Places Near Victory Monument

[girlx]

Going to stay near Victory Monument for a month. Can anyone recommend the following nearby?:

-a good massage place

-a coffeeshop

-any sort of nice place to go at night for solo female

-any parks nearby?

-a supermarket

-good food places

-a place to learn thai

[thecatman]

For a good place to go in the evening then I would recommend the Saxaphone pub. http://www.saxophonepub.com/ it's one of Bangkok's best known live music venues, normally blues or jazz acts performing there. The place has a great atmosphere and feel to it. The food is OK there too.

There are 2 nice parks side by side right near Mo Chit BTS station, only a short journey from Victory monument. The first park you'll see is the smaller of the 2. My girlfriend and I often go to the larger one (just walk through the first park to get there), where you can hire a bike for 20 bt and ride around. It's a very nice way to enjoy some early morning exercise.

[madjbs]

Villa market is nearby at Ari and there is a Tops in Century mall

[dantilley]

-a good massage place

There are a couple on Soi Rang Nam, which is the first right turn just before the Skytrain station as you approach from PhayaThai Skytrain (i.e. traveling north), with the large "Century Movie Plaza" on the corner and has the King Power Duty Free mall on it. There's one fairly high-end spa called "Rang Nam Spa" or something and a few other cheaper places.

-a coffeeshop

Again, Soi Rang Nam has a few, as does the Century Plaza shopping mall (on the corner of Soi Rang Nam and has a bridge over from the Skytrain) if you don't mind being in a shopping mall environment while you drink your coffee.

-any sort of nice place to go at night for solo female

Saxophone, as previously mentioned.

-any parks nearby?

Soi Rang Nam has a small park on it, about 200 yards down the soi on the left as you enter from the Skytrain end. Good place to chill on the grass or jog round, but it's not a large, impressive park like Lumpini. They have regular outdoor aerobics sessions in there.

-a supermarket

The basement of Century Plaza has a Tops, if you need a bigger shop take the Skytrain to Saphan Khwai where you'll find a huge Big C complex.

-good food places

Depends on what sort of food you want. Street food can be good at Victory Point, just out the front of Saxophone. A few decent Thai places are along Soi Rang Nam, including some good Isaan options and some Southern Thai food also. All quite affordable, and some are decent quality. Good, high end, posh food of various types can be found in the Pullman Hotel in the King Power Complex. Fast food can be found in Century Plaza, as can the usual shopping Mall outlets like Hachiban, MK, Chester's Grill, etc. There's a moo ka ta place south of the skytrain station, so as you approach Victory Monument Skytrain station from Phayathai it's on the right, about 50 yards before you reach Soi Rang Nam.

-a place to learn thai

This I'm not sure about. Not seen any Thai language schools around that area...

Edited May 30, 2008 by dantilley

[Groongthep]

Going to stay near Victory Monument for a month. Can anyone recommend the following nearby?:

1.) -any sort of nice place to go at night for solo female

2.) -any parks nearby?

3.) -good food places

1.) As several other posters have already mentioned Saxaphone is one of the premier music venues in Bangkok and I highly recommend it. It is perfectly suitable for solo females.

2.) Suan Santiphap (Peace Park) is down Thanon Ratchawithi very near Victory Monument. From the BTS Station walk in the direction toward the monument on the big circular elevated walkway and take the first right down Ratchawithi Road. Suan Santiphap is about a 5 minute walk on your right. Not a big park but safe and quiet.

3.) There a a gazillion street vendors all around the monument on all sides. Take a stroll and see what looks good.

[onethailand]

Dantilley, you live in this area? Pretty complete description...

Victory Monument is a haven for cram schools - but a Thai language school would be definitely harder to find here. Might have a scout around the upper floors of Century Plaza but my instinct says the Sukhumvit area will be much better for finding a Thai language school.

[girlx]

thanks for all the tips!

[CelticBhoy]

I must tell you about two places to try on Rang Nam Road. Both are well worth a wee visit:

1 Tida Issan Restaurant opposite King Power. Clean, cheap and delicious.

2 Mezzanine Bar / Restaurant. Same side as Tida, past the park about 100m. Farang & Thai food.

Give them a go!

[girlx]

thanks, i am staying off of rangnam road so those are good suggestions. went for a walk to the park today.

i wouldn't mind staying long term in this area- would anyone happen to know of a house/townhouse/condo which can accomodate a medium sized dog for rent around here?

[onethailand]

Dantilley obviously knows the area well

Feeling tired, I decided to walk up and down Rangnam to see what massage establishments were available... exactly as he described, there were two massage places plus the Rangnam Massage & Spa.

The one near PT Court had two old ladies, which might be good sometimes, but I tend to find that establishments with few employees generally aren't that great at massage. The one at the other end, I think called Jhaowan, also does hair braiding and extensions... definitely not going to get a good massage there.

The Rangnam Massage & Spa looks pretty nice from the outside - but these type of places are more suitable for people who like gentle massages and are willing to pay a bit more. I require someone with strong hands who is experienced in traditional massage, so this place wouldn't be my personal choice.

There's one in Century Plaza called Kesinee, located in the basement - walked by it and three ladies sitting outside, none of which looked particularly strong, so I passed on that as well.

There's another place down Phayathai Rd in Phayathai Plaza, which is almost too traditional - girls all in white uniforms commonly used by physical therapists, with number tags - and I've tried this place and frankly it's meant for large groups of Chinese on tours; if you want a good stiff massage, this is not the place to get it.

There also used to be a place nearby called Thevi Thai, but this was a gentleman's establishment, if you get my drift - it's no longer there as presumably some new structure is going to go up in its place as it is very close to BTS PhayaThai.

Dantilley, do you know of any other places, perhaps near the Victory Monument? Not interested in the ones on Sri Ayutthaya which are again gentlemen's establishments...

Regarding food - I've been to Seasoning, which is decent but a bit overpriced. There's a place in Century Plaza on the second floor, called Izumi but it's all in Japanese characters - they have a super barbecue deal where you get two plates of thinly-sliced meat, Coke or green tea, small Japanese salad, some fruit, and miso soup - for 109 baht. I tried it today and it is great value for the money.

Girlx, you still living in the area?

Edited January 22, 2009 by onethailand

[girlx]

Girlx, you still living in the area?

no longer on rangnam but not too far away. i really liked seasonings, went there almost everyday at one point. nice staff, decent food and drinks, good place to people-watch. supposedly there is a great restaurant for southern thai food (curries) across the street and to the right of it but i can't for the life of me remember the name. it was featured recently in BK magazine. the issan food shop across the street was very disappointing though. there is a better one inside century plaza on the 3rd floor or so. saxophone pub and club culture are the best nightlife places in the area IMO, though some people seem to like the pullman wine pub.

[desi]

-a place to learn thai

Get off Ari BTS then walk down the stairs opposite side of Villa. In the large building facing the Skytrain you'll find a Thai/Japanese language school.

Poke around and you'll discover a wide range of food and shopping available in the Ari (soi 7) area.

Ari is chockfull of decent restaurants. Off the side street where a landmark hotel used to be (where they are now building a condo) is an Issan restaurant. There's pretty good Vietnamese restaurant on Soi 5 (next to a Chinese restaurant). Another decent Thai restaurant is on the same street where it winds around going away from Paholyothin (dimsum is pretty good - was better before they built onto the restaurant). Across from the railway station is an excellent Thai restaurant with garden (not cheap).

There's a Thai style pub with pool table, comfy sofas and live music (soft), called The Lobby. Food is not very good...

Shopping on Ari (soi 7) is easy - fresh seafood, meat, fruit, veg, flowers... the lot. And if you can't find what you want, there are two Villas within 6 minutes walking of each other. Further in on soi 7 (toward Gov buildings) is a rambling market, but not cheap. The smaller markets are a better deal.

There's tons more but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough...

[dantilley]

Dantilley, do you know of any other places, perhaps near the Victory Monument? Not interested in the ones on Sri Ayutthaya which are again gentlemen's establishments...

Actually I moved out of the area a few nonths ago, but I'd hazard a guess that the spa attached to the new gym which has opened on the corner of Soi Kolit, right by exit 2 of Phaya Thai BTS station would do a good, strong massage, being as it's connected to the gym. I never got to go there before I moved away from the area so can't comment from first hand experience unfortunately.

[dantilley]

supposedly there is a great restaurant for southern thai food (curries) across the street and to the right of it but i can't for the life of me remember the name.

Malika you mean, went there the other day, very good.

[orlandoiam]

Amazing outdoor food stand in front of ESSO gas station, at the corner of Ratchaprarop and Rang Nam. Usually packed until 9:30 or so. Isaan food and nice place for a relaxing outdoor beer.. 5 years+ and never sick of it. Good for newbies too. Muu Yang/grilled pork and ngieu yang/grilled beef, some of the tastiest I've had in Thailand.