BangkokJim
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Essential Bangkok, Thailand
Sateev nailed it on the head. If you are going to Bangkok with the intention of burning as much money as possible on accommodation, is there any need for a recommendation? If so, the Oriental is probably the most interesting of the lot because unlike the Shangri-La it boasts some semblance of history and heritage (Somerset Maugham and George Orwell once stayed there, presumably while writing about Southeast Asia). As for the tuk-tuk's, they are indeed fun and authentic, but there is no way a foreigner will ever get a rate that is less than an air-conditioned metered taxi, unless of course you fall into the gem scam business that Sateev mentioned briefly. If someone tells you they'll take you around Bangkok for 3 hours for only 50 cents, you should be able to figure out what is going on. Take a tuk-tuk once, for a short distance, and then insist on metered taxis from then on out.— July 29, 2009 10:39 p.m.