Which area?
On the River
Most of the large international hotels are located
on the river front and the most expensive area. Transport
is available along the river and taxis easily available
for other destinations.
Business District
The Business District is around Silom Road and contains a number of excellent
hotels. This area is also very popular with tourists and close to the Night
Market and connected to the Sky Train.
Siam Square
Around Siam Square and close by at the World Trade
Centre is a collection of excellent hotels. An area with
plenty of nightlife, shopping and very central. Siam Square
is linked to the Skytrain.
Sukhumvit Road
Running away from Siam Square to the east and then
turning south-east, and eventually south, is Sukhumvit Road.
This road actually continues for several hundred kilometres,
but you do not need to go that far to find the collection
of moderately-priced hotels which makes this a popular area
for travellers to stay.
Chinatown
To the south-east of the old city and west of Hualampong Station lies an extensive
and interesting Chinatown full of crowded, narrow streets. Many of the Chinese
shops deal in gold and jewellery, but there are also fabric merchants, food
stores, Chinese hotels and many other types of businesses.
Khaosan Road
Khao San Road, where so many budget travellers stay, lies just north of, but
outside the limits of, the old city, but within a few minutes walk of many
of the interesting sights. Here one can find cheap to medium priced accommodation
of all types and qualities in a street of restaurants, travel agents, souvenir
shops, taxi drivers and hawkers of fake student cards.
The Old City
In fact, the old city is not so very old, especially in comparison with many
other towns in Thailand, but it is full of temples, palaces and monuments,
making it a most interesting place. The limits are easily defined, for King
Rama I used the Chao Phraya River as the western boundary of Bangkok and
then dug a canal to define the eastern boundary. Thus he had created an artificial
island easily defensible if necessary. The atmosphere of this area is historic.
It is not primarily a residential district and so very few hotels in this
area.
The Airport Area
The airport is north of the City and has a few hotels which are mainly used
for transit passengers. If the traffic is light the city can be reached in
30 minutes.
