Gyms in Bangkok

[sydneyboy]

I am aware there was a recent thread on gyms in Bangkok but I have a specific question. Can anyone tell what gyms allow for casual visitors, that is pay per visit without joining? Can anyone assist based on personal experience?

[DJB0Y-old]

I know you can go to California Fitness and pay by the day. I think the daily rate is around 500 baht.

It might be a better deal to go to the Babylon Sauna and use their gym for your workout and enjoy the rest of the facilities at a lower price.

Have a great trip.

[Sen Yai]

sydneyboy, You can get a 3 month membership at California for THB 3,999
www.californiawowx.com/Membership/product_cat01.php (http://www.californiawowx.com/Membership/product_cat01.php)
or they have a promotion on now for one month for only THB 399
www.californiawowx.com/Promotions/Images/PRO_01_L.jpg (http://www.californiawowx.com/Promotions/Images/PRO_01_L.jpg)

Just call in and negotiate hard for a price for the period of time that you want.

If you are not in Thailand now, try Googling for other deals at Fitness First or Body Torque.

As mentioned, Fitness First in various locations is a good choice. The Olympic in the Patumwan Princess (MBK) is huge and has lots of gay members. I wouldn't recommend California, except perhaps for the California Wow in Paragon. Very gay. The California branch on Silom is full of boring office drones. It is depressing. It has low ceilings and is spread over many floors. Lots of hotels have gyms that can be used by the day but the equipment may not be the best. There used to be Clark Hatch but I am not sure if that is still around. If you want to work out on a shoestring the open air gyms in Lumpini Park are a good choice.

I had a Patumwan P one day w/out a few weeks back. It was 600 baht. They had CCTV cameras and posted warnings everywhere which implied to me there must have been problems with petty crime and whatever else so I think it's a place to be avoided. It does have the nicest Olympic sized salted pools I have ever enjoyed.

You can certainly do at least half better in costs just checking in to one of the saunas with good gyms, like 200 baht per visit.

[sydneyboy]

Thank you for these contributions but with respect my basic question remains unanswered. Can anyone name through experience a gym where I can pay per visit. In other words if I am in Bangkok for, say, 2 weeks and went to a gym 10 times could I pay each time I visited the gym.

[krobbie]

I know you seek an exact answer and all you get is assistance. I am sure you find this annoying.

Even I can read that the answer is YES. Anything from 200 baht to 600 baht. If you wish to pay more I am sure the gym will take it ... every day.

[thrillbill]

I guess this request depends how much of a gym rat you are. My work outs are generally an hour with weights then 30-45 minutes of cardio. I am not into the heavy duty mega power lifting scene; thus I can get by with the basic free weights and stations. When I go to Bangkok and want a gym, I end up using the one at Babylon since I am there just for the weekend. There are enough free weights but the "universal stations" are on the old side. There are enough cardio machines to select from. After working out at the Babylon gym, then you can relax around the pool. I had looked into using California Gym a few years ago and their day pass was over $20 which I thought was a bit ridiculous. I had gone to Clark Hatch (different name now) in Silom and at that time it was around $10 per day. If you plan to stay at a 5 star hotel in BKK, then do some research and find one with a gym - such as the Dusit in the Silom area.

[sydneyboy]

Thank you thrillbill for your information, much appreciated.

The Unico Grande (formerly Tower Inn) has a gym and it's use is free to guests. Bed and breakfast is under Bt2000. I stay there and am happy with the gym facilities. If you want a sauna it will cost an extra Bt200