Keep an eye on prices. They often drop if vacancies remain high. I just switched my booking from the Citrus Soi 6 to the Mercure Soi 11. The price at the Mercure for an October stay just dropped considerably, and I prefer the Mercure to the Citrus Suites both for the location and the hotel amenities. Sometimes I find booking direct is actually cheaper than going through one of the consolidators like Hotel.com or Agoda. It's always worth checking them all.

I've found Agoda usually has the most competitive prices, they're also owned by booking.com but they usually have better deals for SEA. Also contacting hotels directly can sometimes net you a discount off of any publicly advertised rate, I contacted Maison Stay on Soi 4 directly and they offered me I think what would be like 10 AUD less a night than anywhere else I could find, plus late check out.

Try Trip.com. When I compared the rates given on the hotel that I eventually booked, Trip.com quoted me lower prices than Booking.com. It might not be the case for you but it was what I noticed. I hope this will help you.

Wow. Have been browsing hotels for my trip in November My normal haunt in Soi 11 has their pricing out for that period. All I can say is, I wish I could alter my charges to the same extent!. Over 200% percent more than normal! Actually about 220%! Needless to say I kept looking. I found an apartment right in the triangle that looks to be ok. Has just joined Booking .com so no reviews as yet. By the photos it is not the Ritz but hopefully pleasant enough. Fingers crossed   

In my experience most drivers expect 100-200. Some will ask. If you go from Pattaya to Bangkok they avoid some of the highway (to save a few bath) and then it is easy to get stuck in traffic. In those cases (even if I specifly I can pay the extra toll) I don't give any tip.