Bangkok was quit the obvious choice for us but as the only time the hubby and I had been to this capital city together was before we even got married, I had no idea if it would be a suitable one to visit with three young kids in tow.
Let's just say my perception of this city changed almost entirely after our visit because..... it turned out to be a fun-filled paradise for the little ones with all the family-friendly attractions. The kids had such a blast, thanks to our child-centric itinerary that didn't involve shopping or massages, and we are pretty sure that we will visit again in the near future.
If there are a few things I learnt about Bangkok from this short 5D4N trip, they are:1) This city is much more family-friendly than I expected and there are many activities to keep the little ones engaged and entertained.
2) 5-star luxury hotels are suddenly quite affordable (we booked ours for less than SGD300 a night).
3) The streets, though busy, are not as dangerous as I thought.
4) The BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System), or so called the Skytrain which is very much like our MRT, makes it easy and convenient to travel from place to place.
5) The stations are stroller-friendly and accessible via lifts.
6) Taking the taxi is really cheap (we took a 20min ride near midnight for less than SGD4), just make sure you ask the driver to charge by the meter.
7) The flight takes merely 2 hours 20 mins and even faster if there is no turbulence. We didn't even have much time to finish our flight meals, haha.
8) It definitely makes a great family travel destination, even if you have young kids!
In this overview of our trip, I will share with you our itinerary and in the next few weeks, I will be writing more detailed posts to share about our experiences and all the fun places we visited, so stay tuned if you wish to find out more.ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in two hotels which are both located in the city area, namely Grande Centre Point Ratchadamri and Oriental Residence. The former is a short 5-minute walk from Ratchadamri BTS and it is a luxury hotel that boasts of a widespread, delightful continental breakfast and kids facilities such as a playroom and small indoor playground.
The latter, which is a 10-minute walk from Ploen Chit BTS, is one that we fell in love with because it feels like a home away from home and our cosy two-bedroom suite was simply heavenly. I will be sharing a review about it soon so you can have a closer look around the suite and read about how we celebrated Father's Day too.
DAY 1 - SAFARI WORLD AND CENTRAL WORLD NIGHT MARKET
We landed at 8:00am on the first day and made our way straight to Safari World! It comprises of two parks - Safari Park and Marine Park, and there is a drive-through section where you can drive your own car in, take a taxi in or go on their coach tours. Anyway, I have to tell you how happy I am to realize that we get to enjoy significant discounts whenever we book our attraction tickets on Klook. We booked our Safari World tickets here and as you can see, it is pretty straightforward and hassle free to select and purchase the package that you prefer. We were very thankful that our local friend, Art, was able to meet us and accompany us for the day! I will share with you more about what we saw and did soon (for one, we went into a tiger's den and came real close to the ferocious animals), you bet the kids had lots of fun!
Alas, we got caught in a jam in the evening when we were making our way to the hotel. Our friend told us that the roads are usually very congested, especially on Friday evenings (which was exactly when we got stuck) so taking the BTS might get us from place to place faster. It took us over two hours to get back to town and by the time we wanted to head out for dinner past 9pm, many of the restaurants were already closed. It was a blessing in disguise because in the end, we walked a distance to get to Central World and there was a bustling night market right outside the mall.
We had Tom Yum soup, Phad Thai, grilled fish, grilled prawns (which were huge!), satay, kebabs, fried chicken, ice cream served in fresh coconuts, and lots of fresh fruit juices! It was truly a satisfying, and not expensive, meal in exactly the kind of environment that the hubby likes. It also reminded me of the time when we brought the kids to a night market in Taipei a couple of years ago and that gave us many fond memories too. We really ought to immerse more in the local culture whenever we travel, right?
DAY 2 - CHATUCHAK MARKERT AND SEA LIFE
Talking about local culture, I think the one popular tourist destination that we couldn't miss out was Chatuchak weekend market. Seriously, I already knew the crowd would be crazy and it would be quite crazy to attempt to bring three kids to squeeze with everyone. But still, WE DID IT! It wasn't really for the shopping, it was more so the kids could understand more about the local flavor and not just visit attractions. Yup, we took the BTS to and fro, found our way to the market by following the crowd, squeezed through the stalls for a couple of hours, tried to bargain for some shirts and matching family tees, ate at the roadside stalls (we had sticky mango rice and fishball noodles!) while standing under an umbrella and braved the sudden downpour.
After that, we went on to visit Sea Life which is located inside Siam Paragon. We knew the kids would love this place inside out but we didn't expect that it would take us six hours just to finish exploring it. It kind of reminds me of our S.E.A aquarium but bigger and better. We even had the opportunity to ride a glass bottom boat ride and watch a 4-D show too (more to come in my write-up!). Our tickets were booked via Klook and not only did we get the package at a cheaper price, I could also cut short on the waiting time (the normal queue would have taken me half an hour) because they had a separate queue for online bookings and I was the second one there.
DAY 3 - OPEN HOUSE AND ASIATIQUEOn our third day, after having a hearty breakfast, we checked into Oriental Residence and spent a good part of the afternoon just enjoying our suite. We ordered in-room dining, watched TV, let the little one take a nap on the comfy bed while the other two played hide and seek, celebrated Father's Day before we made our way to explore the vicinity.
Thanks to the recommendation of our friend Eddie who blogs at Stranger in Bangkok and has lived here for the past nine years, we had a meet up at this place called Open House in Central Embassy which has a very unique concept that allows guests to shop, eat, read, relax, chill and there is also a playground for the little ones too. Yup, everything in one place!
After dinner, we made our way to Saphan Taksin BTS and boarded a free boat ride along Chao Phraya river to Asiatique The Riverfront - Bangkok's fusion night market. It turned out to be one of the best decisions ever because there was a carnival and the kids enjoyed themselves much at the activities which included a Giant Drop, VR ride, game stalls, ATV ride and more. The kids and I also took a ride on the iconic Ferris Wheel too because well, I just had to!
DAY 4 - KIDZANIAThe next day was a highlight for the kids because we had a whole day of fun at Kidzania Bangkok which offers over 70 activities! Admission prices were also much cheaper as compared to Singapore and you can get them at even lower prices when you book on Klook (each ticket costs just slightly over SGD20!). I will be writing a separate post to show you more of the activities we did and how they differ from our Kidzania but the best part has to be that the place is toddler-friendly and even offers a long list of activities for my 2-year-old to join in!
Our last dinner in Bangkok was supposed to be at Little Zoo Cafe with our friends who just arrived the day before since I knew the kids would all be ecstatic over the furry animals. Alas, things didn't go as planned when we realised that we might have to wait for hours for our turn. Yes, the queue was that long! It didn't help that it was raining and more people were flocking to the cafe, so we decided to skip it this time round and made our way to a nearby Japanese-Korean restaurant called EbiSensei near Siam Square to enjoy a BBQ buffet.
DAY 5 - HOME SWEET HOME
The day before we departed, we had a nice family time at the pool, enjoyed a beer and a mocktail while the kids also played a game of table soccer. As you can sense by now, we don't like to rush things through and our itinerary is rather sparse so that we can have ample time to explore each place instead of cramming many different destinations or activities within the same day. When it was time to get to DMK airport for our return flight, we booked a taxi through the hotel concierge and the one-hour ride cost us 800 baht (over SGD30). However, it was a huge, comfy car with lots of space for us to stretch and relax even after putting in all the luggage and barang barang. In addition, the uncle who drove us was so nice and smiley so we had a really pleasant ride to the airport as we bade farewell to the city.
Well, that basically sums up what we did on our 5D4N trip to Bangkok and I'm glad this holiday turned out to be a smashing success even though everything was planned at the last minute (as usual, it's what happens when you are a navy wife). I'm really excited to share with you more of our experiences and travel tips so check this page for more updates in the upcoming weeks!
******
Bangkok Itinerary
Day 1 - Safari World and Central World Night Market
Day 2 - Chatuchak and Sea Life
Day 3 - Open House and Asiatique
Day 4 - Kidzania
******
Disclosure: We are very thankful to have sponsors for this trip, including Oriental Residence who hosted our stay and Kidzania Bangkok who hosted our media visit, as well as Klook who collaborated with us for the attraction tickets. All the links to Klook are affiliate links. All photos and opinions are purely our own.
