Thailand forum

Hi Kiah,

The accommodation listings on the website are broken down by area, so that will make hotel shopping much easier for you.

For a first-time visit to Bangkok, you'll likely do well staying on the fringe near Khao San Road. This puts you close to most of the major first-time-to-Bangkok attractions in the Sanam Luang area, and also close to the river for some fun ferry boat rides through the city. Check out the flashpacker and midrange options listed on Soi Rambutri, or maybe Thai Cozy House on Tanee Rd.

Another option that might fit your specs is the Siam Square area. That puts you near Jim Thompson House, MBK and Siam Square for shopping and food, and right on the Sky Train for quick and easy trips to the Weekend Market and other places.

Is there anything specific you wanted to do while in the city? Where is your follow-on destination? Cheers.

What does mid range mean to you? Mid range doesn't mean the same for everyone. Since you mention good public transport my suggestion is to get a hotel off the Skytrain route. If you are quite young then perhaps Khao San Road will do nicely because so many other young travelers head there - but there are no Skytrain stops there!

The Skytrain can connect you to many popular areas of Bangkok but not all of them of course. The Skytrain will connect you to the Ekamai bus station and the subway at Asok too. In Bangkok if you take a meter taxi they will usually be cheaper than tuk-tuks for tourists. But when you use a meter taxi it is best to wave a moving taxi over and then tell the driver to use the meter. If you bargain the cost of the ride you usually pay more and a parked taxi more often will want to bargain the fare.

If you travel during the Christmas - New Years holidays many hotels raise their prices. Other times and low season the prices are quite reasonable. Except for Christmas/New Years you can find hotels starting around 600 baht that will have air and hot water plus TV. These will be small rooms, often without windows. Of course you can find hotels in the 6000 baht range and even higher too!

Look up Swiss Park Hotel, the Suk 11 Hostel and the Nana Ibis Hotel (quite new) which are not far from the Nana Skytrain stop. In this area you will find malls, supermarkets, travel agencies for tours, street vendors, nightlife, restaurants and even hospitals and churches.
http://www.swissparkhotelbangkok.com/
http://www.suk11.com/
http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-7295-ibis-bangkok-nana/location.shtml

Good luck.

nice suggestions from halberd for staying in the lower sukhumvit area. this is where many expats tend to hang out as do more well-heeled tourists doing up-market shopping. as halberd says, it is close to the sky train and the subway, and it is also near lumpini park and the associated night market, a thai boxing arena, two of the go-go club areas, if that sort of thing interests you, and my favorite restaurant in bangkok, cabbages and condoms.

if that area appeals, i'd add PS Guesthouse on Sukhumvit Soi 8 as another accommodation option to the list of good choices mentioned above. it's more flashpacker level, in the 1,000 baht per night range, but the large rooms have a classy feel and the location on this quiet soi makes for peaceful sleeping at night. have fun.