Things to see and do. We reckon Bangkok is not such a bad place, all you need is a traveller's attitude! There are lots of things to see and do, lots of restaurants and great street food. Traffic is pretty bad, but if you catch meter taxis (all air-con) or local buses, you never seem to get caught too long. For things to see I would recommend Jim Thompson's House (fantastic), Grand Palace, Wat Pho (reclining Buddha), a walk thru Chinatown's alleys (I recommend the Lonely Planet Thailand guidebook walking tour), rides on the cheap Chao Phraya River Express boats, or on the klongs in either the taxis or long-tails. For shopping or just browsing, Mahboonkrong Shopping Centre and Chatuchuk Weekend Market are good. We went to Chatuchuk Weekend Market, north of the centre of Bangkok and saw some fantastic stuff. This place is HUGE. We spent 5 hours there that Saturday, and we estimate we saw 20% of the place! Just full of little stalls. Pavilions containing pet stalls, others with food, with spices, with wood carvings, others with furniture, with clothes etc. There were about 24 pavilions, each containing about 400 stalls (apparently about 9000 stalls in all). We saw the most fantastic stuff there, and we would have loved to have had a sea-container to fill! Mahboonkrong Shopping Centre has 3 floors of market type stalls, as well as the normal shopping centre shops, department stalls, cinemas, giant food hall on the top floor (6 huge floors in all). For food, eat at the streetside noodle vendors, cheapest food available, tasty, and safe.

Accommodation. The Khao San Rd area (in the suburb called Banglamphu) is the most well-known budget accommodation area. If you don't mind the noise and love to party, you might like a place on Khao San Rd itself. However for mind, I think the area has become a bit of a traveler's ghetto. Quite a bit better is what's known as the West Banglamphu area (check the Lonely Planet book for details). The West Banglamphu area really is walking distance from Khao San Rd anyway, even if you are carrying packs. So you can get your taxi driver or bus to take you there if you want. Actually, there is a bit of a trick to get to West Banglamphu from Khao San Rd. Walk down to the western end and across the road (Chakraphong Rd), straight down the road in front of you, then thru the temple (wat) grounds at the end of that street, then on thru to Soi Rambutri and you are in West Banglamphu. Everyone walks thru the wat, they don't mind, they even have signs telling you which way to go when you're in there. Those rooms I mentioned in my website in West Banglamphu are small, but they are clean. No dirt or muck, no signs of soiling on the walls, bathroom or bed linen. We went with our kids so we are fairly fussy, and we thought they were fine.

We got to the Khao San Rd area by air con taxi from the airport. As there was 4 of us (with the kids) it was about as cheap as the airport bus anyway (which is B70 per person). The taxi cost us B287 including the B20 tollway fee and the B50 flag fall (you have to pay this from the airport as taxis have wait in line a long time and this recoups their costs). But otherwise, the A2 bus actually stops just outside the New Merry V Guest House where we stayed. It's not difficult to know where to get off. Your best bet is to ask the conductor (or driver if there is none, but I'm sure there will be) where you are. We took local buses all thru Bangkok and the conductors were all very friendly and helpful and always helped us when we asked. So when you get on, or even half way into the trip, ask the conductor to let you know when you are at Khao San Rd area. Or if you want the New Merry V area (West Banglamphu), you want to get off at the Phra Athit stop (pronounced "prah ARtit"). If you have a copy of the Lonely Planet Thailand guidebook, the map on page 246 (7^th edition, red cover) shows where the New Merry V and the Phra Athit River express stop is.

We also stayed in the Silom and Surawong Rds area, near the business district. This is also great as it's near the river, there are quite a few restaurants and hotels of all price ranges to choose from, and its not a backpacker's ghetto like Kao San Rd is. In fact, I would suggest you seriously consider this area in preference to the Khao San Rd ghetto (unless you are specifically looking for that scene).