coyfarang

I can tell you that construction started way earlier than that as I can remember some of the big supports being put in around 1989

Those were for a different project called Lavelin Skytrain and originally would have been where the MRT line is today.  The project was never completed due to political instability (shocking I know) and the economic collapse in Asia in the 90's.  When they started construction of the BTS they did end up reusing some of the existing structure.  

If your daughter really is missing you should contact both your embassy who will then get in contact with Interpol and the Royal Thai Police.  Kind of strange that she was all the way out by the Mall Bang Kapi, that is far away from the tourist areas, it has to be at least 20km from Khao San Road, there are about a dozen malls closer.  

That all depends on who you use and what type of car they use.  I have used Happy Taxi  and it was about 1500 baht for a Toyota Camry.  There are some cheaper and more expensive but around 1200-1500 is what you should expect to be.

It's only a short stopover in BKK for me so I want to make the most of my time. I've decided I want to try the nuru massage at Dream Heaven on Soi 33. If I stay in a hotel nearby I can maybe fit in 2 sessions - one in the MP and one outcall to my hotel. The S33 is right next to that place (according to Google street view)  but I want to check if they are guest-friendly or not. If not I can always have 2nd session in the MP.

Ahh, from what I remember when my friend stayed there you just had to register your guest (leave her ID) but even that they weren't too picky about it.  

I'm looking for a cheap hotel on Soi 33 Sukhumvit and noticed the S33 Compact hotel is nicely located right in the middle of the MP action.

Has anyone stayed there? What's it like ?  How girl-friendly is it?

I never stayed there but I have been inside one of the rooms when a friend stayed there.  They dont lie when they say it is compact, the rooms are very small.  Why do you want to stay on 33 specifically?  There are better hotels for around the same price and closer to the action.

Whenever I travel to Bangkok I seek out hotels that are close to one of the four major mongering spots (Cowboy, Nana, Patpong and Ratchada) but still far enough away for some peace and relaxation.  Throughout my travels my favorite Soi's to stay in have been 20 and 22 because they are within walking distance to Cowboy and Asoke BTS but they still feel far away because nothing really happens on those streets other than some small beer bars.  For my most recent trip I found an amazing little boutique hotel called Thee Hotel.

Pros:

- One of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept or played in.  The bed in this hotel rivaled that of 5 star hotels.  

- Great service

- Budget friendly - I can't remember exactly but I know it was under $40 a night on Agoda or Booking.

- Good selection of TV channels.

- Excellent bathroom/shower and they have their own soap/shampoo which smells amazing lol.

- Excellent location, about a 5 minute walk from Cowboy (just over the pedestrian bridge) and a 5-10 minute walk from BTS/MRT

- Good street food right outside the hotel, try the noodles!

Cons:

- No pool.

- No onsite resteraunt and no breakfast.  The hotel was brand new when I stayed so they may have added breakfast, which isn't a huge deal to me.  Most hotel bfasts leave a lot to be desired.

- No window in the room I stayed in.  Technically there was a window but the view was of another building right next to it.  This actually didn;t bother me as much as I thought it would.

I should mention the joiner fee.  This was something of confusion.  I did read something about guests when checking inn but it was late and I was so exhausted from my flight I didn't really pay attention to it.  The few times I did bring girls back the guy at the desk barely moved a muscle let alone say anything.

 I would stay here again and again just for those beds!

If you google or Wikipedia it, you only see the market is called Chatuchak or Jatujak ( people call it JJ because of this spelling). You don't see it called CC there. You could argue if you could call it JJ why not call it CC. I really have nothing to say. If you heard it from a few people in BTS and some newbie post in some unknown forum and said it has another name, I got nothing to say anymore.

Lol I am not trying to argue with you I am just stating what I have heard/read.  But it all depends on what you are googling. If you Google CC Market Bangkok, you will get results for JJ.  

I have never heard tourist call it CC market neither. Tourist call it JJ market and Thai call it Chatuchak.

It is not common by any stretch but I have heard a few people on the BTS say it and have seen it in various forums/travel sites.  It has been my experience that most older Thais will call it Chatuchak while the younger Thais I know all call it JJ.  

I was talking about those "interesting" T-shirts. Do you have a "Good Guy........Pattaya" or "addidogs" T-shirt? Did you buy it from across the Pratunam Market and how much you paid? I really don't think you could only paid a "fraction" because they are very cheap in JJ market or Patpong.

I have seen those types of shirts in that market yes, how much they are I couldn;t tell you.  But I can say shirts and pants that go for 300 baht in JJ, I have found for 100-150 in Pratunam.  To follow up on the Knuckle Dusters, be careful of the Thai authorities as well.  Even though they are sold in the streets you don't want to be caught with those or any weapon at one of the infamous late night check points that keep popping up.  Most cops probably won't give you too much trouble if you play the innocent tourist role, but some will look for a bribe and maybe more.  Your best bet is to buy them and put them right in your luggage.  I have seen tourists get in trouble for far less items that police considered weapons.

I am not so sure your definition of "interesting" T-shirts. If you are looking for the T-shirts like "GOOD GUYS GO TO HEAVEN, BAD GUYS GO TO PATTAYA" or "addidogs", JJ market is the place. I am not so sure why you need alternatives except you only come to Bangkok for a few days and not during the weekends. If so, you could still find those T-shirts in Patpong night market and Sukhumvit road (the hawkers between soi 11 to nana). Just buy a few before you go to the gogo bars. I would not recommend you to go to Platinum Fashion Mall. They have more clothes for girls than guys. Even the clothes for guys, they are mainly the Thai/Japanese/Korean style fashion. If you are American, or Aussie wear T-shirts and cargo pants all the time, it is not the place for you. There is one shop sell a lots of Batman, Superman, and Spiderman T-shirts in Platinum. If you consider those are "interesting" T-shirts.

 

About the knuckle dusters, you could also find them in Patpong and Sukhumvit. When you go home, you need to be careful. It is considered as a weapon in some countries (For example, Singapore and Hong Kong). Even you are just taking your connecting flight in those counties, if the local customs find your knuckle dusters, you will be in trouble.

Platinum is more geared towards females but they do have a decent selection of mens clothes just need to search for them.  But the Pratunam Market across the street has plenty of clothes for men and plenty of sizes for western men.  All of it is a fraction of the cost you will pay in JJ or Patpong.  I buy most of my clothes there when I am in town and I am regular jeans and tshirt kind of guy.

Interesting. I have never heard people call JJ market/Chatuchak as cc market until now. You couldn't even find cc market in google or wikipedia. I will be in Thailand in 10 days. Let me see if I call it cc market, people will understand me or not.

CC is more of a tourist thing than anything else.  You probably won't hear too many locals call it that.  

CC is another name for JJ, based on the spelling of Chatuchak.  

JJ isn't the best place for clothes that would be Pratunam Market area.  One one side of the street is Platinum Fashion Mall which is three connected buildings that sell nothing but clothes, shoes and accessories.  If you cross the street that entire area is filled with smaller malls and good size outdoor markets to buy clothes.  The easiest way to get there is to take the BTS to Chit Lom walk to the Central World or Gaysorn exits.  From there you can either walk in the direction past Central World/Big C its is about 15 minute walk or take a taxi/moto/tuk tuk.  Also in this area is Pantip Plaza a very big electronics mall.  Alternatively you can also take the MRT to Petchaburi and take a taxi the rest of the way.

Some other places to check out:

MBK - can find everything here.

Union Mall - located across from Central Lad Prao, kind of like a smaller version of MBK.

Victory Monument - a couple malls surrounded by a market.

Recently I was faced with an overstay problem.   Initially I entered the country on a tourist visa as I did not even plan on working, I was weighing my options between work and school.  I was offered a pretty good position at what I thought was a respectable Thai employer, to protect the innocent i'll leave the name out.  I was told to bring my passport to their Admin department and they would handle my visa and such.  I have been coming to Bangkok for years but never to work, I used to work entirely online and live in various countries in Asia but that's a different story for a different time.  I brought my passport down and they filled out all sorts of paperwork for immigration and they even sent me to get a health check.  About a week later my passport was returned to me but I was so busy with work I never actually checked it, that was my own fault I own up to that.

 After about 3 months on the job I was called down to the office with about 12 other employees, all of us expats, and told that they could no longer employ so many foreign workers due to new visa laws.  They told us they would pay for everything to send us home but it would take a few weeks to process it all.  I went on with my life and enjoyed spending time with the GF and just relaxing.  Periodically I would receive an email from said company updating me on the status of everything.   Around the middle of November I received an email stating that I would be leaving on Monday of that week and would receive an email with all my flight details.  Monday came and went with nothing, many calls later and I was told a slight delay but would be leaving on Thai Airways on Wednesday and would get flight details Tuesday afternoon.  Tuesday afternoon came with no details, at which point I called Thai Airways and they had no record of me.  

It was at this point I started to become very suspicious with all lies they were telling me.  I got out my passport and looked through it and what I saw shocked me.  They processed my TR for a 30 day extension and nothing else.  After quickly calculating my days I realized I was at 87 days over my original TR.  Staying over 90 would have been a 1 year band.  I realized no flight was coming from them so I booked my own and headed home for the holidays.  Upon arriving to the airport I went through security, paid the 20,000 baht fee without a hitch and was on my way.  I was told by a friendly immigration officer that if i was to return a new passport would be in my best interest.  He told me overstays under 90 days aren't recorded in any computer just in the passport itself.  

I don't blame the company as much as I blame myself.  I have never been trusting in the business world but for some reason I let my guard down and trusted this company.  I also did not do my due diligence and check my passport or the immigration laws.  I write this for two reason, one hopefully just one person will learn from my stupidity and always double and triple check everything.  The second reason is the overstay itself.  I was worried sick about what would happen and the majority of forums give you worst case scenarios and little actual advice.  If you are facing a long overstay the best thing is to go to the airport and take care of it.  I later found out one of my coworkers booked a flight a few days later didn't know he was an overstay and was detained in the airport.  He was sent to IDC (not a fun place to be) and had to stay there for 5 days until his family could wire the money and a plane ticket.  

Depends on what part of the city you want to be in and what you want to be close to.  Riverside has some beautiful hotels with plenty of nightlife, shopping and restaurants nearby.  If you want to be close to everything Sukhumvit has to offer but want to get away from the Sex Tourists check out any of the hotels after Asoke.  One of my favorite Soi's to say in is 20/22.  They are extremely close to Asoke and BTS, and actually very close to Cowboy, but they are quiet Sois with hardly any bars or clubs.