Affluent and bustling best describes Watthana. Home to towering office towers, huge glitzy malls offering luxury fashion and artisanal goods, food courts, stylish bistros, upmarket restaurants and innovative cocktail settings.
A taste of the local scene is nearby at the traditonal Khlong Toei market, while green spaces include Benjakitti Forest Park, with its lake and jogging paths, for nature lovers and sport enthusiasts.
EAT & DRINK
HAVANA SOCIAL (less than a min walk)
A pre-revolution Cuban cocktail bar hidden away in a by-lane directly opposite the hotel. Dim lighting, exposed beams, crumbling plaster, and classic Cuba Libre and other cocktails.
TERMINAL 21 (6-min walk)
Located on Sukhumvit, at the Asok intersection, Terminal 21 is a multi-storey retail complex with each floor themed after a famed tourist destination from around the world.
THE OLD GERMAN BEERHOUSE (6-min walk)
This place has been going strong for more than 35 years, and is a Bangkok institution serving top quality German food and beer.
ATTRACTIONS & ACTIVITIES
MADAME TUSSAUDS (10 mins by BTS)
Get up close with some of the famous (and infamous) personalities from the past and present at this Bangkok edition.
SIAM OCEAN WORLD (10 mins by BTS)
One of Southeast Asia’s largest aquariums, featuring attractions such as shark tunnels, a glass-bottomed boat, penguin shows, and 4D cinema experiences.
YAOWARAT (20 mins by car)
Guranteed feast for the senses at the centre of Bangkok’s Chinatown, with a wide variety of restaurants and street food vendors to choose from.
OUTDOORS
BENJAKITTI FOREST PARK (10-min walk)
Recently opened as one of Bangkok’s largest parks, a city-centre wilderness of wetlands with footpaths and an elevated walkway.
KHLONG ONG ANG WALKING STREET (20-min drive)
Running alongside one of Bangkok’s oldest canals, which has recently been restored, this is a delightful weekend night market.
FRASER INSIDER
THE ERAWAN SHRINE
Blessing tips, the four-faced Buddha
1st face North side (street-facing): For seeking blessings on work, study, promotion, power and prestige and matters related to fatherhood. The offerings are 16 incense sticks, 9 candles, 9 lotus flowers and a bottle of water.
2nd face East side: For blessings on material assets such as houses, cars, land, including money or debts that have been borrowed and not returned. There are 36 incense sticks, 9 candles, 9 lotus flowers and a bottle of water.
3rd face South side: For blessings relating to family and health. There are 39 incense sticks, 9 candles, 9 lotus flowers and a bottle of water.
4th face West side: Paying homage to money, fortune, luck and for children with 19 incense sticks, 9 candles, 9 lotus flowers and a bottle of water.
HAVANA SOCIAL
To find pre-revolution Cuba in Bangkok, you’ll need to zig-zag to the back end of Sukhumvit Soi 11. At the far end of the lane, make a sharp turn and immediately arrive at a quieter residential district.where a faded mural is adjacent to a phonebooth and a bouncer. The phone is broken, so use your personal phone to call for the code; then, punch in the code and push open the doors. Inside, the walls are crumbling, the lights are dim, laundry is hanging out to dry, fedoras are hanging on the wall, and the salsa band is in full force. Welcome to Cuba.
THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE
Within a minute or two on foot from the Giant Swing, the Gingerbread House takes its name from the gingerbread style of architecture that first appeared in the mid-19th century. This house was built in 1913, and remains original. Now a museum, the house is also a charming cafe.
A "Do You Know?" moment. Experience the destination like a local.
BEYOND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
BANG NAM PHEUNG FLOATING MARKET
The charm of the market is that it sits alongside a canal in the heart of this semi-rural Thai Mon community, located inside a huge undeveloped loop in the river that forms an important green lung for the city. On sale from local residents are handicrafts, garments, fruit, dried shrimp and fish, desserts, and wonderful traditional street food.
CHATUCHAK MARKET
Reputedly the largest indoor and outdoor market in the world, covering over 35 acres, housing 27 sections, Chatuchak Market sells just about everything. Take the BTS to Mo Chit or the MRT to Chatuchak Park Station.
TALAD ROM HUP OR MAEKLONG RAILWAY MARKET
The name actually means Closing Umbrella Market, because the trains of the Maeklong Railway pass right into the market within inches of the vendors and their goods, causing those closest to the line to fold their sunshades. The market can be reached by car, or delightfully by catching a train from Wongwian Yai railway station on Thonburi-side.
UPCOMING EVENTS
August
September
October