I have not been to Bangkok in over a decade, and was looking forward to my short getaway before the Erawan Shrine bombing happened.

My heart dropped when news broke of the bombing, but despite the travel advisory, I went ahead with my 3D2N itinerary the following week. I was heartened the resilient Thai folks resumed normalcy soon after. I did not feel at all threatened while I was there. I kept in touch and reassured my family and friends with chat and social media while I was in Bangkok using a WiFi hotspot by Changi Recommends.

Wifi hotspot dongle by Changi Recommends. Photo by writer.

Wifi hotspot dongle by Changi Recommends. Photo © Justin Teo.

I was glad I went ahead with my plans to Bangkok, for I was rewarded with a rekindled love for the City of Angels.

Shopping at Platinum Mall

I stayed at Novotel Bangkok Platinum, which is situated right on top of Platinum Fashion Mall, in the heart of Bangkok’s fashion district, and just a 10-minutes’ walk away from both the Ratchaprarop Station on the City Line, and the Chit Lom Station on the BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line. This makes it a breeze to travel from the Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK), and to other parts of Bangkok by public transportation respectively.

View from Novotel Bangkok Platinum. Erawan Shrine is just down the street. Photo by writer.

View from Novotel Bangkok Platinum. Erawan Shrine is just down the street. Photo © Justin Teo.

Platinum Fashion Mall is the touted as Thailand’s “largest wholesale and retail shopping destination”. The mall boasts over three different zones, spread out over seven floors of retail space and seems to have over 1,700 shops according to the mall website. I was expecting a chaotic street-market style mall, like most other wholesale retail space I know, and I was surprised by the systematic layout and the pleasant shopping experience.

Over seven floors of fashion paradise at Platinum Fashion Mall.

Despite the miniscule shop spaces, I could clearly see the fashion offering by individual shops, and each seems to have their own distinct styles on display. This makes browsing through the multitude of shops efficient and brisk; otherwise, shoppers would have to spend a whole week just to go through all the shops. Prices are not a huge bargain, unless you are buying at wholesale numbers. I managed to bag five T-shirts ranging from 90 baht to 250 baht (about S$4 to S$10).

Street Food Galore

Walking along the street in front of Central World to get to Chit Lom BTS Station was my favourite part of my daily itinerary, because of the food stalls. Forget about looking for lunch inside Central World mall, the stalls outside serves excellent local fares at very affordable prices. A bowl of rice noodle soup costs only 40 baht (S$1.60).

I also discovered Kranom Krok coconut pudding (20 baht or S$0.80 for a tray of about six), which has a thin crunchy shell that disintegrates to fill my mouth with warm salty-sweet coconut milk custard. I love these so much that I would buy a tray each time I walk through down the street.

Street vendor preparing Kanom Krok. Photo by writer.

Street vendor preparing Kanom Krok. Photo © Justin Teo.

One cannot leave out the famed Sukhomvit Soi 38 night market near Thong Lor BTS for street food. The Pad Thai (70 baht or S$2.80) was excellent as was the mango sticky rice (80 baht or S$3.20), and I thought the satay was a real-bargain at 5 baht (S$0.20) per stick, with a minimum order of 10 sticks. Alas, the days are numbered for this food street due to re-development and the stall-owners have to move out by early 2016.

Mango sticky rice from Sukhomvit Soi 38. Photo by writer.

Floating Down Chao Phraya

I managed to squeeze in a trip to Asiatique Riverfront, which is a shopping and dining area by the Chao Phraya river. The best part of the trip to Asiatique was the free service boat ride from Saphan Taksin BTS Station. The short boat ride down during sunset offered a picturesque view of both sides of the river.