One Night in Bangkok

Yesterday our ship docked in Laem Chabang. This is 2 hours from Bangkok! There was some confusion on where we were docking since we were originally scheduled to dock much closer. We emailed our tour guide, Tong, about the change yesterday. We were hoping that she would be there despite the last minute schedule change. She was. She had emailed us back overnight too, but internet was down on the ship so we did not see this until just after the ship docked.

We got off the ship with two other couples that were also on the tour. Tong was there waiting for us. Evelyn and Marty arranged this tour. I met Evelyn on cruisecritic and she agreed for Brian and I to join them. There was also another couple, Suzie and Joel, also from cruisecritic. The group of six of us worked out nicely. It was nice to meet Tong. She was a sweet and bubbly type of person who knows a lot of things and people. It made for a fun day. She reminded us of my friend Melonie.


Tong had a driver and he drove us downtown to our hotel. The drive took about 2 hours, but Tong told us all about Thailand, Bangkok, Kings Day (the major holiday we happened to be visiting on), Buddhism, and other important things related to our tour. We learned that what day of the week you were born on is indicative of your personality and is an important part of Thai culture. Tong looked up our birthdays for us. I was born on Saturday. The color for people born on this day is purple. How appropriate! Purple is my favorite color. Brian is Wednesday and green. The King of Thailand was born on a Tuesday, which is pink. You will notice many people wearing pink in our photos as a result to honor the king on King’s Day. We also learned that he was actually born in the United States (in Boston). Tong arranged for us to have early check in at our hotel. We had reservations at the Sheraton Orchid in Bangkok. The hotel was on the river. The room was very nice and had a beautiful view overlooking the river from the 14th floor. We arrived around 10am, dropped off our bags, and immediately left.




December 5th was Thailand’s King’s Birthday (a national holiday). We saw things setup to honor the king in Ko Samui the day before. Bangkok is the center of most of the celebrations, so we were set to be in the middle of it all. Some of the places were closed due to the holiday. The King has been sick and they were unsure if he was going to be able to make an appearance but he was able to do so which is why some things then were closed. Thai people love their king. It was amazing to see how much celebration goes on for his birthday and how much respect everyone has for their king and his well-being. Thailand has a government with a prime minister and parliament and is not an absolute monarchy although the king does have significant influence and respect.




After checking into our hotel, Tong took us to the Grand Palace and the Royal Temple of Emerald Buddha. There were so many people there. At times, the only thing we could compare the crowds to when we went to Times Square for New Years Eve. Fortunately it was not as crowded once we made it inside. We walked around the Grand Palace. It was truly amazing to see everything. The colors are so bright. The palace and shrines are built from real gold and shine in the sunlight. It is just beautiful.






Tong took us to lunch at a local restaurant called Coconut Palm. She ordered a bunch of food for all of us. We sampled several things. I like Thai food. It is spicy but good. I am not always sure about some of the meat they use, but other than that is it good. We have learned that Thai people do not waste any part of animals. They eat everything! Perhaps we did today too. Maybe we are better off not knowing.




After lunch, we went to Wat Pho (the Reclining Buddha). Wat Pho features a large golden Buddha that is lying down in a reclining position. It is huge. The gold plated Buddha is more than 150 feet in length and something like 40-50 feet tall. While there we got some coins. Before we got them, we were supposed to make a wish. Then you take the coins and drop them into separate metal bowls along the perimeter of the temple. You are supposed to try to make a loud noise as you do it. The loud noise is supposed to help make your wish come true.


We then went on a canal tour. The boats they use are motorized by car engine motor. It is really something to see. It was great having Tong as our tour guide to explain the city, culture, and sights. She arranged everything and often called ahead to have things all ready when we arrived. During the canal tour we had to go into two locks. While on the boat, we saw how many Thai people live. It was a great experience and also helped us avoid downtown traffic jams and street closures due to King’s Day. The boat dropped us off at our hotel. Tong went home for the night after suggesting some possible sights for us to see overnight.




The other couples had dinner reservations at a nice restaurant. We wanted to see the city at night so we declined. Instead we took a water taxi back to the area of the Grand Palace. The taxi was fairly cheap and cost less than 20 bhat ($0.60 USD). Many of the streets were closed due to King’s Birthday so water taxi was the only good option leading up to the festivities. We walked around for a while. People were everywhere. Brian got some pictures of Bangkok at night. Around 7:30pm there were fireworks. We watched the fireworks while we drank a Fanta pop we bought for 20 bhat. After the fireworks we walked around for a while longer and started to head back in the direction of our hotel. We walked in the flower market. It smelled so good there. It was about 4 km or so back to the hotel. This walk would not have been bad, but it would have taken a while given the relatively course map we had and the difficulty in deciphering street names. In hindsight, it would be nice to have a compass to help navigate these cities. I did not want to walk back to the hotel (it would likely be over an hour walk). Brian did not want to get screwed by a taxi by the crowds though. Finally I won and we found a taxi outside of the main crowds. He had just dropped some people off. He did not speak English, but we had our hotel name in Thai so we showed him that. Brian pointed to the meter and the driver nodded. True to his word, he used the meter. The 3.3 km trip cost us only 51 bhat (about $1.50 USD). The exchange rate is definitely in our favor.








It was around 9:30pm. We had not eaten dinner yet. We decided to eat at our hotel restaurant. We got a table outside over looking the water. The table only had candlelight. While there, we got to see more fireworks down along the river back where we had come from. We had Thai food for dinner. I had Pad Thai and Brian had a chicken and rice dish served in a pineapple. It was yummy. We even had coconut ice cream for dessert.




We went back to our hotel room for the night since we had to be up early for another day of touring. We got up early this morning around 5:30. We woke up to a beautiful view of the city. Brian wished me a happy birthday. Breakfast was included in our hotel so we had breakfast there. It was a buffet with Asian and American choices. I was not up for Asian breakfast. I got some pancakes with chocolate syrup. It was good (better than syrup, but it’s my birthday so chocolate pancakes are fitting). We went back to our room before checking out so we could leave at 7am. Before we left, Brian handed me a birthday card. I was shocked! I could not believe he remembered to get a card and bring it with him. Plus how did I not see it, I packed the overnight bag. He did really good. It was so great to wake up on my birthday in Bangkok! It was the best present.



We are now back on board the ship. We toured all day with Tong again however I do not have time to write about it now since we need to get ready for dinner. Tomorrow is a sea day so I will write about my day later. Touring with Tong in Bangkok was fantastic and I love Thailand! We would highly recommend it for anyone planning a trip to Asia.