Things you can do as a Couple in BKK

Things you can do as a Couple in BKK

Hi guys! As its been my countless times to Bangkok, I’ve decided not to do a day by day itinerary cause I’ve done a similar post here previously.

So this post, I am going to write more about the things you can do/eat in BKK, especially if you are travelling as a couple(most of my bkk trips)! I will try my best to update this post every now and then so I hope this can help especially if its your first time to BKK with your partner!

Airlines:

Normally I will recommend either Scoot or Jetstar is good enough as the flight is only about 2.5hrs. Personally, my fav is Scoot as its SQ old planes. Also, note that airfares are normally $150-$200 per pax(includ baggage). YES, PLS DO NOT BUY AND WAIT FOR PROMO FLIGHTS IF ITS MORE THAN $200! If its $200-$300 you might even be able to fly economy flights like SQ or Cathay there no kidding.

Places to stay(based on my own recommendation, below $100/night)

Also, note that I only stay around platinum/pratunam area for shopping sake. If you are more towards cafes and the city you may consider staying Sukhumvit area.

Hotel Vista Express

This is my personal fav as the location is not only convenient, but their prices are pretty low too- sgd60+ per night. The hotel is just located above Pratunam shopping area so you can literally just shop and head up to the room to place all your shopping buys.

Also, its walking distance (5 mins) to street food and the soi 19 wanton mee. If you are not those who are very particular on rooms, this will work fine as its just a queen size bed room with a standing shower bathroom. Nothing special or amazing.

Link here.

Berkeley Hotel

So far, I’ve not tried this hotel yet but based on reviews by friends, the rooms are quite pretty its like a low 4-star hotel and the location is somewhere diagonally opposite platinum (maybe need to walk about 5-10mins). But of course, this hotel is slightly more ex as compared to Hotel Vista Express.

I will try this hotel on my next trip to BKK and update you guys on it. Link here.

Lemon Tea

Didnt get to try this hotel either but we walked past it during our latest trip there and hotel looks good from the outside. The location wise is very near the hotel I stayed- Spenza Hotel (read below) so its a pretty convenience venue. This is one of my to-try hotel when I head to BKK again too!

Link here.

Spenza Hotel

Stayed here the previous trip to BKK but I will still prefer Hotel Vista Express in terms of location and the similarity in the rooms. Its slightly further away from Prat/Plat so it can be quite tiring walking back to the hotel with all the shopping buys.

The only thing I like about this hotel is that the good massage parlour is located along the same street as the hotel so its just a 5-mins walk there.

Link here.

If you have more budget for the trip, you may consider staying at the following hotels(all 4-5 stars) as their location is really good.

Amari Watergate

This hotel is located just directly opposite Platinum and the famous tailor shop for guys is located right in the hotel itself so its really very convenient. However, the last time I stayed the room was quite disappointing for the cost and the furnitures and all were really old. The only good thing is the convenience of shopping and tailoring of clothes.

Link here.

Novotel

This is actually the BEST hotel if you can afford it. Its located right ON TOP of Platinum Mall, the rooms are nice with transparent glass bathtub and good views plus its quite new. One thing I like about this hotel is that I can shop all I want in Platinum mall and if there were too many things to carry, I can head up to my room to place the shopping buys and continue round 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

However, if you intend to shop elsewhere like Chatuchak, union mall etc then it makes no difference as compared to the rest of the hotel. So its more of like a 4-5 star hotel VS 3 star hotels. No photo for this cause the last time I stayed was very very long ago. You can check out the photos here.

Mode of Transport:

Uber

This is my fav transport in my recent trips to BKK. I used to take Tuk Tuk or Taxis(metered only) but there has been a hike in Tuktuk fares and some are all out to con you so I am really thankful that there is Uber now in BKK.

The only cons are that the traffic in BKK is real bad so if they put est timing of 15mins it may turn up to be 1/2hr. So, please factor in travel time if you prefers to take uber(fixed cost) around too. Oh and ALWAYS put cash for overseas uber trips so the drivers there cant cancel or do something funny to your credit card charges.

Tuk Tuk

As mentioned above, this used to be my main mode of transport for 2 reasons- cheap and they can cut through jams + go through small alleys. However, after a hike of cases whereby the Tuk tuk driver will quote you a very cheap price but then halfway through they will request to drop you at a souvenir shop to walk one round(cause they will be paid petrol fee by the shop and if you buy something, they will earn comms from it too) and if you reject, they will just drop you off in the middle of nowhere- happened to me twice.

So, unless if there is no choice, I will take the Tuktuk, haggle a cost and insist its directly to the place before I board. Also, recently they have started recommending you to other food places(more ex and tourist spots) instead of the one you will like to go, some even tell lies that the place you’re heading to is close for the day so always check directly with the venue you’re heading to beforehand. It happened to me once but I called the restaurant directly and they said they were open. So I insisted for him to bring us there.

Taxis

I only take the taxis to and fro airport as firstly, the cab can store our luggages and secondly, the fares are always around the same about 300baht including tolls etc. If you were to get your hotel to charter a transport for you to the airport, they will normally charge 700baht. So, please just flag a cab yourself.

The reason why I seldom take cab to and fro places in BKK is cause its quite hard to find one that will on the meter for you and most of them will quote a high fixed price due to jam etc. But that being said, the last time I took cabs to and fro was before Uber is launched so maybe they will be more inclined to on the meter for you now.

Oh, one thing too- some I really suspect they did something to the meter so the cost can end up high too.

BTS

The cheapest and fastest way to travel around in BKK cause there wont be any jam. The only thing I dont like about taking the BTS is that some of the places are not located near the BTS station so you will have to walk about 10-15mins after alighting to the venue. Also, if you are not v familiar with the place you will tend to get lost trying to find it.

Places to eat

Breakfast:

On Lok Yunn

One of our must-go for breakfast whenever we are in BKK. Its not those very WOW breakfast but more of a local, nice and yummy kaya spread toast and coffee/tea kinda meal. Think of Chin Mee Chin Confectionery in Singapore.

Some people even tapao(packet) the kaya back to their country after trying it.

Soi 19 Wanton Mee

This is located along Petchaburi Soi 19 (somewhere beside Glow) and you can spot it easily with their long queues and huge signs stating they do not have branch in Singapore lol. The pig trotters there are damn good also we always order both rice and noodles whenever we were there.

They used to have small bowls option but from the last I know, they had standardised it to all one size- which is the bigger size one.

Roast

This is a to-go if you are someone who love brunches. Their cafe is located at The Commons whereby its a very pretty and chill places with other cafes there too. Their food were like Singapore’s brunch food but much cheaper due to the currency exchange. The presentation, ambience and food were on the better end too.

Go try if you can! So far, all of my friends who went to Roast said its one of their best meals in BKK.

Lunch:

Duck noodles (opp platinum)

Chanced upon this shop while we were just walking by to search for the chicken rice stall and decided to just pop by one day for lunch. Its not as nice as the ones at CTC but then the soup is very savoury and I love the duck blood there too. Makes good for a simple quick lunch if you’re rushing to shop at the Platinum Mall! Its located somewhere right outside Platinum, a local small shop which have braised ducks hanging outside the stall.

Somtam

This place is one of my fav to-go for lunch as I love their food. Its not those cheap local thai food stall but more of like Thai express kind but omg, their pork and fish are gooood! One of the best thai meals in my own opinion.

Note that queues for this can be long especially during lunch and dinner hours so do try to head there earlier to queue! There were a few times we had to forgo eating there due to the long queues.

Chicken Rice

The chicken rice wasnt very WOW kind but it make do for a simple, nice and cheap breakfast if you’re thinking of having a quick meal then to shopping or other activities. Its just one of those “Oh I’ve tried it” kinda thing. If you have done some research or seen people posting about it on the social media, yes this is the pink shirt chick rice stall. Its located somewhere right opposite Berkeley Hotel and you can spot their uniform and big stall easily.

Crepes & Co.

This is for cafe lovers! Anyway, Im thinking of doing up another BKK post solely on cafes but that will have to wait for my next trip whereby I really go to explore all the cafes in my to-do list. For now, I’ve listed down those that I’ve went and think its good.

The crepes here are those savoury crepes with ham and cheese etc and they also have dessert crepes so you can actually have your lunch here. By far, this is one of the best crepes I’ve ever eaten especially when Im a lover of Ham&Cheese and the crepes have a mixture of sweet and savoury with this flavour its so YUMs!

They were located in Central World during the time I went but the outlet there had since CLOSED. The other 2 outlets are located at Langsuan (Sukhumvit area) and Thonglor. I’ve attach the link here for easy reference.

-will upload the photos once I found them-

Dinner:

Chinatown T&K Seafood

I think almost everyone who went to BKK must have went to this place before. Its famous for having 2 rivalry shop (one red and one green) side by side selling the same kind of seafood. For me, I’ve always been to the green colored ones. Its seafood you can eat at a cheap price but do not expect much cleanliness out of this place. There will be roaches running around and stained bowls/plates but this place is where you get to eat shark fins, crabs, prawns, fish at a really low cost.

Glow Seafood

As the name of it suggests, this shop is located right below Glow hotel. Its much cleaner as compared to T&K seafood but the price were on a slightly higher end as well. But in terms of food quality wise, I would say both are comparable so if you prefer clean > price then just go ahead with the Glow one! For convenience, the location is also much better as compared to T&K Seafood at Chinatown.

MK seafood

I think most of you must have heard of this restaurant as they are located internationally. There are outlets in SG and other countries etc. The only reason why people had it in BKK is cause its cheaper than the rest of the outlets after the currency exchange. Other than that, the food, service etc were the same. What I like there is the availability of their Thai Milk Tea as well.

Bar B Que

This is cheap mookata as its only about sgd10 per pax and you can have free flow meat bbq. Its located in MBK and is one of my to-go if I am craving for meat. But, dont expect alot of variety as the price says it all. Just a simple mookata kind.

Dessert:

After You

They have one of the best crepes we ever had so far! Their mille crepes is a must but according to others, their Shibuya toast is the bomb too. However, as Thye and I doesnt have very sweet tooth, we find the toast a lil too sweet to our liking. But oh god, we LOVE the mille crepe so much!!

Audrey Cafe

Honestly speaking, I will prefer After You than this cafe but I guess people like here for the ambience and layout of the cafe. Its more towards the pretty, dainty and stylish kind of cafe. Their Thai Milk Tea mille crepes are too much of sweetness to my liking (mind you, I have a very sweet tooth and I find it sweet) and I prefer the mille crepes in After You the best.

Mr Jones & Orphanage(sorry its permanently closed now)

Likewise, the cakes and dessert here were actually so-so but people head here for photos as the place is fully decorated with bears and orphanage like. There were a few outlets for this, I went to the one at Thonglor so its a standalone shop by itself = bigger and nicely decorated. If you head to the one at Siam Paragon, its actually look like a normal cafe- see last pic.

Mango Tango

I am not really a fan of mangoes but I’ve friends who raved about it. Tried it personally and think its not bad but cant comment much as I will prefer other desserts in BKK of course. But anyway, this is located somewhere right outside Som Tam in Siam Square so you can have lunch at Som Tam followed by dessert here after that!

Nam Sing Birdnest

You can either eat there or buy the packed container back to the hotel. For us, we usually eat there after dinner at T&K seafood, then buy some container back to the hotel to put it in the fridge and have it cold the first thing in the morning the next day!

Local dessert stall along Chinatown

The stalls were located somewhere further down T&K seafood and on the opposite side. You will see Mr Pig (the place where they buy all the pork floss packages) stall and continue further whereby you still see people sitting by the roadside having dessert. Its those local dessert they have there, something like cheng ting.

Yaowarat Toasted bun

Address: 452, Yaowarat Road, Samphanthawong, 10100 Bangkok

Like wise, this stall is located somewhere further down T&K seafood and on the opposite side. You will see Mr Pig too and you will pass by this stall on the way to the dessert stall above. There will usually be a long queue for the stall so you can actually spot it easily.

Souvenirs(Food)

As mentioned above, you will see Mr Pig before spotting the other street food stalls along Chinatown. This place is where you can get all those food souvenirs (pork floss roll, biscuits, crackers etc) to bring back home. The price here is also way cheaper if you get it from elsewhere like Asiatique or MBK.

We always get our souvenirs here and my mum LOVES the pork floss roll. You can spot the shop easily by looking out for this pig statue right outside the shop!

Shopping

Platinum Mall

The famous mall for all the blogshop clothes and fashion stuff. The shopping heaven for all ladies.

Lately, its either I’ve start to grow out of fashion (morphing into the older generation clothes) or the clothes there really start to be CMI but I think those youngsters(poly students age) will still like it there. Clothes cost were sgd$10-$20 for most items and $30-$40 for really nice clothes which in my opinion, still much cheaper than online stores in SG.

As I used to own a blogshop, I can tell you their stocks actually came from China so if you were to buy from Taobao, it might be even cheaper. I saw quite a few clothes that I ordered from TB there.

If you’re very free like me, I will actually check if TB has the items I want if not I will get it there. Else, just buy. It will still be cheaper than buying them in SG.

Pratunam

Not sure if you guys will like this place as its VERY crowded + VERY squeezy and most of the people there push huge trolleys and bags around so they will just push you out of their way. But, you can find much cheaper clothes there as compared to Platinum. The only thing is, you have to dig for nice designs there and I can tell you, its not fun digging in a hot and crowded place filled with rude people.

If you are not a fan of crowds, then dont bother. Just shop at the morning/night markets for roadside stalls for cheaper clothes.

Union Mall

This mall we can relate it to something like the Far East Square in SG. Clothes were much cheaper than Platinum too but designs wise lose to Plat. Another shopping option if you prefer air-con mall. Also, its located near Chatuchak so you can head to this mall to continue shopping if you cant stand the heat in CTC.

Train markets(a.k.a Rot Fai Markets)

So far, I’ve not been to the rest of the train markets hence Im afraid I cant do a comparisons for this. But, I will suggest to just go and try ALL the train markets if you can. I will def head to the rest on my next trip as I heard good reviews on all.

For now, I’ve only been to the Talad Rot Fai Ratchada (which is located right behind The Esplanade Mall). If you are planning to take a uber/cab/Tuktuk there, for easy convenience, you can just alight at The Esplanade Mall and cut through it to the back, then you just follow the crowd and music you will be able to spot it. Its just opposite the back of Esplanade Mall.

Neon market (a.k.a Talad Neon)

This is a newly set up market in the recent year whereby its something like a small-scale Talad Rot Fai. There are shopping and food as well and you can find the “banana nutella prata” there too. However, its not as nice as compared to the road side ones so just try the road-side stall(always changing location) if you come across it!

The market is located just further down pratnum market, somewhere outside of Berkeley hotel. But just incase you all need the exact directions, I’ve attach the map link here.

Victory Monument Market

This place is easy to find as the entire market is surrounding the Victory Monument statue. You can have the famous $1 boat noodles there too. As for the location of the boat noodle stall, you will have to find it yourselves for the time being as the last I went there, I was down with food poisoning so I explored the market for only about 5mins before heading back to the hotel to crash.

Will update if I manage to try the boat noodles one day.

Higher range shopping (more expensive):

Terminal 21

This mall is for people who loves and only wants to shop at normal shopping mall. The levels are categorised according to different country themes and each level, you can buy stuff that is related to the country. Prices of course were on the higher end ranging from $40-$100++? But, you can find nice local designers(from the respective countries) handicraft items there.

Siam Sqaure

Imagine this place like Haji lane. The clothes were more unique and hipster kind but the prices were like sgd40-60 for 1 pc. Also, if you see it from the eagle-eye view, its actually a huge area with rows of shophouses so you can actually take half a day to a day exploring the place. Till date, I’ve not manage to cover all the “rows” I only went to the Somtam area. Oh, there are mini malls in the middle of the area too which you can get beauty related items.

Tailoring of Shirts (for guys)

For those who still dont know of this place, its called Paul’s Fashion Tailor and everyone from SG come here to tailor their clothes. If you head into the shop, you can see the owner’s photo with other local celebrities on the wall and tons of insurance agents namecards on the table.

Likewise, my boyfriend is one of those who tailor his clothes there so we were always there. I will recommend you to head there during the first day of your trip cause they need time to prepare the sample after taking the measurements. Then you head there again in the morning on the 2nd day to try. If all is well, they will do the rest of the shirts as per the sample and you can collect it the next day. I would say it will be safe if you are staying there minimally 4D3N.

You can inform them of your departure date and time and they may even deliver the tailored clothes to your hotel reception.

Chatuchak

This is one of the MUST MUST MUST go whenever friends told me they are planning a trip to BKK. It will be an eye opener as they had items ranging from household items, pets, clothes to decorations etc. The street food there were good too I love the quail eggs, moo ping, coconut ice cream, duck noodles, Italian seafood rice there. There were mini bars and stalls where you can sit down and have a drink to rest from the crazy heat.

I will definitely head there to shop for household items when I got my own house in the future as the items were mostly handmade and unique. I will say just go despite the extremely hot heat. Just wear loose and comfortable clothes.

For me, we head there around 9am-10am when they were just opening and leave around 12pm-1pm when the sun gets unbearable. However, note as its my countless times there, I only need 2 hours to walk the necessary.

Massage/Beauty

Massage parlours along entrance of Baiyoke Sky Hotel.

I used to frequent these massage parlours before I get to know the new one during my latest trip. Cost were 200-250baht for an hour of full body or leg massages which are reasonably cheap. Also, its located right behin Pratunum Market

However, now that I know of the new location, I prefer the service, ambience and massages there.

Foot Haven Massage

This is the one that I’ve recently frequent but its located slightly further away from Plat/Prat area. About 8-10mins walk? Both the foot and full body massages were not bad. They even help to massage your shoulder and neck with hot towels at the end after the foot massages.

Address: 2/4, 2/4 Phetchaburi Rd, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Link here

Nails parlour

The nails salon are located in MBK level 2 or 3 and there is a travelator bridge that link to the outer part of the mall. There, you can find 2-3 nails salon side by side. There is no preference for which as I’ve tried 2/3 of the nails parlour there. Why I like to do my nails in BKK is that their prices were cheap even for nail arts. Some of the simple nail arts cost only about 500baht for GELISH CLASSIC.

Night Activities

Night Club

For Night Club, it will be the usual Route 66(clubbing) or Onyx or Demo. But as I’ve already outgrow clubs, there is nothing much for me to comment on. Except you may want to read this link to find out more.

During my time, Route 66 was the club we always frequent. But note that all the clubs were situated in the town area far from Platinum/Pratunam area. So if you’re planning to just party your way through in BKK, then stay around Thonglor or Sukhumvit area.

Bar

There are actually ALOT of nice and hipsterbars in BKK whereby you can grab your beer from. Some of them even had live bands to keep you entertained. As the last time we went to bar hopping, its just a row of bars we chanced upon in Sukhumvit area so I cant remember the name of the bar.

I will for sure be heading to explore more bars during my next trips so stay tuned for updates! Meanwhile, based on research(the places I want to try) are here.

Muay Thai

If you’ve read about my previous BKK post here. You will see that we went to a local muay thai gym to have a session of Muay Thai. But the one Im gona talk in this post is more of a Muay Thai fight whereby you will watch it in the club. Note that this is more towards the sleezy area as people will pull you into their club to watch the fight.

The one we decided to give it a try doesnt have any cover charge just that we had to purchase a beer each. On top of that, to tip the wrestlers when they walk around to “thank you”. I will say you can try it for experience.

If you want to watch those legit Muay Thai live show then you can try your luck at the ticket booth at Asiatique.