Bangkok July 2017

I can hardly believe it has been 18 years since we last visited Thailand and that was pre-child! My son is now a teenager and we thought the time right to explore further afield again. As a surprise, I booked us into the Escape Lounge at Manchester, nice to have a couple of glasses of prosecco to get the holiday off to a start! They have a good selection of light bites and snacks as well as drinks. The first leg of our journey took us to Doha flying on a Dreamliner with Qatar Airways, it was nice to see what all the fuss of the Dreamliner is about. My son loved all of the gadgets and I have to say it did seem quieter and smoother than other aircraft we have flown. Just 2 hours in Doha before the next flight, the connection was seamless with no security checks just a matter of getting off one aircraft and finding the gate for the next flight. On arrival in Bangkok, we made our way to the Movenpick Hotel Sukhumvit 15, which is only about a 10-minute walk from the Skytrain station Asok and Sukhumvit 21 a huge shopping center. As a nice touch, the hotel has a couple of tuc tuc's to take you from the side street it is located on down to the main road. We were very lucky to be given complimentary access to the Executive Lounge which was very quiet and relaxing with excellent service, so after a couple of cocktails and a round of canape’s we headed off. We decided the glitzy shopping centre was not what we wanted to see of Bangkok so hailed a Tuc tuc (it has to be done!) and hurtled through the streets zig zagging across lanes of traffic to Patpong, we thought early in the evening would be safer with a teenage boy in tow! The night market still has a huge array of goods of all types and is worthy of a visit, if you do not like the idea of seeing the seedier side of Bangkok follow our example and don’t go too late in the evening. By this time the rain started so we finished out purchases and worked out how to get back on the Skytrain. After a hearty breakfast at the hotel (try the steamed custard dumplings if you get a chance!) back on the Skytrain with a day ticket for the equivalent of less the £3 per person, we were set for a long day. The first call to the Chao Phraya River, from the Skytrain head to the river then hang a left to where the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat runs, a one-way ticket up the river is just 40 Baht, £1, we got off at the Grand Palace as did most of the tourists. Wat Pho, Temple of the Reclining Buddha, was the first port of call and I have to say it is much easier to navigate in relative tranquillity compared to the Grand Palace. It is a beautiful Temple complex has different wats, chedis, and pavilions all ornately decorated, but the giant Buddha at 15m tall and 46m long is the highlight! The Grand Palace did not open until 1 pm which gave us a little time out of the sun and to get some refreshments. The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is lying in state at in the Throne Hall at the Grand Palace and every day around 10,000 Thai people queue to pay their respects, it was really a sight to behold, all dressed in black, in line waiting patiently in the heat for their turn. The tourists, on the other hand, are a different story! Be prepared for pushing and shoving, ladies trying to shield themselves from the sun with umbrellas and using them as weapons, the scrum to get in probably took about 15 minutes. The Palace is once again very beautiful, but difficult to get really good photographs because of the number of other people there, it did feel like we just followed one big queue shuffling along in and out, one disappointment was that the Temple of the Emerald Buddha was closed, we did get a very quick long range glimpse though. Be prepared for the day and check the appropriate dress code of any Temples and Palaces you plan to visit. Time for refreshment, I had been told Mr. Jones’s Teddy Bear Orphanage is “The” cake shop to go to in Bangkok… hot and cold drinks, iced coffees, milkshakes, waffles, cakes and much more it certainly refueled our empty tanks. Back to the hotel, after a hot and sticky day, nothing beats a dip in the pool, then hit the Executive Lounge again! Headed over to Siam Square to a visit to the Hard Rock Café for a drink and spend a fortune of merchandise then explored the area a little, with cakes and canapes we weren’t hungry until late so found a Thai/Italian restaurant off the main street in the Sukhumvit area and ordered a giant pizza to share! They had Wimbledon on a big screen so we sat and enjoyed some tennis al fresco until very late. Next day, delicious breakfast again and out, we really have the Skytrain cracked now! This time heading to Jim Thompson’s House, the founder of the Jim Thompson Thai Silk Company, he built his collection of art and antiquities from all over Asia, and brought them together in a house which was itself collected and pieced together from different elements of different buildings, the story behind it is fascinating, this is definitely worth a visit… a lovely little oasis of calm within a very big city. Very much a whistle stop tour of Bangkok which leaves more to explore when we visit again