cutefarang

Those don't look too bad, I have taken the train quite a few times between BKK and Malaysia and it always a pretty cool experience but some creature comforts like a touchscreen entertainment center would be a welcome addition.

As many BM's have said the "No ID" thing is actually not the best thing for you. It keeps you safe for the most part. But staying anonymous in a city of 12 million isn't exactly easy lol.

Very nice! I'll have to check them out next time I'm in Hua Hin, I usually pay a lot more than this for a worse room/villa.

You won't regret it, makes the flight there so much more enjoyable.

That is Swissotel, very good hotel and an excellent location for mongering. A lot of LB's live in the area of Huai Kwang and the hotel is located on Soapy Row so they are used to guests coming back.

The only one that ever bothered me walking late at night was some rats and once a snake, both time the soi dogs chased them away lol. In fact I used to have a soi dog that would wait every weekend by the top of my Soi and walk me home. He would always get a bag of chicken the next day haha.

You can walk in any of the Bangkok tourist areas at 2 am, at that time the streets are still packed with people. There is very little street crime against tourists in BKK compared to some other major cities.

The Sawasdee hotels look a lot better in the pictures than they do in real life. They aren't bad hotels if you just want very basic budget accommodation, but there are better hotels in the area for not too much more money.

This is correct the 30 days given at the airport is not a visa. It is a permit of entry. One of the main differences is immigration can;t turn you away with a tourist visa whereas a permit of entry is at the discretion of the immigration officer. It is very rare they will deny it, but it has happened in the past to people for various reasons.

I stayed at Studio Nana, as others have said that entire Soi (11/1) is geared towards tourists and most who stay there are tourists that visit Nana. I never had any issues bringing guests back to the room. The rooms are kind of on the small side but they were very comfortable and clean.

If you know a particular brand or type you want, just go to any pharmacy including Boots and tell them you need sleeping pills, they will sell them without a prescription. In my years of living in BKK I very rarely went to a doctor or clinic unless I absolutely had to. I would usually just go to the pharmacist describe my symptoms and he would give me just enough medicine.

I bought a cheap Chromebook for when I travel. $149 and I actually like it better than any computer I have ever used. It is so fast and lightweight and the battery lasts a long time. If your tech savy you can just download a live Linux distro to a USB and use that.

The Ascend P7 is a beautiful phone. I like the Honor 6 from Huawei too, it's a little cheaper but still just as nice. 99% of the places you order it from will change the language to English if the phone is shipping to an English speaking country. If you are in BKK any one of the shops in MBK, Fortune Town or Patpong can easily change the language as well.

I actually work for the Chinese Cell Phone OEM's, I am a middle man between them and suppliers (Mediatek, Corning, Sharp LCD etc). The P7 is a nice phone but it is a little overpriced and it doesn't have the best UI. Huawei themselves are an excellent company, their phones have very good build quality and they have excellent service. I have extensive history with many Chinese brands and I think I can help you choose a phone that will suit your needs. Do you want a phone with a really good camera? What is your budget? You already said 5 inch size but are you willing to go just a little bit over (if the phone dimensions are still the same) or under? What countries will you be using it in?

I recently returned home to the states for the holidays, took a taxi from my home in Bangkhutien to the Airport. For those who don't know Bangkhutien is the second to last stop on the Silom BTS line. That is a trip of roughly 60km, it was made late in the day around 330/4 and it cost me 280 baht plus tolls. Airport to BTS Nana is around 30 km by comparison. To the OP those prices are absurd especially for the tours. With tours don't book them in your hotel, look online or go to one of the 70000 tour operators in the Sukhumvit area. For 4000 baht (and cheaper) you can usually get a private tour to River Kwai/Tiger Temple which includes a tour guide, transportation, and meals.