Grand Palace from Sukhumvit Road

I will be staying at the Landmark hotel, 138 Sukhumvit Road when I visit Bangkok. Will it be easy to make my own way to the Grand Palace or will it be easier to hire a tour guide?

Many thanks

G x

Grand Palace from Sukhumvit Road

Here is a link you can look over:

discoverythailand.com/bangkok_the_grand_pala鈥?/a>

Meter taxi%26#39;s are pretty cheap. Avoid the parked taxi cabs around the Landmark Hotel, go out to the road and wave a moving taxi over. Parked taxis outside expensive hotels want to bargain the fare - a taxi from the road will use the meter and the price will be cheaper. Any taxi who does not want to use the meter (you are in front of an expensive place) just get another one of the many cruising by!

Travel agencies are the places you get tours from. They will have a selection list of tours to choose from. They pick you up at your hotel and return you there at the end.

Thailand uses 2 tier pricing for many attractions, Thais get in free or real cheap, foreigners pay a much higher fee. Most tour companies get you in for the lower fee and also provide an assistant and transportation.

(Landmark is in a good location, real close to travel agencies (lots of them,) restaurants, street vendors, bars and malls. Best of all - not that far from the Skytrain.)

Have fun.

Grand Palace from Sukhumvit Road

Go on your own to the Grand Palace by taxi. The fare should not be more than 100 baht. At the GP, there are licensed tour guides who will take you around for a fee. Don%26#39;t pay attention to anyone who approaches you to tell you that ';Grand Palace close today.'; This is a long-running scam to entice you to go with a tuktuk to a shady jewelry shop or other retail establishment. The GP is open EVERY day.

The problem with the guided tours from the agencies is that the only way the guides have of making a living is to take you to jewelry shops, souvenir shops and certain restaurants which pay a commission of so much per head. The guides have to actually pay the agencies for the priviledge of wasting your time with these things, and then share the commissions with the agency and the driver. They get no other compensation. If you go yourself and get a guide on the spot, you%26#39;ll short-circuit this system.

Agree - avoid guides or watch out for touts who%26#39;ll tell you the palace is closed (for any length of time).

An alternative (very cheap) way is to take the BTS to Saphan Thaksin station and then take a local public transportation boat up to the palace area - the trip on the river is nice.

wikitravel.org/en/Image:BangkokTransportatio鈥?/a>

Thanks for all your replies and very helpful advice.

I think we are going to get the skytrain and then hop on the local boat. Is it easy to know which boat to get on and when to get off?

Hi

There are so many ways of getting around Bangkok...ranging from boats on the smaller canals, motorcycle taxis etc. I think the easiest way for you is to take the skytrain to saphan taksin and then take the Chao Phraya river express boat to Grand Palace. It might be a bit challenging but that is part of the fun :-) The river express is a great way to see some of the city in my opinion. Check out my Bangkok map on http://gardkarlsen.com/bangkok_map.htm . Both Saphan taksin and the grand palace stops are marked with green dots on the map (along the river).

Regards

Gard

%26lt;%26lt;Is it easy to know which boat to get on and when to get off?%26gt;%26gt;

Take any boat going upriver - to the RIGHT - and get off at Tha Chang. Each pier has a big sign. It%26#39;s the 6th stop after Saphan Taksin/Sathorn