Recently we decided to go for a quick getaway in Bangkok. The last time I came to Bangkok I was maybe around 12 years old? I couldn’t remember much apart from a transvestite show the tour guide brought us. In hindsight I wonder why they thought it was a good idea to bring a group of Muslims with kids to a trans show. But I remembered it was a good performance.
Anyway, after x number of years that I shall not disclose, this would be my 2nd trip there. Just me and my husband 😄 We decided to go since it was his birthday weekend and spent two nights there. Three days, two nights, so effectively one whole day to spend minus travel time.
So, since I was there for roughly about a day, I thought I will write a proposal for you guys who just happen to be doing a quick trip as well for whatever reasons e.g: transit, dropping by etc. If you guys find yourself in bangkok (and it’s your first time visit) for roughly about a day, here are some of the things that you can do:
1) Head down to the main wats which are the Grand Palace, Reclining Buddha and Wat Arun.
You can reach there by taxi or take a boat at the Saphan Taksin pier. I would recommend the boat if possible. It will give you more of a local feel.
Note that there is a fee to go in the Grand Palace. About 5000THB.
Also, you have to get a boat to go to Wat Arun. It only costs 3 baht. Be careful the locals can take you for a ride and quote much higher.
Just these 3 wats can easily take you the whole morning. By the time you’re done, it’s lunchtime!
2) After spending the morning under the sun at the wats, next best thing to do (in my opinion) is go to the biggest mall in Bangkok, Siam Paragon. Trust me you’ll be glad of the air-conditioning. And Siam Paragon has all the food selection you can think off. I can’t think of anything that they don’t have actually. We had our lunch at Cafe Fish (seafood only), walked around and did some shopping, then continued with tea at Another Hound Cafe.
Also, Siam Paragon is connected to another mall called Siam Center. You can walk there as well.
After the mall, we took a break back to the hotel. Which then leaves the evening..
3) We stayed at Le Meridian in Bang Rak district. It is very near Patphong night market. You can have dinner at Oasis lounge for really delicious authentic Thai Food. Or you can walk over to a nearby mall at Chamchuri square, if you feel like Japanese or Western. Then you can make your way to Patphong. DO NOT BRING KIDS TO PATPHONG. Thats all I can say to that, as there will be hustlers begging you to watch the ping-pong show. We skipped, but the choice is yours.
After you’re done shopping I highly recommend you to drop by at Cloud47. It’s a really nice laid back place to chill. You can enjoy the live bands and most importantly, enjoy the spectacular night view of Bangkok from the 47th floor. You can’t miss the building. It’s the tallest building near Patphong market.
4) The other place you can go to, if you arrive on a weekend is the Chatuchak weekend market. But it only opens on the weekend so I had to skip this one as we left on a Saturday.
Enjoy your trip!
That’s all I have for my first round in Bangkok. I find the city itself is similar to KL, but where KL have mosques, Bangkok has temples. And of course with more rivers. A really lovely experience 🙂
Mews of The Muse 