Phra Uposatha (main chapel) in Wat Pho
11th - 13th & 24th - 26th February 2006
I last visited the city in November which is just slightly more than two months ago. Then, Bangkok was the first stop of my tour of Thailand. This time round, it’s the final stop on my four-city tour through Malaysia, Cambodia, and of course Thailand. This is my fifth trip to Bangkok. As such, a sense of familiarity replaces the usual sense of anticipation that I have as I fly into a city.
From Phnom Penh’s Pochentong Airport, my mum and I flew into Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport. From the airport, we took a taxi to Khao San Road, which is Bangkok’s famous backpacker’s district or ghetto if you like.I stayed at the same guesthouse that I stayed in when I was in Bangkok in November. The only difference is we opted for an air-conditioned room instead. By the time we checked in, it was already pass noon. We settled for a quick lunch near Khao San Road and we took a taxi to Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Now, Chatuchak Weekend Market for those who are unfamiliar is a huge sprawling open-air market. Well, it’s said to be one of the largest weekend markets in the world so perhaps that will give you an idea of how huge it is. Anyway, this is my third visit (and fourth too if you read on) to Chatuchak, and I’ve still not managed to cover every part of it.This time round, we headed straight to the pets section because we wanted to buy some clothes for our dog, Joya.
Well, my past two visits to Chatuchak were really rushed affairs. Both times, I had to catch a train to elsewhere. This is the first time that I actually had a couple of hours to explore the place.Anyway, the pet section is very interesting. There are all sorts of pets on sale there. You name it, they have it. Well, besides the usual pets like dogs, rabbits and hamsters, they also sell squirrels, snakes and other reptiles to spice up your life. Very fascinating, especially the dogs and rabbits which are very cute. I guess there'll be lots of impulse buyers. Along the way, we came across a poodle that has been dyed pink. If you ask me, I think it's a little grotesque-looking. Dogs are not meant to be pink or purple or blue for that matter.
Anyway, we soon found some t-shirts for Joya and we left the pet section. We wandered around Chatuchak a while more and we finally landed up in the clothing section. However, we did not stay long. The sun was setting and we decided to leave the place.
We walked over to the BTS station and we took the skytrain to the Siam Square area. From the Siam BTS station, we walked over to Siam Paragon, which is said to be the biggest mall in Asia. Looks pretty upmarket. From here, we strolled over to Mahboonkrong Shopping Centre or more commonly known as MBK. We headed up to the food court on the sixth floor. There's a decent selection of food. After dinner, we decided to walk over to the Central World Plaza which is about 1km down the road.
Soon we reached the Erawan Shrine, which is a Hindu shrine housing the image of Brahma. The shrine was built to correct bad omens believed to have been caused by laying the foundation of the nearby hotel on the wrong side. Anyway, just a side note. About a month later, the shrine was damaged by a Thai man who's believed to be mentally-ill. After smashing the statue, the man was beaten to death by angry bystanders. That shows how revered the shrine was. Anyway, government officials have promised to complete and place a new Brahma statue in the shrine within two months, and the new statue would have pieces of the old statue in it.
Across the street from the Erawan Shrine is the Central World Plaza. Just two months ago, there were open air concerts in front of the plaza and the whole area was full of people. Now, the plaza is undergoing major renovations and there's hardly any crowd. Nonetheless, the food stalls nearby are still doing brisk business. The stalls selling clothes, shoes, bags and other items are also still around. We continued walking on the Pratunam Complex before we finally decided to head back to Khao San Road. Back there, we walked around the stalls for a while before we decided to retire for the night.
The next morning, we tried calling our relatives again and somehow we managed to get through to them. We had been trying the day before to no avail. Anyway we arranged to meet at about 1.30pm. Before then, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing. We decided to walk over to Wat Pho which is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
Along the way, we passed by Sanam Luang, which lies between Khao San and the Grand Palace. This huge public ground was where the Weekend Market, which has since shifted over to Chatuchak, was held. The place was also used to Royal Cremation ceremonies. The day we were there, the field was used for some Buddhist event and there were lots of stalls selling various Buddhist memorabilia as well. Apparently, it's part of a series of events to mark Makabucha Day, which is a religious public holiday.
Moving on, we soon ended up outside the Grand Palace. However, my mum didn't want to go in so we continued walking on to Wat Pho. When we reached the temple, we decided to go over to the Tha Tien boat pier first to have a look at Wat Arun, which lies across the Chao Phraya River. The famous Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is one of the best known landmarks of Bangkok. However, I've been there twice before and my mum wasn't too interested in seeing it up close, so we merely had a look at the temple from the pier.
From Tha Tien, we headed back to Wat Pho, which is the oldest and largest wat in Thailand. It was built in the 16th Century during the Ayuthaya period and the large grounds contain more than 1000 Buddha images in total. However, don't expect it to look the way it was in the 16th Century. That's because the temple was almost completely rebuilt in 1781 by King Rama I, and in 1839, Wat Pho underwent a major restoration again. Well, the main attraction in Wat Pho is the famous 'Reclining Buddha'. (see picture below) This enormous Buddha statue is 46 metres long and 15 metres high. It's housed in a building that was built to cover the Buddha image. Since it's the main attraction in Wat Pho, I'm not surprised to see huge crowds inside the building. In particular, people were gathering around the feet of the Buddha, which had 108 mother-of-pearl ornaments.
The other important building in the compound is the main chapel or Ubosot. (see picture at top of page). Inside the Ubosot houses an Ayuthaya-style bronze Buddha image in the attitude of meditation. Actually this main chapel reminds me of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha within the Grand Palace, except that there are nicer frescoes over there, and everything is on a grander scale. But of course, it's not really fair to do a comparison as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is the most sacred temple in Thailand. As it stands, the Ubosot in Wat Pho is a pleasant enough place. After visiting the main chapel, we then walked around the compounds of Wat Pho where we saw lots of chedis or stupas of various sizes.
Soon after, it was time to meet up with our relatives, some of whom I've never seen before and some whom I haven't seen in more than a decade. Anyway we're meeting up with my grandfather's sister and her family. Her grandson picked us up from Wat Pho and drove us to his house which is over the Chao Phraya River, and on the Thonburi side of Bangkok. His mum, Ying, was there waiting for us. Together, we went to my grandfather's sister's house in another part of Bangkok. After spending some time there, Ying and her son brought us to visit their factory which deals in bathroom accessories and tiles. There, we parted ways with the son and Ying decided to bring us to Bangkok Sea View restaurant for dinner. Bangkok Sea View is at Tarkarm Bangkoontien (more than an hour away by car) and when we reached the pier, a long-tailed boat was waiting to take us to the restaurant which is by the sea.
The long-tailed boat weaved in and out of numerous canals which are lined with houses before we finally arrived at the restaurant. The restaurant was on stilts raised into the sea. Well, when you're at a restaurant by the sea, chances are, you'll be eating seafood right? Spot on. We were having seafood for dinner. They ordered so much food that I had an overdose of crabs. I don't ever recall eating so many crabs that I got so sick of them, but this is it. After saying no to the umpteenth crab and watching the sun set over the horizon, we decided it's time to leave.
From the restaurant, we had to take the long-tailed boat back to the pier, and from there, Ying gave us a lift back to Khao San Road. By the time we arrived back at Khao San Road, it was already eight plus in the evening and it was drizzling. There, we parted ways with Ying. As my mum hadn't been to Bangkok in more than ten years, she's none too pleased that we spent so much time getting to and fro Bangkok Sea View. Well, there was only so much time left before we had to board the flight back to Singapore the next morning, so we decided to do some last minute shopping when the rain stopped.
We took a cab over to Patpong, which is the infamous red-light district of Bangkok. But besides being a notorious fleshpot, Patpong also has a busy night market. The main products on sale are imitation goods, pirated CDs, various Thai handicrafts and souvenirs. There was even a baby elephant for you to take a picture with. But of course, everything comes with a price tag. After walking around for some time, my mum bought some bags and we headed back to Khao San to retire for the night.
We woke up early the next day to buy some tidbits before we headed to the airport. After walking around the area surrounding Khao San, we finally found a shop that sells tidbits. Our route back took us past the Democracy Monument which is in the middle of a traffic roundabout. The 24 metre tall landmark was built in 1939 to commemorate the introduction of the constitutional monarchy. After taking our pictures there, we had to rush back to our guesthouse to pack up and leave for the airport. Just outside Khao San Road, there was a booth which sold coach tickets to the airport and we bought ours there.
After getting the tickets, we went back to the guesthouse to pick up our stuff and to check out. Less than an hour later, we arrived at Don Muang Airport to catch our 11.25am flight back to Singapore. At the airport, we saw Singaporean singer JJ Lin. Surprisingly, he was surrounded by fans. I didn't know he has fans in Thailand as well. Anyway, soon after, it was time for us to check in, and to board our flight.
Eleven days later, I was back in Bangkok, this time as part of my company retreat. At the airport, we were led to a coach which brought us to our hotel, the Pathumwan Princess. The hotel is situated at the heart of Bangkok's retail and entertainment district, just beside the Mahboonkrong MBK Shopping Centre and opposite Siam Square. Great location!
Anyway, since it was a company retreat, there were some team-bonding activities. After we put down our stuff in our hotel rooms, we were told to assemble for a game of bowling. Fortunately, the bowling alley was just next door, within MBK. After a quick game of bowling (people were more keen to wander around Bangkok than to bowl), we headed off for dinner at a halal restaurant about an hour away by bus.
After dinner, we decided to head over to Patpong to shop a while before heading back to the hotel. The next day, we woke up early to go to Chatuchak Weekend Market. Our company has arranged for a coach to bring us there, but the five of us (Limei, Chu Ann, Cher Fang, Tingting and I) decided to go earlier, so that we'll have more time to do our own stuff later on.
At Chatuchak, we decided to split up. I went along with Chu Ann to explore the market while the others went about in their own groups. A couple of hours later, we gathered at the clock tower to discuss our plans for the rest of the day. Cher Fang and Tingting wanted to meet their friends, and I wanted to visit the Golden Mount, so we decided to split up. Chu Ann and Limei decided to go to the Golden Mount with me.
From Chatuchak, we took the subway to Hualamphong station, which is just beside the railway station. There we parted ways with Tingting who had gone with us to Hualamphong to meet her friend. As for the rest of us, we decided to have shark's fin soup for lunch so we took a taxi to Yaowarat Road, which is within Bangkok's Chinatown. All the traditional Chinese delicacies are available in Chinatown- bird's nest, shark's fin, dim sum, etc, and it wasn't hard finding a shop that serves shark's fin soup. What's harder is deciding which to patronize. To put it very simply, we're spoilt for choice.
We finally settled on one that's along one of the many small alleys branching off from the main road. I guess we're just too hungry and lazy to choose anymore. Along the walls of the shop were dried shark's fins and various grades of bird's nest. We decided to order a bowl of shark's fin soup and a few other dishes for lunch. Well, the cheap price of the shark's fin soup will definitely dismay conservationists opposed to the consumption of sharks.
After lunch, we took a tuk-tuk over to the Golden Mount. The Golden Mount is easily recognized by its huge golden chedi atop a fortress-like hill. The artificial hill was created when a large chedi under construction by King Rama III collapsed because the soft soil beneath could not support it. The resulting mud-and-brick hill was left to sprout weeds until King Rama IV built a small chedi on its crest. Later on, King Rama V built the golden chedi to house a relic of Buddha, said to be from India or Nepal.
Anyway, enough about the history. From the base of the mount, we had to climb up a wide staircase which spirals up and around the sides of the mount. At the top, there's supposed to be an admission fee of 10 Baht to enter the building and gain access to the rooftop terrace, but no one asked us for any money, and so we just walked into the building. The interior of the building is large and rather plain-looking but at its center lies the square outer walls of a shrine. A short stairway in the center of each side of the wall leads up to the shrine holding the Buddha relic, which lies directly under the chedi on the roof.
After visiting the shrine, we headed up a narrow stairway up to the roof. The first thing we saw is this huge chedi which is covered with thousands of gold mosaic tiles. And of course we had to take a picture of it, although there was no way of fitting the entire chedi into one frame. Besides looking at the chedi, you can also have a panoramic view of Bangkok from the rooftop terrace. But the view certainly didn't take my breath away that day. It was a hazy day and the view was obscured by the haze though I can still make out the prangs and rooftops of the Grand Palace in the distance, and the tips of the Democracy Monument, which is just a short distance away.
From the Golden Mount, we walked across the road to the Loha Prasat. The Loha Prasat has three storeys with 37 tops and its said to be the only structure of its kind left in the world. However, we didn't go in. Instead, we headed to a pavilion outside, sat down and ate the fruits that we bought at Chatuchak market.
After eating the fruits, we decided to head back to the hotel as we had to gather there for dinner later. We hailed a cab which brought us past the 200-year-old Giant Swing in front of Wat Suthat. Back at MBK, I went to buy some tidbits before heading to the hotel pool for a short swim.
Dinner that night was at the Baiyoke Sky Tower, which at 88 storeys, is Thailand's tallest tower. We had a buffet dinner on the 76th floor. The food was only passable, but then they made up for it by having this amazingly huge selection of food, from Japanese, to Italian, and of course, not forgetting Thai. After a satisfying dinner, we were told to head back to our coach, which was waiting at the hotel lobby. But I'm not going to miss out on a chance to see Bangkok's skyline at night from the 84th storey which had a revolving open-air roof deck. And so I went about trying to tempt some of my colleagues to go up with me. Eventually, I managed to put together a small team but we were told that we had to be down in five minutes. Well, five minutes is better than nothing.
At the top, I barely had time to take in the night scene. After taking a few pictures, I walked briskly around the entire deck so as to have a panoramic 360 degree view of Bangkok and then it was time to head down. The view was great, but I think it would have been better at sunset. That's because Bangkok's skyline is pretty dark in certain areas, and so what I saw were just tiny little lights. At sunset, when there's just enough light to make out what you're seeing, and when the night lights have already come on, the effect would have been much more magical.
Anyway, after leaving the tower, we told our coach to bring us to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. I've been to Bangkok many times and this is one place that I've never been to. But besides shopping, I was more interested in catching a Thai boxing match at the Lumpini Boxing Stadium. After the coach dropped us off at Suan Lum, Chu Ann, Limei and I headed to the Lumpini Boxing Stadium. The stadium is one of two major boxing stadiums in Bangkok, though it's regarded as being the slightly better one, and also probably the more famous of the two stadiums. But anyway, I'm no expert in Muay Thai and I merely wanted to soak up the atmosphere so it doesn't really matter to me if the fights here are slightly better than the ones at the other stadium. I won't be able to tell anyway.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it. When we arrived at the ticket booth, the person told me that there were two pricing schemes- one for Thais, and the other for foreigners. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the prices for foreigners would be much higher than those for Thais. And indeed it was. He told us that our ticket costs 1500 baht each, which is ridiculous, so we decided not to watch it after all.
Since we didn't get to watch Thai boxing, we decided to walk over to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. There wasn't much people around, but actually, I think that the night bazaar is an attractive alternative to Chatuchak. It's less crowded, it carries many of the same goods, and most importantly, the prices are low. Unlike Chatuchak where we had to haggle over the price, here at Suan Lum, the stall owners lowered the prices even without us asking for it. Here's how it goes. Us: "How much is this?" Stallowner: "200 Baht, but I can discount." When we didn't look interested, the prices dropped automatically. "150 baht?" When we started walking away, the prices dropped even more. "100 baht? 50 baht?"
Unfortunately, we didn't get to cover much of the night bazaar. Barely ten minutes after we arrived, we bumped into my boss, Siew Leng. Her boss had asked her to go over to the beer garden where our CEO was. Well, because we bumped into her, we had no choice but to go along as well. At the beer garden, we downed a few drinks with our CEO, who loves to drink. But fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you're talking to, the beer garden closed early. And so all of us headed back to our hotels.
The next morning, I woke up early to jog with Limei. At that point in time, I didn't want to jog anymore. I'd wanted to have a couple more hours of sleep. But unfortunately, I had already arranged to go jogging with Limei the night before, so there was no question of backing out. Anyway, we had wanted to jog in the National Stadium, but somehow we ended up at a stadium within the Chulalongkorn University. How interesting. Even though we went in the wrong direction, we still managed to find a stadium. Anyway, after completing eight rounds around the track, we started heading back to the hotel by cutting through the grounds of the university. The buildings looked pretty old and nondescript, but as they say, never judge a book by its cover. The university is the oldest university in Thailand, and is considered one of the country's most prestigious universities.
Back at the hotel, we managed to squeeze in a short swim, before heading back to our rooms to pack up and check-out. Soon after, we were on a flight out of Thailand.
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