1. Stay

   At the 5 Rama Nine 54 Hostel for a staggeringly low $3 a night.

2. Take

   The opportunity to pamper yourself for less with a traditional massage at Wat Pho Massage School (2 Sanamchai Rd).

3. Eat

   Freshly caught and freshly cooked seafood at the Rut & Lek Seafood Restaurant, Yaowarat & Soi Texas.

4. Drink

   A $10 cocktail 656 feet above the ground at Vertigo, the bar atop the trendy Banyan Tree Hotel.

5. Dance

   With your glow sticks at The Club, 123 Khao San Road.

6. See

   The city's culture by boat.

7. Explore

   The klongs and wats of Thonburi.

8. Watch

   The crowds from the open spaces of Lupini Park.

9. Shop

   Bangkok's alleyways and stalls for some bargain street fashion.

10. Walk

    Along the Khao San road in the evening.

Bangkok Hostels rank among the cheapest in the world. A boat ride away from the Old Town and city center, you can swap the tourist haunts for the local side of Bangkok at 5 Rama Nine 54 for a tiny price.

Unlike their sleazy international counterparts, Thai massage parlors offer real (and quite tough) treatments based on the principles of yoga. A block from the Palace and a frequent haunt of its Royal residents, Wat Pho can make you feel like a king or queen for a little under $10.

Serving awesome dishes from grilled giant shrimp to crab stir-fried in its roe, Rut & Lek has a simple open-flame cooker and a typically roadside location. Take a couple of friends and try as many dishes as you can! Dinner for three including beer comes to under $25.

Leave dusty clothes and cheap stays behind for an hour to sip an elegant drink with the best view of the city. However, peeks over the side at the sheer drop to the traffic below are not for the faint-hearted!

A throwback to when trance music and old-school ravers ruled the Khao San road instead of today's chart tunes, a small entry fee will provide an enjoyable night of psychedelic visuals, cheap Thai whiskey and a taste of Bangkok's clubbing scene in its prime.

A Sunday cruise up the Chao Phraya River will cost you less than $10 and includes stops at the Bang Sai's Royal Folk Art Centre and the famous Summer Palace at Bang Pa-In.

Across the Chao Phraya River lies the historic district of Thonburi which retains some of the tradition that Bangkok has lost amid its skyscrapers. Home to traditional wooden waterside dwellings, some of the city's finest Buddhist temples and murals and even farms and orchards, it's a different world to the Bangkok of the Khao San road.

This relaxing spot in the heart of the frenzied city is the place to take a break and observe the residents and tourists going on their way. In the evening you may even see an elephant or two roaming the streets when they're bought in by villagers trying to make a couple of bucks amongst the busy nightlife scene.

Around Pratunam is a warren of backstreets filled with tiny shops and street vendors selling well-designed cotton clothes for around $5. Haggling can save you even more money on purchases.

It may be the city's most notorious tourist destination and heavily influenced by this trade but it's worth a visit and a stroll to take in the lively, unique mix of backpackers, locals and every weird, cheap purchase known to man. Ostensibly a free activity, you may find a walk here tempts you into buying a $2 Thai beer or some of those infamous goods.

And I know just the place where you can do both of it at the same time! At La Romanina, residing in a 2 story house which was beautifully designed based on a Tuscan home. Not only the looks of the restaurant is stylish but it also give you a very warm feeling when you make the first step into the restaurant, moreover you will be given a warmth greeting from the staffs in La Romanina which will make your visit there even more enjoyable.

Downstairs at La Romanina is El Nino Bar where they server different kinds of wine, spirits and cocktail and let's not forget the delicious tapas. Up Stair where its call the piano room, is the fine dining area of La Romanina and there is where you can hear smoothing sound of piano played by Khun Dio( Mr Dio) and he do not only plays the piano but he also sings! Once you hear him sing or even listen to him play the piano, you will never forget La Romanina, the place where you get not only good food but good music smoothing to your ears, the perfect anti-stress therapy you will ever get!

If you got the time, check out the restaurant's blog or just drop by, you will not regret it...

The restaurant speaks for itself!

1. Do Your Thing

   One of the best ways to explore Bangkok is to walk or take the BTS Sky Train. If you are taking a tour, your tour guide will take you to places that are high on THEIR priority. Most of those places are sure to attract your attention but you might miss out on some wonderful sights and sounds that you will most certainly run into if you go exploring on your own.
   

2. Water is Expensive

   There were plenty of advisories recommending bottled water. So little wonder when we found bottled water to be expensive, sometimes almost as expensive as some drinks and fruit juices in restaurants. Hotels give a complementary bottle of water (500 ml) per person but charge for each additional bottle at rates between 20 baht to 40 baht. Since there are plenty of convenience stores around, you can save some money by buying 1 liter bottles for 13 baht.
   

3. Bargain With Your Tour Guide

   We realized a little late into our tour that you can even bargain with the tour guide. Even though the basic tour is free, they entice you with many optional places or things to do such as boat ride on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok or the parasailing on the way to Coral Island. A discount of 100 baht is not unrealistic, especially if you can show strength in numbers.
   

4. Pratunam Plaza

   Located in the heart of Bangkok city and close to the Siam Plaza and MBK plazas that we heard so much about, the Pratunam Plaza is a mall that had prices that were not only the lowest but the bargaining was also the easiest making our deals worth it - good quality at best prices. Go to this mall after you have visited some of the other malls to really understand how good the deals are.
   

5. Avoid Pattaya Beach at Night

   There were so many prostitutes on the Pattaya beach sidewalk after sunset that most tourists prefer the cramped sidewalks on the opposite side. We found out rather late that the Jomtien Beach is much more family friendly.
   

6. Walking Street

   After sunset, this road is closed to traffic and many of the shops bring their wares onto the middle of the street. It is definitely an interesting sight to witness once but be warned that unless you like bars, dancing girls and grilled sea creatures, it can get boring very soon.
   

7. Oceanarium in Siam Plaza
   
   
   

   This is a must see for anyone who likes to be amazed by the diversity of our ocean life. This entertainment center located in the basement of the Siam Plaza was simply wonderful. For 750 Baht, we got a complementary soft drink, a short ride in a glass-bottomed boat, a 4-D IMAX movie and entry into the aptly named Oceanarium. Make sure that you have at least a couple of hours to spend here because anything less and you will probably feel rushed.
   

8. Peace and Benjasiri Parks
   

   
   

   Want to get away while still being within stones throw of the hustle and bustle of the city? Then the Peace Park and Benjasiri Park are the answer. There is nothing spectacular about these parks but their simplicity added to the well maintained lawns, trees and flowering plants is like a soothing balm to the road-weary eyes. The Suan Santi Phap (as the Peace Park is called in Thai) is very close to the Victory Monument (a grand traffic circle created as a tribute to Thai victory over French colonialism). Benjasiri Park, located right next to the Phrom Pong Sky Train station, is larger than the Peace Park and seems to be in a more peaceful neighbourhood. This park too is worthy of spending a few hours to take a stroll and unwind.
   

9. Visa

   If you are planning to get a visa after landing, please make sure that you have a most recent colour photo and 1000 Baht. There is an instant photo center a few feet away from the visa on arrival counters - however remember they charge 200 Baht for 5 photos (even though you need only one). Unless there is a huge rush, the visa takes only about 10 minutes.
   

10. Airport

    The Suvarnabhumi airport is quite large but is quite well organized to help you find your way around. Apart from the huge statues that adorn the cavernous main hall and the golden stupas in various parts of the terminal, be prepared for the absolutely stunning sculpture of Govardhana Madanam after you cross the immigration counters on your return journey.

All said and done, the honesty and smiling faces of the Thai people and the love for their king will somehow have a positive effect on your vacation. So, enjoy your trip to the land of the elephants.

Station buildings range from the Baroque style in the unlikely setting of Hsinchu Station in Taiwan, to the Corinthian pillars of Gare De Nord, Paris and the Gothic revival architecture of Bombay. Each of these buildings is a work of art in itself.

Here a few more unusual architectural styles applied to railway stations:

Tangjong Pagar Railway Station, Singapore

This very old railways station has the honor of being considered one of the best places in Singapore for Malaysian food, especially satay. People come here to eat as well as to travel. The building was completed in 1932 and it has a fine domed roof. There is Malaysian artwork on the panelling around the inside.

Helsinki Central Station, Finland

There are nineteen platform inside this station which is faced with granite give a cold, hard kind of look to it. The statues outside have recently been featured in an animation to promote rail travel in Finland. The original station was built in 1860 and it was redesigned in 1909 as can be seen in the almost art nouveau design of the central curved section.

Napoli-Afragola Railway Station, Naples, Italy

This new high speed station is a bridge above the tracks. It is a massive transport interchange that acts as a gateway to Naples and a major city landmark which provides a train station for high speed and regional services, bus, taxi and car parking facilities. There are retail facilities here as well as police and fire stations and the whole structure covers around 20,000 square meters. This fabulous, ultra modern construction was designed by Patrick Schumacher and Zaha Hadid Architects.

Gare de Nord Railway Station, Paris, France

Inside this fantastic building are a series of Corinthian columns made of cast iron. These support a thirty eight metre high glass roof . There are nine statues in the station which represent nine important places that can be reached from the station. The architecture here is a real mixture of styles and the grace and elegance of the original curved roof has been spoiled by alterations made in the 1930's.

Hualampong Station, Bangkok, Thailand

Click Here for a Panoramic Photo!

This railway station was built fourteen years after railways were first introduced to Thailand. It was finished in 1916 and had taken 7 years to build. It was modernized in 1998 and is now extremely busy with twenty four ticket windows and a computerized booking system. The original architecture has been preserved well in spite of the modernization.

Here are some more railway stations that combine the best in good taste and aesthetic functionability:

Paddington Cathedral

Todays more visited cathedrals in the UK are the railway terminii. Squeaky clean with an almost a religious fanaticism these are a melting pot of people from around the world.

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Haydarpasa Terminal

The first station there was built in 1872 when the railroad was opened to Gebze.

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Docklands Light Railway (Wall of Light)

One of the first light rail systems in Britain, with one of the world’s safest and most advanced automatic train control systems, DLR has expanded faster than any UK railway.

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Almere Centrum, The Netherlands

The railway station Almere Centrum was built in 1987, when Almere was connected to the Dutch railway system.

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Ano Lechonia

Ano Lechonia is another of the villages where de Chirico built railway stations.

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Light Of A West Civilization

Main Railway Station, Berlin, Germany.

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South Wimbledon

The London Underground was the first underground railway in the world.

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Gare de Lyon

Wonderful contrast of architectural order and human chaos.

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Milan Train Station at Midnight

Impressive station!

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Mystery Train

A train passes through Lisbon's wonderful Oriente Station, designed by Santiago Calatrava.

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Waiting...

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Tokyo: Ochanomizu

The train tracks are crossing on three different levels.

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Foggy Bottom: GWU

The elevators at the George Washington University station.

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Candidplatz

Subway station "Candidplatz" in Munich, Germany.

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Ladvi metro station, Prague

Dynamic, futuristic, and sheer artistry.

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Gare Désafectée Railway Station

Some railway stations still have a ways to go...

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Amazing Railway Station Design

This incredible piece of team work helped these designers win 2nd prize for their design.

You see, waiting in a train station is not so bad after all!