The train arrives in Suvarnabhumi Airport

See the locations on Bangkok Airport Rail Link Google Map

Picture Ian Fuller

Finally there is a train to Bangkok Airport: Since the beginning of June 2010 the Suvarnabhumi Airport Link (SARL) has been open for a test run. Free rides have been offered by State Railways of Thailand. Commercial service opens on August 23. The ride with the Airport Express train will cost 150 baht. It's not a line of Skytrain, but a separate railway. If you take an express train at the airport, you will stop at Makkasan Station, where you can change to MRT Phetchaburi Metro station. At Makkasan station there will be an City Airport Check-In. If you take a commuter train at the airport with more stops, you can drive to Phayathai Station, get out there and change to the BTS Phayathai Skytrain station. Read more: State Railways Airport Rail Link.



The Airport Link seen from the air. Picture UweBKK




Before an extension of Silom line from Taksin Bridge to Won Wien Yai had started operations for the public in May 2009. The new line delivered free services for the first three month. Earlier the Skytrain didn't cross Chao Phraya River. There are two new stations: Krung Thonburi Station and Wongwian Yai station. See the locations on Google Map Bangkok Transportation.

And why did it take many years to complete this extension? Click David in Siam, he has the answer. If you want to read even more about this story: 2bangkok.com has it.


Picture by Ian Fuller


Maps and timetables of Skytrain, Metro, Buses and railways and connections with boats on Chao Phraya River



Discover more in Bangkok:
Your Guide to Bangkok


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Spa in Bangkok

Bangkok Post is running articles about spas worth to collect:


Ananda Spa: President Solitaire, Sukhumvit Soi 11 and The Capitol Club, Sukhumvit. Hot stone massage: "Smooth, heat-retaining stones are heated to 70 - 75 degrees Celsius before being used to massage the body and rest on or underneath the body at particular points; including in between the toes", you read in the review of Asian Web Direcvt.

Anne Semonin Spa: Sofitel Silom Bangkok. "A lymphatic drainage technique is used in every facial", describes Bangkok Post.


Chi The Spa at Shangri-La Bangkok: 89 Soi Wat Suan Plu, New Road, Bangrak. The 1,000-square-metre spa was built in accordance with the architectural principles of a Tibetan temple, writes Bangkok Post. Here you enjoy the Himalayan Tsangpo Ritual.


Chi The Spa

Picture by natala007
Himalayan Room

Dahra Beauty & Spa: inside the Triple Two Hotel on Silom Soi 18. Swedish, Shiatsu and Thai massage.

Indara: 47/3-7 Rajdamri Road, Lumpini, Patumwan. Traditional Thai Massage, Aromatherapy Body Massage, Foot Reflexology.

Korn Aromassage: 41 Soi naratiwasratchanakarin 15.

Tel: 02-676-4908, 083 607-2968

Spa by Le Meridien: 6th floor of Le Meridien Bangkok, Surawong Road. You find a collection of massages, facials, body treatments and bathing rituals. Read the review by Bangkok Post.

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Your Guide to Bangkok


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Back to the old times in Chaochoengsao ฉะเชิงเทรา

Picture by Mon_M&M

See Google Map of Chachoengsao

Go back to a time, when life was slow: Ban Mai Market ( ตลาดบ้านใหม่ ), founded by Chinese settlers in Chachoengsao, is more than 100 years old and dates back to the days of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). The original architecture seems intact: Old teak houses and a promenade along the river Bang Pakong. As "The Nation" observed, the sun filters through the high-ceiling roofs give a glow that is very different from the cold fluorescent light in today's supermarkets. Old restaurants cook with firewood instead of gaz. The market is well known for its local noodles and more Thai and Chinese specialities. Only qualified hawkers are allowed to sell authentic cuisine. If you look for a quiet place, see this market on a weekday, on Saturdays and Sundays it's very full with visitors. "On weekends and public holidays the market buzzes with the chatter of Baan Mai's young generation returning from jobs in Bangkok to help out their families", notes "Bangkok Post". Also filmmakers love the ambiance of Ban Mai Market. "Nang Nak" was shot here. And then it's famous for Leng Hok Yee shrine with its papier-mache sculptures.

Picture by เด็กหอ5ห้อง4



Pictures by เด็กหอ5ห้อง4

Picture by 2ชีวิตจิ้มพริกเกลือ

Picture by Mon_M&M

Picture by Mon_M&M

Picture by chachoengsao.go.th

Picture by เด็กหอ5ห้อง4

Find your way: By Train from Hua Lamphong Railway Station in Bangkok to Chachoengsao. By bus from Mor Chit 2 Bus Terminal in Bangkok. First and second-class air-conditioned buses leave every 40 minutes between 6am to 5pm. Regular buses leave every 30 minutes starting 5:40am until 7pm from the Eastern Bus Terminal in Ekamai. By car: Highway No. 304 via Min Buri (82 kilometres), Bang Na-Trat Highway (turn left before reaching the bridge over Bang Pakong River onto Highway No. 314, 100 kilometres) and Highway No. 3 via Samut Prakan and Bang Pakong (then turn left to Highway No. 314, 106 kilometres).

Open: Every day.

Read about another old market nearby: Khlong Suan Market on Khlong Prawet Burirom

See also: Famous and hidden markets in Bangkok

Discover more in Bangkok: Your Guide to Bangkok

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Discover Sukhumvit

Sukhumvit, just a long street, where you spend your time by eating, drinking (redlight-bars) and sleeping (many hotels)? No, there is more to see, if you walk into the sidestreets, called soi.

See map by travelfish.org

Soi 3: Home of the Middle Eastern community and African community. Read Sukhumvits other side See Photo-Guide. And read the New York Times-Story about Soi Arab

Soi 4: Nana Entertainment Plaza, full with go-go bars.

Soi 5:

Video walk from soi 7 to soi 5:



Soi 11: Three of the best nightspots in town: BedSupperClub with fine cuisine, a glittering nightclub. QBar, a lounge with 1960s decor, attracting good DJs (House, Hip-hop and Jazz. Twisted Republic (DJs). Nice architecture in this soi.

Soi 18: Salsa and Latin dance culture in Bangkok? Yes, there is La Rueda Latin Dance Club (monday to Saturday from 18 pm to 1 am.

Soi 21 Asok and Soi 23: Called Soi Cowboy, full of gogo-bars.

Soi 22: A short stretch with go-go bars, then a lot of street food vendors and Thai massage places. And there is Benjasiri Park, where you see asians doing Tai Chi and other exercises in the morning and the evening. Read the post of The Laughing Nomad.

Soi 33: Full of hosteess bars with painter names like Van Gogh, Degas, Manet and Gauguin.

Soi 38: Well known for it's street food in the night. Have a look at Austin Bush's photos.

Soi 55, also called Thonglor, "Bangkoks Chic Street", according to Time Magazine. Look for fashion here at the concept store Playground, which features young Thai designers as well as some European/American favourites. Go down the street and you will find a glass building: H1 — a group of buildings with: "Capollini" Italian import furniture store, "Extase" Mediterranean food restaurant, "Hay" home-made ice cream center, "Geo" cool designed products shop, "Barsheer-Graphic Art Book" graphic book store, etc. J-Avenue is crammed with cafés, bars and emporiums. And young Thais head for nightclubs like Escudor, Gwatamou and Boos, Witch Tavern.

Discover more in Bangkok: Your Guide to Bangkok


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Bangkok Girl - a moving documentary

Pla is 19, working as a bar girl in Bangkok since she has been 13, and tells Joanathan Clark, a Canadian documentary filmmaker about her life. It's a glimpse into the sex tourism industry, a look at the human cost of the sex trade trough the eyes of Pla, who died a week, after Clark had left Thailand.

Bangkoks Slum: Klong Toey

Klong Toei (also Klong Toey, คลองเตย) is a district in central Bangkok, bordered by the Chao Phraya River. The westbound of Sukhumvit belongs to it, but also a slum, where poor workers live, many working at the port. So Klong Toei has luxury shopping centers like Emporium as well as a cheap food market. The Duang Prateep Foundation and the Human Development Foundation of Father Joe are working for a better life in the slums.

Human Development Foundation
Mercy Centre


Duang Prateep Foundation



Read more about life in Klong Toei:

Water Warriors fight for saving Klong Hua Lamphong: Read Blog Asia Waterwire

The Squatters of Bangkok - an article in New Internationalist

A volonteer writes about her work as teacher in the Mercy Centre in Klong Toey: GivingLearningDancing

Life in Bangkok Videos

Soi 5 Silom Soi Mitapaap Pad Thai