Updated on August 19, 2017
Holidays in Thai: Bangkok on February 7th, 2016
To keep continuity, this post should start from the day before, after we got off the plane.
We arrived at the brand-new domestic arrival hall of Dun Muang airport. Hoping to experience domestic train in Thailand and being told that taxi services in Dun Muang airport are expensive and unorganized, we headed for the Dun Muang Train Station, whose location was not known to us. After consulting to the locals (and thinking of conspiracy theory that the taxi driver union removed all signs of railway station in Dun Muang Airport), we walked north to the old terminal (which seemed like a coach station compared with the modern Suvarnabhumi Airport), up the stairs in a remote corner, across an overpass, down and through some noonbathing locals to the ticket station of Dun Muang Railway Station, only to be told the last train downtown had long departed.
P.S. With baggage in both hands and mom’s nagging in both ears, there’s no time left for photos.
Since anyway that’s a train station, so we stood on the express way (in traffic jam) and started hailing taxies. After about 10 taxies refused to take us because the drivers didn’t read our hotel location in Google Maps, or was not willing to take us there (not very likely) or didn’t understand English we finally boarded a taxi. After a brief 2 minutes, the driver took us to the airport departure hall, stopped and asked as seriously where we were heading.
P.S.We finally resolved this problem by calling the hotel.
P.S.P.S.Our very friendly taxi driver welcomed us to Bangkok and asked where we are from. Having been told “China” he asked us: “Thaiwan”? #HowIWishedICouldAnswerYes
P.P.S.S.There seemed to be a 100THB “Taxi Tax”(I admit I invented the name of this tax) at Dun Muang Airport, since we hailed that taxi outside the airport, no extra fees.
P.P.P.S.S.S.Given the cost of taxi, the price advantage of Dun Muang Airport to Suvarnabhumi is really negligible ok, that’s because domestic flights in Thailand are all that cheap, for the latter has much cheaper metro connection.
Now it’s official February 7th.
It’s Chinese New Year Eve, also our first full day in Bangkok. I was eager to see how a foreign festival was celebrated in Thailand.
We were to spend the day visiting sites like Grand Palace, where any other holidaymaker would visit. For the night, my mom had been complaining about the lack of shopping malls for days.
Morning, we took a taxi on the main street near our hotel to the Grand Palace. It seemed that taxies waiting in the alleys never used the meter, and named whatever price they could imagine.
I found this in the taxi to Grand Palace (though in Thai), excited as if meeting an old acquaintance. By the way it’s such a painful wait for the new series from Amazon Prime
Sculptures of three elephants outside Grand Palace
Due to traffic jam, our cab driver dropped us off not far from the Grand Palace visitor entrance. Yet I failed to manage Google its entrance, instead we tried to walk its perimeter. Unfortunately we tried the wrong direction, so after 7/8 of its perimeter we finally reached its visitor entrance.
Ministry of Defence
East to Grand Palace, this seems to be some sort of Thailand Trade Committee
Contrary to North Thai a couple of days ago, Grand Palace was swarmed by people, a majority of which belonged to Chinese tour groups.
This is basically how buildings in Wat Phra Kaew look like, gorgeously ornamented
Entrance to the Grand Palace, with lots of people.
On my entrance to the Grand Palace one guard pointed at my shorts which barely covered my knees and led me to a small but equally swarmed room to borrow a designated trouser provided by Grand Palace which looked utterly terrible. So that day I need to painstakingly instructed my mom to keep it out of the photos. More importantly, there’re no packets in that trouser.
I shall say that the Grand Palace stated that photographs in it should only be for “individual or educational” purposes.
The main attraction of Grand Palace is its affiliated temple Wat Phra Kaew, plus only a few palace buildings.
Murals in Wat Phra Kaew
Murals in Wat Phra Kaew
Crowds outside Wat Phra Kaew
Phra Si Rattana Chedi in Wat Phra Kaew
Even the corridors could be made so shiny in Wat Phra Kaew
Ho Phra Nak in Wat Phra Kaew
Beautifully decorated roofs in Wat Phra Kaew
Phra Mondop in Wat Phra Kaew, also the King Rama Memorial in the foreground
Models of Angkor Wat in Wat Phra Kaew to stress Thai Kingdom’s once reign over Angkor
Models of Angkor Wat in Wat Phra Kaew to stress Thai Kingdom’s once reign over Angkor
Phra Mondop
Phra Mondop
Wat Phra Kaew
Phra Si Rattana Chedi and models of Angkor Wat
Models of Angkor Wat in Wat Phra Kaew to stress Thai Kingdom’s once reign over Angkor, also Phra Sawet Kudakhan Wihan Yot in the background
Golden Chedis in Wat Phra Kaew
Phra Sawet Kudakhan Wihan Yot in Wat Phra Kaew
Ho Phra Monthian Tham in Wat Phra Kaew
Lotuses decoration in Wat Phra Kaew
Ho Phra Monthian Tham in Wat Phra Kaew
Details of Golden Chedis, each one of them dressed differently
Golden Chedis in Wat Phra Kaew
Half-human-half-bird creature in Wat Phra Kaew, which is quite prevalent in Thai culture.
Prasat Phra Thep Bidon in Wat Phra Kaew
Ubosot in Wat Phra Kaew with the Emerald Buddha
Ubosot and the Emerald Buddha behind leaves
Ubosot and the Emerald Buddha holds the Emerald Buddha, the photography of which is not allowed. By museum description, His Majesty routinely changes the Emerald Buddha.
Prasat Phra Thep Bidon in Wat Phra Kaew
Colorful plantations beneath Golden Chedis in Wat Phra Kaew made more colorful by Photoshop
This should be Chakkrawat in Wat Phra Kaew
Prasat Phra Thep Bidon
Prasat Phra Thep Bidon
Half-human-half-bird creature surrounding the Ubosot of Wat Phra Kaew
Phra Mondop
Phra Si Rattana Chedi, Phra Mondo, and Prasat Phra Thep Bidon
Thotsakhirithon and Thotsakhiriwan seen from the Ubosot
Some minor Budda towers in Wat Phra Kaew
(Banana?) Trees by the entrance of Ubosot
Ho Phra Khanthararat and Gandhara Buddha Viharn
Ho Phra Khanthararat and Gandhara Buddha Viharn
Ubosot of Wat Phra Kaew
Ubosot of Wat Phra Kaew
Chao Mae Kuan-im and Golden Chedis. The leaves of (banana?) tree provided the perfect balance of color.
The Bellfry in Wat Phra Kaew
Guardians of Wat Phra Kaew
Wat Phra Kaew, from the passage to the Grand Palace
Then we passed through a narrow doorway out of Wat Phra Kaew, into the perimeter buildings of the Grand Palace.
Phra Thinang Boromphiman in the Grand Palace
Details of Phra Maha Monthien group in the Grand Palace. The two neighboring buildings have very different architectural styles.
Part of Phra Maha Monthien group in the Grand Palace
Well decorated plants before Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Plants and Phra Maha Monthien group
The “official” gate to the Grand Palace
Sculptures of elephants before Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall and Phra Maha Monthien group
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Details of Chakri Maha Prasat Hall, the balcony on the third floor should be where the King addresses his subjects
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall
Two interesting Guardians to Phra Thinang Aphorn Phimok Prasat
Phra Thinang Aphorn Phimok Prasat
Phra Thinang Aphorn Phimok Prasat and Phra Thinang Dusit Maha Prasat
Upon seeing this I immediately related to the half-human-half-bird creature in Wat Phra Kaew, was I being too imaginative?
Gateway to Phra Thinang Dusit Maha Prasat
Phra Thinang Dusit Maha Prasat
The roofs in the Grand Palace are pretty much in uniform.
There’s a museum next to the palaces about the history about the Grand Palace, and a museum about royal coins near the entrance of Wat Phra Kaew. The former one is inside Grand Palace / Wat Phra Kaew and is thus free, the ticket to the second one comes along with the ticket to Wat Phra Kaew / Grand Palace. In fact, we were attracted to the museums by air-con, avoiding the Chinese tours is another plus.
Seems more crowded when we left the Grand Palace
The central spires of Wat Phra Kaew, viewed from outside.
Lots of traffic on the streets outside
Having left the overcrowded Grand Palace, we headed for the nearby City Pillar Shrine.
City Pillar Shrine
City Pillar Shrine interior
City Pillar Shrine
Compared with the previous Wat Phra Kaew, which is more for tourists taking photos than for pilgrims seeking solace(By the way, who could visit a royal temple if it’s not open to the public as a tourist attraction?)(And by the way, not far from all the clamoring photographers, there’s a corner in Wat Phra Kaew reserved from nannies chanting Buddhism Bibles), City Pillar Shrine pretty much lived up to its name of a shrine. To be honest, I thought the people were drawn more to the shrine than to the not-so-splendid city pillars. Maybe it’s Chinese New Year Eve, and the choir service of nannies were attended by many, mostly local patrons.
It’s half past 2 when we came out of City Pillar Shrine. Having enough of the spicy “Thai Salad” in Chiang Rai, we knew what our lunch would be after spoting a Subway across the Grand Palace.
Maybe it’s due to the location, Thai Subway wasn’t much cheaper than in China, which is to our surprise.
After lunch, we walked along Chao Phraya River to Wat Pho.
The palaces of the Grand Palace, viewed outside
We passed an Army Wives Association, with their lovely statues
Flowers blossoming beneath the Grand Palace
Chao Phraya River passing through Bangkok
I found these long boats quite powerful. It must be quite an exciting ride, unless you’re following one’s tail.
Wat Arun across the river. We forwent it since it’s under renovation.
Entrance to Wat Pho
It was Chinese New Year Eve, there’s some festival stuff going on among the monks.
Sculptures guarding the Wat Pho entrance, definitely borrowed from China
The reclining Buddha in Wat Pho(temple of reclining Buddha)
Before our trip, I thought maybe the only attraction of Wat Pho is the reclining Buddha, then we found the reclining Buddha only consists of a small portion of the overall Wat Pho. (Although most visitors seem to be only interested in the reclining Buddha.)
I was quite fond of the Phra Chedi Rai (which by Wikipedia is a kind of tower for the ashes of the royal Thai family), which come in various sizes, all beautifully decorated.
Plus, we witnessed how Chinese New Year’s celebrated in a Thai Temple. The whole Wat Pho is filled with speakers broadcasting festival speeches from the monks.
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
I’m really fond of Phra Chedi Rai’s in Wat Pho
I’m really fond of Phra Chedi Rai’s in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai’s in Wat Pho
Wat Pho shares the beautiful decoration of its roofs with the neighboring Grand Palace
Wat Pho
Wat Pho
Cute squirrel in Wat Pho
Cute squirrel in Wat Pho
Cute squirrel in Wat Pho
Cute squirrel in Wat Pho
Rockworks as decorations in Wat Pho
Phra Viharn Kod in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai’s in Wat Pho
The north-east corner of Wat Pho where cats gathered. I guessed this is the spot where the temple routinely feeds its cats.
The north-east corner of Wat Pho where cats gathered. I guessed this is the spot where the temple routinely feeds its cats.
The north-east corner of Wat Pho where cats gathered. I guessed this is the spot where the temple routinely feeds its cats.
Phra Viharn Kod in the north-east corner of Wat Pho, judging by the plants I guessed this is more like a living quarter of the temple, where they fed the cats.
Details of Wat Pho roofs
A tiny plaza in the east of Wat Pho, which is far from the entrance and was visited by few.
Buddha’s in the inner cloister.
Some well-decorated plants in Wat Pho.
East Viharnn of Wat Pho, lanterns were hung in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Buddha Tower in Wat Pho
Buddha Tower in Wat Pho
Back door of North Viharn in Wat Pho
This should be the main ubosot (Phra Ubosot) of Wat Pho
More Phra Chedi Rai’s in outer Wat Pho
Passage in Wat Pho
Flowers blossom in Wat Pho
Two Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn’s with Phra Ubosot in the background
A uniquely styled Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn in Wat Pho
The West-East Axis of Wat Pho
Phra Mondob in Wat Pho, looked quite aged compared to the other well-maintained temples of Wat Pho
Exterior of Phra Mondob, looked quite run-down compared to the rest of Wat Pho.
Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn’s in Wat Pho
Two Western-styled guard sculptures in Wat Pho against the setting sun.
Chinese New Year celebrations in Wat Pho.
Banners celebrating Chinese New Year in Wat Pho
Chinese New Year decorations in Wat Pho. The boy and girl on the doorpost were very Chinese.
Chinese New Year decorations in a less-visited garden of Wat Pho
Chinese New Year decorations in a less-visited garden of Wat Pho
Chinese New Year decorations in Missakawan Park of Wat Pho
A small plaza in the West of Wat Pho
The walls of Phra Mondob also seemed quite aged, among the glitterings of Wat Pho
Rockwork decorations in Wat Pho
Sala Karn Parien in the South-west of Wat Pho. This building exists in symmetry of the Reclining-Buddha building in the North. But the absence of Reclining Buddha means it’s visited by few, and then served as a living quarter.
Sala Karn Parien, definitely not well-maintained as the buildings in the north of Wat Pho where visitors
Passage north of Sala Karn Parie in Wat Pho, with well-clipped plants
Beast Sculpture in Wat Pho. Is that an octopus at its tail?
Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn in Wat Pho
Wat Pho
Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho, 5 in a single base
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Wat Pho
Phra Chedi Rai in Wat Pho
Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn’s in Wat Pho
Decorated street lamp post in Wat Pho
Setting sun reflected on the golden roofs
Three doors leading into the inner ubosot
Thai National flag against the roof of Wat Pho that’s of similar color
We spent such a long time in Wat Pho and took quite a lot of photos, till my camera battery went out and I used my cell phone instead.
After leaving Wat Pho, We sat beside Chao Phraya River watching sunset and finishing the leftover of our Subway lunch. Having realized we haven’t tried Thai city bus, with Google indicating traffic jam back to hotel which would make taxi drivers reluctant to take us, we decided to take Bus No.2 to the shopping malls near our hotel.
King Rama 6 Museum Near Wat Pho
We waited quite a long time (probably due to traffic jam) for bus No.2 at the nearby bus stop. It’s right after some fellow Chinese visitors gave up on waiting for bus No.2 and took whatever bus that came, that our long-awaited bus No.2 arrived.
Then there’s the nightmare. The bus conductor asked us “where are you going?” in her Thai-style English. I tried to answer also in English, she shook her head; I pointed out the destination in Google Maps, her head kept shaking… One bus stop later, I found a place near our destination that has Thai display on Google Maps, problem resolved.
We took this bus to downtown Bangkok
Downtown Bangkok, very different worlds in and out of the shopping mall
Fountains outside Siam Paragon, in Chinese New Year red.
Since we hadn’t have our decent lunch, we ate it back in a McDonald’s in Siam Paragon
Local schoolboys putting on Chinese New Year celebration performance outside Siam Paragon
Having stuffed our bellies, mom had the Gala on China’s state-run television to watch, and I had my camera battery to charge, so we walked back to our hotel.
Pond of an exclusive hotel on our way back
Having resurrected my camera battery, and not subjecting myself to propaganda on state television, I decided to hang around in downtown Bangkok.
Chinese New Year decorations in our hotel
Chinese New Year decorations in our hotel, surprised to find the words on lanterns are the same for both sides, which is very unconventional in China
Bangkok Streets
A roadside makeshift restaurant was also gorgeously decorated with lanterns
Buda before Central World mall
Another Buda before Central World mall
Plaza before Central World mall, occupied by a small bazar
Central World mall
Phra Phrom
Phra Phrom
Phra Phrom
An artwork based on fans, which is very Chinese
South Central World mall
And the back alley that neighbors it
Stairs outside Siam Paragon decorated in red for the Chinese New Year
Façade of Siam Paragon also in red
Stairs outside Siam Paragon in red
Busy streets outside Central World
The Platinum Fashion Mall, just another shopping mall
END
Holidays in Thai: Bangkok on February 7th, 2016 by Huang's Site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.