Five ways to spoil dad this Father's Day in Bangkok

Every December 5, the nation joins together to celebrate His Majesty the King of Thailand’s birthday. It's also Father’s Day, a day to show us dads you love us.

So go on. Spoil us rotten, shower us with gifts, take us cool places. Don’t worry, nothing is too extravagant. We'll even get you started with these five fantastic tips.

1. Riverside brunch
Pretty much every high end restaurant in the city is offering some sort of Father’s Day brunch, lunch or dinner this Saturday. As much as I’d love to hit them all, I’m going to have to just pick one: brunch at the riverside Royal Orchid Sheraton.

Everything is on the menu. Thai, Indian, Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese ... you name it. There’s unlimited foie gras chaud, prime beef, oysters on the half shell, smoked salmon, cured meats and cheeses, curries, sushi, dim sum, Peking duck, fried noodles pizza, and pasta. There’s also entertainment for the kids including a balloon maker, trio-band, dog show and magic show.

Brunch is on from 11:30am to 3pm and priced at 1,190 baht per person (non-alcoholic) and 1,350 baht per person with unlimited wine.

Charoen Krung Soi 30 Siphya. From BTS: Saphan Taksin catch the River City courtesy ferry. Tel +(0)2 266 0123

2. Minimize mall time

Very few men enjoy shopping. Even if we pretend we do, we really don’t. But given that it’s necessary to clothe ourselves and look presentable when we leave the house, a trip to the mall is sometimes necessary.

Help us minimize the pain by arranging for a personal shopper to do the dirty work for us. In fact, we've rounded up a few rent-a-shoppers for you already right here.

3. Buy dad the ultimate cliché -- a barbeque

There’s a reason big, fiery stainless steel barbeques are such a clichéd gift for dads. Because they’re awesome and we love them and we’ll love you forever if you buy us one.

It’s hard to come by a decent barbeque here in Thailand that doesn’t require 10 bottles of lighter fluid and an hour’s wait before the coals gets hot enough to cook over. Thankfully there’s The Barbeque Store, which imports some of the world’s most amazing cooking devices. 

My favorite is the five-burner Grill King with side burner, priced at 43,900 baht. This baby has an electric starter firing five powerful heavy duty cast burners and a long-lasting lava rock heat distribution system with stainless flame tamer option.  

21 Sukhumvit Soi 39, tel: +66 (0)2 662 6665

4. Check out the new models

Take us car shopping. Really, I mean it. We might not be able to buy that latest Porshe on the spot, but  we’ll appreciate you bringing us to see it.

Just in time for Father’s Day, the Thailand International Motor Expo 2009 is on from Decmber 2-13 at Impact Muang Thong Thani. Very few men don’t enjoy a day browsing the latest models of cars in a room full of other automobile appreciators and pretty ladies showing them off. Trust us.

5. A manly day at the spa

Here’s a gift dad won’t be expecting. A spa treatment. Check out our “Men: Bangkok’s spas want you!” feature for some Bangkok spas that offer treatments and services geared towards men. Most offer gift certificates so dad can wait for a particularly stressful day to decompress with that “Man Space Tranquility” massage.