Bangkok

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Nov 21st, 2024

I was up at4:45 AM to catch my 9:30 AM flight.  Traffic in Bangkok can be crazy, I would rather get to the airport early and sit somewhere.   The Suvarnabhumi Airport is large busy airport and it is also a pretty airport.  My only complaint about the airport is that in a city and country known for their street food, why are all the restaurants chain restaurants?

Luckily I had a lounge pass and since I was headed home on a Star Alliance flight, I could use any Star Alliance flight.  I decided to see who had the nicest lounge, so I stopped off at the Thai Airways lounge, Turkish Airways, the Miracle Lounge followed by EVA lounge.  When I got to the EVA lounge, I remember being in that lounge before.  All of them had nice lounges but EVA’s lounge felt a little cramped with not a lot of food options.

I was flying back from through Haneda, and since we were going east across the international timeline, it would be one very long day.  When I got home, I couldn’t wait for a hot shower and struggled to stay awake while I got back into my time zone.

I am always sad when a vacation ends, I enjoy travelling, trying new foods and seeing new places as well as revisiting places I have seen before.   Overall, it was a great trip but there were a few hiccups along the way. Continue reading →

 Nov 20, 2024

Before going to this 200-acre outdoor cultural museum, I did a little research and most of the online reviews were positive, mentioning that you can take many Instagram-able photos of scaled down buildings and temples that can be found throughout Thailand.  We rented a golf cart and after a few stops we realized the map had very little information on it and debated if we should have also gotten the audio tour.

I couldn’t help but notice that although they are adding more to the park, there were buildings that desperately needing attention with the golden pavilion, one of the main attractions, being closed off completely.    We pretty much saw the entire park in a couple of hours.  If you enjoy filling your Instagram feed, the park might be very enjoyable, I was hoping for more culture and history.

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Nov 19th, 2024

We did not on going anywhere and seeing anything.   We stopped at the Amazon Cafe to get a latte and then hung out at the hotel for a while.  The main restaurant has a buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner.   We thought we would try it for lunch.  I noticed the hotel had been very busy with a technical conference.  As we were taken to our table, I noticed a lot of reserved sign with names of technology companies.   Overall, the buffet was good and I especially enjoyed the sashimi.

Later in the evening, we headed to the rooftop for a couple for drinks and to take in the view.   We had tried going up there earlier on in our stay but they kept closing it for private events.   We soaked in the view, had a couple of drinks that then headed out to dinner.

It was nice to chill instead of being on the move. Continue reading →

January 3rd, 2024

Bangkok was once famous for its canals and floating markets and was referred to as the Venice of the East.  Unfortunately, many of Bangkok’s canals are being filled in to create roadways and there are less and less of them. Instead of taking a taxi or train to the Giant Buddha, we opted to take a canal tour and experience how people lived and travelled before the automobile.

Although most of the boats on the canals were taking tourists around, the locals still use the canals as well.  On previous trips to Bangkok, I don’t remember seeing Asian Water Monitors, but I seem to be seeing a lot of them on this trip and they give me the creeps.   We also saw turtles and plenty of catfish.

After stopping at the Giant Buddha, there was another boat driver that was having problems getting his boat started.  He had tour tourists who clearly annoyed and confused.  Our tour guide asked if it was OK if we spent a few minutes trying to help them and we said it was fine.  Our driver couldn’t get the engine of the other boat started and when we took off, he said that he was having problems steering the boat. Continue reading →

January 3rd, 2024

The Giant Buddha was under construction the last time I was in Bangkok pre-pandemic.  I wanted to see the 230 foot tall (20 story building) buddha.  It is now the biggest Buddha in Thailand.

The Wat Pak Nam temple has a beautiful stupa called Phra Maha Chedi Maha Ratchamongkol and it has five floor containing a museum of Buddhist artifacts.  The top floor hos the Emerald Green Pagoda. I have to admit, it was impressive to see. I felt like I had been transported to another world.  The lighting and colors were amazing.   Sophon did his prayers and we moved on to the next part of our tour.

January 2nd, 2024

Lumpini Park is the central park of Bangkok.  We decided to go early to get some exercise during the cooler part of the day.  “Cooler” is a relative term, this is one of the cooler months of the year and the cooler part of the day is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, in the afternoon, the temps will climb into the 90s.

There was plenty of wildlife in the park including feral cats, turtles, egrets and Asian water monitors.  I am not a fan of reptiles and although the Asian water monitors are not known to attack humans, they reminded me of the Komodo dragons. They are fascinating to watch from a distance but didn’t want to get anywhere near them.

It was a really nice and it felt good to get into a park and to get some exercise!

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January 1, 2024

It is a Thai tradition to visit a temple on New Years day, we decided to go to Wat Traimit, home of the Golden Buddha.   The Golden Buddha is my favorite Buddha, the story of the Golden Buddha is that the golden statue was covered with clay to protect it from Burmese invaders back in the late 1700s.  In 1957, they went to move the clay Buddha only to discover that the clay Buddha was actually a golden one.

Not surprisingly, the story of the Golden Buddha has become a metaphor for discovering who we really are and how that we need to chip away at the layers of mud that develops as we go through life. It is a great story with a great message.  It also fascinating to look at, it is the world’s largest gold statue.  I jokingly call this Buddha the C3PO Buddha.

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