I 2nd the lunch buffet at the JW Marriott's White Elephant. The locals do like it though I detect some (minor negative) changes over the years.

I enjoy the JW Marriott buffet in their Marriott Cafe...breakfast, lunch, dinner or, the Sunday brunch. The Peninsula's buffet can be great if you can sit outside but the food selection tends to be hit or miss. For something different, you might be interested in trying the Sukhothai Hotel's chocolate buffet. I recently tried the lunch buffet at the Intercontinental. As with most of the good hotels in BKK, it was very good as well. Lastly, as already mentioned above, the buffet at Lord Jim's can be very enjoyable but be sure to get a table next to the windows overlooking the river.

On the negative side, I haven't really enjoyed the outdoor buffets are either the Oriental or the Shangri-La especially given the premium prices they charge.

The best dinner buffet I have had in Bangkok was at the Hilton, I tasted everything from foigras to caviar and finished off on a completely seperate cheese and cake display. The best breakfast spread I have seen are at the Sheratons, the Grande and the Royal Orchid, and by far the best club room buffet is the Hyatt and otherwise I don't eat during the day so I can't help you, I should add IMO, regards bkkrop

We always stay at the Marriott on the river and always enjoy their breakfast buffet. As stated before, it is always nice to sit and watch the river in the morning.

I just had Sunday brunch at the JW Marriott yesterday, and it was fabulous - as always.

Than you all, it looks like I will have to buy strech pants. I hope I will enjoy and they will let me take pictures for my boss

Don't forget the greatest buffet of all in BKK..........the streets

^

Conrad has a good lunch Buffet

Thanks for the suggestion but I will not follow it. BKK is the place of my worst food poisoning:105 fever, and other things not nice to discuss here. I know it can happen anywhere but it will not happen in the streets for me. I had a girl friend for a couple of years who I let stay in my hotel for days on her own while I was flying there and she would only eat in the streets, alone. With me there was different. Thanks to all.

Peninsula is outstanding. The breakfast buffet and dinner buffets are world class.

But the advantage of buffet is that you can see and sample the food item before you decide if you want to eat it more.
Ordering from menu (even with pictures) always posts uncertainty.

As far as price is concerned, buffet is always more expensive than menu ordering meal. This is because the restaurant has to account for many people eat huge quantity of food only because they want to get their money worth.

I will not eat at street stalls in Thailand either.
I ate seafood at a lower-end air-cond restaurant with friends once in Chinatown. I had serious diarrhea afterwards. The restaurant was very popular among Thais and it was crowded. You would think there should not be any problem.

I've had food poisoning twice in the 24 years of experience with Thailand. The first time was actually the first day I was ever in the country. I think I got it from a Thai Airways flight from Muscat via Karachi.

The next time was probably from street food but as I was eating 7 meals or more from the street per week for that entire year I think it was decent odds. After all I have had food poisoning from several restaurants here in the US.

pen vs FS vs sukhothai ?