Brand new holiday 5 bedroom teak wood home in Bangkok Taling Chan district. It's by Thanon Wongwan Rob Nok and by the Klong Bang Tal - 5 minutes drive to South Bus Terminal (towards Kanchanaburi, Cha Am, Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi and Malaysia) on Thonburi & 15 minutes to Chao Phraya River, Khaosan Rd, the Old King's Palace & the Wat Pho. There is also a frequent bus 556 to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Pictures on request. check it out on google maps: lat=13.79381307 latitude lon=100.408499781 longitude Around are traditional houses with orchards, gardens, peace and clean air. Suit family with children and animals as the place is safe and has a terrace under the elevated on stilts house. Goes cheap, even short let - as I can't go on holidays to Bangkok as often as I use to go. At the moment stays there my daughter with her children, but she can move to my sister in law house just the next door. Daily $30, weekly $100, monthly $300. A much better option of staying in Bangkok than the town centre, with it's noise, pollution, traffic jams and crowds of tourists. In a Taling Chan home-stay you will immerse yourself in a traditional lifestyle and learn a little bit about Thai culture and customs. Walks through the fruit orchards and flower groves make a very challenging experience. You can feel here like living in the traditional thai willage - yet 5 minutes walk is 7/11 shop, cash machine and a daily street market. A short ride there is a famous traditional thai floating market in Taling Chan by the Chakphra Canal. There are several nice homestays in that area - old thai teak wood houses on stilts just overlooking slowly moving canals. You are in the middle of verdant and vast, lush gardens. There is nothing comparable to it in the whole of Thailand - a dream student home stay or a holiday accommodation. http://massagelondon.org

I never pay more than 30 Baht/hour for internet. On the main tourist roads it is normaly 60 Baht and sometimes I have seen up to 120 Baht! Don't pay that, 30 Baht is just a couple of streets off the main tourist ones.

Make sure you keep 500 baht on you for the passenger charge as you enter through customs. It comes as a bit of a surprise to travellers who have already paid their departure taxes etc., but don't despair if you don't have any money on you - they let you have access to an ATM to withdraw some more. So I guess just make sure you have enough in your account at the end of your trip!

Bangkok, so famous for its traffic and pollution and known generally as an ugly dirty city, but Bangkok does have its moments. For a beautiful sun set experience just jump on the last boat before dark from Banglamphu (If you're staying in that area, the dock is on Phra Athit road) down river towards Sathorn Bridge. On a weekday around this time it's rush hour, a hellish time to be out and about in Bangkok, but on the river it's a different experience. From the boat in the golden light even the grid locked traffic on the bridges look beautiful. Be aware that boats tend to stop operating shortly after dark.