Great shopping destinations in Bangkok

I, like most women, love shopping! And I think Bangkok must be one of the best places on earth to go shopping, because there are so many wonderful shopping centers, plazas and markets.

My favourites are:

MBK Center and Siam Discovery Center, which can both easily be reached from the BTS Skytrain "National Stadium" station.

Siam Center and Siam Paragon Center, which are near the first two centers above, but which can be more easily reached from the "Siam" Skytrain station. The lovely Siam Square is also near here, which is mostly an outdoor shopping area.

Central World Center (reported to be the largest shopping complex in southeast Asia), which is about halfway between the "Siam" and "Chit Lom" Skytrain stations, with an elevated walkway that connects the two stations to the center.

All the centers above have shops catering to all tastes and budgets, selling just about everything you can imagine. MBK has perhaps the cheapest shops including a large indoor fashion market, while Siam Paragon has the most expensive shops. All the centers also have large numbers of restaurants, as well as food courts, providing cuisine from all around the world. They also all have their own multi-screen cinemas. Siam Paragon also has an IMAX cinema and a Sea Life center.

Also well worth a visit is the Chatuchak Giant Flea Market, which is near the "Mo Chit" Skytrain station - this market is very cheap and is best visited at the weekend, because this is when all the stalls are full of vendors selling everything from clothes, shoes, technology, food and even pets.

Another very interesting market is the night market in the famous Patpong District, near the "Sala Daeng" Skytrain station. The market is in the middle of the street between the many go-go bars of Patpong, so it can be a bit risque! The market mainly sells copies of designer clothes and goods.

If you somehow get bored of all of those dream shopping destinations, there are lots of other great centers such as the exclusive Gaysorn Designer Center near the "Chit Lom" Skytrain station, and the Emporium Center near the "Phrom Phong" Skytrain station.

Click here to see the current BTS Skytrain route map.

Power Rangers

This is Part 2 of a series about popular youth culture in Thailand
(see here for Part 1)

Power Rangers is another big favorite with children here in Thailand, although mostly we get the original Japanese version called "Super Sentai", and not the Saban/BVS/Disney American re-made version that is more famous outside of Asia. (This is the same as with the similar American "Masked Rider" series, also by Saban, which is based on the Japanese original "Kamen Rider".)

Power Rangers VCDs and DVDs, containing episodes of the Japanese Super Sentai TV series dubbed into Thai, are extremely popular with Thai children because they can be bought for as little as 30 Baht each in supermarkets like Tesco-Lotus and Big-C. Power Rangers toy figures are another favourite with the children. Indeed, my son absolutely loves the VCDs and toys!

Here are some fun Power Rangers online games that you might like to play (from the Dan-Dare.org free fun and games site):

  Power Rangers Ninja Storm

  Power Rangers Dino Thunder

  Power Rangers Dino Thunder 2

  Power Rangers S.P.D. Megazord

  Power Rangers Mystic Force

  Power Rangers Mystic Force 2

  Power Rangers Mystic Force 3

  Power Rangers Jungle Fury

The games also include Power Rangers wallpaper pictures for you to use as your computer background if you wish.

(See also here)

Some Bangkok budget hotel recommendations

I recommend these Bangkok budget hotels based on my own happy experiences of staying in each of them with my husband on city-break vacations. They're all in Soi 4 (Soi Nanatai) of the famous Nana District of Sukhumvit Road, within easy walking distance of the BTS Skytrain "Nana" station:

Nana City Inn - excellent large double-bed room with air-con, hot shower, cable TV, safe, fridge - approx. 1100 Baht per room per night - phone +66 (0)2 253 4468

Ibis Hotel - very good, brand new medium double-bed room with air-con, hot shower, cable TV, safe, fridge - approx. 1650 Baht per room per night if you phone first in low season - phone +66 (0)2 677 5888

Swan Inn 4 - basic but good medium double-bed room with air-con, hot shower, cable TV, fridge - approx. 800 Baht per room per night - phone +66 (0)2 251 0931

Happy Inn - basic but good small double-bed room with air-con, hot shower, cable TV, fridge - approx. 700 Baht per room per night - phone +66 (0)2 252 6508

(See also here)

Some of our websites that you might enjoy

Here are some of our popular free online games sites:

Mario and Sonic Online Games

Disney/Pixar Online Games

DreamWorks Online Games


And here is our popular free wallpaper pictures site:

Cartoon and Movie Wallpaper Backgrounds

which has wallpaper background pictures (all with free online games included, and with many different wallpaper sizes available) for hundreds of famous characters, games, movies and cartoons such as:

Star Wars
Star Wars - R2-D2
Star Wars - The Clone Wars
Harry Potter
Sonic the Hedgehog (x 5 alternate versions)
Sonic Heroes
Shadow the Hedgehog
Super Mario Bros. (x 5)
Mario Memories
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
PoKeMoN (x 4)
Puyo Pop Fever
Super Monkey Ball
Crash Bandicoot
Donkey Kong
The Legend of Zelda
Kirby
Mega Man
Metroid
Street Fighter
Tekken
Prince of Persia (x 3)
The Banana Splits
The Flintstones
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo Movie
Scooby-Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed
Wacky Races
Hong Kong Phooey
Tom and Jerry
Looney Tunes (x 2)
The Simpsons (x 3)
More Simpsons
The Simpsons Movie (x 2)
Futurama
Red Dwarf
Thunderbirds Movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TMNT Movie
Power Rangers Dino Thunder (x 2)
Power Rangers S.P.D.
Power Rangers Mystic Force
Power Rangers Jungle Fury (x 2)
Power Rangers Super Legends
Transformers
Transformers Movie
Transformers 2 - Revenge of the Fallen (x 4)
The Matrix (x 2)
Hellboy II - The Golden Army (x 2)
Batman Begins
Batman - The Dark Knight (x 2)
Superman Returns
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
James Cameron's Avatar (x 4)
Star Trek (x 3)
Star Trek Ships of the Line
Star Trek USS Enterprise Collection (x 5)
Star Trek Movie
The Fast and the Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
The Fast and the Furious - Tokyo Drift
Fast and Furious
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
National Treasure - Book of Secrets
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
High School Musical 3
Toy Story 2 (x 2)
Toy Story 2 Little Green Men
A Bug's Life
For the Birds
Monsters, Inc. (x 2)
Finding Nemo (x 2)
The Incredibles (x 2)
Cars (x 2)
"Real" Cars
Ratatouille (x 3)
WALL-E (x 3)
UP (x 2)
Walt Disney / Mickey Mouse (x 2)
Winnie the Pooh (x 2)
The Lion King
Lilo & Stitch (x 2)
Chicken Little
Meet the Robinsons
Bolt (x 2)
The Princess and the Frog (x 2)
Disney Princess
Ice Age 2
Ice Age 3
Robots
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who
Shrek
Shrek the Third
Shark Tale
Madagascar (x 2)
Flushed Away
Bee Movie
Kung Fu Panda
Monsters vs. Aliens
Open Season
Happy Feet
The Ant Bully
SpongeBob SquarePants (x 2)
More SpongeBob SquarePants
Catscratch
Danny Phantom
Avatar: The Last Airbender (x 2)
Naruto
Ben 10 (x 2)
American Dragon (x 2)
Camp Lazlo
Dexter's Laboratory
Astro Boy
Astro Boy Movie
The Smurfs
Mr. Men and Little Miss
Garfield
Garfield Movie
The Muppet Show
The Muppets
A Christmas Carol
The Polar Express
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Felix the Cat
Betty Boop (x 2)
Dan Dare (x 4)
South Park
Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas
GTA IV (x 2)

and many more!

(See also here)

Pokemon

This is Part 1 of a series about popular youth culture in Thailand

Pokemon have always been very popular with young people here in Thailand, especially the anime cartoon TV series. The Pokemon trading card game and the Nintendo GameBoy video games are also popular at the moment.

There are some very interesting collectors shops on the top floor of the MBK shopping center in Bangkok (near the BTS Skytrain "National Stadium" station) that buy and sell Pokemon trading cards, and also Pokemon video games and collectible figures. It is even possible to buy secondhand video game consoles in the MBK center, such as the 1997 Nintendo 64 console with the classic Pokemon Stadium game included.

Online games are becoming increasingly popular with Thai children, as more and more Thai families can now afford to buy PCs and have the internet at home. Video game consoles such as the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox are also becoming very popular now, again as a result of Thai families having more disposable income nowadays. But unfortunately a lot of the console games are quite violent by traditional Thai standards, and this is a cause of great concern for parents and authorities here.

Here are some great non-violent Pokemon online games that you can play for free (from the Dan-Dare.org fun and games site):

  Pokemon: Breakdown Blast

  Pokemon: Towering Legends

  Pokemon Match

  Pokemon: Trading Card Match-Up

  Pokemon: Chikorita's Adventure

  Pokemon Trainer Dress Up

  Pokemon Shooting Gallery

  Pokemon Shoot 2

  Pokemon: The Revolution

The games also include Pokemon wallpaper pictures for you to use as your computer background if you wish.

(See also here and here)

First post

Hello, my name is Sureephon, or Su for short. In this blog I will be writing about anything that I feel is of interest relating to my life here in Thailand, such as movies, music, games, art, popular culture and current affairs for example.

I am on Facebook if you wish to contact me regarding this blog: http://www.facebook.com/su.inns