Popagandhi

atarashi wrote to me for Bangkok tips; she wasn’t the only one. I get a few of those each week. So here’s my newest list of tips of places to go, and places to eat.

BTS Ari
If you’re looking for somewhere more local, somewhere not so… farang (if you know what I mean), an already cool Bangkok suburb is becoming hipper by the day. I’m talking about the area surrounding the Ari BTS station. Soi Ari, as the west side of Phahon Yothin Road is known (BTS exit no. 1 to 3) is the place for the fickle street gourmand. Calls of gai tod gai tod (fried chicken) fill the air, and fiery papaya salads can be had, along with satay and sausages, all for an average price of 10-15 baht (S$0.40). Walk around a little and you’ll get to Reflections Hotel, one of the hippest hotels with a great restaurant. Every room in this hotel has been designed by a different Thai artist. One room is Taj Mahal themed while another is post industrial. Most of them are hyper-kitsch, and very reasonably priced. The onsite restaurant gets good reviews.

The whole Ari area really is a Bangkok suburb with twists and turns, sois and sub-sois (lanes and sub-lanes). You’ll find yourself walking around a lot, but it’ll all be worth it: by the time you walk to Soi Ari Samphan 1, Phaholyothin Road, you’re in luck if you’re famished. There resides one of my favourite restaurants, Baan Mae Yui. You won’t read about it in guidebooks or even online (unless you read Thai). It’s extremely hard to find, but worth every effort. Baan Mae Yui has a dollhouse garden-like setting, and almost every item on its vast menu is good. Don’t miss their signature dish, the khao tod kratiem, fragrant jasmine spicy shrimp rice with wonderfully done sauteed prawns. Order a refreshing Thai cha yen (thai iced tea) or kafe yen (iced coffee). Even the iced ovaltine was great. For dessert most of their ice creams and sherbets are good (try the thai iced tea ice cream). The blueberry tart, and bread and butter pudding and cheesecakes were all winners (far better than the ones back home!). Prices are cheap â�� it’s a very local place â�� an average price of a main dish is 60 to 80 baht. Also in the area, over at Victory Monument, is one of Bangkok’s best jazz bars, Saxophone. Incidentally, Ari/Victory Monument is also where you would stay if you were staying long term and on a budget, because of the wide range of cheap and well-furnished apartments, and the surroundings.

Walk even further into soi Ari Samphan 7 (soi ari samphan jed), is Plaa Dib, a contemporary Japanese/Thai/European restaurant. Sounds confusing, but it’s great.

Baan Mae Yui
53/1 Soi Areesamphan 1,Phaholyothin Road, Phayathai (say soi ari samphan neung, phaholyothin)
Tel: 02-619-9952
10 am to 9pm

Plaa Dib
1/1 Areesamphan Soi 7 (soi ari samphan jed), Phaholyothin, Phaya Thai
11am-2pm, 6pm-midnight (Tue-Sun)
Tel: (02) 279 8185

Pratunam
Walking distance from the Siam Square shopping areas, Pratunam has great shopping and food for those on a budget. The new Platinum Centre has 5 stories of fashion, at very good prices. Buy more than 3 pieces and you might qualify for wholesale discounts. Great dresses and tops for women, handbags, shoes, men’s shopping is varied and good quality as well. Bad thing is that if you want to buy pants or jeans, chances are you won’t be able to try them on, so stick to the shirts and jackets for a better fit. Prices are already very good, possible to bargain further. When you’re done shopping the food court on the top floor sells excellent food â�� oyster omelette, tom yam koong, pad thai, the Indian tandoori chicken and dhal was outstanding â�� all for an average price of 40 baht. You can get fabulous glutinous rice balls (the types we Chinese call “tang yuan”) from the same place, too. Be sure to plan for one full day in this building alone.

For those next inclined to shopping, two buildings away from Platinum Centre is the legendary Pantip Plaza (the Thai Sim Lim Square). Items are marginally more expensive than back home, but if you manage to find second hand deals on RAM or cameras (second hand deals on the top floor), prices can be good. A little bird also told me that those DVDs are cheaper and in greater variety than even Malaysia… I managed to buy myself a very good set of speakers that I’ve been looking for for years (but which isn’t sold here). At $70, it was a good deal too (tip: it weighs 5kg so be prepared to hand carry).

Pratunam is in a good area because you can travel in and out of Pratunam using the local canal boat (along the Khlong San Saeb), boarding from Pratunam Pier. Get a good map. I know where it is but I can only describe it as being “next to some building..”. From Pratunam Pier the khlong boat terminates at Wat Saket. You will be able to visit the Jim Thompson museum using this boat service (just ask someone), and literally come in from the backside of Jim Thompson’s house. Going in the other direction, you can go past all of Sukhumvit, and into the suburbs, terminating at Bang Kapi where it is convenient if you’re headed for Lad Prao or Ramintra. Average cost of a canal boat ride is 10-13 baht. Cheap as chips.

Banglamphu and Yaowarat
If you’re living in Khao San Road, good luck to you, but before I go off into another rant about that backpacker’s ghetto, here are some redeeming features of that dreaded location. The Phra Athit area near Phra Athit pier has some good eats: Joy Luck Club, Hemlock, Roti Mataba, Mister Pas, etc. But its proximity to Chinatown (locally known as Yaowarat) puts a world of good, cheap food in your oyster, if you’re not too picky about hygiene. The roadside street seafood haunts at Chinatown, collectively known as Soi Texas (named for the nearby Texas parking garage), are awe-inspiring. My favourite is Lek Seafood, located right by the left side of Yaowarat (a one way street) so you shouldn’t have to walk too far. Everything on the menu is good and very cheap. Your food will probably get to you in under 5 minutes â�� this is Thai seafood, really fast. And it’ll taste like a million bucks. Almost all the servers speak Mandarin, Teochew and Thai, even some Cantonese too. Have a Singha, a young coconut, and a bird’s nest (hot/cold) to go with your food. Average bill for 4 people: 600 baht (S$25).

Massage
No better place to go than Wat Pho, which has its legendary massage school situated on the grounds of the temple. It costs 360 baht for 1 hour, and you get the real deal. Most masseuses in Thailand have trained here, or claim to have. After you’re done having a massage you can go to see the magnificent reclining Buddha (if you’re only going for the massage, it’s not necessary for you to buy the 50 baht admission ticket).

No better way to get to Wat Pho than by the Chao Phraya Express. If coming from Central Bangkok, take the BTS to Saphan Taksin, at the end of the line. Get out, walk towards the pier (you’ll see it) and ask for a boat to Tha Thien (you can also take the boat to Phra Athit here). It’ll be about 11 baht. Tha Thien is the stop for Wat Pho, whereas Phra Athit is the closest station to Khao San Road. The next stop after Tha Thien is the one for Wat Arun, the temple of the dawn, which can be magnificent in the evenings even if you’re only passing through on the boat.

Spoiling Yourself
There’s no better way to splurge on food and drinks in Bangkok, if you know where to go. Zanotti does good Italian. Le Banyan does great French (they do a French presed duck, something hard to find even in France itself). All for very reasonable prices. Cafe de Siam does decent contemporary French and some Thai dishes, in a great colonial bungalow/art gallery/garden setting. Le Lys (BTS Chong Nonsi; walk up Narathiwat to soi 7) is one of Bangkok’s best kept secrets; it’s also affordable, and is great for lunch. The Playground at Thonglor (Sukh 55) is one of those HiSo (high society) malls â�� a converted warehouse, it is now 3 levels of HiSo dining and shopping. It has iPods built into the walls at its music shop, a wonderful collection of design and photography and art books (in English), a nice restaurant on the top floor (Kuppa@Playground), an art gallery, designer furniture for sale.

Over in Sukh 51 there’s A Garden Cafe (link), with excellent food and a 500 baht all you can eat BBQ dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. Over in Sukhumvit, expat central, there’s a hidden gem of a creperie (and more) in Sukh soi 12 (ask for sukhumvit soi sip song). the French-owned Crepes and Co will be on the right as you turn in from the main Sukh. Wonderful garden cottage setting. Wonderful crepes (beats Creperie de Armen for sure!). Very generous with their alcohol. Great place to chill in the verandah for a night to good music. Also in Sukh 12, safe sex themed Cabbages and Condoms puts out good Thai food, and gives free condoms (instead of mints) after your meal, but for a good cause rather than for sleaze.

For a great view of Bangkok by night, the Vertigo bar and restaurant on the rooftop of the Banyan Tree hotel is a good way to start an evening.

Nightlife
Tawandaeng is a lively, mainly Thai place with live Thai music (Thai rock is fab!) and inhouse beer (Tawandaeng is a microbrewery). Very good food too. There are two Tawandaengs, one in Silom and one in Ramintra (suburbs), so be sure to check it up first. I can’t offer better directions because I was taken there by a local.

Skip the whole HiSo thing � Q Bar, Bed Supper Club. The Sukhumvit joints. They are boring, expensive, and the only people you will see are white men.

In Banglamphu, Cafe Democ churns up good electronic music to a young Thai crowd.

At RCA young Thais club to hiphop at Route 66, Slim/Flix, TimeOut. Young Thai lesbians walk up a little to Zeta Bar, also in RCA, and when you’re done (Thai clubs close at 2), have the wonderful roast duck and roast pork noodles nearby. A warning: trying to take a cab immediately after club closing time at 2 is a nightmare, you need to ‘fight’ for your cab by going up to each one and shouting into their window (preferably in Thai). Better to sit down to supper at one of the many late night supper stalls along the road, and wait for the anarchy to calm down.

Rember to bring your passport or other identification when going out at night, bouncers are quite strict these days, no matter how old you look.

Note: there’s also a girls’ night at Lesla, all the way out in Lad Prao, on Saturday nights.

My Must Eats and Dos
Baan Mae Yui, Le Lys, massage at Wat Pho, Crepe sand Co, Lek Seafood (soi texas).

Other Misc Tips
Forget about paying roaming charges. Buy a cheap Thai pre-paid sim, either from DTAC or AIS (ask for ‘1-2-call). You can buy them from the airport, they have big DTAC and AIS counters at the arrival hall (probably to your left). With AIS’s 1-2-call service you can also subscribe to a data plan you can go online with. 100 baht for 20 hours ($4!), either on your phone or your laptop. Fast enough. SMSes to Singapore are 12 baht each, but it costs just 7 baht per minute to call Singapore.

Any questions? Just ask. (Applicable for all of Thailand, and all of India, including info about domestic trains, flights and buses, and especially about food.)