Sawadee ka
Made a short trip up to Bangkok with Master Prince since he fell ill and couldn’t join us on the earlier trip to Macau/HK.
So this trip was specially catered more for him - so that means less interesting sights, less walking, less shopping, more western food, more air-conditioned places, more play at the hotel!!! 0_0
Before making this trip, I asked a lot of people whether it’d would be a good idea to go to Bangkok. Surprisingly I’ve never been there even though it is so near. The only part of Thailand place I’ve been to before a couple of times is the border town of Hat Yai. Anyway, was told by many that it is actually a good place for family and kids. (Btw was informed by friend that we made a good decision not to go visit Singapore during this time as it was really jam pack with people.)
Having visited BKK, I agree. Note that I was 'held back' and thus less adventurous since this trip was all for Master Prince. Otherwise I would have ventured to the night markets like Suan Luam or maybe catch a ‘show’ or two - think the tiger show sounds more interesting that the cabaret ones (hehe). Missed Chatuchack market too which is only opened on the weekend – next time when I got a baby-sitter, otherwise best just with GFs!!!
Here are some kid/family friendly activites.
Day 1 – Siam Underwater Ocean World.
We had a lot of fun on the glass floating boat ride, happy feet fishes (I'm ticklish so I was just screaming with the fishes smoothing my dead skin, MP kept cool with this smiles under control, almost!), looking at the sharks and string rays and shows. Unfortunately the touch and feel area and the 4D thrill ride was under maintenance that day otherwise think we would also have enjoyed that.
Interesting sights all around.We enjoyed learning and looking at various sea creatures and fishes.
Master Prince wants to come back when he is 10 years old because he gets to dive with the fishes!!
silly boy wants to swim with the sharks but is afraid of snakes!!!Day 2 – Safari Park.
Another fun place for kids with so many shows and attractions eg. orang utan show, seal show, dolphin show, stun man show etc. Basically spent the entire morning, walking from one show to another.
The zoo is actually not that big but they had a big safari backyard.
Lots of room for animals to roam around freely.
Enjoyed myself too, feeding the long-tongue giraffe. They were really tame and you could pet them too - cos all they want is food!!
....and hungry big tiger cubs.For a price you could also take pictures with the seal, orang utan and snakes.
They had a special area for the meat eating animals - tigers and lions. For safety reasons, there were rangers stationed nearby the tigers/lions.
This zebra reminds me of Marty from Madagascar.Day 3 – Floating market @ Damnoen Saduak.
Surprisingly, Master Prince picked this over the ‘boring’ temples even though it was about 2 hour road trip to get there.
He enjoyed the boat ride most. But eww…imagine the murky green 
Plenty of small long boats around the river filled with food, fruits and novelty items would be peddled to you as you slowly float by.
Lots of shop set up specially at the side of the river banks - imagine, shopping from your boat - so not me thus just enjoyed taking pictures, lots of them.
Was so tempted to try some but didn't want to risk any tummy issues - think it'd probably looks better than it taste???
This was such super tourist-sy place. But couldn’t help looking around, it was really interesting and IMHO worth the long journey to get there.Tour/tourist trap. We were brought to 5 other additional places other than the floating market that we paid for – coconut candy farm, elephant sanctuary, snake show, jewellery shop and wood carving place. Lucky you say? Not really as all they want is $$$ from you. Actually if I had the choice, we would have just skipped it all. Next time, should get a consensus vote with the other tour passengers whether they are interested or not and voice out whether or not to allow such things. The other thing I do not like is being pestered for TIPS. Hell-o if you did your job well, you will be rewarded. Otherwise if you did your ‘normal’ thing as you are expected to do, I am not sure that really qualifies as being entitled to extra TIPS.
Cooked coconut candy (on the left) using the sweet honey sap of the coconut flower (on the right).
Love the many creative uses of the used coconut shells for decorative purposes - a large variety of choice making it hard to decide.
Snake show. Master Prince was conflicted. He wanted to watch and yet he was scared so basically he stayed at the far side of the benches.
Elephant ride anyone??Other miscellaneous pictures:
Kick boxing - drew a large crowd and no wonder since the ladies were in the ring!!
Noticed a lot of street vendors, peddling their sale.
Attractive mung bean shaped/filled fruits. Didn't get any - the artificial colouring just put me off. 
Seems to be a popular local quick snack.
cute colourful shoes filled with buttons.
oooo, this was really good - Hokkaido ice cream, yum!
plump BBQ squid.
crispy sweet snack - not sure what they are called but similar to our local apam balik.
This Vietnamese roll looked better than it tasted.
Spicy Tom Yum Noodles - think mama tom yum instant noodles fared better. But can't expect too much since I got this at Siam Paragon.Travel notes:
Can booked tours outside airport after getting out of customs. Have to bargain as I noted that there were some disparity in prices after comparing with other tour passengers. Eg. Safari world – paid Bhat1200/pax while another family paid Bhat 1300/pax. For floating market paid Bhat800/pax but another couple paid Bhat750/pax – so lesson is not to be afraid to voice out and ask for a discount, it helps :) Tell them, give you cheaper so that you can pay the tour guide and the van driver tips!!!
Quick & easy transportation. From the Suvarnabhumi Airport, take the airport trainto Makkasan or Phaya thai which takes only 30 min. Ticket cost Bhat15 and then change to MRT train or BTS to your hotel/destination. In total it cost me Bhat30 to get to my hotel compared to other passengers who said that they spent about Bhat500 from airport to hotel. Of course if you are carrying back the whole of Thailand, a taxi would be a wiser choice.
For network train map in Bangkok, click here.
Can booked tours outside airport after getting out of customs. Have to bargain as I noted that there were some disparity in prices after comparing with other tour passengers. Eg. Safari world – paid Bhat1200/pax while another family paid Bhat 1300/pax. For floating market paid Bhat800/pax but another couple paid Bhat750/pax – so lesson is not to be afraid to voice out and ask for a discount, it helps :) Tell them, give you cheaper so that you can pay the tour guide and the van driver tips!!!
Quick & easy transportation. From the Suvarnabhumi Airport, take the airport trainto Makkasan or Phaya thai which takes only 30 min. Ticket cost Bhat15 and then change to MRT train or BTS to your hotel/destination. In total it cost me Bhat30 to get to my hotel compared to other passengers who said that they spent about Bhat500 from airport to hotel. Of course if you are carrying back the whole of Thailand, a taxi would be a wiser choice.
For network train map in Bangkok, click here.
