It’s great to be in Bangkok again! I fell in love with Bangkok as a solo traveller back in 1999 and now I visit with my children, they love Bangkok too. This post is about our first few days in Bangkok at the start of our nomadic family travel adventure. This was year one of a six or seven-year family gap “year.”
We’ve spent a lot of time in Bangkok over the years, but it’s never stopped being exciting, I get a real buzz out of just being here. As we came into town in the taxi the kids were shouting ” I know this place!” and “I remember this!”, it’s great that they’ll love revisiting a few old haunts this time, too.
I wrote about things to do in Bangkok with kids after our last trip, we spent less than a week here last time, taking off for a few days in Ayutthaya and Koh Samet, all in a short family holiday. This time it’s different, no deadlines, no list of sights to be ticked off, no rushing around.
We Love Not Having to Rush Bangkok.
We’re not rushing Bangkok this time.
We can stay as long as we like and come back again soon, we will be in Bangkok for at least a couple of weeks, long enough to chill and do nothing some of the time, take in a few sights at a very leisurely pace, shop for a few things and enjoy some of the best food there is.
Yes, We Had Another Hotel Drama.
Dramas are following me around the world lately.
We pre-booked ten nights in a fairly fancy hotel ( $35/night) because we saw a great special offer. When I checked in, front desk staff rudely demanded an extra $12/ night. The special we’d booked and paid for was “no possible”, end of discussion.
So that started me off on another one of my famous freak outs (see freaking out in Malaysia), I thought we’d have to check out, fight for a refund, wander the streets with heavy bags and a sick child (Boo has tonsillitis). You know how it goes, serious Mummy stress.
After 24hrs of frantic email activity, it was sorted, the bookings wholesalers are very powerful, important people in the hospitality world. I got in touch with them via Facebook, they dealt with the hotel, I got my refund.
If anything like this ever happens to you, don’t bother arguing with the hotel, go straight to whoever you booked it with, they have the power.
Drama Sorted, Time to Enjoy.
The streets just starting to wake up, it gets crazy after dark!
We are in a great location, just off the famous Khao San Rd, for me, the thumping heart of Bangkok. I love being here in the early mornings, if streets could have hangovers, this is what it would look like. The area comes to life as the afternoon wears on, crowds gather, shops and stalls appear from nowhere, street hawkers start their patrols selling everything from tattoo sleeves to scorpions on a stick. It’s all the entertainment I need.
We are within five minutes walk of the river ferry jetty, boats take you to just about any attraction you want to visit for around a dollar.
There is as much food and drink as you could ever need right on the doorstep, for all budgets. Beers from the shop are a dollar, from a fancy restaurant three dollars, you can buy dinner from a street stall from about eighty cents or spend big and buy something amazing.
Plus we have three adorable kittens right outside.
It’s July, wet season, so skies are overcast and there are short thunder storms most days, but that’s fine, it’s cooler and we’re in no rush, we can sit out the storm and not worry about lost time.
We’re sorted, we’re happy and guess what? Dad is joining us in just a few days. Maybe there will finally be some photos of me, people are starting to wonder what I look like. Don’t expect miracles, he’s a great chef, lousy photographer.
Stick with us, lots more fun in Bangkok to come!
Update: This post is from 2013, during our first few months on the road. We heading to Bangkok and Thailand again in 2016 – 2023. You can find all of our Thailand content on our Thai Travel page. or check out our newer post on Things To Do in Bangkok.
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About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
Ah, Bangkok was the first place we really travelled in. It is amazing but I think we’d find it hard to spend two weeks there, we really liked Chiang Mai. We’re flying into Bangkok on the 8th August and introducing it to my sisters and some others, should be fun! 🙂
We’re not doing much Andrew, just hanging out, exploring Bangkok by boat and on foot. You have to be somewhere in the world, I reckon Bangkok is a pretty good place to just be, always something interesting to see. Although we’re spending far more money than we should I’m affraid.
We love visiting new places, but we also love coming back to favorite ones. We think it is cool too when our boys remember places and get excited about familiar sites. We have not made it to Bangkok, yet, but maybe some day.
Alyson,
I love BKK, too. Excited to bring my family there. Enjoyed as well your previous post on BKK from a few yrs back – glad to know it is so doable with kids.
Lyndel
Glad your enjoying Bangkok, sorry about the tonsilitis. Made me wonder – how do you cope with the medical side of things? Tonsilitis can be Nasty! Hope he gets better soon.
Hi Kate, Well, Boo started throwing a fever the afternoon before we flew to Bangkok ( I’ve got an ear thermometer with me plus ibuprofen and paracetamol for fever), I wizzed him straight down to the clinic at the end of the street in Penang, using my friend’s buggy as an ambulance , complete with “Nee Nah” noises. Saw a lovely doctor immediately who gave him the most thorough exam I’ve seen from a doctor in years, he gave us amoxycillin, the pharmacy was attached to his surgery. It cost us $20 all in. That probably sounds a lot to you in the UK, but in Australia just seeing a GP can be $80, the prescription $40, even for kids. The only sticky bit was keeping the drugs cold while we got to the airport, obviously it would be cold on the plane, so I popped the bottle in my neoprene Kindle holder. It was still cold when we got here. Health care in Bangkok is excellent, as it was in Malaysia, so, no worries so far! If we hadn’t been flying the next day I probably would have left it, but places are iffy with admitting sick people through airports, some even have thermo scanners to keep bird flu like things out. Great question!
Ah, Bangkok was the first place we really travelled in. It is amazing but I think we’d find it hard to spend two weeks there, we really liked Chiang Mai. We’re flying into Bangkok on the 8th August and introducing it to my sisters and some others, should be fun! 🙂
We’re not doing much Andrew, just hanging out, exploring Bangkok by boat and on foot. You have to be somewhere in the world, I reckon Bangkok is a pretty good place to just be, always something interesting to see. Although we’re spending far more money than we should I’m affraid.
Hello:
We love visiting new places, but we also love coming back to favorite ones. We think it is cool too when our boys remember places and get excited about familiar sites. We have not made it to Bangkok, yet, but maybe some day.
Alyson,
I love BKK, too. Excited to bring my family there. Enjoyed as well your previous post on BKK from a few yrs back – glad to know it is so doable with kids.
Lyndel
Sounding more like the Chilled Alyson Long! 😉
Totally chilled and having a wonderful time in Bangkok, it feels like home, I think this is my 5th time here Melanie.
Glad your enjoying Bangkok, sorry about the tonsilitis. Made me wonder – how do you cope with the medical side of things? Tonsilitis can be Nasty! Hope he gets better soon.
Hi Kate, Well, Boo started throwing a fever the afternoon before we flew to Bangkok ( I’ve got an ear thermometer with me plus ibuprofen and paracetamol for fever), I wizzed him straight down to the clinic at the end of the street in Penang, using my friend’s buggy as an ambulance , complete with “Nee Nah” noises. Saw a lovely doctor immediately who gave him the most thorough exam I’ve seen from a doctor in years, he gave us amoxycillin, the pharmacy was attached to his surgery. It cost us $20 all in. That probably sounds a lot to you in the UK, but in Australia just seeing a GP can be $80, the prescription $40, even for kids. The only sticky bit was keeping the drugs cold while we got to the airport, obviously it would be cold on the plane, so I popped the bottle in my neoprene Kindle holder. It was still cold when we got here. Health care in Bangkok is excellent, as it was in Malaysia, so, no worries so far! If we hadn’t been flying the next day I probably would have left it, but places are iffy with admitting sick people through airports, some even have thermo scanners to keep bird flu like things out. Great question!