First Business Trip to Thailand - Recommendations

How to go into the city center from the airport:
When you arrive to the Bangkok airport (Suvarnabhumi Airport) it is easy to take a Taxi, it will cost around 300 Baht to go into the center of the city and it will take around 40 minutes to 1 hour (depends on the traffic and destination).
Public taxi stand is located on Level 1 (Ground Level):  

• Contact the Taxi counter, Level 1 - Ground Level, near entrances 3, 4, 7 and 8.
• Pick up area: taxi stand Level 1 - Ground Level
• Taxi fare: metered taxi fare plus 50 Baht airport surcharge, and expressway fees.

24-hour public bus service is provided from the Bus Terminal at the Transport Center on level 1. Bus fare is 35 baht. To go to the center of Bangkok you need to take Bus Number 552 - Suvarnabhumi Airport - On Nut BTS station :

• Bus No.552 connects Suvarnabhumi Airport to the On-Nut sky train station via Bangna-Bangpakong Road, taking a right turn to Sukhumvit Road until the On-Nut sky train station.

The Airport Link (station is on level -1 of the airoport) is an air-conditioned subway line that allows you to go reliably in the city center, avoiding the hazards of traffic in Bangkok. The Airport Link is connected to the MRT subway station at Makkasan (Phetchaburi MRT) and the BTS Skytrain, at Phaya Thai station:

• City Line (fare 45 THB) marks the stop at all stations between Suvarnabhumi and Phaya Thai.
• Express Line (fare 90THB) will only stop from the airport to Makkasan or Phaya Thai Stations.

Money exchange
You can exchange money directly in the airport; there is a lot of currency exchange office. You will also easily find a currency exchange office in the city, or money distributors. The cost of exchange money is substantially the same in all different currency exchange office. If you want to withdraw money in an ATM we recommend you an ATM from the Bangkok Bank or the Siam Commercial Bank because their ATM take all types of credit card and you will find a lot of their ATM in the city. You can also find HSBC’s ATM. 

Transportation in the city:
By taxi:
You can take the taxi because in Bangkok the taxi is cheaper but don’t forget to tell to the driver to put the meter because after he will negotiate with you the price of the journey… There is also a lot of traffic in Bangkok so sometimes taking a taxi is not the best solution.
By train:
We recommend you to take the Skytrain (BTS) or the MRT, stop in a station near where you want to go and then take a taxi to your destination. This option is most of the time faster to do.
To avoid the traffic you also can take motor-taxi but this is often for short distance travel only.

Where to stay ?
We recommend you to stay in a hotel near our office for more convenience.

Hotel near Panwa office :
The  Baanpipat hotel is located at Ladprao 15. It cost 790 Bath for a night in a standard room. This hotel is just 150 meters from MRT Lad Phrao station.
To go to our office you just have to take a taxi for 5 minutes, the cost will be around 40 Baht (35 Baht already accounts when you enter in the taxi).
Hotel website: http://bannpipat.hong-pak.com/www.php?web=bannpipat&lang=en&p=index

Hotel near Panwa office and near the center of Bangkok :
The Emerald Hotel is located on Rachadapisek Road, commonly abbreviated to "Rachada" (99/1 Ratchadapisek Road). It cost 2,600 Baht per night for a room if you booked on the internet and 3,840 Baht if you will not book on the internet.
The Hotel is conveniently located within 2 minutes walk to Huai Khwang (MRT) station. Train journeys ranging from 10 to 20 minutes will take you on to some other well-known areas:
Sukhumvit,  Silom and Siam Square.

Hotel website: http://www.emeraldhotel.com/en/guestrooms.php?id=10
To go to our office you have 2 options:

• Take a taxi just in front of the hotel, the cost will be around 100 Baht.

• Take the MRT at Huai Khwang station direction to Bang Sue and go down at Lat Phrao station (5 minutes). When you go outside the station take Exit 4 to the direction of Car park Soi 24, it is the exit on the left. Then to go to our office you just have to take a taxi for 5 minutes, the cost will be around 40 Baht.

Hotel in the center of Bangkok: 
The Paradiso suites hotel is located in the center of Bangkok near the Terminal 21 Mall and the Asok BTS station (Soi 1/11-12 Sukhumvit). The cost for a night for a standard room is 1,500 Baht.

To go to our office you can take a Taxi, it will cost around 200-250 Baht but takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour because of the traffic.
Or you can take the MRT from Sukhumvit station, direction to Bang Sue and go down to Lat Phrao Station, it takes around 15-20 minutes. When you go outside the station take Exit 4 to the direction of Car park Soi 24, it is the exit on the left. Then to go to our office you just have to take a taxi for 5 minutes, the cost will be around 40 Baht.
Hotel website: http://www.paradisosuites.com/index.html

The Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, is a luxuous hotel. It is located just near the Asok BTS station (In front of Sukhumvit Soi 19). The prices start at 6,300 Baht for the deluxe room.
To go to our office: same as above for Paradiso hotel.
Hotel website: http://www.sheratongrandesukhumvit.com/

Where to go shopping:
In Bangkok there is a lot of place where you can do shopping. You have big malls like the Siam complex just in front of the Siam BTS station. You can go to the Siam Paragon which is a very big mall where you can find clothing stores, luxurious stores, restaurants, an aquarium, car stores like Bentley and a lot of other things… Just near the Siam Paragon you have the Siam Center and the Siam Tower, two other big malls with clothing stores and restaurant.

The MBK center is another mall but in this mall you can find cheaper clothes than in Siam Paragon. This mall is just near the National Stadium BTS station, one station after Siam.

The Platinum Fashion Mall is Thailand’s largest Fashion Mall and One Stop Wholesale shopping. This Fashion Mall is designed in the national wholesale shopping concept. This mall is near the Ratchathewi BTS station, two stations after Siam.

The Central World is separated into 6 different shopping zones, each with unique design and ambiance, shopper could enjoy myriad shopping experiences and easily locate which zoning they are in or wanted to visit. This mall is near the Chit Lom BTS station, one station before Siam.

The Terminal 21 mall is a one floor one concept shopping mall. This concept is market streets of the world. It decorated a well-known city streets; such as Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul etc. This mall is just near the Asok BTS station.

The Emporium Mall where exclusive world-class brand names dominate the ground floor, hot international designer items, leather and jewelry the first floor, and glamorous garb for the young and trendy, the second. 'Pleasure & Leisure' is the name of the third floor, as it has everything you could dream of to maximize the experience of the audio, visual and digital lifestyle. 'The Living Gallery' is on the fourth floor and the fifth floor gathers diverse household appliances, silverware, porcelain, crystal… This mall is just near the Phrom Phong BTS station.

The Pantip Plaza is the mother of all IT shops in Thailand and has gained legendary status as the place to find new and used computers and accessories at rock-bottom prices. This mall is near the Ratchathewi BTS station, two stations after Siam.

The Mega BangNa is an immense mall in Bangkok, you can find all you want in this big complex but is not in the center of Bangkok so you need to take a taxi, this will cost between 200 and 300 Baht.

For the week-end there is the Chatuchak market, it is a huge outdoor market located near BTS Mochit Station and MRT Chatuchak Station. You can find all in this market, eat Thai food and it is cheap. It’s something to see!
You can also make shopping everywhere in Bangkok, when the sun is going down there is a lot of night markets in the street which open starting at 6:00 pm.

Where to eat:
Into malls quoted above you can find a lot of different restaurants, expensive or not expensive, Thai food or not. So go to the restaurant which is according to your desires.
In Sukhumvit Soi 11 you can find good restaurants:

• the Snapper : The owner of Snapper, Craig Hedley, is set on giving Bangkok a truly genuine New Zealand fish-and-chips experience. The cream, batter and potatoes are all imported from New Zealand. The menu is focused and simple: if you're going to Snapper, you're going for fish.
• The Tapas Caf?: when you think tapas, you think Tapas Cafe. The basic decor isn't the draw here. It's the speedy service and sangrias that always seem to be on sale. Go there before 7 p.m. to get the happy hour specials.
• The Catalana: More a sleek wine bar than a tapas restaurant, the owners have put a lot of focus on creating an extensive wine list that reaches both hemispheres. Catalana has a brief but delicious menu created by Spanish chef Alex Marcas.
• Chez Pap?:  Chez Pap? owner Brun Pierre Lo?c says he wanted to create a laidback caf? in Bangkok that does the ones in Lyon. With a kitchen backed by chef Frederic Chudzik, who spent five years at Michelin-starred restaurant Mantel in Cannes, and Pierre's policy of offering lower prices for fine dining, one can enjoy a genuine French feast for a pretty reasonable price here.
• Pizzeria Limoncello: All of their pizzas are fresh and cooked in a woodfire oven. You can see the chef twirling the dough and dressing it as you eat.
• Bed Supperclub: Bed Supperclub is the only place in Bangkok where you can eat a gourmet meal and follow it up with a night on the dance floor.

The Baiyoke Sky Tower is the highest building in Bangkok. You can enjoy a meal in different restaurants:

• Restaurant on 76th & 78th floors - International Buffet and Seafood.
• Stella Palace Chinese Restaurant & Karaoke on 79th floor.
• CRYSTAL Grill on 82ND floor - Grilled & Seafood Buffet Restaurant.
• The Roof Top Bar & Music on 83rd floor.

Buy a Thai Sim Card:
In case your phone is locked, the first thing to do is to unlock your phone so that your phone will accept any Sim card. You can do that in your country or in Thailand.
To unlock your phone in Thailand you must to go to the MBK mall. In the MBK mall, you have to go to the 4th floor  and find the shop “Mobile Mart’’, the price is less than 500 Bath to unlock an Iphone.
After unlock your phone you will find Sim Cards in all Seven Eleven stores anywhere. You can also directly buy one Sim card in the airport. The cost for a Sim card is 100 baht, 50 baht for the Sim card and 50 Baths for credit. You can top up your Sim card in all Seven eleven stores.
What are the best solutions for to call abroad?
If you intend to take a package with hours of communication, SMS and 3G, you can opt for an option that allows you to call abroad. Sometimes this option is already included:

• AIS option already included: 008 + country code + number = 15 THB / minute
• DTAC option already included: 009 + country code + number = 17 THB / minute
• TRUE, additional option: 006 + country code + number = 3 THB / minute

The best solution to 1 Baht per minute:
The best solution for to call abroad is to buy the INTER SIM card from the operator TRUE, you can find this either in a seven eleven or in the mobile mart. This card allows you to:

• Call France, USA, Canada, China, HK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, England, Germany, Australia and New Zealand for 1 THB/minute
• Call more than 230 other destinations at discounted rates
• Low-cost call for 1 THB/minute = 00 600 + country code + phone number
• Economic call with better quality = 006 + country code + phone number
•  ?123?  to check the remaining credits

Please be informed that calls abroad to a fixed line are charged 1 THB/minute and calls to cell phone are charges around 7-8 THB/minute.

Information provided by
Customer Relationship Officer
Email: info@panwa.co.th

For more information, please feel free to contact us: Office Phone Nos.: +66 2 933 9000 Email: bkk@panwa.co.th WhatsApp : +66 81 919 6225 Bangkok Address: 1560 Latphrao Road, Wangthonglang, Bangkok 10310, Thailand.

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