eccentricfusion

Some of the farang drive crazy because they don't have any experience or license. For whatever reason, it's common (and dumb as fuck) for tourists to think it's a good idea to rent a scooter and drive in Thailand without any experience or any legal motorcycle license. Plenty of locals drive crazy too though. Out of the common bikes used for grab, I find the Wave one of the worst to ride pillion on, since it is a semi-auto, the bikes that pick me up are mostly beat up and have jerky shifts, along with drivers who don't shift smoothly. Surprising that you have the opposite opinion. The PCX, N-MAX, newer model Click, then Giorno/Fazzio are the easiest for me to ride pillion, roughly in that order. I have been taking a motorcycle Grab to language school every day in the morning for 6 months - every time I get assigned a driver with a Wave I hope they cancel and another driver gets assigned before they show up. 😄

Even the English speaking ones like Rides 4 Kickz on YouTube have spoken well about them. It's not going to influence me to buy one, I am still leaning towards a Forza or PCX since I know Honda makes solid products. I just mention them since I have started seeing them on the roads more often and it looks like they are picking up some market share.

Yes, have tried the X-MAX before, but the Forza seems better. Surprisingly, I thought the Forza would be much wider - it's not. About 14mm wider, although that is handlebars with the mirrors folded. A little bigger and heavier, not quite as nimble turning, but it doesn't seem like it will be super difficult to squeeze through anywhere a PCX could. I have actually been seeing a lot of reviews about the Zontes bikes, but I have never ridden one or have any experience with them personally, although a lot of Thai Youtube reviewers are raving about the 368 line from them.

Hopefully someone accepts card - I found that I can buy on Shopee using a card and have it delivered in Bangkok for free. Price seems to be slightly higher for this, but not anything too insane. I started leaning towards a Forza 350 rather than a PCX 160, seems like something in the maxi-scooter class will be a little more comfortable when I get outside of Bangkok going on longer drives. Maybe selling a more expensive bike will be a motivator for someone to accept card.

Yeah, the US often has 0% APR and I've previously bought a Mercedes and 2 Audis from the dealer taking the loans just for a reduction in price, since the dealers are far more willing to give discounts with a kickback from the financing bank. The rates I have seen here are not attractive at all. I haven't seriously sat down to talk to any dealer yet, just talking to a few at the BKK motor show awhile back and little chit chat walking by a dealer, but immediately they showed me monthly installment prices and didn't seem to want to talk cash price. I don't mind paying 3 or 4% for credit card processing fees since the sign up bonus on a new credit card will easily provide far more value in travel, but I'm not even sure if any shops offer that option.

Does anyone know/recommend a dealer that will accept credit cards for payment? Trying to get some points out of buying one but it seems like installment plans or cash are the default here. I've only started looking recently but the dealers are pushy on the installments, likely due to getting financial incentives to do so.

It used to be a Pullman until 2024? It was reflagged as a Hilton. I don't think they did any renovations. It's not a bad hotel but definitely not a 5 star. It's not very notable besides the location when it comes to Hilton portfolio in Bangkok, all things considered.

One more thing, if you have a bunch of stays/nights lined up, you might be able to do a status challenge to get status for the current and following year. Might be something that you can do depending on the chain. Do some research on google for them and see if things line up for you.

Depends on how you value your time. It's all basically the same service. You can get a SIM at the airport at one of the booths, but they are more expensive and might be a line. You can also visit a mall and stop by any AIS/True and get a SIM. I used to do this but sometimes I found it annoying to bring my passport to the mall and then back to the hotel. Some people go to a 7-11 and buy a SIM from there but I have seen it being hit or miss whether the staff quickly activate things and they won't be able to help if things go wrong. Depends on the time you fly in, malls might be closed... but if you really just want to not bother, you can also use a e-SIM service like Airalo, have the SIM installed prior to getting on the plane, and then switch on the e-SIM when you land. Obviously that is more expensive, but probably the least headache since you can set it all up prior to even leaving home. You can even buy an e-SIM directly from AIS nowadays before your trip, I'm pretty sure. In the end we are talking about a difference of a a few bucks here and there - better is what works best for you. It's maybe like $20 difference over the month, if that. If your trip is shorter than that, then the difference is even less. What is your time worth to you? Personally I use Airalo for shorter trips (less than 30 days) since I don't want to waste any time trying to get a SIM locally. The price difference is insignificant to me.

Silom has Patpong. Patpong area is obviously more compact than lower Sukhumvit, but there is a BTS station and MRT access at Sala Daeng/Silom. As far as getting around, it's not much different from Asok for that. Nana and Cowboy are less than 15 minutes away on a motosai at night. Most girls from Nana/Cowboy might not want to go back to the hotel with you if they are doing ST rotations due to the distance, but if you are fine with ST hotels then it isn't an issue. I personally rarely stayed in Sukhumvit because of the noise and traffic when I was a tourist. It's not as busy and chaotic at night, but there is plenty of restaurants and street food in the area during the day due to all the office workers. Just depends on what vibe you are looking for... if you like drinking at a bar and people watching everyone who walks by, Sukhumvit is better.

There are other credit cards that offer status as well - although the points bonuses and benefits from the US based cards are typically the best. I know AMEX offers cards for a few other countries (Singapore, Korea, etc.) that also have benefits, including status. You might want to do some exploring to see what is available to you. Hilton status (Gold) is fairly easy to get and comes with free breakfast and occasional upgrades, so I think that is worth chasing. I've been a IHG Platinum for many years and rarely get a suite or an upgrade besides a higher floor. Of course, it all depends on your spend and stay patterns. It's going to be hard building up a big balance at the lower end (such as Holiday Inns) unless you are a road warrior and work is footing the bill. If you can hit 25 stays a year, you can chase Hilton Diamond status, 15 stays for Gold. If you don't stay at hotels more than 20 nights a year, it might be difficult.

JW Marriott, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, or Hyatt Regency are my recommendations.

They are all guest friendly. Out of them I would rank them personally Sheraton Grande, Sofitel and Hyatt Regency tied, with the Westin being the worst out of those.

The Marriott Marquis Queen's Park has excellent on property dining options, if you are interested. It's solid enough where plenty of people who are not guests of the hotel actually go there to eat.

LeMeridien is away from Sukhumvit but very close to Patpong. It's a great hotel and in a great area with plenty of restaurants around. If you really want to get to Nana, it's not a very far taxi/motosai ride, but the BTS is also fairly close as well.