Bangkok Things to Do Tips by Chyan

Soi Saphan Khu is one of the old alleys of Bangkok. It plays an important historical role in the development of Bangkok metropolis. Though in Thai, soi means lane like lorong, it is not quite lit at night and it is quite narrow. However, no crime has been reported from this area and no problem has arisen with Charlie House's guests for the past ten years about this area.

Saphan Khu means Double Bridge in Thai. Its meaning is inspired by the Thai-Belgian Bridge which criss-crosses Thanon Vitthayu (Wireless Road) and the road leading to Bangkok International Airport, as this concrete flyover is constructed by Thai and Belgian engineers before the 1990s, and Soi Saphan Khu is directly opposite near Thai-Belgian Bridge. Soi Saphan Khu and Soi Ngam Duphli nearby form the first lanes before the Sathorn canal was transformed into Thanon Sathorn Nuea (Sathorn North Road) and Thanon Sathorn Tai (Sathorn South Road).

Near Soi Saphan Khu is Suan Lum Night Bazaar. On the first five days, I stopped at Suan Lum Night Bazaar for very cheap lunch, dinner and drinks.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar is a permanent organized night market in the heart of central Bangkok. It attracts Thais and tourists every night to enjoy stadium-style entertainment, buy unique Thai souvenirs at bargain prices like the Thai security wallet made of jeans which is not found in other parts of Asia, watch Thai puppet shows, listen to Thai puppetry talks at its Joe-Louis Cultural Centre and taste its fabulous Thai-style and delicious international hawker cuisines.

At Joe-Louis Cultural Centre, I was fortunate to know that Thai puppetry conserves the art of Chinese puppetry as I have never seen Chinese puppets in Singapore. One enactment from the Ramakien shows the Thai-speaking minor character Ding Dong a Chinese puppet, whose garment is from the Qing Dynasty, with a pigtail.

After visiting Joe-Louis Cultural Centre, there is no need to visit the National Museum anymore, unless one is a fan of Thai myriad of cultures.

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Address: Suan Lum Night Bazaar
Directions: Lumphini Park Nearby

In Bangkok, orange (som-tra, Citrus sinensis) is not orange in colour. It is green. An un-discerned tourist may mistake the green orange as lime (manau), but it is not lime.

The type of Thai orange common in summer in Bangkok is the som-khewa (Citrus sinensis Siam), which means "orange-green-sweet" in Thai.

Som-khewa tastes sweet but it turns sour before it resumes its sweetness in one's bud. It is the miracle fruit of the citrus world.

At TOPS, each som-khewa to nylon red packs of som-khewa are sold at between 39 Baht to 57 Baht. There is the commercial name Frinnant Orange, an obloid som-khewa larger than a typical som-khewa. The latter is usually smaller than a Frinnant Orange.

A som-khewa can be as small as a lime and it has only a thin layer of green outer skin. When its green outer skin is peeled, a bright orange cross-section is noticed.

A street vendor near Soi Saphan Khu often shows this lime-like som-khewa's epicarp and prepares a plastic bottle of som-khewa juice for sale at around 20 Baht, although I did not buy it because I doubted its authentic origins.

I bought my first few som-khewa packs at TOPS and from a street vendor outside TOPS at 30 Baht, instead.

Som-khewa is grown in the northern parts of Bangkok and the eastern side of Chiang Mai, according to a street vendor. It has less juice than a mandarin orange and thus it is quite heaty in quality. Its one to two less protective clavate seeds can be crushed like green melon seeds and are edible.

Som-khewa ranges from the shape of a lime to a persimmon, and it is never as round as an orange.

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Address: TOPS Supermarket
Directions: Near Saphan Taksin BTS Station

Suan Lum Night Bazaar is a permanent organized night market in the heart of central Bangkok. It attracts Thais and tourists every night to enjoy stadium-style entertainment, buy unique Thai souvenirs at bargain prices like the Thai security wallet made of jeans which is not found in other parts of Asia, watch Thai puppet shows, listen to Thai puppetry talks at its Joe-Louis Cultural Centre and taste its fabulous Thai-style and delicious international hawker cuisines.

At Joe-Louis Cultural Centre, I was fortunate to know that Thai puppetry conserves the art of Chinese puppetry as I have never seen Chinese puppets in Singapore. One enactment from the Ramakien shows the Thai-speaking minor character Ding Dong a Chinese puppet, whose garment is from the Qing Dynasty, with a pigtail. After visiting Joe-Louis Cultural Centre, there is no need to visit the National Museum anymore, unless one is a fan of Thai myriad of cultures.

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Address: Suan Lum Night Bazaar
Directions: Lumphini Park Nearby
Other Contact: You walk from Lumphini at 6 pm.

If you stay at Charlie House Lumpini, the only spa resort guesthouse of Bangkok, you can choose to join its cheap Grand Palace Tour organised by its sister company Alex Holidays. Tour plus food and accommodation cost only US$55. Charlie House is a five-star guesthouse. It is famous for its good taste clean food and shares the same honour as Banyan Tree Bangkok Hotel.

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Address: From Lumpini, Bangkok
Directions: Rama IV Road, Lumpini, Bangkok
Website: http://www.charliehousethailand.com
Other Contact: http://www.alexholiday.com

Join Alex Holiday tours. Airport transfer in and out. Free meals. City tour, Wat Pho tour, Grand Palace tour and klong tour can be arranged. Each one-and-a-half day tour costs 250 Baht only.

Optional: 1800 Baht for hotel booking with Emerald Hotel, Bangkok Palace Hotel, Prince Hotel and Ebina Hotel if you book with Alex Holiday. These hotels' normal rates range from $80 to $85.

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Address: From Pin Klao, Bangkok
Directions: Pin Klao, Bangkok
Website: http://www.charliehousethailand.com

If you manage to arrive in Bangkok, it's worth the effort to take a look at the beautiful flats of Bangkok. Some flats are located in the Ekkamai district.

Bangkok's flats are like the executive flats of Singapore's HUDC, with the differences of a security room on the first floor and the exquisite exterior.

Each flat unit is a one-room suite where studying, sleeping and relaxing take place but its toilet is not as good as the Charlie House toilet of Bangkok. Thais usually eat outside their flats at street stalls.

My colleague says such a Bangkok flat is a condominium in Thai standard !

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Directions: Skytrain to Ekkamai