Bangkok tour part 2 - Shop till you drop

At Jim Thompson's House, for instance, you can learn about the man who reinvigorated the hand silk weaving industry in Thailand, after the Second World War.

Excellent staff give informative tours of the house and its artwork, and it certainly kept the children interested.

Dinner cruises can be taken from River City. Lasting about two hours and costing around Baht1,200 ($33) per adult and Baht900 per child (not including drinks), it offers a night-time view of Bangkok.

The food was pretty good, although it's a buffet and anyone wanting to be among the first to eat found themselves elbowing their way through a scrum.

Better to sit back, relax and get the food once most people have returned to their tables. And they kept the food coming right until the end of the cruise.

The entertainment is a bit of a pub-singer experience, involving the singer's own unique take on classic songs, but on our ship, she sang in Arabic, Russian and Thai as well as English.

Once disembarked, you'll be offered a photo of yourself with a Thai beauty that was taken before boarding - for a price of course. You'll get used to having your picture shoved in your face, as at just about every tourist destination we visited, someone took our photo, which found its way onto a cheap plastic plate or badge. But they are used to taking no for an answer.

Night markets

It's also worth visiting one of the night markets, such as Suan-Lum Night Bazaar, where stalls are tightly packed together offering anything from 'authentic' Rolex watches through clothes to local ornaments.

Put on your best bargaining head in the bazaars and keep it friendly. If you can bargain with a smile on your face the stall holder has fun as well and is far more likely to keep coming down in price.

If you want to get away from bargaining, but are interested in buying locally produced artwork, furniture and ornaments, try the Royal Thai Handicraft shop in the Rama V area. Goods are more expensive than in the markets, but it's a relaxed, air conditioned environment and some of the money goes towards the local people making the pieces. Even better, afterwards they will call a taxi and ensure there are no dodgy dealings (see part one).

Bangkok is a great city for shopping. Many of the stalls in the markets offer cheap clothing, and there are plenty of department stores. Alternatively, go to a tailor and order some made-to-measure clothes.

We were told before going to Bangkok that we would be able to bargain the price down, but didn't find that tailors were keen to drop their charges. Still, a cashmere wool suit, spare trousers, six Egyptian cotton shirts - all made to measure and fitting perfectly - cost a mere Bht14,000 ($395).

Public transport

Getting around Bangkok was not as difficult as we initially expected, with the exception of around major tourist spots.

There is a decent sky train and subway system in Bangkok, which will get you around the city far quicker than a taxi, where every journey will encounter a traffic jam at some point. But it doesn't serve all major tourist places and for a family of four or five, works out at around double the cost of taking a taxi.

While in Bangkok it is also worth experiencing the tuk-tuks. Like many deals in Bangkok, negotiate the price before getting in. Our advice is only use a tuk-tuk for a short journey, mainly because of the pollution and heat.

Bangkok is an incredible city to visit that is steeped in culture. Thai's are very friendly and the level of service we experienced was impressive. While often seen as a short stop for a couple of days, there is enough to do for a five to seven day break, particularly if you are prepared to take one of the tours going out of Bangkok.

See also:
Bangkok tour part 1 - Of temples and taxis
Bangkok tour part 3 - Elephant Village and the floating market