Air tickets : S$202.50 per pax return tickets via JetStar
Departs from Singapore on 4 Apr Sat morning 7.15am, lands in Bangkok 8.45am (local time)
Departs from Bangkok on 7 Apr Tue afternoon 3.15pm, lands in Singapore 6.40pm (local time)
Accommodation : Glow Pratunam
Booked via Agoda, 4D3N Deluxe room only twin sharing. After Citibank discount, total price was S$277.86. Per pax S$138.93.
Review : (1) Location - Right smack in the heart of shopping district Pratunam, very convenient for all those who wish to shop at Platinum (opposite the hotel, about 5mins walk) and get back to the hotel by foot. The famous wanton noodles was right behind the hotel. In the morning, the hotel's vicinity is bustling with street stalls selling clothes. Everything you need is well within walking distance. Be it, fast food, authentic Thai food, bar for live soccer matches and even supermarket.
(2) Room - Clean, bright and roomy. Definitely up to expectation and very good value.
Here is a brief itinerary of how our Bangkok trip -
Day 1 Sat. Hopped on taxi from airport but traffic was really bad, what was supposed to be a 30 - 40mins ride to the hotel took as long as an hour. Taxi fare was THB320 excluding highway toll. We arrived at the hotel and was very pleased with the aesthetics of the reception and check-in area.
After dropping-off luggage, we travelled to Chatuchak weekend market by BTS. We decided to travel like locals instead of taking a taxi because traffic was really congested. The nearest BTS station from the hotel is Ratchathewi, by foot it takes approximately 10 - 15mins. Alight at Mo Chit and walk to Chatuchak in approximately 5mins. 1way ticket from Ratchathewi to Mo Chit per pax THB31. It is helpful to keep your spare coins for purchasing BTS tickets, because the machines do not accept cash notes. And the queue to exchange coins can be very long on weekends.
We spent our morning and half the afternoon at Chatuchak (also had our inexpensive lunch in the weekend market, approximately THB3-400 for 2 mains and a tom yum soup) before our legs gave way. And it didn't help that the weather was scorching hot. We travelled back to hotel again via BTS. 1way ticket from Mo Chit to Ratchathewi per pax THB37.
Just some background on Glow Pratunam, the hotel starts from Level 7. Levels 1 - 5 are retail space and level 6 is a food court. Siam Seafood has a permanent shop front here. The shops in the shopping mall close at around 6pm. Siam Seafood sets up a roadside stall right outside the hotel building on weekend nights. Dinner was at Siam Seafood because we were too exhausted to walk further. We had a soup, a rice, a bbq fish totalling around THB800.
Later in the evening, we headed out by foot to Amari Watergate Bangkok hotel to catch the live broadcast of the BPL match. Drinks at the bar was very reasonably priced. We had 1 virgin mojito, 1 mojito and a can of Chang beer for approximately THB540.
Day 2 Sun. Visited the famous wanton noodles store bright and early but was disappointed to find out that they are closed on Sundays. Explored and walked further down the street, we found ourselves at a eatery with local customers. I had a fishball kway tiao for THB50.
Spend the rest of the day at Chatuchak weekend market again. At late afternoon we returned to the hotel to leave our shopping bags before heading out to Rod Fai 2 night market located behind Esplanade Mall (when communicating with the taxi driver, it would be helpful to tell him to head to Esplanade mall to prevent confusion). We made a mistake of not bargaining with the cab driver and hence paid a hefty THB200 for the short taxi ride. Later on our ride back by a taxi on meter, the fare only worked out to THB100.
Rod Fai 2 is a new night market, the original Rod Fai night market is located on the outskirts of the city and would take 50mins by cab. Hence we opted for the nearer option. After we finished shopping at Rod Fai 2 night market, the night was still young hence we travelled to Big C Supermarket which was within walking distance from our hotel. We got back to the hotel to pack and it was evident that we did not have sufficient luggage space >_< since we purchased 20kg of check-in baggage, we might as well buy a bag or luggage or just something to contain our belongings and maximise the 20kg baggage allowance!
Day 3 Mon. Made our way to the wanton noodles store again at 9.15am but shocked to see a long queue forming in front of the shop this early in the day. We joined the queue and fortunately we did not wait for long before we were ushered into the restaurant to be seated.
Spend the rest of the day at Platinum mall shopping. In the late afternoon we returned to the hotel to drop off our shopping bags before walking to the night market at Siam Square. Important to note that we received conflicting information regarding the operating business days of the Siam night market. We were distracted by the mini night market in front of Central World hence we did not get to Siam night market in the end.
Day 4 Tue. No activities for the day we had to get to the airport to catch our flight home :) cab fare from hotel to airport THB400 inclusive of toll.
