We stayed at the Royal Hotel in an older part of town on this trip to meet up with our tour group. The Royal is an adequate “tourist” category hotel with rates starting at $32 US/night for a double with breakfast. At that price, no wonder the Royal was extremely crowded with Thai people and Westerners. There is an old section and new section in the Hotel. Save your money and stay in the old section, just as nice as the new. The Royal Hotel had two major upsides…location, location, location – we could see the Royal Palace and Museum from the breakfast room, and – Khaosan Road was only two blocks away.

TIP: Don’t hire a taxis inside the Hotel, walk outside and hail one. If you make arrangements inside, the price is double.

Khaosan Road area map, Bangkok
Khaosan Road is a backpacker’s heaven, extremely cheap. This is the place to stay if you are on a serious budget. Internet less than $1/ hour…guesthouses for $10/night….travel bureaus…massage parlors – both ordinary and “happy endings/extras” kind…inexpensive restaurants…bars…clothes…hair extensions… If you are serious about saving lots and lots of money, stay here.

ex-Marine on Khaosan Road, Bangkok 

braiding extensions on Khaosan Road, Bangkok
We had never been in this area before and found it a real eye-opener. From Khaosan, a short walk towards the Chao Pra River that winds its way through Bangkok. Past the Royal Palace, National Museum, and many Wats through a four or five-block flower market. Beautiful orchids, roses (a dozen roses were less than $1) and the biggest Birds-of-Paradise flowers I’ve ever seen. A new area for us since we usually stay closer to the River.

flower market in Bangkok 

heaps of orchids 

flower sellers with more orchids
For an entirely different perspective, hop on one of the ferry boats that constantly motor up and down the Chao Pra River for around $1 or hire your own long-tail boat (a little more expensive). A few of the main stops are: Oriental Hotel and Plaza; Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn); Bangkok Railway Station; Wat Sam Prayha; National Museum; and the Grand Palace. When your stop comes into sight, prepare to get off quickly. The ferry waits for no man. There are: express ferries; the Khlong Mon ferries that leave from behind Wat Po and go by orchid farms; and the Khlong Bang Waek ferries that leave from Memorial Bridge Pier and motor past the early morning Floating Market. We jumped off at the Grand Palace and walked the four blocks back to the Royal Hotel.

Chao Pra (Phraya) River information, Bangkok 

on the Chao Pra River in Bangkok
TIP: If you visit the Grand Palace or any of the Wats (each and every one a riot of color), dress appropriately. That means no shorts or bare shoulders. Men must wear long pants.

There is also a great day trip to Ayutthaya (the capital of Thailand for four centuries) taking the bus or train in one direction and returning back to Bangkok by riverboat. (Almost every tour company offers this or do it on your own.) On our visit to Ayutthaya, we were walking around the ruins when a SNAKE dropped out of a tree (a safe distance from us). ex-Marine said, “Sheila, a snake just fell out of the tree.” Me…”No way, that’s a big stick.” Then the “big stick” started slithering away. Now I walk around sights looking up to see if a snake is going to take a kamikaze leap on me….like there isn’t enough to worry about in the world…