Bangkok Dinner Cruise

[VincentD]

And bring fireworks??

[Big Boy]

And bring fireworks??

pharvey, are you busy on July 5th?

[pharvey]

And bring fireworks??

pharvey, are you busy on July 5th?

[caller]

Asiatique is a popular and busy evening attraction / market / foodie place for tourists. One visit is probably enough. They have regular ferries to and from Taksin Bridge and the BTS.

River City was the main place for departing and arriving river cruises, daytime and evening, hence the name. Not a mall as such, more once for antique items for wealthy tourists to buy. But since covid, now a major art gallery centre, plus related shops with still some antique shops (there's a good pre-owned watch shop there as well).

Iconsiam is the current in trend mall, until the next one. 3/4 years old now? Very attractive riverside eateries and things and the ground floor is a sort of novel non floating, floating market! Owned by relatives of The Mall group, once involved with Bliuport.

[Big Boy]

In the end I have opted for the Meridian 2, which departs from ICON SIAM on 5th July. I have reserved under roof side seats. I'll write a trip report soon after completion, although buksida's photos will far outshine my point and click. Outside of football, this will be my first social trip to Bangkok in 30 years.

[joelle]

In the end I have opted for the Meridian 2, which departs from ICON SIAM on 5th July. I have reserved under roof side seats. I'll write a trip report soon after completion, although buksida's photos will far outshine my point and click. Outside of football, this will be my first social trip to Bangkok in 30 years.

Did you find a hotel close by ?

[Big Boy]

Not too far, just a short taxi ride. Actually about the sane distance between Asiatique and ICON SIAM.

I am not a person who will pay OTT for a hotel. When MOD were paying, I stayed in some of the best, and was never impressed. I found the best were full of stuck up gits looking down their noses at me. At the end of the day, it is a bed and I hope to be unconscious for 90% of the time I'm in my room.

It was a difficult area to find somewhere in my usual price bracket. I almost broke a habit of a lifetime and nearly booked Ibis Riverside. I was even going to pay the extra for a riverside view. Then I saw the size of the windows. Memories of Ibis, Portsmouth (this was the Ibis that scarred me for life) came flooding back where they only had portholes. Once I'd remembered the portholes, memories of the awful breakfast, which made even the worst Thai hotel breakfast seem good. I just couldn't do it. I had to look elsewhere.

Looking elsewhere was a nightmare. I was looking at 5K up for a basic room. Some of the rooms were matchboxes at 15 square metres. Mrs BB and I would have needed a traffic light system to move around the room. Another hotel actually warned about the very narrow doorways - I'd have most likely become wedged in the doorway.

In the end, I actually opted for a below budget choice, and chose the Grand Tower Inn Sathon, which seems to tick most of my boxes. It even had regular sized doorways, so I might not get stuck. Of course, I'm basing this on booking agency photos. I've been caught out by those in the past. As you've mentioned it, I'll include a paragraph on the hotel in my trip report.

[buksida]

I'll write a trip report soon after completion, although buksida's photos will far outshine my point and click. Outside of football, this will be my first social trip to Bangkok in 30 years.

Looking forward to your TR and pics. We gave up on the cruise idea since we're based on the other side of the city, will investigate stuff around here instead.

Also my first trip to Bangkok for any length of time for at least a decade. Being based in the boonies, it took a few days to get used to it here and I'm not a city person. The convenience of having everything within walking distance is great but I couldn't live here, too old for the hustle and bustle!

I've ticked a lot of boxes so far like having an eye test and new driving glasses made, finding an apartment for my son, getting my Nikon serviced, sourcing high-end computer hardware, and keeping the mrs happy with clothes, shoes, malls, and massive night markets!

Rode the new Yellow Line BTS monorail today and it was free because it has just opened!