Bangkok was my last stop on this trip. We flew from Vientiane to Bangkok on AirAsia on a Friday afternoon. This was my first time on Thai AirAsia (a budget airline). I was not impressed. Thankfully the flight was just 100 minutes as the leg room (seat pitch) was terrible and they no complimentary drinks or snacks were provided (not even water). Our flight was a delayed a bit and there wasn’t great communication about the reason or when boarding would occur. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that I didn’t hear any communications, though it did seem like some announcements were made in Lao or Thai. In any case we arrived in Bangkok safely, got through Thai immigration without much of a wait, and collected our bags without issue. So it could have been a lot worse.
We knew that getting to our hotels could be a bit of a challenge with Bangkok’s notoriously bad traffic and arriving late on a Friday afternoon would not help. But, I wasn’t prepared for just how bad it would be. We flew into Donmueang Int’l Airport (DMK), the older of Bangkok’s two airports and the one most used for budget carriers and domestic flights. It is a bit closer to the city than Suvarnabhumi Int’l Airport (BKK), the newer predominantly international airport, but DMK doesn’t have great public transport connections. I was staying at a different hotel than the others in the group, but they were in the same general area so we planned to share a Grab (Thailand’s equivalent to Uber). Grab originally looked promising. However, after more than 30 minutes and 4 or 5 rides confirming and then canceling several minutes later, we still didn’t have a ride lined up. We gave up on Grab and decided to explore a taxi. When we arrived at the sanctioned taxi area we learned that it was estimated to be an hour wait for a taxi and possibly longer. So we went back to trying Grab and expanded our available types of cars to more pricey options with the hope that those rides wouldn’t cancel. We got a ride pretty quickly in a minivan and we were relieved when it actually showed up. I was then surprised to see that the app estimated the trip which was normally about a 40 minute ride would take 85 minutes! It was a long slow ride to our hotels as traffic was as bad as reported. I was dropped off first, but was able to track the ride until it dropped Paul and Christina. Even though their hotel was only about a mile away from mine, I had checked into my room, dropped my bags, looked up places to have dinner and was out walking around the busy Sukhumvit neighborhood before Paul and Christina finally made it to their hotel. Welcome to Bangkok!
I stayed at the Night Hotel located a couple of blocks off Sumkhavit road and was happy with my choice. The room and facilities were certainly a step down from the Laos hotels I stayed in, but the breakfast buffet was extensive and the location was convenient to both the subway and skytrain, the two main public transportation options that avoid street congestion. Sumkhavit is a busy shopping area with many restaurants. It was entertaining to walk around, especially after dark. The Sumkhavit area is about 30-45 minutes from the Bangkok’s Old Town, China Town, and the main touristy area of the Chao Phraya River. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of the airport, hotel, or the local neighborhood to go with this portion of the post.
I ventured to the Old Town on my first morning in Bangkok. My plan was to get up early to beat the crowds. The plan worked pretty well, but there was a lot to see and by 10:00 am things were getting quite crowded. I visited Wat Arun, took a boat across the river and visited Wat Pho (reclining Buddha), the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and saw the Grand Palace, (though part of it was closed to the public for events related to Thailand’s Queen Sirikit passing on October 25, 2025 (Thailand is observing 1 year of mourning).
Wat Arun, is one of several recognizable Bangkok landmarks. It is a large Buddhist temple located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River across from the Royal Palace. Unlike many other wats, the spire or “prang” of What Arun is a colorful mosaic rather than a solid color.
From Wat Arun I took a local ferry across the Chao Phyra River. There wasn’t much boat traffic on the river in the morning, but I like this photo of a docked hardtail boat in the foreground and Wat Arun in the distance.
I accidentally entered Wat Pho (its full official name is Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan) thinking that it was connected to the Royal Palace complex, but I soon learned that the Royal Palace was a separate walled enclosure with the entrance located on the side furthest from the entrance to Wat Pho. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see that Wat Pho was where the large (46 meter/151 foot long) reclining Buddha was located. I remembered this from my prior trip to Bangkok some 35 years ago. At that time, I was only in Bangkok for two days and was on an organized tour so had only a vague recollection of were I had been. Wat Pho was not crowded and I enjoyed viewing the reclining Buddha and surrounding grounds and pagodas with few other people around.
By the time I left Wat Pho, it was getting warm (well hot for me) and there were more people walking around. I debated about going into the Royal Palace complex or postponing it until the next day. It took me a while to find the entrance and when I got there I kind of just followed the crowds and before I knew it, I had purchased an admission ticket and was entering the complex. It was pretty crowded, but not so packed that I had to wait in lines to get into places. I enjoyed my time there, and spent most of the time walking around Wat Phra Kaew(the Royal Temple or Temple of the Emerald Buddha). It is the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand with the grounds filled with ornate statutes, buildings and structures. The main attraction is the ubosot or ordination hall that houses the Emerald Buddha, a sacred 66cm (26inch) Emerald Buddha that was captured from Vientiane Laos in 1779. I’m not sure why the Emerald Buddha is so revered, but the building was very crowded and the Buddha was difficult to see being placed high up on an pedestal and at some distance. But now I can say I saw it! I really liked just walking around and admiring the architecture and ornate structures seemingly tucked into every nook and cranny of the Wat.
In addition to the Wat, I was also walked by the front of Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat (the Throne hall), but entry to it and the surrounding royal buildings was not permitted and access was further restricted for private events related to mourning the Queen’s death at the end of October 2025 (Thailand observes a year of mourning). Just prior to exiting the Royal Palace grounds there is a textile museum which is dedicated to showcasing fabrics and fashions (dresses and hats) worn by the Queen over the 66 years of her reign.
After exiting the Royal Palace complex, I decided to walk back to my hotel. It was a little under 6 miles away and while much of it was rather non-descript I did stumble across some interesting sites. I was pretty hot by the time I got back to the hotel and enjoyed spending time at the pool in the afternoon.
On my last full day in Bangkok, I spent the morning in Chinatown, passed by a small shopping area called Korea town on my way back to my hotel and then enjoyed my first Thai massage in the afternoon. It was a great way to relax before the long flights home.
And then the next morning, it was a final walk through Bangkok’s chaotic morning commute on Monday morning to the airport and my flight home.
The video to the left is a compilation of a few short videos I took on the last morning as I was walking to the Bangkok Airport Link Train. The first clip starts just after a man on a scooter lost the produce he was carrying in his back basket. He was undeterred about running into traffic and collecting his dropped items (and people mostly patiently waited for him, including a man who got out of his car to help pick things up, though I thought the bus was going to hit his parked motorcycle).
