Bangkok Blogger|Tales from Thailand

Singapore is only just over two hours flight from Bangkok and is a great place to spend a weekend if you fancy some time away and want to try something other than a weekend at the beach.  (Check flight prices here.)

The city is pretty small and very easy to get around with an underground MRT service and an abundance of taxis but without the traffic problems of Bangkok (mainly thanks to the high road tax and car prices).

There are lots of shopping malls in Singapore.  Although they aren’t as big as Central World (RIP) there are a lot more of them and can nearly all be found on Orchard Road.  Most Western shops can be found here but the prices for clothes tend to be a bit higher than back in England.  You can even see the price in British pounds on the tags which when you convert them should be less than the price in Singapore dollars advertised but I guess shopping here is cheaper than taking a trip back home.

Although it is as hot and humid as Bangkok there isn’t the obvious problem of pollution and the roads and pavements are much wider making Singapore a much more pleasant place to walk around.

There are lots of Western-style pubs, bars and restaurants in Singapore and it definitely feels a lot more like being back in the UK than the expat hangouts of Bangkok.  But the prices here are a lot higher here.  The price of a  local pint of beer (Heineken) in Singapore was about £7 in a run of the mill pub and small cans of beer from 7-11 went for about £3-4.  But if you don’t drink much your wallet could survive without too much of a hammering with prices for eating out not more than in London.

The only problem with visiting Singapore is that it is so nice when you get back to Thailand you realise what a dump Bangkok is!  But don’t worry Bangers, we still love you.

Last night we went to Suam Lum Night Bazaar which is a large outdoor night market next to the Lumpini Stadium.  After a tortuous taxi journey in the notorious Friday night traffic we finally arrived at our destination.  The market has around 3700 stalls selling a mixture of Thai craft goods, fake designer gear, weapons and modern souvenirs.  The vendors seemed happy enough and were open to a bit of haggling but were not pushy at all and didn’t seem to mind if you left their stall without buying anything.  Around the edge of the market stall were lots of restaurants serving a mixture of Thai and Western foods.  We went to a Thai place and I had a lush fried beef with green pepper dish with a side of vegetable rice and a bottle of Chang beer which came to around £5.   By 9pm it was still really hot and after walking around the market for a while we decided to call it a night and find a taxi.  Apparently there is a large beer garden in the middle of the market but we never made it that far.  There are also reports that the market is due to be replaced by a mega mall in the not too distant future.   If you are looking for a hassle-free place to pick up some presents and souvenirs to take back home this place is definitely worth a visit.