4 Day Holiday Plan for Thailand
By Richard Barrow 
Tuesday 22nd July, 2008 | 1321 words | Category: Bangkok Day Trips | 17 feedbacks »
DAY ONE - DAMNOEN SADUAK FLOATING MARKET
My sister and her family will soon be coming to Thailand for their "once-in-a-lifetime" holiday. Well, maybe not quite true, but this is certainly their first holiday abroad as a family. They have been saving up for years to pay the air fares for their family of five. I have been put in charge of planning their short stay in Thailand. To be clear here, this is really only the stopover. The main event is the beautiful beaches of Queensland, Australia. They will be arriving late Monday afternoon and I will be taking them back to the airport on Friday afternoon of the same week. So, we basically have three and a half days to play with. What I thought I would do here is work out a rough schedule. Naturally, nothing is set in stone. Any holiday should be as flexible as possible. Even more so at the moment as we are in the middle of the rainy season. So, we could re-arrange the order of these days or even change things completely.
At the moment, the first day involves waking up at 5.30 a.m. in order to travel to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It is true this place is a bit touristy, but if you arrive early then you can easily experience an "authentic" floating market from yesteryear. At least it will be possible to get some picture perfect postcard shots. We will rent a boat here and be paddled around the canals. Then a fine Thai style breakfast. From here we would probably head to Nakhon Pathom to visit Phra Pathom Chedi, the largest Buddhist stupa in the world. There is also a fine collection of Buddha images here. In the market surrounding the stupa we will sample some of the delicious Thai desserts such as sticky rice in a bamboo tube.
The road back to Bangkok from here passes three major tourist attractions. We won't have the time or energy to visit them all. These are The Human Imagery Museum, The Rose Garden and Samphran Elephant Ground. I think we will skip the first one as it is basically a wax museum of notable Thai and world leaders. The Rose Garden is good for the cultural show where you can see traditional Thai dancing, an ordination ceremony, a Muay Thai boxing match and a wedding ceremony. This costs 480 baht each. The nearby Samphran Elephant Ground has a crocodile wrestling show and a spectacular elephant battle show. This costs 500 baht each. It is possible to do both but it would be rushed. The tour groups do it but I think we should choose one.
DAY TWO - THE GRAND PALACE, THONBURI CANALS AND RECLINING BUDDHA
Our second day would be spent in Bangkok. The highlight of any trip here is of course The Grand Palace and the neighbouring Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Hopefully we will get a bit of sunshine for this as the sparkling colours should be fantastic for photos. Very difficult to take bad pictures here. A tip if you are coming here by yourself, ignore anyone that tells you that the palace is closed for a ceremony until 3 p.m. If he says the code word "lucky buddha" or "big buddha" then you will know he is a con-man. Just ignore him. The police certainly do.
After the palace, we will probably head to the nearby pier at Tha Chang. This is where they used to take the palace elephants to bathe in the river. The plan will be to rent a long-tailed boat for a one hour tour of the Thonburi canals. Even before you reach the pier you will be approached by people who will try and tell you that it costs 1,000 baht each. Ignore them and keep walking. If we are lucky, we should get a boat for about 700 baht. The plan would be to stop briefly at the Royal Barge Museum and end up at Wat Arun a.k.a. the Temple of Dawn. After exploring here we will cross the river to Wat Pho a.k.a. the Reclining Buddha. If we made an early start then we should be very hungry by now. I think we would then head to one of the air-conditioned shopping malls at Siam Square for a late lunch. We could stop at the Erawan Shrine near Central World for some free Thai dancing. I think by this time they will be really tired so I won't plan anything else other than shopping. I was thinking of taking them to Siam Ocean World. But as they are going to Queensland, I would suggest they visit the aquarium there instead as it is not only better but it is also cheaper.
DAY THREE - BANG SAI ARTS & CRAFT CENTER and AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL PARK
This is a full day so hopefully they are over jet lag and they have plenty of energy. The historical park at Ayutthaya will be the main destination. There are about four or five different temple ruins to visit here. We will have our own transport so it will be easy to get around town. If you go there by train or bus then you can rent a bicycle for the day. There is also the option to do a boat trip if we don't do the Thonburi canal trip the day before. I really like Ayutthaya and it is only about 90 minutes from Bangkok.
There are a couple of major tourist attractions that can be visited on the way to Ayutthaya. These are Bang Sai Arts and Craft Center and Bang Pa-In Summer Palace. You could do both but you would have to cut down on the number of places that you will visit in Ayutthaya. So, I would pick Bang Sai. The Thai village here has buildings from all regions of Thailand. A great place to compare architecture and way of living. You can also visit the factory buildings where you can see people doing traditional forms of handicraft as well as silverwork and bamboo weaving. It is quite a fascinating place to wander. There is also a large shop where you can buy their work. This place is supported by the royal family. It was set up to help people in rural areas of Thailand to gain valuable skills in order to help support themselves and their community.
DAY FOUR - ANCIENT CITY and ERAWAN MUSEUM
The final day is a short one, but as I live in Samut Prakan, visiting the Three Headed Elephant at the Erawan Museum and the nearby Ancient City shouldn't take us too long. If you are in Bangkok, then you would need to have a full day to come here. Both of these are highlights and you need to spend as much time as you can. We will go to the Erawan Museum first as you have to join a tour. The three-headed elephant is massive. There is a lift in the rear leg and it takes you up into the belly of the elephant. The Ancient City is a great place to go if you don't have time to visit all of Thailand. Basically you can see replicas of all the most important buildings and monuments from around Thailand. It is a massive 300 acre park that you can explore on foot or by bicycle. If you drive around in a car, it would take you at least two hours to see the highlights. Really you need all day to do it justice. It is a great place to take photos of yourself and pretend to your friends how much you traveled!
That is the basic plan. I will let you know later how we get on. Feel free to post comments. However, if you have any questions or need help in planning your trip to Thailand, then please post on our ThailandQA.com forums.
Do you have any questions about Thailand? Maybe you are planning a holiday or just want to learn more about Thai culture. Have all of your questions answered for free at ThailandQA.com. These forums are part of the family friendly Paknam Web Network.
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17 comments
hardly a true reflection of the real thailand!
Our first full day was exactly as the plan above. We all decided that due to time difference, that getting up early for the floating market would work better for the first full day. We had no problem leaving the house by 6 a.m. We were on the boat by 7.30 a.m. At that time it was light and there was not a single foreigner there. After we came back it was starting to get crowded. We had breakfast there and then drove on to Nakhon Pathom to see the giant Buddhist stupa. We also bought some Thai desert there.
Like I said in the blog, we then had to make a decision between the cultural show at Rose Garden and the animal shows at Samphran Elephant Ground. We chose the latter as it was a family outing. They enjoyed the crocodile wrestling though the elephant show was the highlight. We saw these at 12.45 p.m. and 1.45 p.m. respectively. After a ride on the elephants, we were ready to head home by about 3 p.m. Tour groups will take you to the floating market, Rose Garden and Samphran and a few other stops all in one day. But I think that is too rushed and you won't appreciate everything. What we did was about perfect.
Everyone was tired and slept in the van as we drove back. Near home we stopped briefly at Tesco Lotus. It may seem strange to stop here as a tourist attraction but it is interesting to compare to your home country. And unlike markets, it is easier to choose and buy fruit and Thai food and desserts here as it is air-conditioned. We will walk around a real market later in the week when they have more energy. As jet lag was catching up on them they didn't want to go out in the evening. So we just got some "takeaway" Thai food - namely: tom yum, massaman curry, green curry and tom kha gai. We also bought fruit and Thai dessert.
I am sure everyone will get a good nights sleep tonight. The itinery for today was just about right. Like I said, don't try to do too much. In the morning we will have to make a decision as to wether to go to Grand Palace or Ayutthaya. The Grand Palace won't be a full day as this plan needs the most energy. Let's see how much sleep they get tonight.
The price of the Grand Palace has recently gone up to 300 baht each. There seemed to be no child price too so the family of five and myself cost 1,800 baht. A lot of money but it is a major attraction.
From here we left the Grand Palace and walked towards Tha Chang where we planned to rent a long tailed boat. Along the way we passed a group of four foreigners who had a map out and was being helped by a Thai gentleman. Being a gentleman myself, I went to take a look. Almost straight away I heard the codeword "Big Buddha". So I asked one of the ladies whether he had told them the palace was closed until 2 p.m. She said "yes". So, I just told them he is a scam artist and to ignore his lies. I pointed to the entrance of the palace 20 metres away and said it is open as normal. We then walked on. At the intersection I looked back and I could see that the Thai guy had another group of foreigners and was pointing to something on their map. If this was their last day in Bangkok they will probably never see the Grand Palace.
As we arrived at the jetty we were approached by a number of people asking if we wanted a boat tour. Though none of them wanted to give a price. At one of the information desks we were asked how many in the party. I said "six" and they gave us a quote of 990 baht each or 5,940 baht for all of us. I told him in Thai he was joking. And he said alright I give you discount price of 1,200 baht for the boat. Again I said "no" and walked away.
I was aiming for 700 baht for the boat though I knew with increase in price of petrol we probably couldn't get that. Plus, I had seen a program on Thai tv which said that some boat owners had switched to LPG - not the one for vehicles but the cooking gas version. This is dangerous. They do this because one day of diesel is the same as 4 days of cooking gas. I went to take a look as that knowledge would affect the negotiations. But none of them had cooking gas.
I went to another information desk and said in Thai I wanted a round trip that would be non-stop for about one hour. Finishing at Wat Arun. He said 800 baht straight away and we decided to go for that. The boat trip was great. We didn't stop at the Barge Museum. The barges are nice but they have replicas of these at the Ancient City where we are going on Friday. At this museum they charge you extra to take pictures.
At Wat Arun we had to pay 20 baht for boat landing. Not sure if this is a scam but will investigate that later. I took pictures of the guy anyway. Near the pier there are cardboard cutouts of Thai dancers with a space for your face. Be careful here. Even though it looks unattended, if you take a picture someone will jump out and demand some money.
Wat Arun was great as usual and had some great views from the top. The price has gone up now from 30 baht to 50 baht each. Only the youngest got in for free and the oldest two were treated as adults. So, 250 baht for this temple.
We then caught a cross river ferry to the other side for only 3.5 baht each. Then it was a short walk in the rain to Wat Arun. Again it is 50 baht each for the Reclining Buddha. It doesn't matter if you tell them that you are a Buddhist. They just reply "you are foreigner, you pay foreigner price". It is not a lot of money but it certainly adds up during the day if you visit many temples. It will be like that in Ayutthaya as we will have 6 or so stops.
We didn't do much other than see the Reclining Buddha. It was raining still and so we decided to just head back to the van. We negotiated two tuk tuks to take us back to the van for 90 baht.
We then had a choice to go to one of the air-conditioned malls for a break and to have something to eat. But, no-one was hungry and as the traffic looked bad we all decided to just drive home. We had already seen a lot. By this time it was about 3 p.m. About right. We didn't want a full day anyway. I knew at the start this day needed more energy so best to go back and rest. We have a couple hours to rest now and then we will go out to a restaurant alongside the Gulf of Thailand.
The plan for day 3 at the moment is Ayutthaya. But as the weather is starting to turn for the worse we might make a change to something more local. They have seen my blogs and pictures about Wat Khun Samut - the temple in the sea. So, we are thinking of making a day trip there instead. Certainly very scenic and the natural surroundings over there will be of more interest to the children than Ayutthaya. But, if it suddenly rains, we would be stuck in the middle of no-where without shelter. An alternative would be Ancient City tomorrow as it is near my house. However, if it really looks like rain we might have to rethink. Maybe do something in Bangkok like the sky train and some shopping. We will make this decision in the morning once we have seen what the weather is like. It is really good to be able to be flexible at this time of year.
We have now covered a lot of Thai food and fruit. Also a lot of Thai culture and heritage. Nong Grace was with us for the trip to Ancient City today and also for the floating market the other day. Everyone was impressed with her English. I have never seen her speak so much English. Long phrases too that she must have picked up from cartoons and reading books. She surprised me so many times. The plan now is to go and visit Nong Grace at her school tomorrow.
The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha was unmissable - my only other comparison is the Taj Mahal,: both spiritual, beautiful and just too much to take in on the first visit. A jewel.
Canal trip on Thonburi relaxing and interesting especially after so much time on feet.
Wat Arun also, lovely, with some nice views. We were caught in the rain, but it was a pleasure.
The reclining Buddha was undeniably awesome, but nowhere did I feel that there was a view to allow its full appreciation - still, it wasn't designed as a tourist site?
Ancient city this morning was the biggest surprise - I would use this as a good day out (especially by bicycle), and also as a recce trip for visits to the 'real thing'- and the park is a superbly realised concept in its own right. It was a really rewarding and relaxing day out -and it was a pleasure to interact with Thai people, who were able to work without exerting commercial pressure.
We even managed to finish off by visiting some mangrove swamps (something I was keen on) and then Erewan museum - really recommended!
I must say that none of this would have been remotely possible without our wonderful guide - who has known when to encourage and when to hold back on the effort. I feel that we have had a good go at absorbing the sights of Bangkok in such a small time and with the challenge of doing it with three children ages 11-14. Along with the many culinary tasting sessions (the food really is the key to a country?), our family remains indebted to the master guide. We are tired, but happy.
Thanks, Richard.
Krish
I actually experienced The Grand Palace scam on my trip there a few weeks ago. I guess when they see people get dropped-off by a taxi at the front they know they are tourists and start the whole "Grand Palace is closed and will open at 2pm again" scam. As far as the codewords "Big Buddha" and "Lucky Buddha", why would they say that? Is this to warn people who are in the know that this is a scam???
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