URGENT - Bangkok with a 15 month old baby

Hello all,

over a year since I was in Thailand and can%26#39;t wait to get back!!! Maybe xmas this year...

Am writing on another matter entirely, though:

Good friends of mine have just been given the final (much awaited) go ahead to adopt a baby from Thailand. They were told last night and have to travel to Bangkok in about ten days time to stay there two full weeks to get through all the formal paperwork. They will be assigned the baby, a 15 month old baby boy, the day the arrive.

Now, the question is: where to stay. COndiering they will be needing space, a relaxing place, somewhere to get to know their baby son and to start being a family. At the same time though, they cannot afford to be too far away from the centre as probably they will need to do quite a few trips in and out of government offices to do paperwork.

What hotel would you suggest? Would somewhere like the Marriott Resort%26amp;Spa be too out of the way and with too much goingon? Would somewhere like the Mariott Executive Appartments (Mayfair) feel a little too isolated (meaning in terms of little service). What would you all recommend??

Am so pleased for my friends (this is the end of a long long many-year-long journey to adoption) that I%26#39;d like to assist them with finding the best possible location to spend their first two weeks as a family. (ps: the adoption agency will of course probably also suggest some locations but probably only based on location).

Thanks for any help you might have

URGENT - Bangkok with a 15 month old baby

BelgianIrish

would be helpful if you could tell me where they have to go to formailise the paperwork i.e the area they have to go to, then can advise on accommodation.

by the way you may have just opened pandora%26#39;s box on the rights and wrongs of adopting Asian children. be prepared for some people to make their views known.

bkk3

URGENT - Bangkok with a 15 month old baby

As for Pandora%26#39;s box: it is not me doing the adopting and am not about to get into a discussion by proxy....

as for locations am not sure but get the feeling they will need to be going to different locations across town anyway so the hotel being quiet, relaxed, childfirendly is more important than the location

thanks

Hi again BKK 3

The office they%26#39;ll need to be going to (turns out they don%26#39;t need to go there that often anyway) is Department of Social Development and Welfare (DSDW) 225 Ratchawithi Road.

I guess, however, that the hotel being quiet, relaxed and child firendly is more important than the location (as long as it is within a relatively short taxi ride).

Thanks again

BelgianIrish

Anywhere on the river is good. You%26#39;ve already suggested the Marriot resort %26amp; spa which is a nice hotel. Others to consider on the river would be The Shangri-La, Royal Orchid Sheraton. all these hotels are good, prices range from $140-$200 USD per night. Good access to taxis and BTS for getting about.

if apartment style look at the Centrepoint group. they have 5 properties located thuout bangkok. one may be suitable in location.

the thailand government state adoption agency is located on Ratchatewi road. if your friends have to go there then there is a centrepoint located on petchburi road which may be handy. if this is the case then the river hotels are a little bit out of the way.

anyway any more specifics in where they actually are going and i can be more helpful

bkk3

Travelling with a 15 month old baby, you would probably need access to kitchen facilities to wash baby bottles and sterilise your baby equipment. There%26#39;s a lot of washing to do so I would advise on getting a serviced apartment.

I was just there for a business trip and my office was just a short walking distance to Chitlom BTS station. Just adjacent to my office was a little quaint road Langsuan. It%26#39;s a nice neighbourhood. Well-lit and not too noisy. Probably appropriate for your family%26#39;s needs. There are a few serviced apartments located on that stretch, one of which is Centrepoint. You can check out the url

www.centrepoint.com/Locations/Langsuan_a.aspx

thank you ALBK (and BKK3!)

cs files