Originally Posted by PLTHOO
The main objective is to get to the beach, however if we are stopping somewhere we would like to see the main sites, have a dinner or two, and get an idea of what the city is like. We are not into a big nightlife scene, and would not want to get to somewhere and realize nice restaurants cost 70/pp USD (like in Kyoto).
It is hard to decribe anyone's likes/dislikes therefore what are the main differences in the two cities?
Singapore is sophisticated in an exotic kind of way, and Bangkok is seedy in an exotic kind of way.
For Singapore, think modern, glass, steel, concrete, organized, and very clean. For Bangkok think charming, unique, dirty, traffic, throbbing & thriving, exciting. Both cities have great dining venues. A lot of us who work in the region like to stop in Singapore to get back to "civilization" after spending prolonged periods in places like Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. However, that doesn't mean we don't love the other places too.
I had a similar decision to make my first time in. I simply picked Singapore because I knew it to be the epicenter of SE Asia from a business standpoint, but Bangkok is really wild. And yes Bangkok does make a hard man humble, or is it "mumble"
M8