The last time we were in Bangkok was January 2024, and with an unexpected medical situation cropping up we saw very little of the city during that time, you can read about that visit here. So, as we made our way from Japan to Perth, Australia this year we included a one week stop over to re-visit this vibrant city that blends centuries of history with the fast pace of modern life.
Once a small trading post in the 15th century, Bangkok rose to prominence as the capital of Siam in 1782 and has since grown into a bustling metropolis known for its ornate temples, royal palaces and over the top street life. The city proper houses more than 10 million people making Bangkok one of SE Asia’s most populous urban hubs, and we know what that means…scooters and tuk tuks everywhere!! The traffic here is nutty, especially during rush hour, so we were glad not to be venturing far from our hotel, in fact we used river ferries most of the time to get around.
After spending just over 3 weeks in small apartments in Japan and Taiwan, we decided to take a ‘vacation’ and splurge on a luxury hotel right on the riverfront. We stayed at the Millenium Hilton, within walking distance of the Icon Siam shopping mall, which has over a hundred restaurants and a massive food court in the lower level. We sometimes struggle to find places to eat in Asia so having a wide variety of restaurant choices available to us in one mall was very appealing, and if you have been to Bangkok you know that the Icon Siam mall is stunning. We had a lot of rain the week we were in Bangkok which limited our sightseeing excursions, but we got to a few new places of interest this time, plus spent a fair bit of time exploring the Icon Siam mall.
During our 2024 visit I had noticed the beautiful Wat Arun as we cruised along the river so this time, it was our first stop. Wat Arun Ratchawararam, also known as the Temple of Dawn, is one of Bangkok’s most iconic Buddhist temples, situated on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. While the temple has existed since the 17th century, the imposing 269 ft spire (prang) was completed in 1851, symbolising Mount Meru, considered to be the Hindu/Buddhist center of all universes. This central spire is topped with a seven pronged trident, known as “Trident of Shiva”. At the second terrace there are four statues of the Hindu God Indra riding on a colossal elephant with three heads. Around the base of the spire are various figures of ancient Chinese soldiers. The spire is decorated with colorful pieces of porcelain, seashells and Chinese pottery pieces. Tickets to Wat Arun cost 200 Baht (USD $6.10) each.
The temple is lit up beautifully at night, so we made a second trip to Wat Arun.
We bought tickets for the hop on/hop off river ferry and began by taking it all the way to the far end of the route for a look around. We ended up getting talked into a tuk tuk tour because it was a government sponsored day where all the drivers’ gas was covered by the government, so all we paid was a 100 Baht (USD $3) tip. The downside was we were driven around in circles for an hour, taken to some obscure temple with a tall Buddha, and two jewelry stores for ‘shopping’ so it was not at all what we were sold. The upside is that at this obscure temple we met a man who was a teacher and worked with exchange students from SAIT (in Calgary) and NAIT (in Edmonton) and had a good friend who lived in Calgary. It was the highlight of the tour 😂 Hop on/hop off ferry tickets cost 130 Baht (USD $4) each, good for 24 hours.
Another stop along the ferry route was the flower market, worth a brief look around.
I think one of the most memorable events during our time in Bangkok was going to a Muay Thai event. Our hotel concierge arranged tickets for us and we took a Grab to the Rajadamnern Stadium, the ultimate destination for all Muay Thai fighters in the country. The stadium opened its doors in 1945, becoming the world’s first Muay Thai stadium, with a vision to elevate Muay Thai from a martial art used for war to a globally recognized professional sport. Muay Thai has been described as the Art of Eight Limbs with fists, elbows, knees and feet used against an opponent. Similar to the Sumo matches we watched in Japan, there are rituals and praying before each bout and in the early part of each fight there is a lot of posturing and feeling out your opponent. There were 9 fights on the docket and they were 5 rounds of 3 minutes per round. It was entertaining and not nearly as violent as we had thought. There were a couple of knockouts and for that the winner received a 25,000 Baht (USD $765) bonus. We bought Club Class tickets in Row 3 at a cost of 1,800 Baht (USD $55) each.
We had dinner and drinks a couple of evenings on the 6th floor of Icon Siam mall, affording us pretty nice views of the skyline and all the boat traffic on the river.
We also had some pretty nice views from the 31st floor of our hotel and the ThreeSixty Rooftop Bar.
We enjoyed our week in Bangkok, especially having fresh towls and our bed made every day 🙂 We saw a few more sights around the city, although the rain did keep us indoors a little more than we had hoped. That just meant we took full advantage of the gym and swimming pool at the hotel. Next up, back to regular apartment life as we jet off to Perth, Australia…..
TRIP TIPS
In my research about entry to Thailand I missed that effective May 1, 2025 we had to complete an electronic arrival card 3 days prior to arrival. We were turned back from the immigration line to use the supplied computers to complete this step. Fortunately all the required information was readily available on my phone but it certainly was not a smooth arrival to Thailand. Here is the link to complete the form prior to your arrival.
Grab is the ride sharing option to use in Thailand and it works really well.