing through the streets of Bangkok late at night.
Not legal or safe and not many drivers will do it but it is crazy. Popping wheelies was gas creak and going up on two wheels is better than any thrill ride.
You are trusting your life with a complete stranger though, I will point that out.

JohnCleary

keithsfleet wrote: »

Tuktuk racing through the streets of Bangkok late at night.
Not legal or safe and not many drivers will do it but it is crazy. Popping wheelies was gas creak and going up on two wheels is better than any thrill ride.
You are trusting your life with a complete stranger though, I will point that out.

I can't believe I forgot this! If there are 2 of you...
Find 2 tuk tuk drivers and agree on the price. 1 of you each in a tuk tuk. Then offer a 'prize' of an extra 100 baht to the driver who gets you to the destination first.

Totally un-safe (as said above) and a bit stupid, but fcuking great craic

fifib

aw thats disappointing to hear about rafting and elephants. I did read that some of the elephant tours arent very nice or run properly for the animals welfare and the elephant sanctuary is the one to go to.
was that just a one day trek or was overnight involved?

Stinicker

Most definitely go to Chiang Mai, take the over-noght train from Hualamphong Station in Bangkok, it is 16 hours going north but absolutely worth, fly down back south afterwards if you want. Chiang Mai is a lovely laid back city and very different to Bangkok.

Do go trekking up North of Chiang Mai, I did the 2 days one, night trek and it was brilliant. We did elephants, river rafting and White Water rafting. The trek was cool too and I really liked Chiang Mai.

folan

fifib wrote: »

aw thats disappointing to hear about rafting and elephants. I did read that some of the elephant tours arent very nice or run properly for the animals welfare and the elephant sanctuary is the one to go to.
was that just a one day trek or was overnight involved?

overnight, which was good. it was a proper village, which i was surprised by. i was expecting to get to some tourist camp.

fifib

Stinicker / folan - do you remember who you booked the treks with? and did you bring all your luggage with you? if not where did you leave it?

JohnCleary - thanks for the helpful info. we have all our accommodation booked except our last night. we arrive into Don Mueng at 13:30 from Chiang Mai and fly home from Suvarnabhumi at 12:20 the following afternoon. would we be best to stay out by airport that night or in Bangkok city itself?
Ive heard from some people that traffic in bangkok city is mental and could take us ages to get out to airport

boredatwork82

In chaing mai g rented a scoooter and drove up he mountain to wat do suthep. Fantastic views and experience. Feeling the air get colder and cleaner as you go up the mountain. Fantastic. Also did a great cookery course there. Will google it later and send a link. I also took the overnight train. An interesting experience. Its a city that just grows on you. First day you are wondering what the hype is about, but by the end of the trip you wont wNt to leave. Just get talking to people and you will have a great time. As regards Bangkok, it was a place I could take or leave. I stayed out at the khao San road. It was am awful let down. It was my first experience of Thailand and I thought surely there has to be better places than this . Thankfully there was. I took a train from Bangkok up over the river kwai. To the endof the line. There is a memorial to the death railway out there. It wS very good. And they give you headsets where you hear the pows stories. But you would really need to take a night away from bangkok to get the most benefit. Must better taking an old wooden train for 6 hours with absolutely magnificent scenery going along the cliffs along the rive4 than spending 2 days 8n bangkok. Of course 8f you looking for debauchery and the likez. Bangkok is the place.

fifib

from reading all your comments I wish we had more time here than down south we will have a busy few days fitting it all in! but very excited to be there!!
Forgot to mention we will be there for new years eve..is there much celebrations that night I wonder?

fifib

boredatwork82 wrote: »

In chaing mai g rented a scoooter and drove up he mountain to wat do suthep. .

Is driving a scooter safe over there? do you need full licence for them? never driven a scooter before

boredatwork82

fifib wrote: »

Is driving a scooter safe over there? do you need full licence for them? never driven a scooter before

I drove scooter years ago here. There is no checks or anything. The helmet didnt fit me but I wore it atop my head in case I got stopped. It was a bit nerve wrecking trying to get in and out of the city. But worth it. At one point I was driving down 1 way streets the wrong way. But couldnt figure out the system so it was the only way I could get back to my hostel. A fantastic hostel called rustic. Check it out if your looking for somewhere to stay.

But it was an experience. Light turns red. And within 5 seconds swarms of hundrerds of zcooters congregate at the front of the traffic to get away first. I became quite confident but probably still drove really badly.

Gatica

fifib wrote: »

aw thats disappointing to hear about rafting and elephants. I did read that some of the elephant tours arent very nice or run properly for the animals welfare and the elephant sanctuary is the one to go to.
was that just a one day trek or was overnight involved?

We went to Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai (http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/), it's very well run and they look after the animals. You help out feeding them and washing them in the river and get a lovely buffet lunch.
We just did the day trip but there were some overnight ones available. The scenery as you drive to the park is absolutely stunning.
We booked it through their website online. Gave them the info on where we were staying and they pick you up in a proper minivan, air-conditioned and all that and drop you off you after. All safe and above board.
Would highly recommended as an eco tour.

Went to tiger kingdom as well. Not as impressed. It's got a nice restaurant with buffet lunch as well. The animals seems content and they claim they're not drugged or anything. Safe environment to meet the animals face to face. It's done a bit rushed though as they're trying to get people in and out of cages to keep it flowing. I'd have liked to sit there and play with the cubs with the amount of money they charge.

Highly recommend Deep Relax spa. In spite of their love of oddly named hotels and spas, this was where I got the best massage ever! They were really professional, and it only cost something like 15 Euro, and I think that was for the 2 of us.

JohnCleary

fifib wrote: »

Is driving a scooter safe over there? do you need full licence for them? never driven a scooter before

If you've never driven a bike/scooter than Thailand is NOT the place to start, seriously.

I found driving in North Thailand fine. I rented a CBR250 in Chiang Mai and drove to Pai... that is a drip i'll never forget, making me sad thinking about it. I was fully licensed but never encountered any checks.

HOWEVER, when in South Thailand I did run into a Police checkpoint. I was only on a moped at the time and they made sure that I did infact have a license to drive one (and not just a car). I know of someone who hadn't the moped ticked on his Irish license and got fined... just be aware of it. But this is a general point, I say again... if you've never driven a bike before, Thailand aint the place to learn

fifib wrote: »

Ive heard from some people that traffic in bangkok city is mental and could take us ages to get out to airport

Traffic is mad, but there's no need to get a taxi. When we first arrived in Bangkok we thought 'taxi' to be safe, however by the time we were leaving we got the Airport BTS.... they run on time. I'd highly recommend it!

JohnCleary

As for 'where to book trips' etc, I *highly* recommend going to this hotel and booking through them....

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Log+Home+Boutique+Chiang+Mai+Thailand&hl=en&ll=18.785986,98.990443&spn=0.006775,0.012199&sll=18.785946,98.990369&sspn=0.003403,0.006099&oq=log+home&t=m&z=17&iwloc=A

When we were looking for advise off them, they were suspiciously honest!! We ended up booking a lot of stuff with them and they were bang on.

Example: Slow boat to Laos. We got the decent bus / accommodation... some people paid more than us and got sub standard service. We also went to book one of the combo elephant / rafting trips and they told us honestly that the combo trips are sh1te! They asked what we liked (rafting) and sent us on a proper rafting day trip.

The Log Home accom. is beautiful but small. We stayed there for the night but after that we needed to get more budget, so went 100m up the road to the 'Naa Inn'. The Log Home has a lovely pool (which attracted us) but they allowed us to use it if we bought food/drink. They also have a PC that they let you use for free if you're a customer