Oh, and it’s probably worth mentioning that Elephantstay is a not-for-profit business, as you can see from their banner.
I was going to recommend you hiring a van but I see you’ve went that route already, just in case remind the driver not to speed.
For Bangkok you should check Richard Barrow’s blog page, for example Walking tour of the old-quarter. He has many blog entries of day trips to nice, non-touristy places close to Bangkok and you may find something worth a visit.
This probably won’t affect you, but a national referendum on the new constitution is scheduled for Sunday, August 7, and that will be an alcohol-free day too.
However, it is interesting to note that today (Wednesday) is the second day of a two-day Buddhist holiday, and bars and restaurants have been ordered not to serve alcohol. My buddy is down from upcountry for meetings, and last night we hit the Patpong red-light area. As usual in that area, many bars were selling hooch secretly, pouring it in regular glasses or coffee cups in a bid to disguise it. One bar we were in turned all the lights down real low all of a sudden due to word coming down the line of a police/soldier patrol heading its way. I was near the Nana Plaza red-light area earlier in the day, and all the bars there and along the street outside looked shut tight, and I believe it was the same for the Soi Cowboy red-light area and just about all the smaller areas.
But Patpong is usually the one place able to pull this sort of thing off, so you should be aware of this in case you just have to have a beer on the queen’s birthday next month. Unfortunately, Patpong is home to the few scams that are left. You’ll absolutely never encounter this in any of the other bar areas, but a handful of places in Patpong will try to entice you inside to see exotic shows while promising no cover charge. Shortly after stepping in the door, you’ll be presented with a huge bill, and goons will appear out of nowhere, placed strategically by the exit to prevent escape.
It’s not difficult to avoid such places. No one-story, ground-floor bars practice this sort of shenanigans, not a single one, and certainly none of the outdoors beerbars. It’s only a few of the upstairs places, those you have to climb up an internal staircase to enter, and not even all the upstairs places. Any upstairs bar belonging to the King’s Group or Queen’s Group is safe. Any bar belonging to either group will display a sign outside proudly proclaiming so.
(You may also want to avoid the upstairs joints called Rose Bar and Kangaroo Club. They won’t try to rip you off, far from it, but those are long-running blowjob bars, and pretty much the moment you walk in, the girls will have their hands down your pants. Or maybe you won’t want to avoid them, heh.)
Thanks, leaving for Taiwan tomorrow and will be in Bangkok August 12 although I believe **Una Persson **will be there on the 7th. I can handle skipping one night but on vacation don’t want to go more than a couple nights. We are doing the package tour but are on our own for the last day/night and I’m sure I’ll have some time at night to explore. I’ll keep my eye out for the King’s/Queen’s group places and maybe take my FiL to the Kangaroo Club. 
We arrive in BKK on the 7th and are there all week. No idea what to do yet. Probably go to my special Kwan Yin temple south of the river, Nana plaza, shopping, a few sights.
Coincidentally, my company is going to be sending me back to Bangkok on business in 2 months. Going to get a lot of Bangkok time.
That would possibly be the most memorable part of the trip for him, I’ll clue ya.