Highlights of Our Trip in Bangkok
Here are the highlights of our five-day trip in Bangkok.
- Arrival in Bangkok
- Day 1: Jim Thompson, BACC, and Asiatique included in our Bangkok trip
- Day 2: The Buddhist Shrines we explored during our trip in Bangkok
- Day 3: Side-trip to Ayutthaya from Bangkok
- Day 4: Shopping in Bangkok as part of the Trip
- Day 5: Leaving Bangkok
- End of Bangkok Trip
- Future Plans
Arrival in Bangkok
We took a three-hour early morning flight with Cebu Pacific from Manila to Bangkok in April 2023 and slept almost throughout the flight knowing that we planned to see three places in Bangkok before the day ends.
We landed in Suvarnabhumi airport mid-morning and from the airport we hailed a Grab car, which we booked through the Grab app, a popular ride-hailing app in Bangkok. We were greeted by the rush hour with Bangkok’s heavy traffic flow and the driver ranted on about it the entire trip and warned us to allot plenty of time for the heavy traffic if we planned to get around by car. We were then dropped off at our hotel in Siam district a few hours before lunch.
The hotel lobby was full of tourists when we arrived. It was a peak season to visit Bangkok. There were about four staff at the front desk, all of whom were busy that we struggled to get their attention. After a few tries of asking, we finally got their attention and were able to settle in our rooms after 30 minutes of waiting.
Day 1: Jim Thompson, BACC, and Asiatique included in our Bangkok trip
After we have settled our things in our rooms and had our lunch we then began our Bangkok adventure. The first few places we saw were Jim Thompson Museum and the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center (BACC). Both places were located in Siam district, just a few minutes walk away from each other. I will share more on this in Why Visit Jim Thompson House Museum and BACC. For dinner we went to Asiatique and spent a few hours shopping and strolling.
Day 2: The Buddhist Shrines we explored during our trip in Bangkok
On our second day in Bangkok, we went on a private Day Tour and visited five different shrines around Bangkok. We visited the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine, the Grand Palace Complex, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and Wat Saket. We booked this tour with Trip Guru a few weeks ahead before arriving in Bangkok. Details of our this Day Tour I will share in another blog post.
Day 3: Side-trip to Ayutthaya from Bangkok
We did a side-trip to Ayutthaya on the third day of our trip in Bangkok. We joined a small Group Day Tour which we booked with Trip Guru. Bang Pa-In Palace was our first stop followed by going around different sites of shrine ruins, that reminded me of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Again, we booked this Day Tour a few weeks ahead before coming to Bangkok. I will share more on this Bangkok side trip to Ayutthaya in another blog post.
Day 4: Shopping in Bangkok as part of the Trip
Our Bangkok trip would not have been complete without this shopping experience. In our case, we went to malls located around Siam. We took Tuktuk rides to hop from one mall to another. We went shopping in Platinum, MBK, and Krung Thong Plaza. I will give more tips about this shopping experience in another blog post.
Day 5: Leaving Bangkok
We left Bangkok on our fifth day. During breakfast, we recalled the things we did during our trip in Bangkok and how we plan to spend our return to Thailand in the future. After breakfast we booked a Grab car again and were dropped off at the Suvarnabhumi airport.
Because of a major power outage in Manila, our flight back was delayed for 4 hours. As compensation, Cebu Pacific handed out food vouchers that we used for our lunch. While waiting, we were all kidding around saying that it was a sign to extend our stay in Bangkok– jokes that were half-meant, if you know what I mean; it was bittersweet to leave Bangkok.
End of Bangkok Trip
The trip around Bangkok and Ayutthaya was definitely tiring. We were always up very early in the morning and we barely had time for breakfast. We would return to our hotel either late in the afternoon or early in the evening too exhausted from all the walking and taking pictures that we didn’t have the energy to explore Bangkok at night– at least that’s a reason to see it again. After all we did enjoye our five day trip around Bangkok.
Future Plans
I plan to come back to Thailand someday. I’m hoping to explore Bangkok at night and include a cruise in Chao Phraya river, and see IconSiam, and Wat Arun at night. Maybe next time it would also be nice to see Pattaya, another place to do a side-trip from Bangkok. If time permits I would also explore Chiang Mai and Phuket someday.
