"Bangkok" originally was a small village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. After the fall of Ayutthaya in the late 18th century, King Taksin the Great turned that village into Siam's new capital and renamed it Thonburi. In 1782, King Rama I moved the capital to the eastern bank of the river at Rattanakosin; originally the site of a Chinese community, who were moved outside of the new city walls to Yaowarat. King Rama I named the city Krung Thep, as it is now known to Thais and which in English is translates as the "City of Angels".
The full name "Krung thep mahanakhon amorn ratanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilok popnoparat ratchathani burirom udomratchanivetmahasathan amornpiman avatarnsathit sakkathattiyavisnukarmprasit" (กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลกภพ นพรัตน์ราชธานี บุรีรมย์อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์) is listed as the world's longest location name by the Guinness Book of Records; an English rendering goes like this: "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city of Ayutthaya of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn". <Our guide today, Al, rattled this long name off in Thai, much to the amusement of all of us.>
Life was taking place on the water; ordinary people lived on bamboo-rafts along the river, while floating vendors roamed the water to sell fruit and vegetables. The only stone structures built on land were temples and palaces. In the 19th-century, Western powers incorporated much of Southeast Asia into their colonial empires. King Rama IV and V felt that the only way to keep Siam independent was to modernize the country along European lines. Traditional canals were filled up and turned into roads. King Rama V moved the residence of the King to Dusit and laid out that district's grand boulevards along European lines.
Bangkok really started to develop after World War II. The economic centre shifted from the orderly planned city of Rattanakosin in an eastward direction, leaving Bangkok without an obvious centre. Bangkok established itself as the driving power behind Thailand's new role as a newly industrializing country from the 1980s onwards. Rapid economic growth has attracted migration from the countryside, with millions of Thais moving here from Isaan to make a living.
This rapid expansion turned Bangkok into one of the most cosmopolitan and happening cities in Asia; but also ensured numerous problems. A wide gap has emerged between those who profit from economic activity, and those who came to the city from the countryside in search of work. Source: WikiTravel.org
Where in the world are we?
OMG, we had the best, longest and most exhausting day today. It started even before the alarm set for 5:30am, when, at 5:15am, G was dragging my suitcase with the broken wheel out from under the bed to see just what was required to fix it. I already knew what was required to fix it: someone from the technical department to put a bolt and a nut through the wheel. But, after I had mentioned the issue to G last night, he just had to see for himself.
By 6am we were in the Horizon Court Buffet, along with 2000 of our fellow passengers, for breakfast. Bangkok is over two hours from the port at Laem Chabang, and all the ship’s excursions had early meeting times. Ours was at 6:45am. We had booked the excursion called Wat (Temple) Pho and Bangkok on Your Own, which was a nice mix of a short, guided tour through a Buddhist temple and then 3.5 hours on our own to explore.
Things were complicated a bit this morning because we all had to go through Thailand immigration. In fact, we hit our first snag on that last night. After staying late at the Captains Circle party chatting with Myra and Larry, we returned to our cabin to find that we had issues the delivery of our passports by our cabin steward Homer. He was off duty for the night, and we had to wait until 9:30pm for all the undelivered passports to be returned to Guest Services. I went down to get ours, and the line to pick them up stretched across the Piazza. God help me, I actually felt guilty when I stood in the very short Elite line to pick ours up. I knew that some passengers would be in line there for at least 30 minutes to get theirs.
So, we were armed today with our passports and Thailand landing cards that had been filled out by the Administration department, and passport copies (because as soon as we went through immigration our passports were again collected by Guest Services) and our ship card and stood in line in the terminal for just a few minutes and then the formalities were over. We exited the terminal to a chorus of “Swadikas!” (I know that’s not spelled correctly but it’s how it is pronounced) and head bows and palms together. I love the Thai people! By 8am, our bus was driving out of the parking lot and our guide Al was telling us a few things about Bangkok (including its really long name).
Al was the best guide we’ve had so far. He used to work on cruise ships, and spoke excellent English. He had a great sense of humor and knew exactly how much to talk on the bus, which was not too much. People really wanted to nap on the long drive to Bangkok. Al came around and talked to each couple about their plans, showing us on a map he handed out exactly how to get around. He also encouraged us to keep our plans reasonable, understanding that our time was very limited and Bangkok traffic and congestion is notoriously bad. We made one stop at what Al called “The Happy Place”, bathrooms at a roadside store. There were six squatty potties and one Western toilet. We all waited for that one. ;-)
An infamous squatty potty
After over two hours on the bus, we arrived in Bangkok. While the views on the bus ride to the city had been fairly disappointing (Thailand seems much more prosperous than Vietnam and we saw way more pickups and crossover SUVs than motorbikes), things got more interesting as we got into the city, and it started resembling Ho Chi Minh City with fewer motorbikes. As a group we stopped at Wat Pho. The temple is first on the list of six temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of the first-class royal temples. It is associated with King Rama I who rebuilt the temple complex on an earlier temple site, and became his main temple where some of his ashes are enshrined. The temple was later expanded and extensively renovated by Rama III. The temple complex houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand, including a 46 m long reclining Buddha. The temple is considered the earliest centre for public education in Thailand, and the marble illustrations and inscriptions placed in the temple for public instructions has been recognized by UNESCO in its Memory of the World Program. Source: WikiTravel.com
The newly opened King Power Hotel
Entrance to Chinatown
There were a lot of contenders for the title, but this was our favorite overhead lines shot of the day.
Two Thai delicacies
Streetside purchase
Street scene
My only Buddhist monk photo
Tuk Tuk Taxi
The new King of Thailand
Wat Pho
Wat Pho
A model of the reclining Buddha
It can’t be captured in one photo
Making offerings (kind of like lighting candles in Catholic Churches)
Al walked us around the Wat Pho complex for about 45 minutes and then let us loose on our own. ;-) G and I knew where to go to exit Wat Pho and which direction to turn to head toward the Chao Phraya River. We immediately hit a snag when an ATM near the ferry terminal we were heading to did not accept my ATM card. We didn’t have any Thai Bhats, and Al had told us that we wouldn’t be able to use US$ in Thailand as we had in Vietnam. The Money Changer booths were also closed for the weekend. We had no way to go anywhere on our own…
…until one of the little shop keepers saw our indecision and came to our aid. Thankfully, he spoke pretty good English. He said that ATM never worked but that we could take a taxi to get to another ATM. G asked if he would be willing to change just $10 for Bhats and he was happy to. I could have kissed the man. In fact, he was worried that he needed to give us more than the 300 Bhats he had handy (an even exchange rate would have been 32.50 Bhats to $1), but we wouldn’t let him give us anymore. He also went to great detail to tell us that, after our next stop, we shouldn’t pay any more than 15 Bhat each to take a long boat down the river to Saphan Taksin. He warned us that one of the boat operators would try to charge us three times that much.
What a lovely man! We left him with a chorus of thank you’s (in Thai…waiter Suttipong taught us well), and found our way down the street to the ferry office. We bought our tickets to go across the river to our next stop, Wat Arun. We called this short ferry the “sit down” ferry, because there were boxes and seats available when we boarded. I was shocked by how rough the water was on the river. All we could figure was that the heavy boat traffic kept things choppy.
After a five minute ride, we disembarked the “sit down” ferry right at Wat Arun. Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks. The first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence. Although the temple had existed since at least the seventeenth century, its distinctive prang (spires) were built in the early nineteenth century during the reign of King Rama II. Source: WikiTravel.com
Near Wat Arun
Wat Arun
Wat Arun
Signs like these are everywhere
Incense burning near Wat Arun
Not quite sure what this is...Confucius I think, on the left, but I have no idea who that is on the right
We spent about 30 minutes walking around Wat Arun. We would have loved to climb the stairs up the side of the main prang, or spire, but we just didn’t have that kind of time. Instead we made our way back to the river, where we asked and were told that we needed to go to Pier 1 to catch a longboat to Saphan Taksin. Once there, just as our helpful friend had warned us, one boat operator wanted to charge us 50 Baht each for the ride. But a lady rushed up and told us she sold tickets for the Orange boat and it was just 15 Baht and would be there in ten minutes. So we waited. It wasn’t the price (just over a $1 more each) of the other boat, it was that we don’t like feeling taken advantage of.
Still, when the cheaper boat arrived, we immediately called it a “stand up ferry”, because it was packed with locals. Packed. We were stuck in a part of the boat where we couldn’t see out, jammed in a narrow corridor with just the walls to hold us up in the rough water. All I could think about were all those news stories I’ve read about ferries that have sunk in Southeast Asia over the years. Eventually we could move down a bit and had something to hold on to, and then a little later actually found a spot near an open window. Meanwhile, the boat had been stopping all along the river and we had no idea if we had missed our stop or not. In another stroke of luck, I asked the man next to me “Saphan Taksim?” and he spoke a little English. He said it would be the stop after he got off, and he made sure we knew when he did.
It occurred to me at that moment that travel sometimes takes us to the very outer edges of our comfort zone, and then throws us a lifeline in the form of friendly and helpful locals. We often rely on the kindness of strangers, but never more than we did today.
We took a long boat (with a orange flag) to Saphsn Taksin to connect with the Sky Train...
...to Che...something stop, right at the new King Power Hotel
Once we disembarked at Saphan Taksim, there was no missing our next form of transport. The Sky Train was running almost directly overhead, and we walked up a series of steps to the ticket office. G had a map and pointed out where we wanted to go, and was sold tickets for our ride. Also at the SkyTrain Terminal was an ATM, which readily accepted my ATM card and allowed me to withdraw another 500 Bhat, giving us a little cushion for the day. We waited just a short time for a SkyTrain which we took to a stop that I forget its name, but we were going to the just recently opened King Power Hotel, the tallest building in Thailand. The observation deck opened for visitors just two weeks ago. We hadn’t known about the building until G Googled it on the bus (because of course he did) and, naturally, we added it to the list of things to see today.
We took an elevator to the 85th floor and then a panoramic elevator another three levels to an outside deck. From there we could step out on a glass floored overhang looking down 88 floors to the street below. Loved that! And there was one more set of outside stairs to the roof. It doesn’t get any better than that!
About 88 floors high
Looking up at the building
We had just come down this river on a longboat
The glass floor 87 storeys high
The Bangkok skyline in just one direction from the roof of the King Power Hotel
But we couldn’t linger; we had to get back down and walk through a gauntlet of duty free shops to get back outside the building and return to the SkyTrain station. G bought two more tickets for about $1 each and we rode several stops to the end of that line at the National Stadium. And there we really were running out of time. Maps.me told us it would take 27 minutes to walk to the Asia Hotel where we were meeting our bus. But we had to be there in 12 minutes.
The SkyTrain is very easy to navigate. There are just two lines and four termini
No worries. G had been wanting to take a ride in a tuk tuk and we hailed one coming our direction. Luckily we had the Baht I had gotten from the SkyTrain ATM, because we needed some of that to pay the driver. And we did save time taking the tuk tuk but, oh my, that Bangkok traffic is intense. At 3:32pm, we were just 920 feet away from the hotel. It might have seemed faster to walk, but that would have involved crossing a couple more streets, and we know from experience that is not a simple process in these big Southeast Asia cities. We stayed put, and arrived about 8 minutes late, but needn’t have worried. People were still wandering in, and we didn’t leave until 4pm.
Our tuk tuk ride... stuck in traffic
That 920 feet took about 5 minutes in traffic...but we were afraid that walking and having to cross those crazy streets would take longer.
It was 6:15pm when we walked back on the ship. We were dirty, we were stiff from the bus ride and we were exhausted. There was never a question of going to the dining room or a show tonight. We cleaned up a bit and ate our first dinner in the buffet. And then we crashed.
Right after we got back on the ship, I had headed to the Shore Excursions Desk to book an excursion for tomorrow in Ko Samui, Thailand. I was in line with four other people all purchasing the same excursion I was: a couple of hours on a beach about 45 minutes away. We all agreed that, after our long excursions in Bangkok, all we want to do tomorrow is lie on a beach. Even better: our meeting time isn’t until 9:45am. 9:45am! The alarm is set for 8am, and just typing that makes me almost giddy with excitement. I will publish this blog post and be asleep by 9:30pm.