Bangkok City, Attractions.

The excitement I felt the morning we left for the Siem Riep Airport was well beyond belief, as this was what I had been waiting for now, over 30 years, for my return. We had heard that the airport was brand new but didn’t quite expect what we found upon arrival. It was very modern, quite beautiful, and very empty. Two airline booth open, one bathroom, on main floor, and overall, not really finished.

  Thai Pad Thai on a one-hour flight from Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand ? 🙂

      Sukhumvit International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand

However, our check-in was smooth and effortless, with computerized baggage turn-in with tracking codes. Our flight on AirAsia was upgraded to Premium Plus, seats 2 c and 2 d, and on the one hour flight they served cocktails and Pad Thai which was pretty damn good.

Best transport from airport is “metered taxi”, unless you have hired a private limo service 🙂

Mercedes-Benz “E” Class and driver from Anatara Resort awaited us at the airport.

The view of Bangkok and the Bangkok River from our suite.

We arrived on time at the Bangkok International Airport, quite the monster in size and design, and moved quickly and effortlessly through customs and baggage. We then proceeded out to our awaiting driver, who was at “The Arrival Zone,” holding a sign,our names and our private Mercedes Benz E300 to transport us to our hotel, the Anantara “ANATARA,” and Riverside Hotel.

The Bangkok River at night, that’s our “Dinner Cruise” vessel all lit up.

Let me say that, especially in the big cities, arranging for a private driver or one from your hotel saves you many issues. What cab service do you take, meter or not? Do I use “Grab,” and am I getting ripped off. Renting a vehicle in a place like Bangkok, I think, would be disastrous. For not much more $$$, you get to sit back, relax and enjoy the drive.:)

 Someone failed “erector set-101” 🙂

The river and canals are still the main mode of transportation around Bangkok.

    Anantara Riverside Resort, Bangkok, Thailand

 Probably not much “relaxing” staying in Chinatown.

We debated where to stay in Bangkok, as this city is beyond mega-large, with many options depending on what you want to see and do. Many suggest staying in Chinatown as your best option because that is where the cheap food is. Others suggest staying near Khao San Road, known as “The Party Street,” with its neon lights, action bars, awesome food, and loud music, and then there are the “ladies” with “offers you just can’t refuse.”

Lunch and ice cold Singha in Icon Riverside Mall

  Checking into our suite at Anantara Riverside

Night’s were magical on the Bangkok River

I believe we made the correct decision by choosing either and going with a five-star Riverfront Hotel, the Anantara Riverside. It was perfect with our deluxe riverfront suite overlooking the activity day and night on the Bangkok River, the city across the river, and a large pier with a river shuttle service. The stunning hotel had everything, from a spa to multiple restaurants, coffee shops, a bakery, and much more.

   Entering Chinatown, Bangkok, …..Starbucks and KFC 🙂

 Also there were “Mobile Barbershops” “)

As we do in most countries we visit, we enjoy taking a tour of the city to get the “lay of the land”. This is usually done on one of the “hop on / hop off busses” available in many large cities. What was cool and exciting here in Bangkok, was they have “Hop On / Hop Off” Water Taxi’s, an awesome way to get around and see the sites. We caught the Anatara’s water shuttle across the river to the Water Taxi Terminal and boarded the “Hop on /Hop Off”. The shuttle had multiple stops at key points, like temples on the river, major shopping malls and even Chinatown.

 Street food, especially “Satay,” can be found everywhere. Remember…barbeque is good.

  Everyone eats street food, cheap, easy and fast food…..but lines are good .

That evening, we had signed up for a Night Food Tour in Chinatown with Tours By Locals, which I often use. Our guide picked us up at the hotel, and we got into the van with eight other hungry tourists. This ended up being an awesome food tour as we walked to sixteen food booths throughout Chinatown, considered to be the best Chinatown worldwide.

We were all surprised to learn that many are actually “Michelin Star Rated” restaurants, which do not get awarded to just any restaurant. The foods we tasted, hot, spicy and delicious was exceptional in all vendors food carts / booths.

 Street food on our “Tours With Chef’s”

 These are the streets or alleys you walk to find good street food.

  On our tour, awesome spicy hot soups

   Wok fried “bugs”…Yum

 A “Tourist Specialty Only”….not mine 🙂

We choose to get off at Icon Siam Riverside Mall, to check it out and have some lunch. Let me say that this place makes “Mall of America” look like a strip mall in the Blue Ridge Mountains. With every designer store imaginable, from Tiphany’s to Porsche, restaurants, bars, people actually spend days there, as it’s actually a “tourist attraction”.

  The “Pirate Cure” for eating “bugs”

 They serve the streetfood HOT !

We had lunch.

We had a casual day on Sunday because we were going to the Famous Sunday “Night Market” known as Chatuckak, Jatujak, or just “JJ.” This world-famous market features over 15,000 stalls, and attendance is over 200,000 visitors each weekend. If you can’t find a decent pair of “knock-offs,” Rayband’s here for cheap, forgetaboutit !

  Shopping Malls are enormous

The food stalls were excellent, and if you should travel to Bangkok or any Asia Country, eating street food is the way to go, cheap and fast. However, always be careful, eat only where there is a line, watch how they cook, clean, and serve with dishwater, etc. The last thing you want is to spend your vacation sitting on the can with a container of Lomotil.

Ya gotta love a shopping mall with a full bar 🙂

  And a “shopping mall:, with a Porsche Dealer in it ? 🙂

 We visited the Temple of Dawn from the river taxi.

 It was REALLY Hot! outside…I climbed…Marsha photographed from below.

The next day was Monday, and there were no street food vendors anywhere because it was the day the streets were cleaned. Let me say that’s one thing we noticed: for a big city, Bangkok was very clean. So we took the water shuttle to check out another area of the town and shop for some tailors and jewelry stores (gold is cheap here) and another mall. We grabbed a TikTok driver who drove us to a few places. although we did find some deals, we decided against purchasing, becasue you have to assume the frivers take you to their “special places” where they get kickbacks.

  Welcome to “Gary’s Gong Show” 🙂

That evening, we had the most perfect time aboard the Avatar Riverside Dinner Cruise vessel. They converted This old rice barge into a luxury dining cruise ship on the river. We started with complimentary cocktails and canapés at the dock before boarding. We were escorted to our “special captain when we boarded a table for two”. I had requested this as this was our Anniversary Cruise. Champagne and a fabulous seafood dinner.

    On our “Luxury River Dining Cruise”, Bangkok

  View from our table for two 🙂

  Menu on River Cruise

    Enter the Floating Market

Bet that is a “frequent stop” for the boats here

That’s our guide Peaches behind me

Trinkets along the river market…yup, I bought that Budda 🙂

 Ice cold beer and soda’s

A typical “boat motor” on these river boats

The next day was admittedly the best tour day in Bangkok, with a guide I hired from “Tours By Locals.” Her name was Peaches (nicknamed) Sriruanngam, and she was very highly recommended. She lived up to it. Peaches picked us up with her driver, and off we went to our first destination, the Famous Bangkok Floating Market. Let me explain: Bangkok has multiple floating markets, used by the locale forever. I floated one back in 1968, but I don’t recall which one, probably because of the Singha Beer and drugs 🙂 It’s best to use a guide and talk about which to visit.

The hanging flowers on bow of the boats was for safety and good fortune

 Get your photo with one of these babies around your neck ?

We visited a famous Floating Market close to our next destination if you think of an hour’s driving time in traffic as close. My wife Marsha enjoyed this market because they sold everything from clothes, food, and statues to pictures with their boa snake around your neck.

 Ice creme and sticky rice anyone ?

Seat back on our boat ? Guess he had a “side business” ?

Standing on the Railroad Tracks, at the Railroad Market, awaiting the train.

The boats themselves were a real trip, with car engines and 12-15 foot driveshafts attached to a propeller. They sped down these small canals, knowing how far apart they were and turning on a dime. I saw very few old styles that were paddled the last time I was there.

 ”Modern Upscale Bathrooms”

All the stores along the waterways were very organized, and the people always had a smile and a wave, thus the term,

“the Land of Smiles”.

 Marsha and Guide Peaches overlooking Floating Market

 Yup ! even a “gun range” on the river

 Bumped into an old friend from the 60’s ?

Another simple pleasure was the small boat with the Thai Lady making Mango Sticky Rice ice.

   Just docked at the Royal Barges Museum

    Entering the Railway Market

 Shopping

Nothing beats a ice cold Thai Iced Coffee on a steamy hot day

After the market adventure we headed to the famous Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway which is over 100 meters long, and shops with product covering the tracks. Located near the Mae Klong Railway Station, the train makes 3-4 trips thru the market area each day. Largely made up of fresh seafood, vegetables, fruits , meats, dried fruits, and trinkets, it’s a facinating adventure.

After walking the entire railroad tracks, shopping til we dropped, luckily Peaches knew a small coffee shop beside the tracks to :drop” for a Thai Ice Coffee.

 These Royal Barges are massive, and were built by the Kings over the years

I do have to tell you, my initial research on the “train market” suggested it was just a tourist trap and not worth a visit. I will tell you, it is very exciting to witness a local market, not a “tourist market,” where locals shop every day. The excitement as the trail slowly approaches, awnings are folded up, and wares are collected is really cool. If you have the opportunity, you should check this place out.

   Regretfully, some of the boats were partially destroyed, but saved, during last war.

 I did get “rowing lessons” with an authentic “Royal Oar” 🙂

Finally, Peaches drove us to a boat launch in Bangkok that would take us to our third destination, which I had visited fifty years ago, and definitely wanted Marsha to visit. The Royal Barge Museum was just as I remembered it, and our experience there was better than my previous visit.

These Royal Barges have been used for special occasions for centuries and lately to celebrate some of the new bridges over the main river. The King ( in power) and the Royal Family would ride in them, with Monks paddling.

I was lucky enough to get the special “Paddling Lesson” correctly.

Finally, we headed to visit another waterfront temple, the Golden Reclining Buddha.

Have you heard of the “Reclining Gold Buddha?

It’s difficult to get this entire statue in one pic

Some perspective how big this thing is 🙂

Couldn’t resist getting a pic with my little buddy

They sold coins, and if you put one cash in each of the 30 kettles, you brought another year of good luck.

The day had finally come, when I got the opportunity to, Cook With Poo 🙂

The day started with an adventure in itself, finding our way to the meeting place for the van. The school suggested we take a taxi to the closest BTS or Ski Train Station From Phong and get off at exit #2. Then, walk to the “Tiffany & Co. Emporium Store. Yes….Breakfast t Tiffany’s :).

So we made it there and after a few minutes a lady with a t-tshit that said, “Cooking With Poo” appeared, and we boarded the van with six other “cooks in training”.

Our first stop was at a charming (and clean) indoor market featuring fresh meat, fish, fruit, veggies, and, importantly, Thai Spices. Both wife Marsha and I were stuffing our backpacks with hot peppers, Thai Basil, and more for the journey back home. The cooking school ladies purchased products that we would be using later in our class.

A short drive brought us to a section of Bangkok that I was aware of, and not in a positive way. The location of Poo’s Cooking School was in the “Hells Kitchen of Bangkok,” for sure. We had to walk some “interesting backstreets” until we got to the entrance to the school, in a small alleyway.

Cooking With Poo Van

However, there was on food cart that I did pass on eating anything, Scorpions, Insects, Worms, etc all nice and crispy cooked.

  Walking the alley to cooking school

  Poo teaching us how to prep and cook Thai

If you go to Bangkok to experience their delicacies, just know that they do eat bugs, but…only tourists eat scorpions. 🙂

Cooking With Poo, Real “hands-on” cooking school

So, our final day in Bangkok was an adventure in shopping, visiting the countryside, and most importantly, cooking with a “Master”,……”Poo”.

There’s a lot more to Thai Cooking than it seems

We all had a Wok station, and cooked every dish

Thai Pad Thai from scratch

   Eat what ya make, buddy 🙂

Looks like I got two thumbs up 🙂

 What you get when you “graduate” from a hard day at Thai Cooking School.

Poo pointed out and explained to us that she initially opened her classes in a tiny room on the same street. After making some money, she was able to purchase a more extensive and better-equipped place for her school. This one is air-conditioned and has monster vents over the cook stations. I joked with Poo about how her neighbors must really love the incredible smells coming out of the vents when she holds classes!

   Check out those cooking vents !

Poo was very good at explaining each dish we were to prepare, and she started off by cooking the dish first. Then we doubled up at each cook station as we did the prep work, and cooked each dish. Cooking Pad Thai with a “master Thai Chef” was thrilling and a high point in my visit here.There is a reason Saiyuud Diwong (Poo) is famous for her cooking classes, and it’s not just the food, it’s the lady. She was so much fun, with so much knowledge, explaining each step of the way and why we did two elements of the meal, like beating them in a mortar and pistol :).

If the “Cooking Channel” is reading, this woman would make a great addition to your program, “Thai Cooking With Poo”!

Our Bangkok adventure ended, and after a beautiful Thai dinner, we enjoyed a good night’s sleep before heading out by air on Thai VeitJet Air to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Nothing quite like dinner on the Bangkok River, after one hell of a great week exploring Bangkok.

My intense emotions re-visiting Thailand after so many years have proven to be a pleasure, as I have watched the smiles, the joy, and the wonder on my wife Marsha’s face, finally visiting a place I have loved for over 50 years. I’m so happy I finally had the chance to show her and let her experience it, too, with me.

Until Chiang Mai,

Gary…The Pirate