Jump Ahead:
Day 1 – Arrive, Silom, Bang Rak, Lumphini Park
Day 2 – Wat Arun, Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Pak Khlong Flower Market, Old Siam Market, Chinatown, Khao San Road, Wat Saket
Day 3 – Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Jim Thompson House, Terminal 21 Shopping Mall, Ratchada Rot Fai Night Market
Day 4 – Chatuchak Market, Muay Thai, Shopping Malls
Day 5 – Ayutthaya, Shopping Malls
Final Day 6 – Departure
This was another one of those last minute planning trips and more of just a checklist destination. Having been surrounded by Navy people all of my career, the stories they generally tell about what goes on in Thailand left a pretty bad impression in my mind. Knowing that, I still wanted to go and at least see for myself what life is like there. Those who know me already know I’m not big on beach resorts and would much rather try to immerse myself in the more day-to-day normal life of people there so for this trip I settled on exploring Bangkok. I didn’t have such high expectations for this short trip but as I started to do research online, I found more than enough activities to fill my days there and keep my busy. Majority of the things I planned didn’t require reservations and although I found a bunch of random tour group sites online, I didn’t want to deal with the stress of not knowing which to trust so again I just settled on booking through the hotel travel group. As a single traveller, I had to put a little extra effort into finding tour groups that don’t charge extra for single person tours though majority of what I found were pretty flexible, even allowing for reservations the day before the tour. Weather was factored into my decision to wait until I got there to book since it was also supposed to rain during some of the days I wanted to book tours and I was also sick for most of the trip. In the end, everything worked out pretty well and I was able to do more than I had initially planned while also changing my feelings towards Thailand and what it has to offer.
Day 1
12/6/18, landed just before 0500 at the airport, got through immigration/customs no problem. Pretty laid back actually. Bypassed all airport currency exchange (30.18) and went to Super Rich near the train gates. Next to Happy Rich… both were pretty close to each other… Super Rich was trading at 32.59 (changes slightly depending on the bill). My 100 bill was too old so they didn’t accept it though I think they just couldn’t verify if it was real. Definitely worth going to Super Rich instead of the airport ones. Bought a 45 baht token for the city link train to Phaya Thai. Token works like an IC chip. Scan at the entrance gates (look a lot like Japan’s). 0550 waiting for train so all-in-all about an hour from getting off the plane, going through immigration and customs, exchanging money and getting on train… not bad. Long line at the currency exchange too and they weren’t open yet when I got there. Weather is looking like rain on the weekend which might ruin some plans but hopefully it’ll clear up by then and I can book some day tours through the hotel. Still feeling sick so just going with what’s convenient rather than cheap.
0700, caught the airport city link line to Phaya Thai for 45 baht, took about 30 minutes. Put your token into the slot when you exit so you don’t get it back. Bought another ticket for the BTS line from Phaya Thai to Siam and then to National Stadium, 26 baht. This line issues a one time use card, same function as the token and you don’t get to keep it as you go through the exit gate. Short walk to Holiday Inn Express. Got checked-in and they actually gave me the room already even though I was super early. Nice to be able to change, unpack a little and relax before heading out again. Tour desk in the lobby opens at 0800 so I’ll probably check out the day tours they offer before heading out.
Trains so far are pretty frequent. Didn’t have to wait long and didn’t bother checking train schedules (I was aware of this before arriving though). Very clean trains and quiet… nobody really makes noises… really not a bad way to get around town.
I think when I was planning this trip I didn’t expect too much just because all of my prior biases towards Thailand revolve around working around Navy people (and what they do in various parts of Thailand). I did find more interesting things than I thought I would and found some good options for day tours but now that I’m sick I’ll just stick with what the hotel offers for day tours (if the weather cooperates)… already had to rearrange some things on my itinerary. Should be interesting trip at least and the food is good. Transportation so far is good, just hope the weather and my body holds up. Trying to come here with an open mind, appreciate it for what it is and make it my own experience and not some stupid Navy Pattaya or Phuket story thing. Actually looking forward to this trip now that I’m here. Hopefully everything goes smoothly, so far so good.
At 0900 I went downstairs to book my day tours. Apparently holidays or rain doesn’t matter for these tours. 1000 baht for floating market and 1500 baht Ayuthaya bus tour. 0920 jumped on train from National Stadium going down to Saphan Taksin (40 baht) to walk around Silom area.
Not too much on the walk today, just walking to wander around. Kind of chaotic and hot… some interesting looking buildings but that’s about it. I did like all the random food pop-up stands everywhere but nothing seemed of the healthy variety so I wasn’t so much in the mood today at least.
Felt more sick now so I stayed in for the rest of the night after the walk. Didn’t eat much, headache, little nauseous, feeling better and worse at the same time. Throat was bad, all congested and tired.
Going to wake up early and see how I feel. Didn’t get to do the night market tonight but hopefully tomorrow feels better.
Day 2
Slept in a little today but feeling good enough to go out I guess. Hotel breakfast was good. Got to the Chao Praya river boat by 0950, just waiting now to go to the Grand Palace. I guess the way lines in stores work here is if you’re ready to pay just put your stuff on the counter or go up to the desk, you don’t have to wait for other people who aren’t ready. Dirty air, muggy, hot, hopefully I last all day today.
Water taxi was super cheap, only 15 baht and they did stop at Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) so I got off there. Water taxi is really hop on, hop off quickly. They don’t wait around so you have to know what stop you want to get off at. The one I caught was the orange flagged boat. At Wat Arun, just walked around… cost 50 baht for entrance to the temple area and they do rent out extra clothes to cover up if you’re not dressed appropriately. Will catch the cross river ferry after this to go to the Grand Palace area.
After Wat Arun, caught the cross river ferry over… Only 4 baht but then from the pier you have to walk all the way around the Grand Palace grounds to get to the entrance… In hindsight, maybe better to catch the orange flagged boat again a little further up the river to Tha Chang. The entrance gate was near the Na Phra That Alley/Na Phra Lan Rd intersection. Once in the grounds, you first go through the emerald buddha temple… one of the few places you have to take your shoes off. No pictures inside but still everything is pretty impressive… detail, architecture, design. Way way too crowded, loud, and hot to really enjoy this place. Going to make my way now through the crowd to the actual Grand Palace.
After the Emerald Buddha, you kind of just walk by the Grand Palace and view it from the outside.. take a couple pictures and that’s about it. Didn’t bother getting a brochure and reading up on the history to be honest… really just sightseeing… although that is impressive enough to me on it’s own. Just don’t ask me any historical questions until I get back home to research further. Still hot but feeling ok enough to continue on to the next temple, Wat Pho.
Wat Pho was pretty impressive. Really huge reclining Buddha, blinged out feet. Good chance to refill water bottles at the refill station here. Only 100 baht entrance with free bottled water.
At about 1300, walked to the Pak Khlong Flower Market near Yodpiman pier… nothing so exciting for me.. just literally a bunch of flowers as you’d imagine. Intersections here are pretty confusing just walking around. Crosswalks are a free-for-all so always be careful walking around.
After the flower market, I walked through Old Siam Market… lot of random food stalls everywhere, especially in the back alley. Lot of them look good and still haven’t eaten anything yet.
Just walked through Chinatown, definitely a lot more action in the back alleys than in the main street. Just crowded with a lot of junks for the most part so I simply did a quick squeeze through. Have to do better at just eating at the first place that looks good when I’m walking around. I don’t know why I tend to keep waiting for a more ideal restaurant and then by the time I know it, it’s hours later and still haven’t eaten anything. In hindsight, most times the first place would’ve been just as good or better than where I end up at. Now I’m at Rajchawongse pier, waiting again for the orange flag boat. 15 baht to go to Phra Arthit and the Khao San Night Market area.
Caught the Chao Praya Express orange boat again for 15 baht. Really have to pay attention to things like which direction you want to go in, where you want to get off and on the boat, which line to wait in as it’s not super obvious (at least not if you can’t read signs). Also, if you sit on the outside edges of the boat, there’s a good chance you’ll get splashed as I did (in the face and leg). Got off at Phra Arthit… should be last place I visit (I know I keep saying this). It’s only 1530 so a little early for the night market but going to look for food anyway.
Walked through Khao San road for a little while… definitely where all the tourists are. Touristy, bar, restaurant, massage places, backpacker type place. Got some basic street cart food, pad thai and spring rolls for 90 baht total. spicy sausage, 20 baht. bag of mango for 40 baht, pretty good and sweet. People were still setting up for the night market and putting their stalls up on the street. Was still only 1645 and the night market supposedly didn’t start until 1800 but I feel like I’ve seen enough and got the idea of the place already. Just like any other touristy market area in other countries I’ve been to. Walking back to the hotel on the main road now. Going to try to catch the other public transport boat (Khlong)…
Took a detour to Wat Saket (Golden Mountain Temple) since it happened to be so close to the Khlong river boats. The timing was almost perfect for sunset and weather too. Would be a little difficult to come back out to this area later on so just decided to go. Have to walk up some stairs to get to the top (stomach was cramping a little from the food I ate earlier) but for the most part not a difficult climb. Just sitting and relaxing watching the city sky line… air is pretty dirty obviously so the sunset was not as great. The view is good though, 360 degrees. So far experience in Bangkok is different from the Navy stereotype that I get from working around so many sailors. For me it was interesting, very hot, chaotic, a little old mixed with new everywhere you go… so far not what I was expecting but was in a good way. Feeling okay so hopefully when I get back to the hotel I can get a good night sleep. Early start tomorrow.
From Wat Saket, walked back down the temple stairs and went to the Khlong boat Phanfa Leelard pier. At first I wasn’t sure to get on the boat waiting there or not because nobody was collecting money prior to and the boat was also facing the opposite direction of where I wanted to go but I was pretty sure that it is the last stop on the line and thought I saw a previous boat turning around after the nearby bridge. Took a chance and jumped on and sure enough it did turn around after and head in the direction I wanted to go. Pay for the ticket on the boat. Someone comes by asking you how many tickets you want and where you’re getting off (for me Hua Chang). I’m pretty sure it only cost me 9 baht… though it all happened so fast so I didn’t count exactly. Boat moves pretty fast, and was super convenient for me. The piers are much smaller and are in a little more sketchy seeming areas… at Hua Chang, you get off and kind of walk through some tent covered restaurants I’m guessing… not a far walk back to the hotel. Just stopped by 7/11 at Ebis to get more water and orange juice, then called it a day.
Super long day obviously, and the hardest one I had planned, but glad I got to do everything on the list and then some (considering the previous day I was kind of dying). Hopefully I can get a good night sleep and won’t be too tired for the early start tomorrow morning and floating market tour. Hoping the weather holds up at least a little bit because it’s supposed to rain super hard in the area. Very hot, tired, sweaty but it’s only 1830 now so I can at least take a cool shower and relax/sleep early. *Once again, I failed in the hotel bathroom like in Vietnam in that I couldn’t get the hot water running simply because I wasn’t waiting long enough with the handle in the opposite direction.
Day 3
Breakfast this morning was pretty much same thing as day before minus good spicy sour noodle soup. The floating market shuttle van came around 0712 and had a lot of people in it already. From my hotel we went to Khao San Road area where some people got off and some people got on… kind of dividing people up by what tour they signed up for (half day, full day, etc.). Left Khao San area around 748 and from there it was about 90 minutes exactly driving to the floating market.
It’s really rainy once we got here… the driver was speeding pretty much the whole way and even answering the phone sometimes… at least the seat belts worked. The road layout doesn’t always make sense to me but at least there wasn’t much traffic and we got there safely (despite speeding in the rain). Lot of scooters on the side of the road, lot of lane creeping… our driver was probably fastest on the road. Arrived at floating market around 0920 and waited for about 5 minutes for the tour guide to show up. I wouldn’t say he was much of a tour guide because he basically gives a 5 minute introduction to the market and then it’s pretty much free roaming for 2 hours. You can hire a “battle” boat for 150 baht but that’s not included in the tour price. Raining pretty heavily so think I’ll just walk around and see what I can see. Have to meet back up at 1120 at which point we’re supposed to catch some speed boat thing (I mean at least one with a motor attached) upriver (canal) to some village so we’ll see if the rain stops by then but doesn’t seem so.
Started dumping rain so I skipped the “battle” boat ride and just walked around. It’s pretty touristy for the most part as far as the goods they sell. Ate some spicy sour pork noodles off one of the boats for 50 baht which to be honest was probably what I found most entertaining about the whole market. Very tasty and cheap. Still got time, only 1045 so went and got a lychee smoothie for 60 baht. Then just relaxed until it was time to get on the speedy boat.
The “long” boat ride (or maybe it’s meant to be literally a long boat) only lasted about 10 minutes to the next village but you do get to see some of the other village homes along the canal which is pretty interesting and unique. When you get off the boat you just wait for the guide to sort you into the proper white shuttle vans depending on where your next destination is. It’s not 1147.
Made it back to the hotel by about 1330. Still alive… I would say it was one of the most intense drives ever… somehow the second driver going back to Bangkok was more aggressive than the first one. I don’t know what they’re on but the first driver had that long pinky nail. This driver was going at least 130km/hr tailing and weaving… yeah, pretty intense, even driving on the shoulder sometimes while I’m sitting there thinking I’m about to be just another statistic. Back at the room now, going to relax for a little bit and then decide where to go later tonight.
1500, left hotel for Jim Thompson’s house. Coincidently, the free shuttle golf cart was passing by on the main road so I hopped on that to get to the museum area (which was only like 2 blocks away anyway). Entrance fee was 200 baht, they schedule you for a tour (which is included in the entrance fee) based on the language you prefer, giving you a time to meet and the group letter you should go with. Now just waiting for the tour to start at 1535. No pictures inside the actual house area so can only take photos of the garden area while waiting.
Tour was about 30 minutes in length. Through the garden and the house… more interesting than I thought it would be (I don’t often sign up to tour other people’s houses). Interested in learning more about it all when I get back home anyway. Interesting architecture, history, and art… just little things here and there. Jumped back on the shuttle after the tour was done to go to Terminal 21 shopping mall.
Caught the train to Asok station, pretty crowded during this time of day I guess. Walked around Terminal 21 until I found the food court… can’t believe how cheap it is to eat here. The whole meal was only like $2. Took me a while to figure out how to pay but I guess you have to get a prepaid card first, then use the card at the food stall after ordering your food. Makes sense.. it’s much faster. Even have sterilizing water for your utensils here and there. Especially liked the crispy pork… just can’t believe how cheap it is… Almost makes no sense to eat street food when it’s cheaper and cleaner here (though that’s typically not the case based on past travels).
Rest of Terminal 21 was just pretty much your average mall… lot of imported things more expensive as you’d imagine. Interesting airport them though with the departure and arrival gates around the world. Shape and architecture are cool too. After Terminal 21, caught the MRT (black token) purple line from Sukhumvit to the Thailand Cultural Center station to go to the night market there.
Night market was pretty crazy, very crowded, hot… lot’s of everything though… restaurants, bars, tons of food stalls. Looks like they specialize in big river prawns.. food looked good, just way too crowded and hot. Seemed like some of it was geared more towards party platter type so better to go in a group. Lot of the foods seemed like typical street food I’ve already seen in other places. Didn’t really trust the sushi I saw. All-you-can-eat prawns restaurants let you catch your own prawn in the tubs next to the tables (about 700 baht, no time limit). Lot of stalls again just nothing I’d be interested in buying. Coughing a lot. Started to rain just as I was leaving so timing was good.
Caught the MRT back to Sukhumvit and walked around Terminal 21 a little more to find dessert… didn’t find anything but again I was surprised at the restaurants there (quality too)… they had a lot of Japanese restaurants, Tim Ho Wan, and even the Michelin chicken hawker from Singapore. Ended up catching the train back to National Stadium and got ice cream from the McDonald’s at my hotel. Yeah I know I know, McDonald’s but in my defense the menu was different and cheaper than McDonald’s in other countries hehe (they’ve got milk tea floats and spicy ketchup!). Went back up to the room, ate my float and fries, calling it a day. Tomorrow should be the Chatuchak Weekend Market and maybe watch Muay Thai boxing if it’s free, then just free time… maybe more malls.
Day 4
Sunday breakfast was the same as usual at the hotel. They have a big bicycle event today so luckily I had no plans in the area where the roads would be closed. Caught the train to Mo Chit station, 44baht, pretty crowded as this is supposedly the biggest outdoor market in the world. When you get there it is HUGE and just crowded with a maze of stalls. Best to find the information station first and get a map unless you really plan on wandering around all day here. The map is at least narrowed down into categories of goods and groups stalls together based on that. My plan was just to walk the perimeter and then head into the middle maze for a little while. It’s 1027 now but arrived here about 1000 so we’ll see how long I actually stay…. just a bunch of random goods and food stalls and everything else you can think of I guess at one of these markets. Don’t think I really need anything but who knows what you’ll find (part of the excitement).
1245, almost 3 hours in the market… unexpected find was a used Tokyo Porter messenger bag. Kind of old and dirty but stitching was still strong and insides were good. Should clean up well.. the guy was asking 1200 baht initially, I said 800, then he countered 1100, then 1000… then I walked away. Came back later and offered 900 but he was pretty firm on 1000 so I went to 950 and finally he dropped to 980. So in the end it ended up being about $30. Also bought some tea (150 baht) and soap (100 baht) for Marie, walked around and didn’t see anything else that interested me (that one haggle kind of made me tired too). Left the market and just on the street next to it were some food stands on the sidewalk near the park with little plastic stools so I decided to have lunch, pork tom yum noodle soup.
Well, that was intense. 1600 now, was in the arena for two and a half hours. Usually I’m not one for fighting type sports but can’t deny the spirit and culture and energy you feel in that arena… it’s pretty amazing… way more intense and interesting than I thought it would be granted it was my first time ever watching. The energy only builds as the fight goes on. Stayed for 3 flights and since I don’t know any of the fighters by name I can just say that blue won, blue won, then a draw haha… fights didn’t start until about 1430. I arrived earlier at 1330 and just managed to get into the bottom row of seating in the foreigner section… I read before hand that you should go earlier but I wasn’t going to wait that long for a fight initially. It was sooo tight that you basically had half a seat… just so cramped in there (even more so than the outfield seating at a Baystars game ;P). If there was a fire, you’d probably be dead and bathroom? Forget about it… part of the reason why I stayed as long as I did was because I was waiting for others to leave just so I could squeeze out myself. On the way in they checked my bags at the main street gate, and then again at the arena entrance in the back of the building (walk around the right side of the building). No bottled water allowed in the arena and again don’t expect to use the bathroom once you get crammed in there. Doesn’t really matter where you sit but the foreigner area is on the far side of the room from where the entrance is. The view is pretty much the same all around the arena so it shouldn’t matter where you sit but if the locals know you’re obviously a tourist they’ll kind of wave you over to the foreigner section. I did see some foreigners in the locals sections but that’s just because the place was so jam packed that they literally had no where else to go. Definitely entertaining… can’t complain for free and it was live TV I assume. Was sitting behind the judges so maybe I got on TV :P.. my legs were falling asleep straddling the gated area. Paid seating area in front of me was 200 baht (anyone can buy in)… though my view was almost the same minus the leg space. I was ground floor, center stage area. What a unique Bangkok experience anyway, real muay thai. So two and a half hours, got to watch three full fights. I don’t understand all the rules and betting signals in the crowds but made sense who won just based on the energy from the crowd. The place is definitely more for locals than tourists which made it feel more authentic. Going back to the hotel now to drop off the stuff I bought at the market.
Walked the opposite way from the hotel to the Tesco Lotus Center. Very local shopping mall if you want to call it that… similar to like an Aeon mall in Japan. Not much english there. Decent food court and big grocery store/home store kind of like a Walmart. Got some snacks from here then took it back to the room to drop it off.
Afterwards went to MBK center which is supposed to be the oldest shopping center in Bangkok… you can kind of tell it’s old and it has the feel of an underground mall despite it being more than six floors up. The food court on the fifth and sixth floors are not bad. I chose to eat at the sixth floor and thus my food court cash card collection began hehe. The last vendor was going to keep it once my balance ran down to zero… I asked the girl if I could keep it as a souvenir and she didn’t really understand… then another guy stepped up and slid it back to me on the side with that look of “I’ve got you” haha. Had some pork and rice which was not bad for $2 and coconut jelly worm corn shave ice milk dessert thing was pretty good too haha.
After MBK, I walked to Siam Square One which is more of an outdoor type mall… seeing as how it was still warm outside I didn’t stay long there. Then walked through the Siam BTS station to get to the other side of the main road where Siam Paragon mall is but didn’t go in this time (save for tomorrow). Instead I went into Siam Center next to Paragon. All the malls on this side of the main road are much nicer and obviously newer to me but MBK has history I guess. Siam Center has the Food Republic food court which was one of the nicest ones I think of all the malls at this point. Wanted another excuse to collect that food court cash card so I put on just enough to get a watermelon smoothie hehe. After that, just walked around from Siam Center to Siam Discovery.. no food court there but they did have a pretty interesting Thai souvenir shop… looked to have everything you’d need and prices weren’t bad either so if there were any kind of one stop souvenir shop this seemed like a good one… might stop back in again tomorrow. After 3 food courts so far, I think I still like Terminal 21 the best (was also the cheapest). Siam Discovery and Siam Center were both pretty nice inside though.
Tomorrow will be all the Central malls so Central Embassy, Central Chidlom, and Central World which are also supposed to be more nice and fancy. Maybe Paragon too, depending on how much time I have after the Ayutthaya day tour. Roof top gym back at the hotel weren’t bad… I went there before going back to my room. Got back to my room, took some medicine, ate my crispy spicy fried chicken chips. Tomorrow will be the last full day and last chance to finish the things on my things to see list. Also hoping the driver is much safer tomorrow too. 1054, calling it a night.
Day 5
Monday, last full day in Bangkok. Woke up early again at 0500… slight headache, and can’t cough up anything though I need to. Same breakfast again, ate a little less. Shuttle came around 0710 and when to Khao San road again. This time we transferred into a mini-bus (to my relief). It was a long drive and in hindsight I should’ve used the bathroom before but spent most of the trip worrying about having to use a bottle hehe.
Left Khao San road around 0750, arrived at first temple, Wat Phu Khao Thong (Golden Mount) by 0915. Seems like today we’ll have a dedicated tour guide with actual information. More than one bus is travelling together as a group. 30 minutes to walk around here… meeting up again at 1000 to leave. Tour guide seems knowledgeable and spoke a lot of history about the ancient capitals of Thailand (four through history). Nice weather, just hot as usual.
The second stop was only about 20 minutes away at the reclining Buddha Sai Yat. We had ample time here and it wasn’t such a big place so I took a break to have a popsicle too. Afterwards while I was walking around, an old lady came up to me offering me a little piece of gold square that you place onto the Buddha where you pray near the lotus flowers (I think lotus flowers). She’s showed me where and how to pray 3 times and then she put a bunch of little gold figurines in my hand explaining how one is for good luck, one is good fortune, good family, those kind of things… then comes the obvious sales pitch so the whole thing from the start is trying to sell you something. I guess at least this one has some kind of service tied to it? Was looking for some kind of souvenir for myself anyway and at least this had some kind of story to it… she asked 200baht for the tiny elephant and I already knew that was a rip off compared to the actual tourist stalls around so I gave her 100 instead… still a relative rip off even if it was only about $3. She wanted 600 baht for the set of four but I only took the one elephant… “for men”.
Third temple was Wat Maha That, known for the Buddha head surrounded by the (bodhi?) tree roots… here from 1100 to 1150, then supposed to get lunch followed by two more temples and the Kings Summer Palace on the way back to Bangkok.
Stopping for lunch, basic note (especially for that rude old man), for these kind of hop-on hop-off bus tours, there’s NO assigned seats! Especially when it’s only less than 10 minutes between stops. First come first serve, and when it says don’t leave your bags on the bus, that means do not leave your damn bags on the bus! Plus, let the people in the front rows get out before the people in the back rows try to squeeze out…. just basic common sense. But when everyone on the bus is too ignorant and don’t pay attention, now we’re all stuck sitting in the same damn seats. Downside of doing tours is being around idiots.
Had about 30 minutes to eat, buffet style lunch. No meat really, mostly all vegetables, rice and noodles with curried potatoes. Not bad but don’t need seconds. 1240 now, got here around 1205. Think we’re going to walk to the last 2 temples, then some free time for shopping at the market near the lunch place.
Walking around Wat Phra Si Sanphet (one of the temples in Mortal Kombat) and Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit right next to it. The stage nearby is so loud, it’s kind of irritating… I don’t know why they do or allow that. Pretty interesting ruins, reminding me of Cambodia but a little more beat up and run down. Again, similiar to there, people can walk around on a lot of the areas which to me damages it more than preserves. Here until 1400 so finish up here, peek into Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit and then go through the market to meet the bus again.
Prices in the touristy area markets are actually comparable or better than regular store prices so if you do see something you like, I think best to just buy it there. Bit surprising really and I overheard other people were commenting the same thing.
1445 to 1545 we were at the King’s Summer Palace, Bang Pa-In. The guide said the King usually stays there only one day a year but not in the summer because it’s too hot (45 degrees) so it’s usually in November. The rest of the year it’s open to the public and tourists. Just a nice place to walk around I guess. Pretty peaceful place, lots of birds, quiet, just hot. You can rent golf carts to drive on your own for 400 baht per cart, up to four people.
1742, just got dropped off at the hotel. Rough bumpy ride, still not much leg room. Drop off wasn’t organized at all. Actually got back to Khao San road at 1705 and from there took another 40 minutes just to get to my hotel and there were still a few people left after me. Again, idiots trying to customize their drop off points and confusing the driver instead of just going back to where they were picked up from. So… just going to freshen up and then head out to the malls again, then that’ll be it for my last day.
Caught the BTS from National Stadium to Chit Lom, then from there the exit takes you through Central Chidlom mall. From there you can transit through to the Central Embassy mall on the second floor. Central Embassy has the “Eat Thai” food court down on the lower level where I decided to have dinner. It’s a little more pricey than the other food courts but a good selection of food. Only bummer was they didn’t have food court cards there, only a rectangular piece of cardboard (it’s big) with a barcode. You scan your card at all the individual food stalls when you order, and then as you exit the food court area you pay based on what you scanned to the card. Since it’s a closed off food court area, if you want to look at what they offer without having to buy anything, you can ask the front desk people for a walkthrough card and they’ll give you one for just looking around. You still need to return that card when you leave. Pretty good food. The crepes not my favorite and the crispy pork was a little disappointing but not bad. Lot of money leftover still.
Walked along the street to Central World shopping mall. That one really blew me away (as much as shopping malls could). It was just huge and truly international with every store you could think of from different countries. Kept walking in circles… it’s so big they didn’t even have directory phamplets… you just use an iPad at the info desk. You could definitely spend all day in there. Very impressive malls all together.
From Central World I kept walking back towards my hotel to Siam Paragon, the final big mall. They also had a good food floor on the lower level with a good grocery store too. Stomach was feeling a little weird so kind of watching how much and what I eat… for this whole trip actually. Walked back through Siam Center and Siam Discovery again. Tokyo Porter wallet was about $81 US. Got some bubble tea and then stopped by 7/11 again to get more water and try some Thai beers since I didn’t get to drink at all the entire trip yet. Now 2140, and yeah… impressive malls… long day with Ayutthaya, pretty cool. Just going to clean up, relax and start packing. Tomorrow nothing planned, just eat breakfast, pack and go to the airport. That’s all for today.
Final Day 6
Checked out of the hotel around 1120. Caught the BTS to Phaya Thai, then from there the airport express to directly to the airport. Got to the airport a little after 1200, maybe 1220ish… exchanged some baht back to USD and the exchange rate is such that I swear they only charge like 0.45% off of the market exchange rate so exchanging a little more than 1000baht back to USD I’m only losing like 16 cents… pretty negligible and I don’t feel cheated or wasting money at all having to exchange back again. Still have a little over 500 baht left to spend so after checking in for my flight I walked around and ended up at a Thai food restaurant on the arrival floor (most restaurants seemed to be on this floor or the bottom metro floor. Wanted to get crispy pork one more time so I got that as a rice dish and a watermelon smoothie. 1300 now, just ordered. Boarding time is 1410.
Everything at the airport is expensive but you can buy things after you go through the security gate as well. They have a lot of shops actually. So if you do have leftover money you don’t have to worry about exchanging it before hand. The airport exchange rate though is like 33.25 vs. 32.7 at Super Rich. It can be quite a difference depending on where you choose to exchange money. Security and immigration lines are pretty slow so allow a little extra time for that, generally speaking. Now 1350 and boarding in about 20 minutes.. just got through security.
Very old boarding gate. Thai Airways, only first class boarding and then everyone else so there’s a mad rush. But it’s all for nothing because we had to catch shuttle bus to another gate and had to wait on the bus because they weren’t ready yet. No information and nobody telling you which walkway to go down (just use common sense). Just a very inefficient and unorganized boarding process here.
