Around K.T. Guest House...

DISCLAIMER: All information provided here is provided on an "as is" basis and is subject to change without further notice.

• Location of K.T. Guest House
• Transport Modes in Bangkok:
• Taxi, Skytrain, Bus
• Express Boat
• How to Go to Famous Places in Bangkok
• Getting to the Skytrain
• The Grand Palace, the Wat Po, and, the Wat Arun or "Temple of Dawn"
• How to come back?
• To continue to the Siam Square, Maboonkrong and World Trade Center
• To come back from the Siam station
• Banks and ATM near K.T. Guest House
• Other places of interest
• Jatujak, Central Lad Prao
• Huaykwang night market, Robinson Ratchada, IT Mall & Fortune shopping mall
• WTC (Narai Phand), MBK, Siam Center, and, Central Chitlom
• Silom and Patpong
• AsiaBooks stores

Location of K.T. Guest House

Click to enlarge...

This general map (above) shows these eight (8) interesting places in Bangkok:

(1) the Grand Palace or "Wat Pra Keo", which is also near to Wat Po. Every guidebook describes this great attraction, so we will only tell you how to get there from KT guest house.

(2) the exchange station Siam of the BTS Skytrain. This station is conveniently located near several shopping centers and movie theaters: Siam Center, Siam Discovery, Siam Square, and, the quaint Maboongkrong shopping center. Other good shopping places, like the World Trade Center and the Central Chitlom store are at the next station, Chitlom - we will see those later.

(3) from KT guest house, the closest Skytrain station is Ari (Aree). We will explain you how to reach it.

(4) near the Mochit station, there is the Jatujak weekend market and the Northeastern bus terminal.

(5) there is a large Robinson department store on Thanon Ratchadapisek (Road) less than 2 km from KT.

(6) the Samsen train station is a conveniently located alternative to the bigger Hualomphong central train station.

(7) the main train station, Hualomphong, might still be the best place to obtain information and tickets in person. But, you can also look at the SRT web site http://www.srt.motc.go.th (??)

(8) the Chao Phaya river Express Boat stops at the Kiak Kai pier (8). This is a fun and  convenient way to go to the Grand Palace. See our explanations about this further below.

Transport Modes in Bangkok

By taxi

Taxis have different colors: yellow and green, red and blue, or, white and blue, but, they always have a yellow plate. All cars have a meter, and, the fare starts at 35 bahts and this allows for about 2 km before the counter goes up. If the car stops for a long time, the counter is incremented after every few minutes. An alternative type of transport that does not stop at those amazing 10 minutes traffic light during rush hours is the SkyTrain.

Many taxi drivers speak some English. Ask the staff at the front desk to help you with telling the destination to the driver: they will write in down in Thai script for you.

By SkyTrain

How to use the BTS ticket

If you do not have enough 5 and 10 bahts coins on you, you can get some at the teller beside the gates (turnstiles).

The instructions on the vending machine are in English and Thai, and they are rather simple. 1) Press the zone number. 2) insert enough coins. 3) get the card that comes out.

To go through the gate, you need to insert the card (in the front, to your right) AND take it as it comes out (on the top), at this moment, move through while the doors are open.

• KEEP the card, you will need it to exit.

The best thing about the Skytrain is that it is fast. This is the best way to avoid traffic jams, which are not rare at rush hours in the area covered by the Skytrain. But, if you travel in group, or even with only one more person, using a taxi can be cheaper. The lowest SkyTrain fare is 10 bahts, the highest is 40 bahts. You can go around the downtown area in this train, stop at every other station without going out of the gates, backtrack, change line and exit at the next station from the one where you initially entered for only 10 bahts. You cannot exit from that the same station where got in. Actually, you can... it is 40 bahts!

By Bus

The buses lines are numerous and not so easy to figure out, but, you can buy some maps to find out which line you should take. One good one in the "Bangkok City Bus Guide" for 50 bahts. It is available in the AsiaBooks bookstores, and, other big bookstores. The map in this Bus Guide is bilingual (English & Thai). Some other maps also show the bus lines.

NOTE: Be careful to board or get off a bus quickly, without hesitating (board or don't -- don't board if the steps are not clear). The driver is generally unable to clearly see the people going through the doors (the doors are located in the middle of most buses)... the bus often leaves or stops while the doors are open, or, sometime, the driver closes the doors rather abruptly. You probably have never seen this in America or Europe, but, travelers say that Bangkok buses are better than those in Nepal, India, Egypt, ... On the new orange air con bus, the driver can see the passenger boarding through the front door. Only some lines have these new buses.

By Express Boat

We will explain below how to use the Express Boat to go to the Grand Palace and Wat Po or Wat Arun.

How to Go to Famous Places

• Getting to the nearest Skytrain station: Take a taxi and ask to go to the "Skytrain Ari", or, in correct Thai, "satanee rot fay fa Aree". This will bring you to the station Ari. (Saphan Kwai station is geographically closer, but, unless there is an extraordinary jam on Panhonyothin Road, Ari is more convenient as it is easier to turn left than right at the big intersection). This ride costs about 50 bahts.

To go by bus, walk from KT to the bus stop (see map of bus stops) on Prachasuk street, on the side to go North, it's only about 20 meters (see K.T. area map). You can take any of the following bus: 54, 74 (ordinary), or, 204 (sometimes air con, sometimes ordinary). If you take the air con 204, tell the collector that you will get off at "satanee Aree". The fare for this ride in air con is 8 bahts.  You can ask our front desk staff to write "satanee rot fay fa Aree" for you in Thai on a piece of paper, it can be useful in case of confusion: you can show it to the collector or other passengers if you need directions.

No matter which bus you take, you will have to know where to get off. Here is how to know where to get off.

Here is the itinerary of these buses between KT and Ari station. (See this map). First, the bus goes North on Prachasuk, then, it turn left on Suttisarn Road. Then, it crosses the large Wiphawadee Road (the highway that goes to the airport), and, continues straight West on Suttisarn. Suttisarn ends at Phanonyothin Road. The bus turns left there. The Aree Station is at the third stop from this left turn. Notice that Phanonyothin street is under the Skytrain line. If you can see outside the bus, you will see the station well before reaching the third stop.

If you are in an ordinary bus, you can decide to stay onboard the bus longer, until it get stuck at a momentous stop for a light or jam. This usually occurs around Sanam Pao station or Victory Monument. You can probably get off the bus in the middle of the jam. You will see other people doing that. Always mind about the motorcycles coming from the left (or right!). The semicircle walk around the Victory Monument is a colorful small thrill by itself. The number of bus lines converging there is astounding, and, at night, there is a lively row of small fashion shops set up on the sidewalks below and around. Young Thais come there to buy inexpensive cool clothes and gear.
 

• Grand Palace (also named Wat Phra Kheo): the simple and lazy way is to hail a taxi and utter the sentence "what pra ke-oh". On a Sunday morning, this ride should cost around 120 bahts. During week days, it will be more, as the traffic in the Rattanakosin area (around the Grand Palace) is usually heavy from 6 AM to 8 PM from Monday to Friday. (Note that the Grand Palace closes at 4 PM).


A more enjoyable way is to go to the Chao Phaya river, at the Kiak Kai pier ("ta reua kiak kai"), and, board an Express Boat. The boats come every 20 minutes, or, more frequently during the rush hours.

You can go to the (8) Kiak Kai pier by taxi (65 bahts) or by ordinary bus #117 (see general area map). The bus #117 that goes toward Kiak Kai pier is the one going north on the Prachasuk street (see map below). The nearest bus stop is just beside the 7-Eleven convenience store at the corner of the soi 44, about 30 meters on the left when you exit KT.



If you speak Thai, ask the collector to tell you when you reach the Kiak Kai pier stop, if not, ask our front desk staff to write "ta reua kiak kai" for you in Thai on a piece of paper, and, show it to the collector!

Anyway, it is still a good idea to keep an eye on a map and outside... in case the collector is distracted by a sudden rush of passengers... Here is the itinerary of this bus when it goes there. First it goes North on Prachasuk, then, it turn left on Suttisarn Road. Then, it crosses the large Wiphawadee Road (the highway that goes to the airport), and, continues straight West. It does a little "Z-shape" double turn when it changes to the Pradipat street just before the Saphan Kwai intersection. There are bridges overhead to allow pedestrians to cross both Phahonyothin and Pradipat Roads. After that point, the bus still continues West. At some point you will notice Army bases and residences on both side of the street. At that point, the street has changed its name to Thahan Road ("army road"). You should get off at the bus stop before the next intersection that has a pedestrian overbridge. There is a large crooked tree right after this stop. If you miss this stop, you can get off at the next one, after the bus has turned left at the intersection.

After getting off the bus, walk to the intersection, cross the road, and, walk in the same West direction (along Thahan Road), toward the river. This section of the street is a dead end. The pier is at the end.

Board the Express Boat (that's the really large one with plenty of people and the shipmate who whistles loudly to give cues to the skipper for landing at the pier). You can tell the collector that you will get off at "Tha Chang" or "Grand Palace" or "Wat Pra Keo", she (he) will understand any of these. You do not absolutely need to look at a map to know where to get off. It takes about 15-20 minutes, you have enough time to find a seat and relax. The boat will goes under two (2) bridges before it gets close to your destination. After the second bridge, the "Tha Chang" pier is the third one on the left side of the river (tons of foreigners get off there).

When you arrive there, you can walk to the Grand Palace in about 5 minutes. Or take a "tuk tuk" (3 wheeled taxi) to bring you there. You have to negotiate the fare with the tuk tuk driver: 20 would be cheap, 30 bahts is OK.

(Do NOT accept if a tuk tuk or taxi driver wants to be your "guide" for one day for 100 or 200 bahts. Such people collect commission each time they bring you to a boring shop with overpriced items. Avoid also all deals about specially priced gems, card games, etc. Tourist guide books give the same advice).

The entrance fee to the Grand Palace is 200 bahts per person. This price includes two other entrance tickets: the Money Pavilion, near the Palace itself, and, the Vimanhek Throne, located elsewhere.
 

• NOTE-1: Dress code. You really must wear polite clothes if you want to be allowed to enter the Grand Palace. This means: long dress, long skirt, or, pants for ladies; long trousers for gentlemen. Jeans are tolerated if clean and not torn off. No tank tops, no bare shoulders. Short sleeved T-shirts are OK. Long sleeves also, but, not required. This is the most prestigious residence of the King and you don't want to commit the crime of "lèse-majesté"!
• NOTE-2: Film and Water! The Grand Palace compound is well exposed to the sun. It is clever to bring a large bottle of water, sun cream, and, a large hat (if this helps you stand the heat of the sun). Refreshments are available in the Palace compound, but, not near the main attractions. Camera films at good price (a lot of competition) are available on the street, before reaching the entrance of the Grand Palace.
• The Wat Po is a 5 minutes walks from the Grand Palace, or, another 20 or 30 bahts for a short tuk-tuk ride. Or, if you are coming directly on the Express Boat, get off at the next pier, Tha Mahathat (Wat Po). This is the area to get real traditional Thai massage, whether inside the temple compound, or, in an official school just around it.
• The Wat Arun or "Temple of Dawn" is across the Chao Phraya, in front of the That Mahathat pier. The ferry that goes across the river every 10 or 15 minutes cost 2 bahts, yes, two bahts.
• How to come back? The two easy way are: follow the same path in the opposite direction, or, hail a taxi to go back to the guest house. (Keep the KT Guest House business card at hand for this purpose). For those who are not too tired yet (or jet lagged), there is another option... see here below.
• To continue to the Siam Square, Maboonkrong and World Trade Center, board the Express Boat again, in the same direction, downstream, and, this time, get off at tha River City pier. From the pier, follow the small aisle until it reaches the street, turn left, walk in front of the big Royal Orchid hotel, and in front of the River City boutiques Mall (antiques and art), turn right. At this point, you should already see the #36 air con bus (orange). One bus waits there until the next one comes. This bus lines goes back to "Talat Huaykwang" (Huaykwang Market), which is not far from KT guest house (35 bahts by taxi from there, see map). But, you can get off at the Maboonkrong if you want to get to the Skytrain Siam station, or, do some shopping in this area.
• To come back from the Siam station, take the Skytrain to station Ari (Sukhumvit line, direction Mochit), then, take bus 54,74, or 204, in the North direction (under exit #3 of Ari station), or, take a taxi from Ari Station (also under exit#3).

Banks and ATM:

Bangkok Bank and ATM on Suttisan Street:

• The closest bank and ATM is near the corner of Prachasuk street, on Suttisarn street (see map below). This is a branch of the Bangkok Bank. Travelers cheques and foreign currency can be exchanged on the second floor.

Click on map to enlarge:

Robinson Store on Ratchadapisek Road:

• On the far left and far right sides of the (front) basement entrance of the Robinson store on Rachadapisek Road, see (5) on the map, there are many ATM machines from various banks.
• At the Robinson, near the ATM in front of the Watson store, there is a Currency Exchange boot. It is open until 23:00 each day.
• There is a Siam Commercial Bank contiguous to the right side of the Robinson building (beside the Pizza Hut).
• The easiest way to go to the "Robinson Ratchada" is by taxi. Going there should cost less than 50 bahts and coming back is about 40 bahts.

Other places of interest

Huaykwang night market, Robinson Ratchada, IT Mall and Fortune shopping mall

• Huaykwang. There is a lively night market on Huaykwang street between the Prachasongkro intersection and Ratchadapisek road. This is at a walkable distance from KT guest house if you don't mind walking under tropical conditions: just walk south on Prachasuk street until you see a 7/11 convenience store. At this point, you have reach Huaywang street. Turn left on it, after a few sidewalk restaurants, you will reach the evening shops set on the sidewalk.

There is also a fresh market (fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood) on Huaykwang street during the daytime.
• Robinson Ratchada store. We have talked about this place and how to go there when we described the locations of ATM and banks. This is a nice, big, department store. It is usually less expensive than the chain of Central Department stores (see those at Lat Prao and Chitlom), but, it is still more expensive than some bargains found in the small alleys around Siam Square, or, in the Maboonkrong.
• This is a great place to buy those last souvenirs if you don't want to go too far away from the guest house to buy those. There are nice handicraft and colorful Thai items in the middle of the 3rd floor.
• IT Mall and Fortune shopping mall. On Rachadapisek, at the intersection of Din Deng (see of the map), there is the big Fortune building. Inside there is a large Lotus Supercentre department store, many shops and just about every chain of fast food you can think of. It also has a section called "IT Mall" on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, near the Lotus store. IT Mall is a concentration is small and large stores selling computers, technology gadgets, and, mobile phones (mostly on 2nd floor).

NOTE: Because of the current quasi-monopolies over the mobile telecoms in Thailand, mobiles from abroad don't work here (except multiband phones if you sign-up for the expensive "roaming" option before leaving home), and, mobile phones bought here cannot work elsewhere in the world (they are more expensive here anyway).
• IT Mall offers a large selection of softwares and hardware. It can be a convenient place to shop for special items, especially if you are headed for less developed places like Laos, or, Vietnam.

Jatujak Weekend Market and Central Lad Prao store

• Jatujak Market. This market is open on weekends and it is located at a walking distance south of the Mochit Skytrain station, see map, point (4). The best way to get there is probably by taxi (about 70 or 80 bahts). This place is very hot: there are hundred of small shops under tent roofs, and, a lot of asphalt and not trees. Bring a lot of water. The choice of goods is amazing. You need to haggle the prices of the goods... look around, compare prices, be patient, smile, joke... enjoy the experience!
• Central Lat Prao. This Central store is located North of the Mochit Skytrain station (4), see map, point (10). This is not the easiest to reach Central store, the one at Chitlom (12) is easier, but, it has interesting small shops, outside, in front, with young people fashion clothes priced at 199 bahts per item. At this price, there is no room for haggling.

WTC (Narai Phand), MBK, Siam Center, Siam Square, Central Chitlom

• WTC: The "World Trade Center" built in Bangkok was a very ambitious project. Since 1994-95, it still has many shop emplacements left empty inside. Nonetheless, it is a very lively place, and, now, since December 2000, it has the newest movie theaters in Bangkok on its 7th floor, over the Isetan department store (which ends on the 6th floor).
• One of the best things about the WTC, is that, every evening, there is one or many outdoor restaurants with excellent Thai and Chinese food, on the terrace in front of it. You can hear live bands playing the Top 40 hits (from now and before!), and, Thai pop songs.
• To reach the WTC, walk East from the Siam Skytrain station, see map, point (2), or, walk West from the Chitlom station, see map, point (12).
• Narai Phand. The full spelling is "narayana phand", but, all Thais pronounce it "Narai Pan". This building is located in front of the WTC, and, you can cross the very busy Ratchadamri Road with the pedestrian bridge that connects to the Gaysorn plaza building. Narai Phand houses two floors of government sponsored shop with handicraft (the goods have a price tag labeled "Naray Phand"). Other shops in the same building (especially in the basement, and, front of ground floor) are privately owned: you should negotiate the price. It is not fixed. The government section is a good reference to know a "fair price" for stuff that you could also buy at other places, like Jatujak.
• Central Chitlom. This is the "flag store" of Central Department Store, see map, point (12). It is connected by a bridge to the Chitlom Skytrain station. The "Terrace" restaurant on the second floor is a nice place to sample a large variety of Thai food. The service is good. The setting is slightly luxurious. Suggestion "somtam khao man keng gai" (if you can eat a bit spicy) and fresh guava juice. On the ground floor, there is a Starbucks coffee shop. You can see the upper-middleclass breed of Thai people shopping there.
• Siam Center is connected to the Skytrain Siam station, see map, point (2). This 14 (?) years old shopping mall is still a very successful place for shops, even though it is now dwarfed by the larger Siam Discovery Center, to which it is connected (from 4th floor). Siam Discovery has some of the most expensive and luxurious stores you can think of: Bang and Olufsen, Nakamichi, Loft, ... There is also a very new movie Theater on the top floor.
• Siam Square  is on the other side of the Siam station, see map, point (2), on the other side of Ploenchit-Sukhumvit street. Behind the old fashioned Lido and Siam Multiplex movie theaters, there is a large network of small and minuscule alleys with hundreds of clothes shops and hair salons. That's the place where young hip Thai teenagers go to get their party-goers looks.
• MBK or Maboonkrong (that's how Thais call it), is a old (22 years?), constricted, but, inwardly sprawling shopping mall. People who feel claustrophobic, or, who are Fire department safety inspectors will not like it. Yet, there are tons of shops there and it is kind of fun, especially if you like dense crowds.

NOTE: put your wallet in the front pocket of your trousers, or, your purse or bag in front of you, because the pickpockets are famous in those dense crowds.
• The MBK is across the large intersection in front of the Siam Discovery Center. There are several pedestrian bridges to cross, so, it is easy to reach.
• MBK also connects to the National Stadium station through its Tokyu Department store (2nd floor), see map, left of point (2).
• There is also an older pedestrian bridge that connects MBK (2nd floor) to Siam Square. The stairs on that side are even narrower than the aisles of MBK. The Scala shopping center on that end of the bridge should probably avoided by everyone: this is a very old and creepy place. It is narrower than the MBK itself.

More places

• Silom and Patpong. To go to the famous "Soi Patpong", off Silom Road, take the Skytrain, change for Silom line at the Siam station see map, point (2), and, get off at Saladeng station. If you are on Ratchadapisek Road, the #15 orange air con bus that goes in the South direction can take you there: tell the collector that you will get off at "Silom". Silom is the first stop after crossing Rama 4 road, which is just after you see the large Lumphini park to your left (you are under the Skytrain line at that point). The #15 bus does not run late at night. The Skytrain stops at midnight. Please, do not bring back bar girls to the guest house. There are short-term hotels right in that area.
• AsiaBooks stores. There are more than 20 branches of AsiaBook in Bangkok. Two convenient locations are at Siam Discovery Center (4th floor, near the inner bridge that connect to Siam Center) and WTC (3rd floor, near the large round atrium on the back of the building).