Bangkok hotel

Not made great progress tonight but some, have moved on to the seventh
Georgian lesson. Just had a bit of a flick round on expedia and in the
guide book and have booked myself a hotel for the first four nights.
Guide book makes out in general it's good to reserve in advance at high
season (which is when I'm going), I don't think I can do that for the
rest of the time there but I always planned to book accommodation for
arrival anyway. The hotel is pretty cheap at about £33/night including
taxes, it is in the Silom district which is maybe 2-3km from the really
central stuff, but I figure that's walkable or taxiable or Skytrain-able
(though I am not sure that goes right into the central stuff, but it
would cut out a bit of walking, if that's necessary), and the price was
pretty good and the reviews were almost unanimously positive. I am
taking Andy's advice to the extent of staying somewhere nice-ish when I
first arrive, the place has free wi-fi and air conditioning, even if I'm
not going 5 star. (I went for the most basic room, the description of
all the different room types was identical. I'm not that fussy when it
comes to things like this anyway.) It is apparently near one of the
"must do" things which is a 63rd floor bar, which does sound cool.

I was originally thinking about staying three nights but I figure the
way the flights work I effectively land in Bangkok at 00:40 London time,
07:40 Bangkok time, having been travelling (from Heathrow, longer really
of course) since 10:05 London time, so I expect to be jet-lagged and/or
knackered the first day in Bangkok, so I added an extra day. This way I
will also be there on Friday night if it makes a difference, although
since I'll have to check out the next day that's not great. I can
actually cancel for free (but I have paid the full amount upfront) up to
27 October, so it's a no-lose option really.

Not read much of the guide book yet but skimming it tonight and
yesterday and seeing mentions of rooms with "windows optional" I do
wonder if there's much danger of waking up to find a fucking huge spider
in bed with me. I guess I need to read more of the guide book, I suspect
even outside Bangkok there is plenty to do and plenty of places to stay
without sleeping in windowless huts in the jungle, and also Sue's tip
that a mosquito net provides reassurance against such things to a
certain extent as well as its intended purpose is worth bearing in mind.
(I wouldn't much enjoy finding one under the bed or on the ceiling,
though.) Just need to read enough to reassure myself on this before I
book an onward flight which commits me to spending three weeks in the
country and me too scared to set foot outside Bangkok. Still, I'm sure I
could occupy myself there for three weeks if push comes to shove, but I
will try to read a bit more of the guide book over the next day or two
and then book the onward flight.

I am not entirely sure exactly what I want to do with my time in
Thailand but I guess I don't need to be super organised. I will read the
guide book nearer the time - though I do need to try in general to force
myself to read them instead of just flicking desperately around at the
absolute last minute - and I can play it by ear etc etc.